BU Research Blog

5 October 2015

Innovate UK and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) are to invest up to £580,000 in technical feasibility studies to stimulate innovation throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC) while focusing on the verification and validation* (V&V) of two classes of complex systems: cyber physical systems (CPS) and systems with emergent behaviours.

This competition encourages businesses to develop appropriate ‘links’ between the behaviour of a system in the physical world and the software implementing its planned interactions. It also seeks to stimulate development of new engineering methods for systems in which a machine – rather than a human user or operator – drives the decision- making process. Such systems can be trained to recognise complex patterns and to make intelligent decisions based on existing data. They are starting to be used in sectors such as automated and autonomous vehicles, and robotics and autonomous systems (RAS). Our aim is to ensure that small and micro businesses in the UK further develop their early capabilities in this area.

Projects are open to companies of any size, but must be led by a small or micro company, working in collaboration with one or more business or research partners.

View all details.

1 October 2015

Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) – latest calls

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer jcodling

The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) is a well established process to connect public sector challenges with innovative ideas from industry, supporting companies to generate economic growth and enabling improvement in achieving government objectives.

SBRI provides innovative solutions to challenges faced by the public sector, leading to better public services and improved efficiency and effectiveness. It generates new business opportunities for companies, provides small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a route to market for their ideas and bridges the seed funding gap experienced by many early stage companies. It supports economic growth and enables the development of innovative products and services through the public procurement of research and development (R&D).

The following is the list of recently opened & upcoming SBRI funding competitions.

14 September 2015

Systematic review training to dentistry students at Kantipur Dental College, Nepal

Knowledge Transfer, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Last week I was invited by a Nepalese colleague to do an introductory lecture on systematic reviews. We have conducting various training sessions over the years in Nepal (with BU Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada) and in the UK. At Bournemouth University Prof. Vanora Hundley and I have conducted several two-day Master Classes over the past few years we are currently preparing for the next one in early 2016 (15-16 Feb.).

This morning I run this introductory session at Kantipur Dental College in Kathmandu. The session resulted in an interesting set of questions and comments from both staff and students.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

3 September 2015

Fusion co-creation project involving BU students and partners in Kosovo: rethinking post-war reconciliation via ‘gaming’ technology

Awarded & submitted bids, Festival of Learning, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Research themes sssievers

In post-war societies such as in the Western Balkans, war monuments may serve to preserve a single narrative of the past. Sometime the intention is to shape future generations’ understanding of conflict, thereby perpetuating militant potentials and societal divisions. But how do young visitors really experience such war monuments? Our fusion-funded project aims to foster conflict transformation (reconciliation) by facilitating young people’s engagement with a plurality of narratives while simultaneously nurturing empathy and recognition of the cultural heritage of war via contemporary gaming technology.

BU’s fusion approach encouraged me, a Balkan specialist and social anthropologist, to seek collaboration across faculties with Dr Avital Biran (‘dark tourism’/FM); Dr Melanie Klinkner (‘transitional justice’/ FMC); and Assoc. Prof. Feng Tian (‘gaming’/ FST). The new fusion-funded project is directly related to our Conflict Transformation Studies Team’s contribution to a major European Union Horizon 2020 bid: a working package on enhancing visitors’ perception and consumption of memorials via gamification, submitted in May 2015 (Reflective Societies, RED 8756).

The team presented its overarching research concept at BU’s Interdisciplinary Week on 12 May with our interactive session on Transforming conflict after war: memory, heritage and digital media. With support of two consecutive Undergraduate Research Assistants, a social anthropological spin-off exercise entitled Reconciliation-in-Practice was then conducted at the Festival of Learning. During the sessions, to which also Wendy Cutts (FHSS) contributed, we challenged participants’ assumptions about the ease with which reconciliation expectations can be exported to countries of Western geo-political interest after war and conflict.

This fusion-funded sequel aims to co-opt interested student from different disciplines into the process of story line development and game design based on post-war memory at selected sites in Kosovo. As part of FiF strand Co-creation and Co-production, collaborations will not just include students and staff from BU’s four faculties but also external stakeholders in post-war Kosovo. We hope to include local students and colleagues of University of Prishtina, Human Rights activists, the British Council, site managers and artists.

Pending ethics approval and faculty support, our aim is – with help of the creative abilities of all involved students and partners – to explore the potentials of ‘gaming’ for education and enhancing visitors’ experience at heritage sites. We plan to, firstly, research the challenges associated with contested memorials in Kosovo; secondly, develop ideas for a story-line for gaming to promote tolerance and understanding; thirdly, explore the possibilities of designing a ‘serious game’; and, finally, under the leadership of Feng Tian, devise a Game Development Document (GDD) which may serve as a blue print for the application of gaming at post-conflict sites.

Dr Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
sssievers@bournemouth.ac.uk

24 August 2015

Fancy working on a project with the RNLI?

HEIF, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer jcodling

Following recent HEIF funding, this project aims to develop an alternative solution by simulating and visualising the lifeboat launching with unmanned vehicles in an immersive virtual environment. Working with staff members at the RNLI and located within The National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) at Bournemouth University this role will offer an exciting opportunity to join the NCCA’s research team and be involved in the design of the next generation lifeboat launching system in order to enhance safety and efficiency.

This vacancy is advertised on BU’s website with a closing date of 20 September 2015.

24 August 2015

Building Roman Britain – Research Assistant

HEIF, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement jcodling

The Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Sciences is about to start a new project that uses a non-destructive method to examine museum specimens in order to determine their possible source.

The project will examine the stone and ceramic (brick and tile) industries of Roman Britain using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) to help identify where the quarries and tile kilns were located. This work forms the centrepiece of a knowledge exchange network with two leading museums in southern Britain (Roman Bath Museum and Fishbourne Palace Museum) who will use our results in innovative interpretations, including new displays and museum learning centres. This will ensure maximum added value to blue-sky research that will quickly feed back into public engagement with science and technology. It is funded by a recently awarded HEIF5+1 grant.

This post is currently being advertised on the university’s website.

For further information, please contact Professor Mark Brisbane- mbrisbane@bournemouth.ac.uk

The closing date for this post is Wednesday 2 September 2015.

6 August 2015

£5,000 funding available to SME’s

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer jcodling

Are you working with a start-up, micro, small and medium sized businesses? If the answer is yes encourage them to apply for funding to assist with their innovation and growth. Known as Innovation Vouchers businesses can receive up to £5,ooo of funding. This funding can be used to work with the university to support them with their future plans.

The application process is straightforward and information on this process along with more details about the funding can be found here.

4 August 2015

Innovate 2015 – 9-10 November London

Business Engagement, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer jcodling

The countdown has begun for Innovate 2015. From international investors, entrepreneurs, to government and academia, everyone who is anyone in innovation will be attending. Discover the full range of support available to help your business grow faster, get funding, make connections and go global. Innovate 2015 is a two day event designed to stimulate opportunities for innovation, export and investment for the UK’s most innovative companies, at all growth stages. Secure your two-day tickets now for £199 (plus VAT). One-day tickets to the event are also available for £165 (plus VAT).

More >>

3 August 2015

August 2015 Business Briefing is now live! – Creative, Digital & Design Briefing

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Transfer jcodling

This is a monthly publication that provides a digest of useful information about funding, financing, support and events to assist creative, digital and design businesses with their innovation and growth strategies. A great source of information to keep up to speed with what is happening in this sector.

Creative, Digital & Design Business Briefing – August 2015

Including Virtual & Augmented Reality – £210K IC tomorrow contest

Internet of Things Cites Demonstrator – up to £10m funding

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles – up to £20m funding

24 July 2015

New BU Research Methods paper

Knowledge Transfer, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday the journal Health Prospect published another of our research methods papers. This latest paper on cross-national comparative research has been written by five sociologists from Northern Europe and North America: Ray De Vries (University of Michigan USA & Hogeschool Zuyd, Maastricht University, the Netherlands), Cecilia Benoit (University of Victoria, Canada), Jane Sandall (King’s College London), Ivy Bourgeault (University of Ottawa, Canada), Sirpa Wrede (University of Helsinki, Finland) and Edwin van Teijlingen (Bournemouth University). We have been working together on cross-cultural and cross-national issues in maternity care and midwifery since the mid-1990s. Our collaborative research led to the edited volume Birth by Design: Pregnancy, Midwifery Care and Midwifery in North America and Europe (Routledge, 2001). The book was short-listed for the British Sociological Association’s (BSA) Medical Sociology Book Prize in 2004.

The paper in Health Prospect is the latest in a series of papers addressing issues around the method of doing cross-national research. We highlight some of the specific contributions the discipline of sociology can make to cross-national comparative research in the public health field. Sociologists call attention to often unnoticed social and cultural factors that influence the way national reproductive health care systems are created and operated. The paper is published in an Open Access journal so it is easily and freely available to anybody across the globe.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

van Teijlingen, E., Benoit, C., Bourgeault, I., DeVries, R., Sandall, J., Wrede, S. (2015) Learning from health care in other countries: the prospect of comparative research, Health Prospect 14(1): 8-12. info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/13036/10525

22 July 2015

Brazil – BU collaboration continues

Fusion, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer esilva

The Statistical Research Centre at Bournemouth University (BU) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC) in Brazil have an MoU for research collaboration, knowledge exchange and student exchange. The MoU was a product of the connection established between BU’s world renowned experts in Singular Spectrum Analysis; Dr. Hossein Hassani and Dr. Mansi Ghodsi, and PUC’s world renowned researcher in utility forecasting Prof. Reinaldo Castro Souza. The team from BU which involves Dr. Hassani, Dr. Ghodsi and their PhD student, Emmanuel Sirimal Silva is involved in an ongoing Brazilian national project which has been outsourced to PUC under the care of Prof. Souza. The project aims at producing 5-year-monthly scenarios for artificial natural energy (water available for hydroelectricity generation) in Brazil where 70% of the electricity relies solely on hydro power plants which in turn are largely dependent on rainfall. Given the high volatility and uncertainty associated with the problem, it is not viable to generate a single forecast in this case. Instead the problem requires a more complex approach which is where BU’s expertise in the time series analysis and forecasting method of Singular Spectrum Analysis comes into play. The project relies on Singular Spectrum Analysis for decomposing Brazil’s artificial natural energy and extracting the signal and noise for each of the four Brazilian sub-systems. The team from BU and PUC have exchanged several visits including a research stay of Emmanuel in Rio de Janeiro, whereby there has been considerable knowledge exchange via workshops and research collaboration. Professors Souza and Cyrino were in Bournemouth for a three-day visit to discuss developments and complications which required BU’s input. There was also an informal request to further engage with the BU team on a second Brazilian national project which could benefit from BU’s expertise in Singular Spectrum Analysis. The Head of the Accounting, Finance and Economics Department at BU, Prof. Jens Hӧlscher hosted the guests to exchange views on expanding the existing connection between the two Universities further in the future.

Prof. Reinaldo Castro Souza, Emmanuel Sirimal Silva, Prof. Jens Holscher and Prof. Fernando Cyrino at the Luncheon meeting.

17 July 2015

Leverhulme Trust Funding Call for an Artist in Residence

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement boardm

The Leverhulme Trust are offering up to £15,000 for UK universities to foster a new creative collaboration with an artist working in a discipline outside the applicant institution’s usual curriculum.

Apply after 10 April and by 10 September 2015. An artist may not apply directly – all applications must be made by the host institution.

See the call at https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/grant-schemes/artist-residence-grants

7 July 2015

The Innovation Projects Open Call

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer jcodling

Announcement of Opportunity

The Innovation Projects Open Call will fund projects that increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research outputs by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users, particularly businesses.

Funds will be used to support projects which focus upon generating user applicable outputs from past and/or current NERC supported research and which translates them into outcomes that achieve impact.

The Innovation Projects Open call will open on 14 July 2015 and close on 22 October 2015. This call will allow proposals for up to £125k at 100% FEC (£100k NERC contribution at 80% FEC) for up to 24 months, starting in April 2016. NERC anticipates seeing a range of requests within the £125k limit/24 month limits, reflecting the range of potential projects and activities.

For further information: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/schemes/innovation-projects/

2 July 2015

H2020 Transport Work Programme 2016/17 Preview

Knowledge Transfer Dianne Goodman

H2020 Transport Work Programme 2016/17 Preview

The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), in cooperation with Innovate UK, is to host a free preview event offering first sight of the next round of Horizon 2020 transport funding calls. There will be speakers from the European Commission and the Department for Transport. The date is 15^th July with details below:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/preview-of-h2020-transport-work-programme-priorities-for-2016-tickets-17228916152

25 June 2015

A good week for music and dementia

Festival of Learning, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement Anthea Innes

This week is dementia and music therapy week. Although BUDI doesn’t do music therapy, nor do we or the musicians we work with subscribe to the notion of ‘therapy’ where music is concerned (therapeutic perhaps, but our work is not intending to provide therapy to people with dementia). However this week has allowed the work of the BUDI orchestra to feature in three arenas. First on Monday in a piece in the Guardian – http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/22/breakthroughs-in-bournemouth-how-the-bso-is-providing-relief-for-people-with-dementia

Second at the Royal College of Nursing annual congress held locally this year at the BIC where we presented the project to a surprisingly full and room (as our session was 5-6pm after a long day for delegates) and met with great enthusiasm. Lastly, following a well received presentation featuring the BUDI orchestra work back in May at a UK collaborative meeting between Universities engaging in social research on dementia we were lucky enough to be invited to a roundtable discussion held at Westminster on Thursday 25 June. This discussion was attended by practitioners, academics, government agencies (e.g. NHS England, Public Health England) and care providers, where we had the opportunity to share our work with colleagues and also to learn more about other music projects; the majority of which largely fall under the umbrella of music therapy, but also a range of other creative initiatives designed to engage and improve the well-being of those living with dementia. The BUDI orchestra remains a unique initiative in that our approach is inclusive (students, musicians, people with dementia at all points in their journey through dementia, and family members working together to learn, rehearse, play and then perform) and designed to provide a social and fun experience for people with dementia living in the community. (By contrast much music therapy is only available in clinical and care settings). If you haven’t seen the BUDI orchestra in action yet we have two performances coming up in the next couple of weeks – 11th and 13th July. Do come along and support our nationally and internationally innovative and unique work!

24 June 2015

Enhancing Sport Science Links Between BU and the German Sport University Cologne – Reflections on Research Visit

Knowledge Transfer, PG research tbreitbarth

Over the last three years, the Sport & Physical Activity Department has consistently strengthened research and teaching links between the German Sport University Cologne and Bournemouth (e.g. see this blog article)

As part of the research links, Dr Sylvain Laborde, a sport psychology researcher from the German Sport University Cologne, recently visited BU. Amongst other, he gave a talk on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and its uses within sport psychology.

Reflections from Emma Mosley (BU PhD researcher)

Emma, who ventured to Germany for one month in order to receive training at the renown Institute of Psychology last year (see blog article), reflects on Dr Laborde’s visit:

“The talk was extremely informative and insightful for myself as a budding researcher in the area. Later in the day Sylvain also ran a workshop which detailed how to use HRV equipment and how to interpret the data. This consisted of a practical based session to demonstrate the sensitively of the measures to both mental and physical stressors. This involved a mental arithmetic stress test, a physical excursion test and paced breathing – many thanks to Darren Britton for giving his body to science on this particular occasion!”

Reflections from Dr Sylvain Laborde (German Sport University Cologne)

Dr Laborde enjoyed his visit to BU and Bournemouth: “I visited Bournemouth University the first week of June 2015, during an Erasmus+ stay. My first contact with Bournemouth University was a very motivated PhD student, Emma Mosley, coming to me last year for an internship at the German Sport University in Cologne, to learn how to use heart rate variability (HRV) to investigate the role of athletes’ personality when performing under pressure. My goal for this week in Bournemouth was to focus 100% on the writing of a HRV theoretical paper, and I was provided with all the necessary conditions to achieve such goal: a silent office on Talbot Campus accessible 24/7 enabling deep focusing and allowing late evening thinking times; enjoying good food, good beer (always good for inspiration), and energising runs on the beach. I was very warmly welcomed and really appreciated the feedback provided by the multidisciplinary team after my talk on HRV in sport psychology.

I’d like to particularly thank Emma for all her efforts to make my stay as enjoyable and productive as possible, Dr Andrew Callaway for his input regarding HRV and shooting sports; Prof Remco Polman for his input regarding the links between HRV and coping; and finally Prof Alison McConnel for her input regarding HRV and inspiratory muscle training. Many ideas regarding future possible collaborations were born during this week, and I’m definitely looking forward to my next visit in Dorset and its wonderful coast!”

Processed with Moldiv

22 June 2015

We’re flying the KEIT high!

Business Engagement, Festival of Learning, Funding opportunities, HEIF, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement Rachel

The Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team (KEIT) have had a very busy and productive month where team highlights include:

The last 14:Live of this academic year took place on 7^th May. The guest speaker was Dr Lauren Kita who talked about; Exploring the science behind the mind-body connection to empower you with ways of managing everyday stress. The talk was well attended by staff and students alike, and during the talk, Dr Lauren Kita also gave some examples to some simple techniques (such as mindfulness and breathing exercises) that can help you to better manage your stress.
Matt Northam (M&C) and our very own Research Communications Manager, Rachel Bowen, have been delivering research website training to postgrads and academics, which has had a good response and is resulting in more posts on the research website. If anyone wants 1-2-1 training on how best to use it or wants another training session set up, then drop Rachel a line.
The recent undergraduate open day had the research photo competition on display to prospective students and their parents. It’s a great and engaging way of illustrating our research and a real credit to our Student Engagement Coordinator, Sam Squelch, for coming up with something that is research based, interesting and usable by other departments.
Adrian Pinder’s research about the extinction of an iconic Indian fish has gone global with news articles in the Echo and dozens of Indian newspapers including this and this
Also just discovered that John Stewart’s research is in the Daily Mail, among others
Sarah Thomas and Peter Thomas’ MS research was in the Nursing Times and MS News Today.
HEFCE provide funding for knowledge exchange (Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF)) to support and develop a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between universities and colleges and the wider world, which result in economic and social benefit to the UK. The current round of funding is referred to as HEIF-5 and runs until 31^st July 2015. BU has a proven track record with this funding stream and our success continues. Currently there are 13 live projects funded from HEIF-5, including VFX Hub, BUDI and the Cyber Security Unit. Interim funding has been made available to run from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016. This is known as HEIF 5+1. A call has been circulated internally inviting colleagues to bid for funds to run new projects with funding starting 1 August 2015 and ending 31 July 2016. These projects will need to reflect our interim strategy sent to HEFCE.
Keep an eye out on the staff intranet, research blog and other staff communication channels for updates. For more information on HEIF and other knowledge exchange opportunities, please contact Jayne Codling Knowledge Exchange Adviser (RKEO).
KTP is on the increase at BU! We are currently in recruitment for four KTP and have a potential KTP pipeline too, which is encouraging.
We have lots of business engagement events on the horizon, the first of many was a Faculty of Management Brunch & Chat event last week at the EBC – we had an excellent business and academic turnout so thank you to all involved.
We’ve had a successful public events calendar recently with Festival of Learning On Tour events which included; soap making for kids, digging for fossils, a smoothie bike, testing hand-grip strength and a bat tack reaction board and Maritime archaeology activities. Prof. Puzzles made an appearance and weather was good for both days with high numbers of the public engaged with.
The most recent Café Scientifique was held on 2nd June, this was a successful evening with good attendance. The next event will take place on 7^th July as we welcome a talk about Cyber Security.
And if all that wasn’t enough, the organisation of our annual Festival of Learning is well underway. One week, over 150 events, what could you learn? Have a look at the Festival website for the low-down of all the events running during the week (11^th July – 17^th July). I hear we’re even having a Farmer’s Market this year!

If you’re feeling inspired by our blog post and would like to get involved with some of our projects then feel free to get in touch:

Rebecca Edwards – Knowledge Exchange and Impact Manager

Rachel Bowen – Research Communications Manager

Rachel Clarke – Knowledge Exchange Adviser (KTP)

Jayne Codling – Knowledge Exchange Adviser

Naomi Kay – Public Engagement Officer

Harry Gibson – Public Engagement Event’s Organiser

Sam Squelch – Student Engagement Coordinator

To find out more about us and what we do, take a look at our team page.

19 June 2015

BUDI hosts its second Masterclass

Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer epegrum

On Wednesday 17^th June BUDI hosted the second in its series of one-day Masterclasses, this time on “Financial & Legal Aspects of Dementia Care”.

It was a very thought-provoking day prompted by our set of highly knowledgeable guest speakers.

Our speakers included practising solicitors (Malcolm Skinner and Stuart Bradford), a recently retired independent financial advisor (Vivien Zarucki), and a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards manager (Esther Donald), who each have several years’ experience in their roles. They all provided interactive and stimulating sessions on the very practical and pertinent legal / financial issues that concern people affected by dementia and the common pitfalls to be avoided. The sessions included discussion of Power of Attorneys, the Mental Capacity Act, and the Care Cap due to come in force next year.

The feedback has been very positive and we are grateful for the contributions from our speakers. We now look forward to the next Masterclass!

The BUDI Masterclasses are open to BU staff and students to attend but advance booking is essential.

The next Masterclasses are:

Wednesday 30^th September – Creative Approaches in Dementia

Wednesday 2^nd December – Promoting Wellbeing at the End of Life

Should you require any further information or wish to book a space on either of these Masterclasses please contact us at budi@bournemouth.ac.uk .

Category / Knowledge Transfer

Software Verification & Validation for Complex Systems competition

Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) – latest calls

Systematic review training to dentistry students at Kantipur Dental College, Nepal

Fancy working on a project with the RNLI?

Building Roman Britain – Research Assistant

£5,000 funding available to SME’s

Innovate 2015 – 9-10 November London

August 2015 Business Briefing is now live! – Creative, Digital & Design Briefing

Brazil – BU collaboration continues

Leverhulme Trust Funding Call for an Artist in Residence

The Innovation Projects Open Call

H2020 Transport Work Programme 2016/17 Preview

A good week for music and dementia

Enhancing Sport Science Links Between BU and the German Sport University Cologne – Reflections on Research Visit

We’re flying the KEIT high!

BUDI hosts its second Masterclass

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