Category / PG research

This part of the blog features news and information for postgraduate research students and supervisors

Best paper award!

international, open access, PG research, Publishing, student research, writing

Heart 2015Best Paper for 2015 Award in the international journal Heart.  A paper published by Bournemouth University PhD student, Edward Carlton,  and his supervisors, Prof. Ahmed Khattab (FHSS) and Prof. Kim Greaves from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia in collaboration with world-renowned hospitals: John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford; Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital in Australia; and Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand has  been announced as the Winner of the “Heart Best Paper 2015  Award” [1].  This award is in recognition of the high quality and clinical impact of the paper. The winner for this award were chosen by the Editorial Team from the top 10 papers in each of the following three categories: downloads, citations and Altmetrics Score.

Dr. Edward Carlton has just finished his PhD at BU and he is now working as an Emergency Medicine Consultant in Bristol.Heart PDF 2015

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

 

Reference:

Carlton EW, Cullen L, Than M, Gamble J, Khattab A, Greaves K. A novel diagnostic protocol to identify patients suitable for discharge after a single high-sensitivity troponin. Heart. 2015 Jul;101(13):1041-6. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2014-307288. Epub 2015 Feb 17.

The Faculty of Science and Technology’s Second Annual PGR Conference 2016

conferences, Fusion, PG research

scitech2016

On the 18th of May the Faculty of Science and Technology held its Second Annual PGR Conference. This is a chance for the academic and postgraduate community to showcase the research that is being undertaken in the six departments within the Faculty. A total of 45 students presented their work over the course of the day, with 29 posters and 16 oral presentations.

The SciTech PGR Representatives: Hayley Roberts, Adam Roberts, Sarah Hodge and Paul Evans, would like to thank all who made the SciTech PGR conference such a success. Both Professor Christine Maggs and Professor Matt Bentley commented on how interesting it was to hear about the high quality research that PGRs in SciTech are conducting. We would like to thank both of them for their support.  We were also honoured to have Vice Chancellor, Professor John Vinney who came to open the event and listened to the first session. The day wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Naomi Bailey, Louise Pearson and Natalie Andrade, the chairs, the presenters, the judges and everyone else that helped with the organisation.

Six prizes were awarded to students who demonstrated particularly high standards:

Best poster

Winner:

Jawwad Latif (Design and Engineering)

Experimental Analysis and Modelling of Multi-layer Coating in Large Vehicles

 

Runner-up:

Catherine Collop (Life and Environmental Sciences)

An individual based model of Poole Harbour – is disturbance from human activities limiting wintering bird numbers?

 

Best 15 minute presentation

Winner:

Sarah Jeffery (Psychology)

Self-Compassion & Healthier Lifestyles: A Self-Compassion Based Intervention to Support Health-Promoting Behaviours in Emerging Adults

 

Runner-up:

Oxala Garcia Rodriguez (Life and Environmental Sciences)

Comparative phylogeography of modern humans and other organisms

Best 20 minute presentation

Winner:

Adam Roberts (Design and Engineering)

The potential of using the water hammer effect in small-scale tidal power applications

 

Runner-up:

Monica Knul (Life and Environmental Sciences)

Re-assessing the quality of published radiocarbon dates of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in Europe

Congratulations!

scitech

 

 

Seminar today: Dr Marcellus Mbah,R301, 13:00-14:00

Awarded & submitted bids, BRIAN, Centre for Excellence in Learning, Coffee Morning, conferences, Fusion, HEIF, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Research Ethics, staff profile pages, student research

All welcome to the seminar happening today. Room R301 (Royal London House), 13:00-14:00. Feel free to bring your lunch with you.

 

An exploration into the dynamics of being an international student and the complexities surrounding their placement and employability prospects

Abstract

The experience of students gaining work placement has become an integral part of the United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education (HE) system in an attempt to help prepare students for the world of work. Whilst much has been written about this subject, the majority of the research centres on the UK domicile learner. Considering the importance of the HE internationalisation agenda, the drive to increase the recruitment numbers of international students (IS) and the fact that the need to gain work experience extends to include IS, there is little published literature which explores the work placement experiences from an international student perspective. This presentation reports on an instrumental case study which explored the experiences of IS with a view to understanding the challenges they face identifying, securing and successfully completing a work placement. Findings suggest substantial challenges exist and a framework is proposed to help the university improve the international students’ placement experience and employability prospects.

 

Marcellus is Research Fellow in the Centre for Excellence in Learning at Bournemouth University. His involvement in the Centre touches on some of the key areas in the discipline of Education such as University Community Engagement, Graduate Employability and Education for Sustainable Development.

If you have any queries about Social Science Seminar Series, please get in touch with Dr Mastoureh Fathi (mfathi@bournemouth.ac.uk).

 

 

Will getting a mentor boost your career? Vitae video event on 16/6/16

PG research, Training

Vitae logoVitae have asked us to share this with our researcher community:

We would like to invite you and all researchers at your institutions to a free online Q&A entitled: “Will getting a mentor boost your career?” This video event (Google + Hangout) will take place this Thursday (16 June), between 2-3pm (UK time).

Interviews with research and academic leaders revealed having a mentor to be one of the most important forms of support to prepare early career researchers for the challenges of research independence and leadership.

This Q&A aims to explore mentoring and coaching relationships, from the perspectives of being mentored and being a mentor, as well as the support and structures in institutions that can help. Panellists will take audience questions, so this is your opportunity to get expert advice on mentoring and coaching as a valuable personal and professional development tool.

How to join the Google + Hangout?

  1. Create a Google account (to be able to ask questions)
  2. VISIT our Google + event page: http://bit.ly/1VQewIJ
  3. Post questions on Q&A app
  4. BOOKMARK THIS LINK TO WATCH Q&A ON 16 JUNE: http://bit.ly/1VQewIJ

How to join & participate in the Q&A?

Vitae Google+ Hangouts are live online video events of Q&A sessions with a group of expert panellists. As the video is streaming live online you will be able to watch and get involved in the conversation. We will be using the Google Hangout Q&A app for the event which is the easiest and most effective way to submit your questions. The questions will appear on the right side of the screen as the video is being streamed. The App is NOW live, so you can “Ask a new question” before and during the event. We will try to answer as many questions as possible.

Have a look at our previous Q&As: http://bit.ly/1uGaCl0

***Focus on mentoring and coaching for researchers***

The Google Hangout is just one in a series of activities and resources focused around this theme. Visit our brand new Focus on page http://bit.ly/1dZe0BS to find out more about mentoring and coaching in research, including an opportunity to submit an article about your experience of being mentored or mentoring others: http://bit.ly/1OnpMuP

You can also share your views on mentoring by completing our quick online poll:

I’m a mentor

or a coach: http://bit.ly/1UsrziH

(6 questions)

I’m being

mentored/coached: http://bit.ly/1ZOcgRx

(6 questions)

I would like

to be mentored/coached: http://bit.ly/1UxsBpo

(3 questions)

 

 

Two pieces of good news from the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Consortium and Conference

PG research

AMS is one of the key conferences for international marketers. Following a competitive selection process, Ms. Samreen Ashraf (PhD student from the Business School) was selected to attend the doctoral consortium organised by the Academy of Marketing Science. The consortium aimed to bring renowned scholars together in the field of marketing to discuss emerging areas, along with the art of producing publishable research. Some of these areas were marketing scholarship and new frontiers in services research. However the main focus was to identify the ways which can assist early career researchers to increase the impact of their research. 

Me and Julie picture

Ms. Samreen Ashraf also presented a research paper at the main conference which was co-authored with Dr. Julie Robson and Dr. Najat Abdullrahim titled: Faith, trust and pixie dust: a comparative study of consumer trust in Islamic banks’. This paper explored how and in what form trust, in an Islamic bank compliance with Sharia law, occurs in two distinctly different contexts, namely England and Pakistan; and how this in turn influences banking behaviour. Trust was investigated from cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions. 

The AMS consortium and conference took place in Orlando, Florida. 

BU’s PhD student Isabell Nessel attending the UK Association for Milk Banking annual training day in London, 8th of June

conferences, PG research

UKAMB Training Day2

The UK Association for Milk Banking (UKAMB) recently held their annual training day in London (Picture: Isabell and UKAMB’s Trustee Chair Ann McCrea). Mostly, milk bank staff were present; however, the training day is also open to anyone interested in human milk banking. Therefore, milk donors, medical researchers, midwives, neonatal nurses and clinicians were also in attendance. The presentations included current topics such as the Zika virus and the implications for milk banking, new guidance on decontamination of breast milk pumps and an update of ongoing research at donor milk banks.

As part of this, I presented my proposed donor milk bank survey, which is part of my PhD at BU. I received a great deal of helpful feedback and support from UKAMB and the audience. It was a great opportunity to get more insights into human milk banking and ongoing research in the UK and to network with potenital participants of the survey and possible future collaborators. Thanks to Bournemouth University for the funding, which made my attendance possible!

A big thank you also goes to Gillian Weaver and UKAMB for the invitation,UKAMB and this great, informative day! If you would like to find out more about human milk banking in the UK or want to become a milk donor visit UKAMB’s website at http://www.ukamb.org/.

If you would like to learn more about our research, please feel free to contact me at inessel@bournemouth.ac.uk

Isabell

Environmental design specialist Terri Preece visits BUDI!

PG research

Terri Preece Wayfinding Lab resized

In May 2016 environmental design specialist, Terri Preece, from Richard Fleming’s group at the University of Wollongong, Australia, came to visit BUDI and the Wayfinding Lab, following on from a conversation made with PhD Student Mary O’Malley during her Poster session at the ADI 2016 conference. Terri, who consults care-homes and hospitals on how they can be more user friendly for people with dementia was particularly interested in the work BUDI does surrounding designing environments to support orientation, including our eye-tracking (see picture below). PhD student Chris Hilton showed Terri a demo of his virtual reality eye-tracking study which looks at what aspects of the environment people attend to when learning routes, whilst  Mary O’Malley showed Terri her study which investigates how older adults interpret “you-are-here” maps.

Report by Mary O’Malley, PhD Student

BUDI presents at “Sensing the Place” event in London

PG research

Mary persensing sessing (1)

As part of GreenSky Thinking Week, PhD student Mary O’Malley was invited to talk as part of the ARCC “Sensing the place – experiences & wayfinding in a changing climate event, held by BuroHappold in London on 27th April 2016. Mary presented a short talk, about the different navigation representations we make when learning new environments and discussed how these are affected by ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. She then went on to talk about her PhD research which looks at creating environments that support successful orientation The event was mainly made of architects and urban designers which resulted in great discussions on how psychological theory can apply to practice!Mary sensing (2) resized

Report by Mary O’Malley

 

sensing-place-download

Human Milk Banking in the UK

PG research, student research

UKAMBBreast feeding is the gold standard for feeding babies. This might not be surprising for most of you, although the rates of exclusive breast feeding in the UK are low. But have you ever heard of human milk banking? The UK Association for Milk Banking (UKAMB) does an incredible job in providing safe and screened donor breast milk all over the country through 16 donor milk banks, mostly to preterm babies whose mothers cannot provide sufficient breast milk. Feeding human donor milk instead of formula milk is for example associated with a lower risk for the severe gut infection necrotising enterocolitis.

Breast milk and donor milk also contain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are essential for brain and visual development in early infancy. However, research based at BU has identified that the current intake levels of preterm infants are too low to match the in utero accretion rates. Therefore, the aim of my PhD project at BU is to investigate approaches to increase the intake of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in preterm babies to improve their outcomes. One aspect I will be looking at is the intake from donor milk. Therefore, I was invited by the UK Association for Milk Banking to give a short presentation about my research at their annual training day in June.

I am looking forward to meeting donor milk bank staff and other researchers in the field of human milk banking at this day. I will post more details after the event. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact me at inessel@bournemouth.ac.uk

If you would like to find out more about human milk banking in the UK or want to become a milk donor visit UKAMB’s website at http://www.ukamb.org/.

Isabell

BU represented at WHOSE SHOES? workshop in London

PG research

I am Alice Ladur, PhD student in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. My research topic is on uptake of health facility delivery by women in developing countries.

I attended a WHOSE SHOES workshop initiated by Professor Vanora Hundley and later met with Gill Phillips, the brain behind this great innovative approach at University College London Hospital. WHOSE SHOES is a tool designed to enhance intuitive discussions on how to improve maternity services. Different hierarchies of people are brought together round a board game in a relaxed environment to share views and experiences in a respectful manner.

From our discussions around the table, one can only highlight the importance of not just having the end user in mind but service providers who are at the forefront of delivering care to women and families. Our intended outcomes can only be as good as the people delivering the services!

It was a well-timed meeting since am in the initial stages of developing an intervention to increase uptake of skilled birth attendance as part of my PHD project. The workshop provided an essential boost to explore innovative ways in engaging with service providers and communities to improve maternity services. After the workshop, I left thinking about two things; the need to own up to our part of the bargain whilst moving away from the `blame game` characteristic of maternity services in Uganda(similar to some developing countries) and  pledge to do better!

To find out more about WHOSE SHOES and Gill Phillips:  http://nutshellcomms.co.uk/

New paper BU PhD student Sheetal Sharma

open access, PG research, Publishing, writing

Plos ONE Sheetal 2016Congratulations to FHSS PhD student Sheetal Sharma on her latest paper [1].  The paper ‘Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal’ appeared this week in the journal PLOS One.  Sheetal’s innovative mixed-methods approach was applied to a long-running maternity intervention in rural Nepal.  The paper concludes that community-based health promotion in Sheetal’s study had a greater affect on the uptake of antenatal care and less so on delivery care. Other factors not easily resolved through health promotion interventions may influence these outcomes, such as costs or geographical constraints. The evaluation has implications for policy and practice in public health, especially maternal health promotion.

Reference:

  1. Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144

Accessible Gaming for Stroke Rehab

PG research

We would like to invite you to the last research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre for this academic year.Techstroke

 

Title: Insights into the use of technology for upper limb stroke rehabilitation

 

Speaker: Owen O’Neil (Bournemouth University PhD student, funded by the Centre for Digital Entertainment)

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 1st June 2016

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: Stroke is a global pandemic and the largest cause of severe adult disability in the world. Incidence rates in the UK suggest that over 150,000 suffer a first time stroke, and over 80% of survivors will suffer some form of motor disability. Rehabilitation typically consists of high volumes of motor practice to engage the mechanism of neural plasticity, a form of cortical rewiring that allows the brain to adapt after damage. Meeting the rehabilitation needs for this population through one-to-one physiotherapy care is currently not possible.  There is a growing impetus on research institutions to explore cost-effective methods for increasing access to rehabilitation that may promote improved functional recovery for patients at home and in the clinic. Recent approaches include the use of video game technology as a method of increasing patient engagement and upkeep to rehabilitation programs. Of particular interest is the emergence of low cost commercial off-the-shelf devices such as the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect.

In this presentation we offer some insights and opportunities to introduce low cost off the shelf media technology as a modality of stroke therapy. Provide an overview of the current project, including some preliminary data and discuss what might come next.

 

 

We hope to see you there.