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Category / Impact

April 12, 2019

Research impact and the Research Excellence Framework (REF): an introduction

Impact, Research Training, Training, Uncategorized Theresa

The impact of your research directly affects BU’s ability to do more research.

Thursday 25^th April 14:00 – 16:00 Talbot Campus

This session will explain why, providing a brief introduction to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and exploring the impact element of the submission.

This session looks at how impact is defined for the purposes of the REF, what a good impact case study looks like, (and what a bad one features), how impact case studies are developed throughout the research lifecycle and what you need to think about ahead of the next REF submission.

The aims & objectives of this session are:

to examine the extent to which you are in a position to develop an impact case study for the REF
to explore how you can develop the impact of your research to ensure a strong submission for the next exercise

See the event details or more information and to book onto this session.

April 9, 2019

Wessex patients report positive experience of research for a second year

Clinical Governance, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Research communication, Research news Suzy Wignall

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) Wessex has recently conducted a survey, distributed amongst the 10 NHS organisations in the Wessex region. This is the second time the CRN Wessex patient research experience survey (PRES) has been conducted, and ran throughout October 2018.

400 responses were received anonymously, and showed that 96% of participants had a good experience of taking part in research. It also showed that 98% of research participants surveyed had all the information that they needed in relation to the study.

Copied from the original article –

‘Many of those surveyed reported that the research staff supporting them were friendly and helpful and that they had a considerable amount of time to spend with them in order to explain the study and answer any questions.

The survey also highlighted that one of the key motivators for taking part in research was a desire to help others, with one participant commenting: “It’s good to know that this research could help future generations of patients.”’

The survey will be conducted again in October of this year.

April 8, 2019

HE Policy update for the w/e 5th April 2019

data management, EU, Funding opportunities, Impact, Industry collaboration, innovation, international, Knowledge Exchange, policy, Research news, Student Engagement jforster

A week is a long time at the moment. We have a mixed bag this week but we lead with Brexit to get it over with.

Brexit

In the Westminster Brexit bubble things can turn upside down several times in the space of a week. And even though many more people are watching Parliament live on TV or on the internet, it really is a bubble. The speaker in the House of Commons has had to keep reminding MPs that people are watching, as they make a spectacle of themselves being as rude and rowdy as it is possible to be within the rules about behaviour in the House (i.e. pretty rude and rowdy). And yesterday it was the turn of the Lords, where there was lengthy filibustering aimed at obstructing the debate on the Bill which seeks to force the PM to get an extension to Article 50 to avoid no deal. There was quite a lot of shouting and rudeness there as well, which is not what would usually be expected.

So when the House of Commons proceedings had to be suspended because of a huge leak in the roof, it was probably a bit of a relief. MPs will not get much of a rest, though, as some of the Easter recess has been cancelled and the rest might be too. As the February recess was also cancelled there will be some pretty cross people around.

Anyway, what next? The Bill carries on in the Lords on Monday. While it might seem irrelevant as the PM has today written to the EU to request an extension to 30^th June, in these days of rapid policy reversals, it might still be needed. No deal exit is still on the table as the EU and the UK fight about the terms of an extension and the deadline for calling EU elections nears.

The PM’s letter is here. It says that she will not be asking for further changes to the Withdrawal Agreement. It looks forward to the Withdrawal Agreement being approved (although that seems vanishingly unlikely, despite ongoing meetings with Jeremy Corbyn and others). It therefore asks for an extension to 30^th June so that once the WA is passed, the rest of the implementation can be done. In the meantime “lawful and responsible” preparations will be made for the EU elections. But the government would like to be able to withdraw from them before 23^rd May if they are ready with everything in time.

As usual, writing this on a Friday, we have to say that everything could have changed if you are reading it on Monday. Right now it looks like we’ll be having EU elections and staying in the EU for a long time. But it is still possible we could be leaving on Friday 12^th April with no deal. And least likely of all is the chance that the current deal will be approved by Friday and we then leave in May. Let’s see what next week brings.

Investment in research – a good news story?

Research Professional ran what might have sounded like a good news story against the endless doom and gloom of Brexit and specifically, the implications for research:

Writing for HE’s Sunday Reading, universities and science minister Chris Skidmore described himself as the minister for 2.4 per cent. He was referring … to the government’s pledge to raise expenditure on R&D in the UK to the equivalent of 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. We’ve said this before under previous science ministers, so we’ll say it again in light of Skidmore’s comments. The government does not plan to spend 2.4 per cent of GDP on research: funding and expenditure are not the same thing. The money earmarked by the government—£7 billion over five years, £4bn of which is as yet unallocated—amounts to about 0.3 per cent of GDP and much less when broken down by annual spend. The actual policy is to leverage that public spending to encourage greater private investment in R&D to bring the UK in line with the average for OECD countries…

Skidmore’s predecessor self-identified as the minister for students. Along with being the minister for the arts and humanities, Skidmore has picked up the challenge of being the minister for 2.4 per cent. He almost certainly won’t be the minister who delivers on reaching the summit of 2.4 per cent. It is to be hoped that when the time comes to pass on the baton, Skidmore will be remembered as the minister who was able to point the way to base camp.”

HE-BCI – the results

If you have been following the discussion on the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) you’ll know that the HE-BCI data provides many of the metrics that sit behind the latest proposals. So it is interesting to look at this year’s outcomes.

The survey includes details of spin-off and start-up companies associated with HE providers. In 2017/18 140 new spin-off companies were formed from university-owned intellectual property. A further 4129 start-ups were formed by staff and graduates of HE providers.

Over the 2017/18 academic year HE providers were granted 1707 patents² and generated over £207 million of revenue from intellectual property³ in 2017/18.

Business and community engagement measured by the survey includes income generated from collaborative research (£1.4 billion), contract research (£1.3 billion), consultancy (£471 million), facilities and equipment hire (£228 million), CPD and continuing education (£698 million) and regeneration and development programmes (£224 million).

The survey also measures social, community and cultural engagement, with HE providers recording over 25 million attendees at free lectures, performances and exhibitions over the academic year.

Investment by the OfS

At the end of last week the OfS announced their teaching grant allocations for 2019/20:

A total of £1.45 billion will be allocated across a range of activities for academic year 2019-20, including:

£713 million for high-cost subject funding. This funding is provided to help with the extra costs associated with teaching subjects such as medicine, science, technology and engineering.
£337 million to promote greater choice and boost equality of opportunity in higher education. This includes £60 million for the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP), which funds partnerships of universities, colleges and others across the country to increase the proportion of young people from disadvantaged areas going into higher education; and £277 million of student premium funding for students who may need additional support to achieve successful outcomes.
£40 million for national facilities and initiatives. This includes support for higher education digital infrastructure through Jisc, OfS Challenge Competitions, which target priority issues affecting students, and a new ‘what works’ centre to help universities cut equality gaps.
£100 million in financial year 2019-20 of capital funding to help universities and colleges to invest in their physical infrastructure so it remains fit for purpose for students.

As announced last year, the introduction of postgraduate masters’ loans means the postgraduate taught funding supplement, set at £8 million, now only supports students that are not eligible for these loans.

Realising the potential of technology in education

The Department for Education issued their “strategy for education providers and the technology industry” this week.

There’s a helpful summary: “Our aim is to support the education sector in England to develop and embed technology in a way that cuts workload, fosters efficiencies, supports inclusion and ultimately drives improvements in educational outcomes. Schools, colleges, universities and other providers face a range of barriers to supporting and integrating the good use of technology. This strategy aims to help address these barriers.”

There’s a lot about schools but some things for universities too. The Department’s Commitments are:

Get the connectivity right – many education providers struggle with slow internet connections and outdated internal networking and devices.
Set a vision, know the outcomes you want to achieve and ensure staff have the right skills – it can be hard to know where to start and to get the implementation right.
- …[we].. Have worked with the Chartered College of Teaching to publish an EdTech research journal to highlight and disseminate key research findings.
Get the right tools, solutions and services, at the best price – it can be challenging to understand what technology to buy to meet specific needs and to get the best price. So we:
- Recommend pre-negotiated buying deals for technology and trial regional buying hubs in the South West and the North West.
- Support an online lending library allowing educators to ‘try before they buy’ through BESA’s online LendEd service.
- Will explore how to facilitate a better online marketplace for education technology to help educators to connect with trusted providers.
Stay safe – it can be daunting to navigate the responsibilities around privacy, security and data.
- Provide guidance on monitoring, filtering, data security and cyber security.
- Support Jisc to provide training, guidance and consultancy for colleges, universities and other providers.
- Encourage EdTech suppliers to follow ‘Cyber Essentials’ minimum standards and the Code of Practice for Consumer Internet of Things Security

So far so obvious. The second lot of commitments is to the education technology industry. Under the Industrial Strategy Banner, the summary says that: Supporting the development of the UK’s innovative EdTech businesses will be key to the success of our EdTech strategy. Our aim is to stimulate a vibrant and growing sector of EdTech businesses: generating ideas, innovation, and providing high-quality, effective technology for education providers to chose from. Businesses face a range of barriers to starting and growing in the EdTech market and this strategy aims to help tackle those, including by supporting access to the investment and business assistance set out in the government’s Industrial Strategy.

And linked to the story above, the Minster launched the long heralded “money supermarket for universities” apps (thanks to Sam Gyimah for that analogy). But don’t click on the links, because one of them has never worked since the announcement was made, and the other takes you to the corporate website but there is no sign of any app. We’ll keep checking and let you know when they do go live.

Two contracts were awarded to the winners of the Open Data Competition, one to AccessEd for ThinkUni, which offers students a ‘personalised digital assistant’ bringing together data on universities, courses and financial outcomes that are easy to explore and compare.
While The Profs have created TheWayUp!, a game for students to simulate different graduate career paths to help them make better choices about their future. It also aims to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds set aspirational educational and career goals to increase their chances of achieving them.
Both apps are in open beta and are available online from April 2, operating with the latest information on universities in the UK.

Participation in EU funding schemes

While the House of Commons is fighting over Brexit, the House of Lords debated a report from the EU committee on Erasmus and H2020. Many thanks to Dods for the summary. Lord Jay of Ewelme (CB) moved that the House take note of the Report from the European Union. Committee Brexit: the Erasmus and Horizon programmes (28th Report, HL Paper 283)…

…he reminded members that associate membership would not give the UK voting rights on the budget and strategic direction of the programmes “association is also the only option that would allow the UK to access the key European Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie schemes, which currently account for 44% of the total UK receipts from Horizon 2020”.
He called on the Government to confirm their intention to seek association agreements for 2021-2027 as soon as possible but recognised this could not be achieved whilst the UK was a member state.
…Government Spokesperson for Higher Education, Viscount Younger of Leckie confirmed that the Government would publish a formal response to the committees report shortly and recognised the important role both schemes had played.
On Horizon, he confirmed that the UKRI would use existing payment systems to ensure continuity for UK beneficiaries, and that in a no-deal scenario, the UKRI would contact UK beneficiaries who have registered on the portal with further information on how the guarantee would operate in practice.
On Erasmus, Viscount Younger highlighted that UK institutions had a strong track record of partnering with overseas institutions. “UK evidence suggests that around half of mobilities already take place outside Erasmus+”, he outlined.
He stated that the Government were preparing for every eventuality and were very interested in exploring future participation in the Erasmus+ successor scheme. “I understand that the successor scheme will include increased school exchange opportunities and a greater emphasis on widening participation. The Government have welcomed proposals on this and will continue to participate in discussions while we remain in the EU”.
On the question of associated membership, the Minister intimated his belief that all such countries should be treated as partners rather than competitors, arguing that, “the benefits that associated countries bring to the programme must be recognised and welcomed”.
On potential alternatives to Horizon Europe, the Minister confirmed that BEIS were “working closely with the national academies and UKRI to develop ambitious and credible alternatives to association to Horizon Europe which could also enable world-class collaborative research”.
The Minister also argued that the immigration white paper went further than MAC recommendations for international students, extending post-study work to six months for undergraduate students attending institutions with degree-awarding powers, six months for all master’s students and 12 months for PhD students.

Access and Participation

The Government have tabled the Higher Education (Monetary Penalties and Refusal to Renew an Access and Participation Plan) (England) Regulations 2019 statutory instrument, under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 powers. Key points:

where a registered higher education provider has an access and participation plan approved by the OfS, that provider may charge fees at the higher limit.
The OfS may impose a monetary penalty on a registered higher education provider for breach of one of its ongoing registration conditions.

It also establishes the procedure for:

When the OfS intends to give such a notification and provides for the OfS’s notification of a refusal to renew an access and participation plan to be treated as a provisional decision in the first instance and the procedure for the review of that decision. It also provides for the procedure when the OfS’s decision becomes final.

This statutory instrument will need to be approved by both House of Commons and House of Lords.

Cyber resilience of HE sector

HEPI and Jisc have released a paper on the cyber-resilience of universities claiming hackers are able to infiltrate systems within two hours. The paper has been picked up by the media and was mentioned on the Radio 4 Today programme on Thursday. Key points:

Under penetration testing, there was 100% success in gaining access to high-value data within two hours;
173 HEIs engaged with Jisc’s Computer Security Incident Response Team in 2018 (12% increase);
During 2018, there were 1,000+ Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks detected at 241 different UK education and research institutions.

The report recommends swift action, including the adoption of a new British Standard on cyber risk and resilience. The report comes a day after the Government urged businesses and charities to take action to prevent cyber-attacks following the publication of the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019.

Digital Minister Margot James commented: We know that tackling cyber threats is not always at the top of business and charities list of things to do, but with the rising costs of attacks, it’s not something organisations can choose to ignore any longer.”

Responding to the Government’s annual Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019, Josh Hardie, CBI Deputy-Director General, said: “There’s been a real shift amongst businesses when it comes to cyber security – it’s clear to see that it’s now a top priority with concrete action being taken. But businesses can’t be complacent. Unfortunately, cyber threats lurk around every corner. The widespread attack to both public and charities sector entities underlines the importance of having robust cyber incidence response plans. Firms pro-actively assessing the risks out there and taking action to protect themselves and their customers is essential. It’s important to recognise there are opportunities for our world-leading digital economy. The cyber security sector is another example of where the UK can build a competitive advantage.”

Financial stability of the sector

The OfS have issued their first report into the financial stability of the sector, as we noted last week.

Key findings on the sector’s performance over the latest financial year show that:
The sector reported an income of £33 billion, a 7.4 per cent increase on the previous year. However, surpluses fell from £1.12 billion in 2016-17, to £1.02 billion in 2017-18.
At the end of 2017-18, the sector had net liquidity of £11.2 billion (equivalent to 138 days’ expenditure). This is £1.3 billion higher than the previous year.
At the end of 2017-18, the sector reported borrowing of £12 billion – equivalent to 36.8 per cent of income and £2.1 billion more than the previous year.

Commenting on the report, Sir Michael Barber, chair of the Office for Students, said:

‘The English higher education sector is in reasonable financial shape, although as this report shows performance does vary between providers. We have registered 337 universities and other higher education providers, and each must demonstrate they are financially viable and sustainable.
‘Our analysis suggests that the sector has made over-optimistic student recruitment forecasts – both nationally and internationally. With the number of 18-year-olds in the population falling significantly between now and 2022, not every university will be able to recruit the number of students they had hoped to. Universities should be wary of relying on over-ambitious recruitment targets, and look at student numbers realistically rather than over-optimistically.
‘This is particularly important at a challenging time for the sector overall. Uncertainties ahead include the UK’s future relationship with the EU, possible policy changes resulting from the Augar Review, and increased pension costs. Universities need to have a good grip on costs and base their actions on realistic forecasts.
‘It remains our position that we will not bail out universities or other higher education providers facing financial failure. However we are ready to work creatively with any provider facing challenges – especially if they come to us with any difficulties early. Were problems to develop, we would seek to intervene to protect the interests of students.’

Conditional unconditional offers

The Department for Education has made a splash about unconditional offers. It’s all a bit odd – the data they are using was published in January. And the story looks out of date: “The Education Secretary will be asking the OfS to take a comprehensive look at university admissions procedures, in guidance sent to the regulator setting out his priorities for the financial year.” This letter was published in February. Have they forgotten to update a draft press release they have been sitting on since January? Or is another set of instructions for the OfS planned?

The Minister has tweeted that he is “launching a review”, but the OfS had already announced a review – in January.

Aside from the strange timing (I guess it’s a quiet news week), there are some concerns about the allegations being made here. Jim Dickinson on Wonkhe asks:

what’s interesting is Hinds’ repeating of the assertion that conditional unconditionals count as “pressure selling”. It’s a legal term with legal meaning and legal consequences – Smita Jamdar does a much better job than I ever could on reviewing the legal definitions in this area elsewhere on the site, but OfS and now Hinds must surely believe they are legally right.
When a university offers guaranteed accommodation in exchange for a firm acceptance, is that “pressure selling” the university, the accommodation, or both? And even if just the standard “firm us up and your offer becomes unconditional” tactic really is “pressure selling”, why are Hinds and the OfS not threatening legal action over what is, in law, criminal behaviour?

And has anyone asked students what they think?

Free speech

And in a world dominated by Brexit and criticism of the sector, it is nice to some good news. We reported last week that the new Minister has backed away from the regular (and as regularly debunked) statements of his predecessor on freedom of speech at universities.

This week Dr Julian Lewis MP (New Forest East) quoted a recent story in a written question to the Minister: “To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Daily Telegraph article entitled University cancels talk on extremist speakers, published on 26 March 2019, if he will commission an inquiry into (a) the circumstances in which the free speech society at Bristol University was prevented from hosting a meeting featuring the author of Extreme Speakers league table; (b) the nine occasions listed in that league table when allegedly extreme speakers were hosted at Bristol University; (c) the criteria applied by the University in deciding to ban meetings on security grounds; and if he will make a statement.”

And the reply from the Minister:

Free speech plays a vital and important role in our society, and universities should be places where students are exposed to a range of issues, including those which may be controversial, and are encouraged to debate and challenge them.
It is right that extremist views should be exposed and challenged. That is why, under the Prevent duty, (to have due regard to prevent people being drawn into terrorism), Higher Education (HE) providers must have policies in place around the management of speakers. This means ensuring the right steps are taken to contest extremist narratives and to make sure that those wishing spread hatred do not go unchallenged.
However, challenging extremism does not mean banning lawful speech, and the Prevent duty also explicitly requires further and higher education institutions have regard to their duty to secure freedom of speech. It is up to individual institutions to determine who they deem appropriate to invite to speak on their campuses on a case-by-case basis; government does not dictate who should and should not be invited to speak in higher education providers, providing their speech is within the law.
We do not routinely comment on individual cases. However, monitoring of the Prevent duty by the Office for Students shows us that HE providers are navigating the balance between freedom of speech and challenging extremism pragmatically and effectively. We recognise that these are complex issues, which is why the government supports the sector on Prevent implementation through our network of Further and HE Regional Prevent Co-ordinators on the ground. We have also worked alongside the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and wider stakeholders to produce the recently published Freedom of Expression guidance. This will enable universities and student unions to understand their obligations for protecting and supporting free speech, and sets out where speech may be unlawful, alongside relevant case studies to support providers in balancing their duties.

Consultations

Click here to view the latest consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.

Other news

Careers Education: Founders4Schools have published a report on Making Careers Education Age-Appropriate. They say that Schools and Colleges should:

Begin age-appropriate, careers-related learning early, as soon as children and young people join the setting
Ensure curriculum and middle leaders work with their teams to identify opportunities to include appropriately sequenced and age-appropriate careers-focused learning in lessons.
Work with parents from the beginning of primary school and throughout schooling, for example by inviting parents into school to hear careers talks alongside their children, or even talk about their own careers.
Use labour market information to help align the setting’s provision with employers’ needs locally and regionally

And that the Government should:

Provide funding for transport costs to help pupils in rural areas or areas lacking transport infrastructure to access opportunities to work with employers
Tailor existing support and guidance so that it is age-appropriate, for example providing resources and guidance to help speakers and employers plan age appropriate presentations and projects.

And after outrage that Ministerial posts have remained unfilled following Brexit related resignations (and other things), a few were announced this week:

Justin Tomlinson has been appointed Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Department for Work and Pensions. He also held the role in 2015-16.
Will Quince has taken on Tomlinson’s vacated Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance, Department for Work and Pensions role.
In the Department of Health Theresa May’s former PPS, Seema Kennedy, takes Steve Brine’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care role.
In DEXEU James Cleverly MP has been appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union
Kevin Foster MP as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Wales Office
Andrew Stephenson MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

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JANE FORSTER | SARAH CARTER

Policy Advisor Policy & Public Affairs Officer

Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter | policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

April 5, 2019

Public Engagement Fund from Wellcome – up to £250k

Funding opportunities, Impact, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

Wellcome are inviting applications to their July round of public engagement funding.

You can apply for £25,000 to £250,000, although occasionally grants are made for up to £3 million.

Applications deadline

9 July 2019, 17:00 GMT

What they’re looking for

They’re looking for creative approaches to engage the public. Your project needs to support their public engagement goals, so it should do at least one of the following:

empower people by helping them to access, use, respond to, and/or participate in health research and innovation
improve health research by making it more people-centred, to better understand people’s experiences and draw on that knowledge
help people to value and think critically about science, health research, innovation and the role these play in society.

Find out more and apply

Contact Wellcome with any questions about eligibility or the application process.

If you would like advice on planning an activity or submitting your application, contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).

March 28, 2019

FREE Public Engagement Training for Environmental Researchers

Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication, Research Training Adam Morris

Do you work as an environmental researcher, policy advisor, or in a nature conservation role? Do you engage with members of the public or stakeholders about the environment? Are you keen to reach new audiences or discover new ways to engage with citizens on important and complex environmental issues?

DEFRA has funded an innovative programme of citizen engagement across England to improve understanding of what people value in the environment and their priorities for it.

As part of the Citizen Engagement on the Environment project, they are offering the opportunity to take part in training by public engagement professionals to develop innovative and powerful ways to engage the public in dialogue about the environment.

This training is fully subsidised, although you will have to cover travel.

Opportunity 1: Bristol: 1-3 May 2019; Applications before 4 April 2019
Opportunity 2: Liverpool: 7-9 May 2019; Applications before 11 April 2019
Opportunity 3: Plymouth: end of August; Applications will open in June 2019

Find out more and apply

March 28, 2019

Outreach grants from the Royal Society of Biology

Funding opportunities, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

Royal Society of Biology

The Royal Society of Biology Outreach and Engagement Grant Scheme is now open and the deadline for applications is 29th April 2019.

The grant scheme allows individual members of the Royal Society of Biology to apply for funding to help run an event or activity in their region during Biology Week, 5^th – 13^th October 2019.

Small grants up to £200 and full grants up to £500 are available and they are looking to fund a wide range of events and activities.

So, if you have an idea for an event or activity for Biology Week from 5^th – 13^th October 2019 and are looking for some additional funds to help make it a success, please apply now.

The RSB can support both those who are experienced in event delivery, people hoping to organise their first event, and everyone in between. Contact Amanda Hardy to find out more.

You can also speak to Adam Morris (Engagement Officer at BU) for advice on organising an event.

All grant applications must be submitted through BU’s usual process.

March 27, 2019

Family Science Festival success to celebrate National Science Week 2019!

BU research, Doctoral College, EU, Events, Festival of Learning, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, PG research, Public engagement Genoveva Esteban

To celebrate the National Science Week we organised a Family Science Festival in Dorchester’s Corn Exchange (17^th March 2019). The Festival was an incredible success, with more than 2,200 visitors exploring the science presentations and workshops organised by Bournemouth University in partnership with Dorset County Museum, Dorchester Town Council and the Thomas Hardye School. Our ambition is to make this festival an annual event, and rename it Dorchester Science Festival, which would run over a whole week-end. Many BU undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff were involved in the activities offered to the general public. Genoveva Esteban (co-organiser and master minder of the event), Dan Franklin, Matthew Bennet, Sally Reynolds, Adrian Newton, Marcin and Dominika Budka, and Stephen Watson’s hands-on activities were all enthusiastically received by children and adults. The atmosphere was captured on film by BU’s award-winning media production agency Red Balloon.

The event was sponsored by EU-Interreg project SAMARCH, the Royal Society of Biology, Dorchester Town Council and BU. We are also grateful to the ScienceIRL Project developed by the Indian River Lagoon Science Festival SAMA (Florida, USA) for sharing the “This is what a scientist looks like” T-shirt idea with us.

March 27, 2019

BU media coverage in Nepal

BU research, Featured academics, Global engagement, Impact, international, open access, Publishing, Research communication, Research news, the conversation, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The article “Why suicide rate among pregnant women in Nepal is rising” written by BU academics was published in The Conversation last year. At the time this attracted Indian newspaper attention. Clearly it is still a relevant issue as it attracted national coverage in a Nepali newspaper this week.

Dr. Bibha Simkhada & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

March 25, 2019

HE policy update for the w/e 22nd March 2019

EU, Impact, international, Knowledge Transfer, NHS, policy, Research news, Uncategorized jforster

This week we’ve got the government’s international education strategy alongside data that shows the value of international students to the UK. We’ve got a consultation on dropping BTECs, some less than impressive data on educational attainment, more campaigning on essay mills and of course, our take on the B word. And SUBU’s Sophie Bradfield explains why there have been posters all over campus with a note about the SUBU elections.

International Students

The Government published their International Education Strategy over last weekend. This publication was announced the Spring Statement by Philip Hammond and is co-authored by the DfE and DFIT. The strategy sets out 5 cross-cutting strategic actions, developed through consultation with the education sector:

Appoint an International Education Champion to spearhead overseas activity.
Ensure Education is GREAT promotes the breadth and diversity of the UK education offer more fully to international audiences.
Continue to provide a welcoming environment for international students and develop an increasingly competitive offer.
Establish a whole-of-government approach by implementing a framework for ministerial engagement with the sector and formalised structures for coordination between government departments both domestically and overseas.
Provide a clearer picture of exports activity by improving the accuracy and coverage of our annually published education exports data.

Other specific actions include, encouraging sector groups to bid into the £5 million GREAT Challenge Fund to promote the entire UK education offer internationally and extending the period of post-study leave for international student visas, considering how the visa process could be improved for applicants and supporting student employment.

These actions are aimed to underpin the following objectives:

Drive ambition across the UK education sector: The Government pledge to work in tandem with the education sector, and provide the practical solutions and tools it needs to harness its full international potential.
Increase Education Exports to £35bn by 2030: Achieving this ambition will require an average annual growth rate of 4% per year. In order to drive progress against this target, the Government intend to build global market share in international students across the education sectors. They also intend to improve how we capture education exports data in order to monitor our progress against this ambition.
Grow the numbers of international higher education students studying in the UK to 600,000 by 2030.

The full Government press release can be viewed here.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: As we prepare to leave the EU it is more important than ever to reach out to our global partners and maximise the potential of our best assets – that includes our education offer and the international students this attracts.
International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox MP said: Our education exports are ripe for growth, and my international economic department stands ready to engage and support UK providers from across the education sector to grow their global activity as we implement this new International Education Strategy.
English UK chief executive Sarah Cooper said: “We are excited by the opportunities this bold strategy outlines, both for the promotion of the UK as the premier destination for English language learning, but also the support planned for growing the export of UK ELT quality and expertise to countries across the globe.”
Dr Greg Walker, Chief Executive of MillionPlus, said: “Universities are critical export earners for the UK and greatly expand our soft power globally. This new strategy shows welcome recognition and ambition from the government towards strengthening our status as an attractive destination for international students. A better post-study work offer will boost the economy and benefit businesses needing high level skills, while a new target for international student recruitment is also the right step.
Professor Dame Janet Beer, President of Universities UK, said: “I strongly welcome the publication of this strategy as a signal of a change in direction. I particularly welcome the ambitious target to grow the number of international students to 600,000 by 2030 which sends a strong message of welcome.

HEPI published a response:

The overall trajectory for desired growth is actually lower than that assumed by the last Government target. It is also, at 4% a year, much lower than elsewhere – Australia has been enjoying an annual growth rate of over 17%.
We are currently very badly off the trajectory to hit this last target, which shows that setting targets far from guarantees success. As page 5 of the new paper makes clear, instead of hitting the target set in 2015 of £30 billion in education export earnings by 2020, we are only currently on course to be on £23 billion by then.
Although the new target is less ambitious than the old one and way below what has been achieved in other countries, we can still only hit the new 2030 target if we perform better in the future than in every recent year.
- In 2017/18 there were 458,000 overseas students studying at UK universities; 20% of the total student population, 54% of full-time taught postgraduates and 49% of full-time research degree students. 139,000 were from the EU and 319,000 from elsewhere.
- The top sending countries for overseas students have changed over the last few years. China currently sends the most students to the UK, more than 76,000 in 2017/18; the number of Chinese student in the UK has risen by 43% since 2011/12.
- There has been a general drop in entrants from the major EU countries since 2011/12; Ireland down by 41%, Germany 18%, Greece 16% and France 11%. Italy was the exception with numbers up by more than half.
- In recent years, the UK has been the second most popular global destination for international students after the USA. In 2016 the US took 28% of higher education students
- To hit the new target we would clearly need some new policies even if things like Brexit didn’t threaten current successes. While today’s paper is open about being the start of a new journey, it doesn’t include policies of the scale needed to guarantee success – the section on further education, for example, is particularly unambitious.

The HoC library has published FAQs about international students and EU students in the UK.

In 2017/18 there were 458,000 overseas students studying at UK universities; 20% of the total student population, 54% of full-time taught postgraduates and 49% of full-time research degree students. 139,000 were from the EU and 319,000 from elsewhere.
The top sending countries for overseas students have changed over the last few years. China currently sends the most students to the UK, more than 76,000 in 2017/18; the number of Chinese student in the UK has risen by 43% since 2011/12.
There has been a general drop in entrants from the major EU countries since 2011/12; Ireland down by 41%, Germany 18%, Greece 16% and France 11%. Italy was the exception with numbers up by more than half.
In recent years, the UK has been the second most popular global destination for international students after the USA. In 2016 the US took 28% of higher education students

The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and Kaplan International Pathways (Kaplan) published new research commissioned from London Economics on the financial contributions of international students who graduate from higher education and stay in the UK to work.

In September 2018, the Migration Advisory Committee failed to recommend the creation of a new post-study work visa, at least until there is “a proper evaluation, by us or others, of what students are doing in the post-study period and when they move onto other work permits.”. The HEPI / Kaplan report shows the tax and National Insurance payments of just one cohort of international students who stay in the UK to work after their studies amounts to £3.2 billion. This is made up of:

over £1 billion in income tax;
over £700 million in employees’ National Insurance Contributions;
over £800 million in employers’ National Insurance Contributions; and
nearly £600 million in extra VAT payments.

Graduates from other EU countries who stay here to work contribute £1.2 billion and graduates from the rest of the world contribute £2.0 billion.

The analysis additionally shows international graduates who find employment in the UK typically do so in sectors that suffer from acute skills shortages. Rather than displacing domestic graduates, international graduates are plugging skills shortages.

The study also measures the impact of the Home Office limiting post-study work rights in 2012. This costs the Treasury £150 million each year in foregone receipts – that is, £750 million every five years or just over £1 billion since post-study work was first restricted in this way in 2012.

Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, said: “Universities firmly believe the Government’s biggest mistake in higher education has been to discourage international students from coming here. A hostile environment has been in place for nearly a decade. It is a testament to the strengths of our higher education sector that the number of international students has not fallen, but it is an absolute tragedy that we have been unable to keep up with the pace of growth in other countries. The Home Office used to say there is insufficient evidence to show international students bring benefits to the UK. We proved this to be false last year, when we showed international students contribute £20 billion a year net to the UK. But, afterwards, the Migration Advisory Committee claimed there was still a lack of evidence to show international students who stay in the UK to work make a positive contribution. We can now disprove this too. Just one cohort of international students who stay in the UK to work contribute over £3 billion to the UK Exchequer – and it would be even more if policymakers had not reduced post-study work rights in 2012. The hard evidence shows a new approach is overdue.”
Linda Cowan, Senior Vice President, Kaplan International Pathways, said: “Restricting post-study work rights for international graduates has hampered efforts to attract students to the UK, with the number arriving here growing more slowly than in other countries. Proposals in the Government’s White Paper to introduce a minimum salary threshold of £30,000 would undoubtedly make us even less competitive. …..we need to reinstate attractive and competitive post-study work rights for all international students. The recommendations in the Migration Advisory Committee report would continue to place the UK behind other countries. We need to go further.”
Maike Halterbeck, Associate Director at London Economics, and lead author of the report, said: “A detailed analysis of the most up-to-date labour market data has illustrated the huge economic contribution of international graduates to the UK economy in the first 10 years following graduation. However, the contribution of more than £3 billion hides the fact that in the longer term, this contribution is likely to be many times higher as international graduates make the UK their home.”

HEPI published a response to HEPI’s International Students research from Shadow Higher and Further Education Minister, Gordon Marsden MP

“Today’s report underlines everything Labour and the sector have been saying about the vital contribution international students’ play to our universities’ and the economy. The Home Office have consistently risked damaging our world-class HE sector and international brand through their hostile attitude towards international students. As HEPI have pointed out, the Government’s strategy and targets are meagre and neglect the opportunities for HE at FE Colleges.”

Changes to BTECs and other qualifications

The government is consulting on the future of certain qualifications. The consultation is about “only providing public funding for qualifications that meet key criteria on quality, purpose, necessity and progression” and “not providing public funding for qualifications for 16 to 19 year olds that overlap with T-levels or A-levels”. It is really interesting – they seem to be very focussed on a twin track approach from 16.

Para 42: In the Skills Plan we set out an ambition to provide students with a clear choice between high quality technical and academic options. With this clarity in mind, T Levels have been designed to be the gold standard level 3 technical qualification, with a primary purpose of offering a direct route into skilled employment or into relevant technical options in the form of higher levels of technical study or apprenticeships. We believe this clarity and distinctiveness of role should apply to all qualifications at levels 3 and below, giving all students clear choices in the qualifications they study.
Para 49: “The number of students entering university using Applied General qualifications (or similar qualifications that pre-date the introduction of this category of qualifications in performance tables) has increased significantly in recent years, coinciding with the growth of entry to higher education overall. This is especially the case for students from poorer or some black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Many students entering with Applied General qualifications are lower-achieving in comparison to students who gain a place at university through A Levels, and are more likely to drop out. We want to understand the role of Applied General and other qualifications in supporting progression to successful outcomes and whether, in some cases, students would be better served by taking T Levels, a level 3 apprenticeship or A Levels”
Para 62: We want there to be clearer and simpler options for those ready and able to study at level 3 – T Levels and A Levels for those choosing classroom based study, or apprenticeships for those choosing a work-based option.

The Education Secretary Damian Hinds has also issued a press release on the announcement.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: We have made huge progress to boost the quality of education and training on offer for young people. But we also want to make sure that all options available to students are high-quality and give them the skills they need to get a great job, go on to further education or training, and employers can be confident they can access the workforce they need for the future. We can’t legislate for parity of esteem between academic and technical routes post 16. But we can improve the quality of the options out there and by raising quality, more students and parents will trust these routes.
Matthew Fell, CBI Chief UK Policy Director, said: Young people need clear, high-quality and easy to understand options at 16 – whether that’s A-levels, new T-levels, or doing an apprenticeship. Each route is valued by employers, but it can sometimes be difficult to understand the difference between the thousands of qualifications and different grading systems out there. The Government is absolutely right to address this by giving employers a part in shaping the reforms, ensuring qualifications relate to the modern world and give young people the skills they need to succeed.

BU will be preparing a response, working with Academic Services, as this will affect access and opportunities for potential students.

Educational attainment

The Resolution Foundation has published a report on the slowdown in educational attainment growth and its effects. The report argues that while improvements to the country’s human capital stock have been driven by increasingly educated cohorts of young people flowing into the labour market, the pace of growth in young people’s educational attainment has more than halved since the start of the 21st century.

Recent decades have been characterised by a marked boost in educational attainment: the proportion of 22-64 year olds whose education stopped at a GCSE-or-equivalent level has fallen by one-third; the proportion who went on to attain a degree or higher has more than doubled.
Attainment growth has been spread across the labour market, as well as across gender and ethnicity: While the wider 25-28 year old degree attainment rate more than doubled from 17 per cent in 1996-98 to 40 per cent in 2016-18, the share of young black women with degrees more than trebled (from 13 per cent to 49 per cent), as did the share of young Indian women with degrees (from 22 to 75 per cent). These patterns mean that the level of variation in attainment that exists between sex and ethnicity groups has fallen.
Large attainment gaps persist
The pace of educational attainment growth has more than halved since the turn of the century, and this slowdown has been widely spread.
This slowdown matters because educational attainment growth can deliver higher living standards – and cannot be dismissed as simply the result of migration or skills saturation
Skill shortage roles that are migrant reliant and pay below proposed salary thresholds indicate where further skills demand may emerge post-Brexit: The fact that these 1.4 million migrants work under conditions that would fail to pass proposed migration rules does not imply that they would be lost were the proposed migration policy changes to be implemented, and the possibilities of adjusting to a different migration regime should not be understated.
Employers are also suppliers of skills, but work-related training has long been directed away from lower-qualified staff, including those whom employers think lack necessary skills. For instance during 2016-18, 22-64 year olds with Master’s degrees were almost three times as likely to report having recently received work-related training as their counterparts with qualifications below GCSE A*-C-equivalent levels.

Essay mills

The Education Secretary Damian Hinds has called on online platforms to help tackle the use of essay writing services used by students as university. Damian Hinds has challenged PayPal to stop processing payments for ‘essay mills’ as part of an “accelerated drive to preserve and champion the quality of the UK’s world-leading higher education system”. The Government states that technology giants such as Google and YouTube have responded to these calls and are taking steps to remove hundreds of advertisements for essay writing services and promotional content from their sites.

Damian Hinds said: Sadly there have always been some people who opt for the easy way and the internet has seen a black market in essay writing services spring up. However, no matter how easy it is to access these services now, it doesn’t change the fact that this is cheating, and students must understand it is unacceptable.
Universities Minister Chris Skidmore said: Developing your knowledge and applying it at a high standard is at the very core of a university education, but these essay writing companies and the students paying for these services are undermining the foundations that our HE system is built upon.

The press release also reaffirms that department will be publishing an Education Technology strategy this spring to help the industry tackle some of the key challenges facing the education sector. This will include encouraging tech companies to identify how anti-cheating software can tackle the growth of essay mills and stay one step ahead of the cheats.

The FT have an article here:

The qualification has a cost (fees, living costs, the cost of debt and the academic labour to acquire it), and an expected value in the labour market. If the individual realises he or she can’t perform the labour, they buy it. Their qualification is a kind of forgery that is very difficult to spot — a “prime fakement”.
So how many people are cheating? Cuckoo essays are hard to measure, because most of the contracts are privately arranged between companies and individuals. The businesses advertise on social media — YouTube has deleted adverts for these services — and even, in one case, on the London Underground.
…Historically, the authorities came down brutally on forgery, even for what now seem like minor instances of coin clipping. The fear was that such practices had the capacity to undermine the entire monetary system. Forgery has a natural inflationary risk, threatening to dilute the value of money, which threatens those who have already hoarded it. When too many prime fakements are exposed, there is a risk that trust in the real thing also disappears. At that point, no one will accept it as collateral any more.

Lifelong learning

The Independent Commission on Lifelong Learning, convened by the Liberal Democrats, have published a report on Personal Education and Skills Accounts. The full report and full list of recommendations can be viewed here.

This report sets out a vision for a culture of all-age learning in England, at the centre of which is a nationally available Personal Education and Skills Account (PESA). The report proposes that PESA would be an account opened at the age of 18 for adults in England, topped up with government funding, to help access learning and training opportunities throughout life. The committee state their belief that PESAs would widen access to adult learning and transform the landscape of post-18 education while putting the further education and skills sectors on a more sustainable financial footing.

The government will make three contributions to the accounts, each worth £3,000, when the account holder turns 25, 40 and 55.
Account holders and their employers will also be able to make payments into the accounts. This will be incentivised by government offering tax relief and/or match-funding on contributions made by account holders.
From the age of 25 onwards, account holders will be able to use money saved in the accounts to pay for education and training courses which are delivered through accredited providers.
Accounts will remain open and available to account holders throughout their life.

Association of College’s Chief Executive, David Hughes, who sits on the Commission said: “This is a timely and helpful report as the consensus grows from all parts of Westminster and from business that the time has finally come to rebalance the provision of education and skills to create a truly world class post-18 education system. As our country’s skills gaps widen further, and as the world of work continues to change at such a rapid pace, it is right that people are given more control and agency over their training and learning at all stages of their lives – Personal Education and Skills Accounts have the potential to play an important role in this.”

A Universities UK spokesperson said: “We welcome this independent report which highlights the economic, social and health benefits of continuing in education. It makes an important contribution to the debate on how we can continue to develop the highly skilled workforce our country needs. Anyone with the potential to benefit from doing so should have the opportunity to continue their education, regardless of background, circumstance or age.

Brexit

It’s all about process now. And process, the order in which things happen and the timing, will determine the outcome – with no deal exit on 29^th March still at least technically the default and no deal exit on or before 11^th April still (as at the time of writing) the most likely result.

The final agreement reached in Brussels
You might want to read the House of Commons Library FAQs on extending Article 50.
The PM’s incendiary statement from Wednesday night is here.
The slightly less incendiary one in Brussels late on Thursday is here
The detail of the offer from the EU (much more conciliatory than had been predicted) is here
Prospect have a fascinating article on what needs to happen AFTER the MV vote is passed (if it is) and why there are still plenty of things that can wrong

So what happens now? To take advantage of the EU unconditional offer of an extension to April 12th (the last date for calling EU elections), Parliament doesn’t need to approve the withdrawal agreement but does need to agree to change the current exit date by passing a statutory instrument. The motion for this is planned for Monday. Note in the letter to the EU the UK government have agreed to the extension. The longer extension to 22 May offered by the EU applies if Parliament approves the withdrawal agreement before 29^th March.

These are much gentler terms than were predicted. But it isn’t just kicking the can down the road. There will have to be a majority in Parliament “for” something this time – i.e. either “for” the withdrawal agreement or “for” the extension of the exit date. And it all depends on the motions filed by the government and amendments made. But if MV 3 is rejected, we will be in exactly the same position as we are now, for another two weeks.

This could change if there is:

an amendment to one of next week’s motions on indicative votes, which is passed, and then
one of the indicative votes is passed that requires a long extension (like a renegotiation of the deal to make it softer or a plan to have a second referendum), and then
MPs vote for a long extension to implement that.

Right now it looks as if (a) might happen but not (b) or (c). so we’d be back to no deal unless the mood music changes (partly because of attempts to get (b) and (c) through), so that MV4 finally passes before 12^th April – but there is also another way – the PM said she didn’t know what would happen if the withdrawal agreement was rejected again and it would be “up to the House”. It seems options are being explored on what that might look like. See this BBC article.

Remember the big thing that a week ago was going to get the deal through – Geoffrey Cox was going to change his legal advice and persuade the DUP? That hasn’t happened and no-one is talking about it anymore.

In an interesting development on Friday morning, Kwasi Kwarteng MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for DExEU) said that he expected that there might be a free vote on some things (but not the meaningful vote). Free votes really would make a difference to the arithmetic – but they may only get them on the indicative votes.

And those of you wondering why the Speaker’s rule about not bringing the withdrawal agreement back isn’t getting in the way of all this? Of course the latest EU offer and their own approval of the agreement makes it all different now.

A government motion on extension filed for Monday refers to the PM’s statement about extension on 15th March– things have changed since then. Amendments text on twitter:

It’s all very complicated, but essentially the most likely outcome (unless there is a major change over the weekend) still appears to be no deal, either on 29^th or, if as expected, the extension is passed, on 12^th April.

Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology

We hosted POST at BU a couple of weeks ago, to discuss policy impact, and some good conversations were held on the day and since. This is a reminder that the POST work plan provides further opportunities for staff to engage with the Parliamentary agenda. Click on the links to learn more.

Biology and health

In production:

Advances in cancer treatment
Alternatives to plastic food packaging
Causes of obesity
Climate change and vector-borne disease
Outward medical tourism

Scheduled:

Blockchain technology in the food chain
Industry influence on public health policy
Researching gambling

Energy and environment

In production:

Adaptation and mitigation in agriculture
Assessing and restoring soil microbiomes
Climate change and fisheries
Climate change and wildfire frequency
Developments in wind power
Environmental gain
Food waste
Natural hazard risk assessment

Scheduled:

Insect population decline

Physical sciences and ICT

In production:

Integrating health and social care
Key EU space programmes
Online safety education for young people

Scheduled:

Civilian drones

Social sciences

In production:

Approaches to reducing violent crime, focusing on early interventions
Integrating health and social care
Research glossary

Scheduled:

Improving eyewitness testimony

That’s a wrap – Full-time SUBU officer elections 2019

Sophie Bradfield from SUBU brings us her latest update – this time looking at democracy in action in SUBU.

In spring each year, Students’ Unions around the country run elections across-campus for current students to run for and elect their full-time representatives for the next academic year. These representatives are called Full-Time Union Officers (sometimes referred to as Sabbaticals) and they lead the direction of the Students’ Union, representing and championing the collective student voice. Requirements for electing Full-Time Union Officers are set out in the Education Act 1994 as well as the Union Constitution and By-laws and are usually carried out using an online voting system.

Elections for SUBU’s Full-Time Union Officers (FTOs), wrapped up on Thursday at 5pm after a week of creative campaigns from the 26 students running for election, reaching out to fellow students at BU.

There are 5 full-time paid positions and the new officers will take up their positions in June. Each role has a different remit reflecting different areas of the student experience covering: the academic experience, student welfare, extra-curricular activities, sustainability, volunteering, democracy, the student voice and much more. These roles are: President; Vice President Activities; Vice President Community; Vice President Education; and Vice President Welfare & Equal Opportunities. Officers work closely with fellow students, Union and University staff to deliver projects, campaigns and create or enact policies to improve the student experience at BU and nationally across the Higher Education sector.

Student candidates campaign for these positions on a 300 word manifesto (you can read them here), setting out their pledges which they hope to achieve if elected. Elected Full-Time Union Officers work on achieving their manifesto aims which students have voted for, as well as representing the collective student voice, for example at University meetings. FTOs act on student feedback throughout the year and SUBU collects student feedback to shape work through a number of methods, ensuring SUBU is led and driven by students. For example the student representation system collects feedback through a tool called SimOn and SUBU receives around 10,000 individual comments a year (which we also report to relevant services in the University). We also receive student feedback through meetings, committees, forums, surveys and focus groups.

Full-Time Officers are accountable to the student body that elected them and termly general meetings are held (called Big Student Meetings) for students to hear reports from their elected officers and ask questions. Big Student Meetings are also a time for students to put forward policy ideas and vote on or reject policies and this then becomes mandated work for Officers and the Students’ Union. A quorum of 100 students is required at a General Meeting for the policies passed to be valid. This ensures decisions are made by the collective student voice.

SUBU’s current FTOs will be in place until June. You can watch a livestream of the results for next academic year’s team on the SUBU Bournemouth Facebook from 7pm in Friday.

Consultations

Click here to view the updated consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.

Other news

The EU have reached “partial” agreement on Horizon Europe, the 2021-27 replacement for H2020, according to Research Professional.

The following day, the League of European Research Universities hailed the EU institutions’ “very impressive” work and said it approved of the content of the programme “on the basis of a first analysis”. Leru praised the decision to use more ring-fenced funding to increase the involvement of researchers in low-participation countries, rather than programme-wide targets.
But Leru’s secretary-general Kurt Deketelaere warned that unresolved issues such as the programme’s rules of association for non-EU countries should be agreed “as soon as possible”. He cautioned that the agreement will be subject to final approval by a new legislature and administration after the European elections in May. “Let’s hope that the next Parliament and Commission don’t feel the urge to reconsider substantial parts of this partial political agreement,” he said.
Markus Beyrer, the director-general of the industry lobby group BusinessEurope, welcomed the agreement but warned that subsequent negotiations on the budget would be “tough”. He and Leru called on the EU to ensure that at least €120 billion is devoted to Horizon Europe, rather than the €83.5bn in 2018 prices proposed by the Commission.

The Welsh Government has launched a Degree Apprenticeship Scheme, supported by £20m of funding. The university-run scheme will be fully funded by the Welsh Government, with all students’ fees paid for. Courses will be available in key sectors for economic growth identified by the Welsh Government, including IT, Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing.

The House of Commons library has issued a summary of funding for adult further education since 2010 and a summary of funding for 16-19 education since 2010.

Closing the gap, published by The Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation and The King’s Fund says that the Government should introduce grants for student nurses if they want to reduce the workforce shortfall.

Shakira Martin has a guest blog on HEPI on widening participation

“What we need is greater investment in student support, with students able to expect to receive a minimum living income. We need maintenance grants, EMA and nursing bursaries and an apprenticeship minimum wage that’s at the level of a living wage. But it won’t be enough to increase student income alone, because doing so causes multiple generations to face increasingly unmanageable debts. How can we expect to improve social mobility when the money from the debts of the poorest students ends up back in the pockets of those already up at the top of the ladder? That is why we also need to see creative initiatives such as accommodation subsidies introduced for low-income students, private landlords halving rent on accommodation over the summer and discount cards for 50 per cent reductions on train fares and cheaper and better bus services. To make these dreams a reality we need the Government to step up and deliver for students by delivering greater investment in early years education and significant investment in IAG for students.”

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March 21, 2019

FM Food and Health research team awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Seal of Excellence

BU research, EU, Fusion themes, Impact Natalia Lavrushkina

The Food and Health research team in the Faculty of Management are delighted that their research into encouraging consumption of plant based dishes has been recognised by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions ‘Seal of Excellence’.

Their research VeggiEAT and Veg+ has led the way to providing an evidence based body of activity of which VegMAX was part. Plant based eating leads to a large net economic gain for society, as well as improved health outcomes for the population.

We are thrilled and proud with this recognition.

March 18, 2019

CANDIDA YATES APPOINTED AS FOUNDING SCHOLAR OF THE BRITISH PSYCHOANALYTIC COUNCIL

humanities, Impact, Research news, Uncategorized Brian McNulty

Candida Yates has been appointed a Founding Scholar of the British Psychoanalytic Council. This is in recognition of her significant contribution to academic research in the area and beyond. The BPC is the professional registration body for the UK’s leading psychoanalytical practitioners. Up until recently, affiliations were open solely to qualified clinicians trained in the practice of psychoanalysis, psychoanalytical psychotherapy, and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

This newly created category expands the BPC’s purview by recognising the enormous contribution that academics and scholars have made to the study of psychoanalysis through research and publication. Being a Founding Scholar can open up further opportunities for debate, collaboration and knowledge exchange between the BPC, academia and beyond. The launch event was held at the Freud Museum in London on 21st February 2019.

As a Founding Scholar, Candida has now been invited to join the new organising committee for BPC Scholars to shape this new and exciting association going forward. She has also been invited to join the Editorial board of their members magazine ‘New Associations’: https://www.bpc.org.uk/new-associations.

March 18, 2019

HE policy update for the w/e 15th March 2019

EU, Funding opportunities, Impact, Industry collaboration, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, policy, Public engagement, Research news, Student Engagement jforster

A lively week in Westminster although not much specifically for HE – the Spring Statement had a few good news stories for us, although it’s all provisional because of Brexit, and of course that is the real story of the week. In fact not much has changed, the end result of the votes is as expected i.e. Parliament still didn’t want the deal as it stood, doesn’t want no deal and realises an extension is inevitable. No change there then. And there is some actual HE policy news too…

A big week for the KEF?

It was the closing date for the Research England consultation on the KEF metrics and reporting this week – you can read BU’s response here. Research England reported that they had received more than 150 responses to the consultation.

Spring Statement

Here’s a Treasury summary of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement. You can read more detail here.

In HE specific news, Brexit permitting, the comprehensive spending review will start before the Summer recess and complete in the Autumn, and Augar “will report shortly”. [Chris Skidmore told parliament this week that there had been more than 400 responses to the call for evidence for the Augar review]

PHD level roles will be completely exempt from the visa cap:
“research institutes and innovating businesses will benefit from an exemption for PhD-level occupations from the cap on high-skilled visas from this autumn. Overseas research activity will also count as residence in the UK for the purpose of applying for settlement, meaning researchers will no longer be unfairly penalised for time spent overseas conducting vital fieldwork”
“Apprenticeship Levy – Budget 2018 announced that the co-investment rate will be halved from 10% to 5%, and the amount employers can transfer to their supply chains would increase to 25%. These changes will now take effect from April 2019.”
“International Education Strategy – A strategy, to be launched by the Departments for Education and for International Trade, which will help to strengthen our position at the forefront of global education.”
“International Research and Innovation Strategy – A strategy setting out the government’s ambition to ensure the UK retains its place as a global partner of choice for science and innovation collaboration. As a first step in implementing this, the government has launched an independent review to assess and make recommendations on our future frameworks for international collaboration.”
Science and technology investment:
Today, I am allocating over £200 million in cutting-edge infrastructure to support our world-leading scientists, innovators and industry. These investments, which underpin the government’s ambition to raise economy-wide investment in R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027 and drive progress against the Grand Challenges, such as healthy ageing and the AI and data revolution, include: Photonics – Allocating £81 million to a national Extreme Photonics Application Centre in Oxfordshire. This centre will help researchers and industry better understand the composition of new materials and how they behave in different conditions.
Bioinformatics – Investing £45 million in a critical upgrade to data storage cloud computing infrastructure at the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridgeshire, to support researchers using big data to drive genetic research. Supercomputers: Archer funding – Allocating £79 million to a new UK supercomputer (ARCHER 2) which will replace the current national high-performance computing platform (ARCHER), providing researchers with a fivefold increase in computing capacity. Joint European Torus (JET) Funding (Fusion) – Setting aside up to £60 million to confirm funding is guaranteed for the facility over 2019/20

Meanwhile, ahead of Augar, 50 per cent of students have reported that they struggle to pay rent, according to the 2019 National Student Accommodation Survey.

This year, 1 in 2 students (50%) say they struggle to pay rent. This is a staggering number – yet the consequences are even more concerning.
Almost two-thirds of you (63%) say the cost of accommodation negatively affects your mental health. More than a third add that money worries affect their studies. Again, these figures are higher than a year ago.
The average student rent is £125/week (£541/month). Hang on to your hats: that’s less than last year.
In a blow for affordability, we’ve found that almost half of the UK has average rents higher than the Maintenance Loan on offer. In other words, once you’ve paid rent, you might not have enough left to pay for food or bills.

The House of Commons library issued a briefing paper – the background in 7 charts

And the Office for Budget Responsibility (the OBR) has issued reports and updates alongside the Statement.

Access and Participation

The OfS have published an A-Z of effective practice for universities and colleges to use alongside the guidance on how to prepare access and participation plans.

And looking in more detail at recently released HESA data, David Kernohan has looked at disability on Wonkhe

We only have data on students that declare their disability to their institution – many choose not to – and we generally (at a top level) get no information on the type or severity of such disability. As legislation puts a duty on providers to make adjustments for students with disabilities before it is notified of these disabilities, it is likely that some types of disability (where significant and specific support is needed) are over-represented in these figures and that others that may be less visible are under-represented.

International Students

MillionPlus have published a report arguing for a new system for student visas, concluding that the current Tier 4 visa application system for international students is overly complex, bureaucratic, and too often arbitrary and subjective in its outcome.

From Dods: Main Criticisms:

The process can be long-winded for the applicant, as well as highly resource intensive for universities and UKVI
The current maximum rate of refusal by Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) is 10%, for all Confirmation of Acceptance of Study (CAS) issued. This system means that universities can have a major source of investment stopped owing to decisions made largely outside of their control, which severely limits institutional willingness to expand provision into potential growth markets. The logical extension of this is that universities act with enormous caution in many parts of the world, or even scale back from overseas operations in those places.
Not all credibility interviews are problematic, but therein lies part of the problem. Either there is a degree of randomness within the system throwing up poor decision making or there is some level of bias embedded within the decision-making process. Neither of these options are a good advert for this system

Therefore, the current system, they argue, is letting too many prospective international students down, and for too many universities it can bring unpredictability and limit their ability to grow in many parts of the world.

Proposals for Reform:

Provisional Visa: A potential student could apply first to UKVI, not the university. UKVI would assess their visa eligibility, based on publicly available assessment criteria as decided by the Home Office. If they are then judged to be a genuine applicant, with the means to undertake a course, they would be issued with a provisional visa (out-of-country). The applicant could then formally apply to a university. The benefits of this proposal would mean the removal of the threat of licence revocation for providers, enable growth to continue in line with government ambitions, whilst maintaining compliance standards

Streamline and Contextualise the Compliance Regime: The Home Office should firstly look to phase out the Tier 4 credibility interview process. Removing the credibility interview would remove a layer of unnecessary bureaucracy and subjectivity. The government should also have a more fundamental re-evaluation of the way it understands and measures compliance and remove some of the arbitrary and counter-productive parts of the current framework.

The 10% maximum refusal rate should also be removed, focusing instead on reasonable and proportionate enforcement designed to combat any real abuse of the system. Under such a system a university would meet at pre-set intervals with UKVI to provide information on compliance and would be assessed on all necessary measures (be they refusal rate, enrolment rate, completion rates etc.) in a more holistic and rounded way.

Conclusion:

To make the most of a post-Brexit world the UK’s Tier 4 visa application process needs to change at this point more than ever. If we can take up the challenges the UK faces and grasp the opportunities for expanding international education, we can achieve our shared aspirations to boost this critical export sector. Universities across the UK, and modern universities in particular, are perfectly placed to expand into new markets, unlock fresh potential and improve the student experience.

Part Time Distance Maintenance Loans – shelved

The intention to offer part time distance maintenance loans has been currently shelved because low numbers make the scheme economically unviable:

Q – Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to make distance-learning maintenance loans available. (LINK)

A – Chris Skidmore:

The Department for Education had forecast that 20,000 part-time maintenance loans would be issued for the 2018-19 academic year. Further information can be found in Table 2.
In January 2019, the Student Loans Company (SLC) published early in-year data on the payments of maintenance loans to part-time students domiciled in England. At the end of December 2019, 2,700 students had been paid a part-time maintenance loan. Further information can be found in Table 7F.
The number of part-time maintenance loans issued was lower than had been forecast at this point in the academic year cycle and the demand for a loan product aimed at part-time distance learners is therefore unlikely to be high enough to make the introduction of such a loan economically viable.
In light of this, I have decided not to extend maintenance loans to distance leaners in academic year 2019/20. The government remains committed to tackling the decline in part-time undergraduate higher education. In particular, the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding is considering how we can encourage learning that is more flexible, including part-time and distance learning. The review will report this year. The SLC will publish guidance relating to part-time maintenance in advance of the application process opening later this year.

Care leavers

From Dods: Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, and Universities Minister Chris Skidmore have issued a joint Written Ministerial Statement, on supporting care leavers in Higher Education. This includes a set of principles for Higher Education providers to consider in their offer to care leavers to help increase the number of students in care accessing higher education and ensure that care leavers in HE are given the support they need to succeed.

Outreach and local authority relationships: Engagement with looked after children should be a key feature of outreach work and should begin at as early an age as possible.
Accommodation support: HE providers should seek to provide priority access and continuous 365 days a year accommodation, preferably subsidised by the institution.
Financial support: HE providers should provide financial support to help with the costs of accommodation, associated study costs and access to social activities to support inclusion and a quality student experience.
Designated member of staff: HE providers should identify at least one designated member of staff to support care leavers.
Offer on website
Support networks: Loneliness and isolation are among the biggest problems reported by care leavers. Encouragement and facilitation of support networks for care leavers within the institution is therefore critical to retention.
Careers Advice.

The Department for Education has issued a press release on the need for culture change at universities. This states that the new Higher Education Principles published today set out how universities – especially the most selective and best-resourced – should do more for young people leaving care by providing them with personal support through buddy systems as well as giving them money for course materials and to fully experience student life.

Children and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: Far too many young people leaving care are missing out on opportunities that their peers take for granted. Many universities are already improving their offers to care leavers, through our Care Leaver Covenant and beyond, but I want this to become the norm – not the exception.
Universities Minister Chris Skidmore said: The access and participation work done by universities must ensure all parts of society have fair access, especially for care leavers. But a place at university is only the start and universities must also focus on supporting young people to make the most out of their course and ultimately secure employment in the future.

Brexit

Well, for any other politics geeks (sorry, policy wonks) out there it has been an exciting week. Whole families have been glued to Parliament TV – and not just mine, apparently. It was real soap opera.

And we’re all learning so much about Parliamentary procedure. It was hugely confusing.

Motions that were difficult to understand in the first place because of cross references and Parliamentary language
Amendments that made no sense on their own, and amendments to amendments.
An amendment that was withdrawn by the person who tabled it, only to be reinstated by a co-signatory (and passed)
And then of course the drama on Wednesday night when MPs amended (against the government) the motion on no deal that was meant to be a free vote for the Conservative Party, at which point the government stopped liking it after all and issued a three line whip against it. Of course this follows the muddle a few weeks ago when the government backed (and whipped members to support) the Brady amendment against its own motion
Amendments that would have allowed space for things that lots of people wanted, but did not vote for, because their party whipped against it or because “it was the wrong time” – e.g. the second referendum.
The government choosing to allow a free vote on some amendments but not others – and then not sacking people who voted or abstained in the face of a three line whip, even senior members of the Cabinet. To be fair, it does seem highly unreasonable to allow no-deal supporting Ministers a free vote, but not the Ministers who want to prevent a no deal exit. And after all the fuss and outrage about Greg Clark and the rest abstaining on Wednesday, 7 leading Brexiteer Ministers defied the whip themselves on Thursday and actually voted against the government. Oh dear.

There was an awful lot of emotion. There were rebels all over the place – only one Minister and one Shadow Minister resigned despite many more ignoring their whips in both parties. Enraged MPs are talking of the complete failure of party discipline. “Incandescent” seems to have been the word of the week, alongside “betrayal” and “chaos”.

The immensely powerful role of the Speaker has been highlighted – he gets to pick which amendments are voted on from the long lists that are submitted, and apparently could even refuse to allow a Meaningful Vote 3 next week because of a 19^th century rule that you can’t ask MPs to vote on the same motion more than once in the same session. But he’ll have to find a way round that. No matter what people think of the deal, if there is a chance of it passing it has to be given – can anyone imagine defending a system that made us leave the EU without a deal because of Parliamentary protocol? If it is voted down, that’s one thing, but refusing to have the vote would surely be bizarre.

If you are reading this on Monday it is quite possible that over the weekend the Attorney General will have changed his legal advice based on an obscure rule that someone has dragged up, that the DUP and the ERG will have found a face-saving way to back down, and the deal will be heading towards approval on 19th or 20^th March. Or else positions will have hardened. Either way, there it seems highly likely now that there will be a delay to Brexit, short or long. But as of Friday, whether we will leave with a deal or not is very much up in the air.

No wonder the Europeans think we’re mad.

So on a more positive not, our Minister, Chris Skidmore has an article in The House, Parliament’s Magazine “This Brexit deal is fantastic for science”.

It is no secret that many in the science and higher education industries had and continue to have concerns over the UK’s exit from the EU. Skidmore, who voted Remain, is optimistic about the future, but does not want Britain to take its eye off the ball.
“From my historical perspective, my concern is that we have this heads down moment looking at Brexit, but those clouds will pass, and we need to be prepared to sell a vision, to be able to implement a vision going forwards. That’s why in this role science is absolutely critical, not just in terms of making sure we put together an effective international strategy, working with our European partners and our international partners and really creating a new vision for where Britain sees its role in the world,” he says.
To crack on with addressing these issues, Skidmore has a solution; back Theresa May’s Brexit deal. “It’s fantastic for science, it’s fantastic for universities, it’s fantastic for collaboration,” he says. “At the same time, we want to then look at where we diverge. It’s those moments of diversion, it’s the opportunity to be able to work outside of structures that we’ve previously been committed to.”
Should the Prime Minister’s deal be ratified, the UK would continue to participate in the EU’s flagship programme for research and innovation, Horizon 2020, and its international mobility programme, Erasmus+. The UK is a net receiver in funding for Horizon 2020, having put in £4bn and received £5.7bn back.
“So, when people talk about the £39bn being some kind of gift to the EU, it’s not,” Skidmore says about the so-called divorce bill. “A significant proportion of that money covers my brief, and I’m keen to demonstrate and communicate the continued value of why we need to do these things.”
But there is uncertainty about the UK’s continued participation in the follow up programmes after 2020. The Government’s mission, Skidmore continues, is to associate to Horizon Europe, the successor to Horizon 2020. Negotiations for associate membership (the UK will no longer be full members after Brexit) will begin later this year.
In a bid to diversify investment streams, Skidmore announces plans to review establishing a new international fund for research. The Government has asked Sir Adrian Smith, the director of the Alan Turing institute, to look at how the fund would work in practice. The consultation would involve national academies, UK Research and Innovation and the science community. Skidmore says the fund could help Britain meet its pledge to spend 2.4% of GDP on research and development by 2027. “We know that our reputation for research and our tertiary education brand is incredibly strong – we need to strengthen it. So, these funds I see supplementing our opportunity to associate with Horizon Europe,” he says. Skidmore is also hopeful of receiving a “good deal for science” at the upcoming spending review.
From his talks with European counterparts, Skidmore believes there is a “genuine degree of warmth” towards the UK’s continuation in the follow up programmes to Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+. “The question will be with a new Horizon Europe programme and new regulations, is there a new form of association. Part of the future political declaration, I’m really keen to explore how can we create the closest possible links,” he answers.
…The Government has sought to reduce uncertainty over no-deal by pledging to underwrite funding for UK participants in Erasmus and Horizon projects until the end of 2020. Skidmore has written to fellow EU ministers outlining the UK’s guarantees. But in a no deal Brexit, firms would not be eligible to receive money from three of the EU’s major funding programmes; the European Research Council, Marie Sklodowska-Curie and SME Instrument Grants, which account for 44% of the total EU science money Britain receives.
“I’m continuing to work with the Treasury to be in contact with them about sort of what mitigating opportunities there will be,” Skidmore says. “I’ve been open and honest about that and partly some of the work we want to take forward with Adrian Smith on the international fund is what is a replacement to the ERC.” No deal would be “very difficult” for the science community, Skidmore concedes. But he has faith in the Government’s preparedness for the scenario – he has spent the morning passing statutory instruments before we meet – and once more champions the PM’s Brexit agreement.
…Beyond funding, concerns in the science and higher education industry centre on access to talent and the continued flow of researchers into the UK. ..Skidmore points to recent UCAS application figures showing a record number (63,690) of students from outside the EU applying to UK institutions this year, an increase of 9%. He also highlights the latest QS World University statistics, with the UK in first place in 13 out of 48 subject rankings, three higher than a year earlier.
“I don’t want there to be a corrosive effect where people start talking down the UK and that makes the international assumptions that somehow there is a problem here. We are investing more money than ever before in science, research and development, more than the last 40 years. An extra £7bn has gone in between 2016 and 2021,” he says.
Turning to the immigration white paper, Skidmore says the Government must “allow for mobility in the science sector”. Is he calling for workers to be given a special status? “Well, it’s whether you have a special status or whether you look at the salary cap,” he says, referring to the proposed £30,000 immigrant salary threshold. “If there is anything to be taken away from this, it’s to make sure that we keep the UK in a place where we are competing against China, Canada and Australia for student places.”

In the meantime, no deal preparations are continuing. On Wednesday by 3pm I had received 51 Brexit e-mails from the government….

The government has set out its approach to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 29 March.

Today we are confirming a strictly unilateral, temporary approach to checks, processes and tariffs in Northern Ireland. …The UK government would not introduce any new checks or controls on goods at the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, including no customs requirements for nearly all goods.
The UK temporary import tariff announced today would therefore not apply to goods crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland. We would only apply a small number of measures strictly necessary to comply with international legal obligations, protect the biosecurity of the island of Ireland, or to avoid the highest risks to Northern Ireland businesses – but these measures would not require checks at the border.

In preparation for the no-deal scenario, the government have announced their plans for tariffs that would apply. The government has announced that most imports into the UK would not attract a tariff in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The BBC cover the story (Industry bodies and businesses are still poring over the 1,477-page document which outlines the new plan)

Under a temporary scheme 87% of imports by value would be eligible for zero-tariff access. At the moment 80% of imports are tariff free.
Tariffs would be maintained to protect some industries, including agriculture. Beef, lamb, poultry and some dairy products would receive protection.
A tariff is a tax applied to goods that are traded on international markets. In the great majority of cases, tariffs are applied to imported goods by the country importing them. But there can also be tariffs on exported goods.
…The new tariff regime would mark a shift in favour of products from non-EU countries. It would mean 82% of imports from the EU would be tariff-free, down from 100% now.
92% percent of imports from the rest of the world would pay no border duty, up from 56%.
…Imports of cars from the EU will have a tariff of 10% applied, which would add £1,500 to a typical family car.
…The National Farmers’ Union President, Minette Batters, said that eggs, cereals, fruit and vegetables would not receive any protection under the plans. The plans would see the current tariff rate on oranges cut from 16% to 0%, the rate for onions down from 9.6% to 0% and the tariff on imported televisions down from 14% to 0%.

The British Chamber of Commerce said:

“If the tariffs announced today were to come into effect, there would be winners and losers across UK industry overnight. The abruptness of changes to tariff rates in the event of a no-deal exit from the EU would be an unwelcome shock to many of the businesses affected.
“If the government were to bring these tariffs into effect on March 30, the move would also have the potential to cede negotiating leverage in future trade talks.
“While ministers have clearly listened to our arguments and maintained targeted protection in some areas, overall there has not been enough consultation, preparation or planning to support the firms and communities that could find themselves at the end of a sudden shift in tariffs. As MPs vote tonight, this is yet another reason why they must act to avoid a messy and disorderly exit from the EU on March 29.”

Other news

T levels: text This House of Commons Library briefing paper is a great catch up on the T levels basics. The executive summary follows (or to read in full click this link then scroll to the bottom of the page for the PDF download link). Under the reforms, a new technical education option will be created to sit alongside the academic option (e.g. A Levels and a degree). The technical option will comprise 15 routes based around occupations with shared training requirements. Some routes will be further sub-divided, with closely-related occupations grouped together into pathways.

The technical option will be delivered by a combination of college-based education and apprenticeships, with four of the 15 routes delivered primarily through apprenticeships.

New level 3 study programmes – T Levels – will be created to sit at the start of technical routes (apart from the four apprenticeship only routes), with a T Level for each pathway (i.e. some routes will have more than one T Level). They will be primarily aimed at 16 year olds. The Government intends to develop a ‘transition year’ for those students who are not ready to start a T Level at age 16, but who could achieve one by age 19.

T Levels will be equivalent to a 3 A Level programmes and will, on average, consist of 1800 hours studied full-time over two years – around 50% more than the average 16-19 study programme at present. They will all follow the same broad framework and will consist of five components:

A technical qualification
An industry placement with an employer of between 45 and 60 days
Maths, English and digital requirements
Any other occupation-specific requirements/qualifications (e.g. a license to practise).
Any further employability, enrichment and pastoral provision.

Three T Levels within the construction, digital, and education and childcare routes will be delivered at small number of providers from September 2020. A further seven T Levels will be available from September 2021, with the reminder rolled out from September 2022 onwards. The Government’s current aim is for all T Levels to be introduced by September 2023.

T Levels will not be available in all subjects where level 3 qualifications exist. The Government has stated that it will carry out a review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below (excluding A Levels and GCSEs), with the aim of simplifying the current qualification landscape.

It is intended that the technical option will extend from T Levels up to higher skill levels, and the Government is currently conducting a review looking at how technical qualifications at level four and five can better meet the needs of learners.

Professor Julia Buckingham CBE elected next President of Universities UK. Professor Julia Buckingham CBE, Vice-Chancellor and President of Brunel University London, has today been elected as the next President of Universities UK following a ballot of Universities UK’s members. She will succeed the current President, Professor Dame Janet Beer DBE, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, from 1 August 2019 and will hold the post for two years. Please find more information here.

Defence recruit STEM grads: STEM graduates are targeted in a new Ministry of Defence initiative. Mark Lancaster, Defence Minister, issued a written statement outlining the new recruitment campaign. He stated:

In an increasingly complex and technologically driven world, the need for talented individuals with a wide variety of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills has never been greater. They will be central to developing, maintaining and exploiting our current and future military capabilities, to help Defence stay at the leading edge of technological change. Through their contribution to innovation and experimentation, to harness new technologies, we will be better prepared to meet the challenges and threats of today and tomorrow.
Defence has been reviewing its STEM graduate requirement and will put in place a new, targeted scheme to recruit undergraduates in related subjects; the STEM Graduate Inflow Scheme (SGIS). This scheme has been designed to significantly increase the number of STEM graduates brought into Defence and the variety of STEM disciplines they are from. It will be open to undergraduates across all UK Universities and be supported by a competitive financial package. The new scheme will also be more flexible and enable Defence to adapt quickly to future changes in requirement.
The new scheme will replace the current Defence Technical Officer and Engineer Entry Scheme…Defence needs to increase numbers well beyond the current scheme’s ability to deliver, and it needs to be more responsive and agile to succeed in an increasingly competitive market for STEM graduates in the UK and globally.

Transition from the current arrangements to the new STEM Graduate Inflow Scheme will take place incrementally over a 5-year period.

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March 14, 2019

Research Data Management Workshop 27th March 2019 2-4pm

data management, Events, Impact, open access imarsland

With many institutions and funders now requiring researchers to publish and share data generated from research projects, data management is becoming an increasingly important part of the research process. To help colleagues learn more about how to manage and share their research data, Library and Learning Support will be running a workshop on the 27^th of March 2-4pm.

The workshop will cover the following topics:

The data lifecycle
How to create a data management plan
How to document and license your data for re-use
How to archive and share your data by depositing it in BORDaR

Details about how to book a place on this session can be found here

March 11, 2019

BU Undergrads present work in Parliament

BU research, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication, Research news, Student Engagement, student research mgouthro

Two Bournemouth University students, Matthew Dray and Amelia (Mimi) Simpson have presented their undergraduate research in Parliament last week, to parliamentarians, policy makers and fellow undergraduates at the annual ‘Posters in Parliament’ 2019 event.

This year’s event was organised by the University of Sussex and showcased more than 50 undergraduate students from around the UK. Now in its sixth year, BU has participated from the start. The annual event is an exhibition to allow MPs and policy makers learn more about the innovative undergraduate research being undertaken in various disciplines by undergraduates from a number of institutions. Other uni’s participating on the day were: Aberdeen, LSE, UCL, King’s College London, Newcastle, Nottingham Trent, Exeter, Plymouth, Sheffield, Reading and Portsmouth, etc.

Matthew Dray, a BSc (Hons) Computing student in Faculty of Science & Technology presented his research on IoT (The Internet of Things)-Enabled Landslide Monitoring System. Under the guidance of his tutor Dr Marios Angelopoulos, Matt offers up an innovative landslide monitoring system that combines state-of-the art Internet of Things and Data Analytics and an intuitive front end interface, with the main emphasis of his work on the latter. In collaboration with Bournemouth Borough Council, a pilot of the system has been deployed at East Cliff landslide. Matt says ‘the system was able to provide local authorities with a new means of efficient and remote monitoring, whilst also being a cost effective solution’. Speaking about taking part in Posters in Parliament, Matt said ‘it was an amazing experience to be apart of and was an honour to co-represent Bournemouth University at the event, even more so to be shortlisted for an award’.

‘It was great to see what other research was being done around the country and to hear about that research from other passionate students, and to talk to other students and MP’s about my own project and get their thoughts’. Matt found the experience to be an beneficial one, ‘I found it both educational and beneficial to me, and allowed me to develop key skills both professionally and personally’.

Mimi Simpson, a BA (Hons) Advertising student in Faculty of Media & Communication, shared her research on how Generation Y mothers participate in Online Mothering Communities (OMCs) as a Platform for Breastfeeding Information and Support.

‘My research developed from UNICEF declaring that improving breastfeeding rates was a national priority. As an Advertising student, I was interested in the influence that Facebook communities have on supporting and advising breastfeeding mothers. The research concluded that participating mothers have a more successful breastfeeding experience when supported by life-experienced mothers in social media communities’. Mimi also expressed the benefit of taking part in the event on the day ‘Speaking to other academics at Posters in Parliament helped me in considering future lines of research, specifically in the role social media communities play in supporting other medical areas and needs’.

Both Matt and Mimi will be presenting their research at the upcoming SURE 2019 conference in Fusion Building on March 20th. More information about BU’s undergraduate research conference can be found on the SURE website. Staff and students are welcome to take in the conference March 20th building and can book free tickets via Eventbrite.

Posters in Parliament is the prescursor event to the national BCUR 2019 conference, this year being held at University of South Wales, where a number of BU undergrads across all faculties are due to present and share their leading research.

March 8, 2019

Anatomical Society – grants for public engagement and outreach

Funding opportunities, Impact, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

The Anatomical Society are offering grants of up to £500 to support public engagement and outreach activities in the field of Anatomy.

These grants aim to

Ignite curiosity in young and old audiences about the anatomy of humans and animals.
Stimulate Anatomists to share their stories, passion and expertise in innovative ways with wider audiences, particularly those that are traditionally hard to reach
Increase dialogue between researchers and the public, in particular on topics such as the animal research and the relevance of such research to health and medicine.
Support primary, secondary, and tertiary teaching through linking schools with academics experts
Stimulate an interest in Anatomy and Anatomy teaching

Eligibility

Applicants must be members who have been elected to membership by Council for at least a year.

Deadlines

Funding is awarded six times per year, with the following deadlines. You may only apply once per year.

Wednesday 17 April
Friday 7 June
Thursday 5 September

Further information and examples of previous successful activities.

If you would like advice on planning an activity or submitting your application, contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).

March 6, 2019

Public engagement grants from the British Pharmacological Society

Funding opportunities, Impact, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

The British Pharmacological Society are offering public engagement grants to support innovative pharmacology outreach and public engagement activities. To be eligible you must have been a British Pharmacological Society member for at least 12 months.

There are two types of grant;

Main grants of up to £1,500 – this scheme is run once annually – you have until 30 April to apply.
Seeding grants of up to £250 – this scheme is open all year round.

Find out more and apply.

If you would like advice on planning an activity or submitting your application, contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).

March 6, 2019

‘Curiosity’ funding from Wellcome and Children in Need

Funding opportunities, Impact, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

‘Curiosity’ provides funding for organisations who want to run exciting and engaging science activities aimed at disadvantaged children and young people. Working and thinking in scientific ways can help them gain confidence and develop life skills, and spark their curiosity in science.

It is a partnership between BBC Children in Need and Wellcome.

Level of funding:

Up to £10,000 a year for a small award. Up to £40,000 a year for a large award.

Duration of funding:

Up to 3 years

Deadline:

12 April 2019

Find out more and apply.

If you have any questions, please contact BBC Children in Need. If you would like advice on planning an activity or submitting your application, contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).

March 6, 2019

Outreach grants for promoting molecular bioscience – deadline Tues 9 April

Funding opportunities, Impact, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

The Biochemical Society are offering grants of up to £1,000 to support scientific outreach activities that communicate the excitement of molecular bioscience to young people and the community.

Grants are intended to assist with the direct costs associated with an event and expenses incurred (e.g. transport and/or teacher cover).

There are two round of applications per year, in September and April.

Applications for the current round are now open – deadline Tuesday 9 April 2019.

Stuck for ideas? Read about the work of previous outreach grant recipients.

Find out more and apply now.

If you would like advice on planning an event or submitting your application, contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).

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Part Time Distance Maintenance Loans – shelved

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