Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
This part of the blog features news and information for postgraduate research students and supervisors
New academic year, New forms!
New versions of the ethics forms available now, have a look at the research ethics page for the full details, under useful documents.
The new forms are the Participant Info Sheet and the previously titled Consent form, now titled Participant Agreement Form.
Please make sure you start using the new versions from now on, and please do let us know how you find them.
BU Ethics team
From May 13-16th 2015 I had the pleasure of representing BU at the joint World Federation of Chiropractic 13th Biennial Congress/European Chiropractors’ Union Convention in Athens. This is the premiere conference within the chiropractic profession which attracts hundreds of clinicians and researchers from around the world. The Congress was entitled ‘The Alpha and Omega of Spinal Healthcare’ in deference to the historical links with the host country as Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, utilised methods of spinal manipulation.
First up in my session at Hilton Athens – cool as a cucumber (also thinking, “Maybe I’ll get to present in the big fancy hall next time…?”)
I enjoyed finding out about the latest understanding of spine biomechanics and how this might relate to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with spine conditions, as well as networking with researchers with international reputations in the musculoskeletal field. During my platform presentation I presented work on the measurement of inter-vertebral motion in the cervical spine (neck) that I did as part of my PhD last year at the Institute of Musculoskeletal Research & Clinical Implementation based at AECC, a partner college of BU. The abstract was published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine I will be following this up with a paper for publication in the near future. Please don’t hesistate to contact me if this is a research area that you are interested in.
Away from the conference I enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful and historic city of Athens where I enjoyed the freshest fruit and vegetables I’ve ever tasted. The top of Mount Lykavittus (Lofos Lykavittou) provided the most amazing panoramic views – and I could even see the Parthenon from my hotel balcony!
Mount Lykavittus, Athens
It was an interesting time, to say the least, to be in Athens. I was expecting there to be protests, particularly around the parliament building, but our visit seemed to coincide with a period of calm, certainly in the area of Athens surrounding the conference hotel. Since then there have obviously been continuing problems for the area from which arose Western culture and philosophy, and the least I can say is that I sincerely hope that things improve soon for present-day Greece.
Statue in Panatheniak stadium, Athens
The Strategy and Security Institute at the University of Exeter will host a workshop on ‘The Legal Framework of Hybrid Warfare and Influence Operations’ on 16–17 September 2015 in collaboration with the NATO Office of Legal Affairs and the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.
Sascha Bachmann, Associate Professor in International Law, Faculty of Media and Communications, Law, will present the paper Hybrid War: 21st Century’s Threat to Global Peace and Security and aid in the conduct of workshops during this event.
Sascha’s work on Hybrid War is part on an ongoing collaborative project jointly with the Swedish Defence University (http://www.fhs.se/en/)and has been published nationally and internationally, see http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1110/1107.
I have been fortunate enough to have been accepted to present two of my recent studies at the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) conference on 1st and 2nd of December this year. Not only am I lucky enough to have been chosen to present, I get to visit the scientific hub of English football. The conference is being held at St George’s Park in Burton-upon-Trent, the brand new national centre for English football. State of the art facilities make it a playground for sports and exercise scientists, one that I most definitely will enjoy.
One issue I address in this study is quantifying the relationship between three-dimensional spinal movement and shoulder counter-rotation. Shoulder counter-rotation is the max rotation of the shoulders in the opposite direction to the batsman after the back foot has landed. This counter-rotation is used by bowlers to help generate pace on the ball, however, high counter-rotation values have been shown to place bowlers at increased risk of lower back injury. The mechanism by which this occurs still remained unclear, as shoulder counter-rotation values only takes rotation at the shoulders into account (which could be caused by spinal rotation or whole body rotation). My study aims to fill in the gaps in this knowledge by looking at the relationship between shoulder counter-rotation values and three dimensional movement of the lumbar and thoracic spine.
The technology I have used in the above study is inertial sensing technology and is a novel method of measurement for spinal movement in fast bowling. Therefore, I am also presenting research looking at the reliability of these sensors and how they may offer a more portable alternative to the camera based systems that are used at present. Once again, I would like to thank Bournemouth University for supporting me with the dissemination of this research.
St George’s Park, Burton-upon-Trent
Vitae is an organisation set up to promote career development in both postgraduate researchers and academic staff. Their Researcher Development Framework is intended to help people monitor their skills and plan their personal development. At BU we will be using this framework to format the training on offer for the postgraduate research students and academic staff.
The Vitae website is an excellent resource and the organisation regularly runs free training events for researchers, PGRs and those involved in research development. Upcoming events include Vitae Connections: Supporting Open Researchers.
The Researcher Development Framework (RDF) is the professional development framework to realise the potential of researchers. The RDF is a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers in higher education. It was designed following interviews with many successful researchers across the sector and articulates the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of a successful researcher.
There is a planner available on the Vitae website to help you assess which stage you are at with your skills and a tutorial providing guidance on how to use the framework.
Top 10 tips from researchers on using the Researcher Development Framework (RDF):
1. You might choose to use the RDF for short term as well as long term development. The RDF can be used in planning for your long term career ambitions but also to make a feasible short term plan. It can be useful to imagine your long term ambitions in order to focus your career path however the reality of progressing through to the higher phases may be more difficult to plan. In the short term, making decisions about how to progress to the next phase or what sub-domains are most important for you will be easier. Try to be realistic when setting these short term goals.
2. Use the RDF to highlight your strengths and areas for development and how these might be used to benefit/influence your personal, professional and career development.
3. Use the RDF to highlight your applicable and transferable skills. This is important for career progression within or outside academia.
4. Prioritise those areas which are most relevant. You don’t have to try to develop in all the areas of the RDF at once. There may be some sub-domains/descriptors where there is less relevance in progressing through the phases for you.
5. Draw on experiences outside of work to evidence your capabilities.
6. Progression to the highest phase in a descriptor will not be applicable to everyone but being aware of the possibilities can aid personal and career development.
7. Talk to others to get their views about your strengths and capabilities. Your supervisor, manager, peers, family and friends are a great source of information to find out more about yourself. Talk to them about how they perceive your capabilities. By understanding how others view you, you will be able to make more informed choices about your future.
8. To move from one phase to the next why not explore attending courses. These courses may be run at a local level (within your University) or may only be run nationally or internationally so awareness of opportunities for training is important. Vitae also run a wide range of courses which address many aspects of personal and career development.
9. Some phases may only be reached through experience and practice however good self-awareness and professional development planning will aid the process.
10. Networking is likely to enable you to reach more experienced phases.
PhD student Ms. Sheetal Sharma in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) published an article in online newspaper The Huffington Post this week. In the article argues in order that the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are achieved in 2030 we set out clear he measurable guidelines and targets as well as mechanisms to facilitate that measurement. The measuring progress in itself is important as transparent measurement stimulates a culture of accountability.
With co-authors Prof. Zoë Matthews and Dr. Sylvia Szabo both from the University of Southampton, Sheetal argues that we need a Call to Action. Now is not the time for weakness, neither in the implementation nor in tracking technical progress. They state: “We cannot be conservative in our measurement of progress in the post-2015 agenda. The measurement framework must empower the implementation of the SDGs and improve equity, welfare and environment for all for greatest and most inclusive developmental impact.”
The proposed two-track SDG indicator framework for 2030:
• Track 1 could monitor political goals (about 30 impact indicators) to assess overall progress regionally and globally.
• Track 2 could include a larger number of technical indicators to measure the means of implementation or processes towards each goal (300 indicators, or more).
Sheetal Sharma is currently writing up her PhD thesis on issues around evaluation of a maternity care intervention in Nepal. She has submitted several papers based on her PhD work for publications. Her PhD supervisory team comprises professors Vanora Hundley, Padam Simkhada (BU Visiting Faculty) & Edwin van Teijlingen and doctors Catherine Angell & Elisa Sicuri (BU Visiting Faculty).
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Twitter: @EvanTeijlingen
Follow Sheetal Sharma on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sheetale
You must have heard about the recent tragic accident at Alton Towers. Unfortunately it involved one of the most popular rides, the Smiler. Accidents are bound to happen due to various reasons e.g. human error or faults in mechanical, electrical, electronics or control systems/components. Some of the accidents are catastrophic and involves the loss of human lives that includes today’s (Saturday August 22, 2015) vintage plane crash at the air show at Shoreham.
Among several reasons, corrosion is one of the major phenomena which plays an important role in structural deterioration and compromising reliability and durability of components, systems within petrochemical & process industries, automotive, locomotive and aircrafts.
Special attention to corrosion in terms of design, detection and prediction of failures is needed especially where human lives are involved. Here are some of the images from major international and home theme parks where there are visible signs of structural deterioration. Although corrosion initiation, its propagation and affects on structural deterioration may not be physically and visually very prominent, it needs full attention to avoid accidents. 
A significant portfolio of research & development in corrosion has been developed at BU, which responds to structural integrity issues. Earlier work [15-17] in corrosion fatigue has led to a successful research portfolio in corrosion at BU [1-17]. We have developed a meso-mechanics based approach incorporating fracture mechanics and electrochemical processes to predict corrosion through a novel holistic modelling tool.
A PhD degree research in sustainable methodology of conserving historic military vehicles subject to structural deterioration due to corrosion [13, 14] has been successfully completed. This research was conducted in collaboration with The Tank Museum at Bovington. Controlled environment within the newly designed VCC (Vehicles Conservation Centre) is informed by the outcomes of this research. In addition NASA [13] has also been collaborating in corrosion research at BU along with BAE Systems and Analatom Inc. Discussions with Analatom are currently in progress for further collaboration in corrosion sensors technology.
A second project in corrosion monitoring techniques in collaboration with Defence Science & Technology Laboratory Ministry of Defence, through a match funded PhD is currently in progress [1-5]. Recent publications [2-4] from this research have made to the Taylor & Francis top 20 most read articles list. This is an evidence of novel contributions to corrosion and corrosion modelling techniques.
A third project in collaboration with Defence Science & Technology Laboratory Ministry of Defence through BU match funded PhD programme has been awarded to look into wireless corrosion monitoring techniques.
In addition nano coatings (in collaboration with Schaeffler, a major industrial partner) have been developed at BU incorporating corrosion issues to solve current corrosion problems within industrial applications.
A collaborative research project with National University of Science & Technology & Future Energy Source Ltd (the overall portfolio includes 2 x fully funded PhDs, 2 x match funded PhDs and 1 x Post Doctoral Research Assistant, PDRA) is currently underway to investigate corrosion issues within thermal storage applied in renewable technologies.
We have state of the art corrosion bench testing (environmental simulation) and modelling tools. We have micro LPRs (Linear Polarisation Resistors) & MEMS (Micro Electrical Mechanical Systems) based live corrosion monitoring stations for large stationary and moving vehicles.
Please contact Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor) if you would like to know more about the research activities or have interests in corrosion related issues,
Publications in Corrosion
Asia Conference on Power and Electrical Engineering (ACPEE 2016) has invited Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor) to join as a Technical Committee Member. ACPEE is organised by Hong Kong Society of Mechanical Engineers. The conference will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 20-22 March 2016.
Renewable Energy Sources and Technology is one of the conference themes. This theme includes topics such as Solar Energy Systems, Wind Energy Systems, Marine Renewable Energy, Energy Management & Environmental issues, Hybrid Power Systems, Distributed & Co-Generation Systems, Biomass Energy and Geothermal Resources, Hydro Power Plants, Hydrogen Systems and Fuel Cells.
Dr Zulfiqar Khan is leading a significant research portfolio in renewable technologies in collaboration with Future Energy Source Ltd and National University of Science & Technology. This includes three PhD degree research projects: 1) Energy Recovery at Thermodynamic Expansion and Thermal Boosting Through Convection in Flat Plate Solar Thermal Systems (match funded by NUST), 2) Experimental investigation and mathematical modelling of dynamic equilibrium of novel thermo fluids for renewable technology applications (fully funded by Future Energy Source Ltd), 3) Research and development in novel alternative renewable energy technology (fully funded by Future Energy Source Ltd) and a recently awarded Post Doctoral Research Assistant PDRA, 3) Modelling & development of thermo-fluids incorporating nano-additives (funded by Future Energy Source Ltd).
ACPEE is an international forum for the dissemination of latest research findings in the fields of Power and Electrical Engineering. The conference will provide a forum for exchange of ideas, networking and initiating collaborations among world leading researchers, engineers and scientists from around the globe.
All submissions will be peer reviewed, accepted papers will be published in the ACPEE 2016 conference Proceedings and will be submitted to IEEE Xplore review.
If you have interests in renewable energy technologies or would like to know more please contact Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)
As of today, more than 10,000 people worldwide in 150 countries have viewed the film for free.
Project Lead, Executive Producer and Author of RUFUS STONE, Dr. Kip Jones remarked, “The bidding process took three years, the research a further three; writing and producing the film another year. The film has been seen widely in community and academic settings nationally and internationally since and is used by many practitioners and service providers in their trainings, including Alzheimer’s UK nationally. What I am saying is that substantial research and its dissemination takes time, but has a ‘long tail.’ In most cases, patience and perseverance are the keys to meaningful, in-depth impact”.
Plans continue to spread the use of the film and collect stories of its use and effect. An event being held on Saturday, 7 November at Bournemouth, “Pathways to Impact: Part Deux!” under the auspices of the ESRC Festival of Social Science will do just that. Participants who attended two previous events at BU around LGBT issues and ageing and the use of the film and a “Method Deck” learning tool will be invited back for a day of sharing at BU. We will ask them to elaborate on their experiences with the tools and give us feedback for an impact case study around concerns of older gay and lesbian citizens in the community.
Drs Lee-Ann Fenge and Kip Jones are organising the Event with the help of BU’s ESRC Festival of Social Science team led by Naomi Kay and assistance from FHSS’s Impact Champion, Zoe Sheppard. Jones and Fenge are both members of the newly configured Social Work and Social Sciences Department in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS). Jones is also aligned with the Faculty of Media & Communication.
Taylor & Francis one of the major international publishers publishes a list of top 20 most read/downloaded papers in the Journal of Adhesion Science & Technology. Three of the BU’s Sustainable Design Research Centre (now Cluster) recent publications are in the top 20 most read publications list, of which one is now the top most read publication.
It is note worthy that most of the publications in the top most read articles have been available since 2012. BU publications have been available since December 2014 and Mar/April 2015.
Current research in corrosion is conducted in collaboration with the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory Ministry of Defence and led by Dr Zulfiqar Khan. This research focuses on structural deterioration through corrosion, its monitoring and prediction. A second project in collaboration with the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory Ministry of Defence in wireless corrosion monitoring techniques will start soon.
A recently successful research in collaboration with The Tank Museum at Bovington in corrosion has led to significant contributions and has informed environmental controlled Vehicle Conservation Centre at the Museum.
If you have interests in this area or would like to know more about the corrosion, its implications on structural integrity, longevity, durability & reliability then do contact us.
As the biggest conference of it’s kind, and by far the biggest conference I have attended, I really didn’t know what to expect with regards to the structure of the week, level of work being presented and what I could hope to get out of it. With over 1000 biomechanists from all over the world presenting their work and sharing thoughts and ideas, I was apprehensive to how my research and personal interests would fit into the vision of the wider biomechanics community. This apprehension was short lived. It was clear after the first day of presentations, that there is a clear vision to develop new technologies to enhance the way we can collect and interpret biomechanical data. It was encouraging to see other researchers making use of inertial sensing technologies, in a similar fashion to my current PhD research and to receive interest in my work from researchers in a similar position.
After the first few days of learning from others, good and bad, it was my turn to take the stage. As mentioned in my previous post, I was presenting research looking at the effect of playing surface on front-foot tibial acceleration during fast bowling in cricket . Although my initial apprehensions were placated by this point, the nerves of putting your research open to public appraisal from some of the top experts in the field, is an experience I’m not sure will ever be easy. Nonetheless, the amount I’ve learnt from this is something you can’t put a value on. The experience of presenting work you have put so much time and effort into, is both highly enjoyable and terrifying; but an experience I would love to repeat.
This week has taught me a lot about my field, it’s aims and aspiration and where my research fits into this vision. It has been immensely valuable not only from an intellectual point of view but in helping me develop into a well-rounded researcher, all the while meeting some lovely people along the way! An experience I would highly recommend to all researchers at any point in their career.
I would like to thank my supervisors Jonathan Williams and Raymond Lee for their support in this endeavour, and all the post-graduate support staff that have helped fund the trip; without them this trip would not have been possible.
Dr. Julie Robson and Samreen Ashraf from the Faculty of Management were announced as the successful recipients of the 2015 Academy of Marketing Research Initiative Funding Scheme for 2015 at the conference in Limerick, Ireland last week.
Their research, ‘Perceptions and use of pension savings: the case of South Asian consumers living in the UK’, examines how UK consumers originally from India, Pakistan and Bengal will use their pension savings following recent changes in the pension market. Drawing on concepts developed within behavioural economics, specifically framing and mental accounting, this study will identify what has informed consumer perceptions of their pension savings and how this influences the way in which their pension money is used. This research is both important and timely given recent pension changes, and government and societal concern that individuals (particularly ethnic groups such as those from South Asia) are not adequately prepared for their retirement.
The results of this research project will be presented at the Academy of Marketing conference next year.
In January 2015, Dr. Dinusha Mendis, Associate Professor in Law and Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) in the Faculty of Media and Communications was awarded a period of research leave funded by the Fusion Investment Fund which commenced on 1 January 2015. The study leave was granted to further Dr. Mendis’ research into the digital aspects of Copyright Law and the Intellectual Property (IP) Implications of 3D Printing.
Since 1 January 2015, Dr. Mendis has held appointments as Visiting Fellow at University of Bocconi in Italy and as Lord Provost Fellow at University of Tasmania in Australia. For further information about the collaborative work carried out by Dr. Mendis during this time, please see here (BU Research Blog post dated 13 March 2015).
Dr. Mendis will complete her research leave in July 2015 having spent two months as a Visiting Scholar at Stanford Law School, Stanford University California.
During her time as a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, Dr. Mendis was involved in working with Professor Mark Lemley of Stanford Law School, to further her research into the intellectual property implications of 3D printing. Sponsored by Professor Lemley, Dr. Mendis utilised the time at Stanford to complete two research papers (to be published in Autumn 2015) and collaborate with IP experts from University of California, Berkeley; Emory University; Georgia Tech University and Indiana University in taking forward a project in the area of 3D printing and intellectual property implications.
The Research Leave was made possible by the generous support of Bournemouth University’s Fusion Investment Fund which in turn led to the Visiting appointments for which Dr. Mendis is very grateful.
The appointments have all proved to be very productive and rewarding in taking forward the research on the IP implications of 3D printing. The final appointment, which involved being a Visiting Scholar at Stanford Law School was a very positive experience – and will be an unforgettable one.
![Stanford[1]](http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/files/2015/07/Stanford1.jpg)
Having led some seminars at BU, and dipped my toe in to teaching, as a useful mechanism and resource, I have often wondered what contexts make for a good workshop. It would be my suggestion that some or all of; insightful means of relating content; inspiring delivery; a variety of taught and practical exercises; and an opportunity to network and socialise are needed for an enjoyable workshop experience. These are the contexts which I hypothesize to be conducive toward a good workshop outcome. My experiences of workshops in my early career researcher and PhD journey to date have been mostly positive, but I have never experienced all of the above in equal high measure – UNTIL NOW!
This week I have attended a 3 day workshop on Realist Methodologies. The workshop was hosted by the University of Liverpool, but delivered on their London campus in the heart of the city’s financial district.
The content and resources was communicated and contextualised by facilitators Justin Jagosh (University of Liverpool), Geoff Wong (University of Oxford) and Sonia Dalkin (Northumbria University) in a manner that was informative, insightful and engaging. There was a good mix of taught material and hands on exercises. However, there were also chances to present and constructively discuss your work to the wider and interdisciplinary group, and opportunities for one on ones with the facilitators to discuss and (de)construct your own realist projects. In addition, there was also an opportunity to chat in an informal setting over some pizza, pasta, beer and gin & tonics! All of this led to enhanced reasoning, a mechanism, with an outcome of increased understanding.
So in a way that is succinct and accessible, what is realist methodology and what how can it be applied in research? I’ve actually dropped in some hints in the two larger paragraphs above… Before the methodology is outlined, firstly it is useful to discuss the philosophical position on which realist methodologies are based.
Critical Realism
Realist methodology and evaluation is underpinned by the critical realist philosophical works of the likes of Roy Bhaskar and Andrew Sayer (to name a few). This furthers a philosophical position that “…there exists both an external world independent of human consciousness, and at the same time a dimension which includes our socially determined knowledge about reality.” (Danermark et al., 2002: 5-6). On this basis, it is possible to be a positivist and objective ontologist (what is) whilst, at the same time, being an epistemological interpretivist (what it is to know).
Going deeper (stay with me!), Roy Bhaskar proposed three realms of reality. The actual, (objective entities that manifest in the real world), real (Subjective structures, phenomena and agency that act as causal mechanisms in the real world) and the empirical (Observable human consciousness and perspectives on the actual and real). As Easton states, “The most fundamental aim of critical realism is explanation; answers to the question “what caused those events to happen?”” (2010: 121).
Realist Evaluation
Based on this, and in the context of evaluating social programmes, realist evaluation is a research approach that seeks to ‘scratch beneath the surface’ and offer a ‘real’ and plausible account of “…what works for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects and how.” (Pawson et al., 2005: 21). It does so by proposing that the outcome (O) of social programmes or interventions rest the conceptual relationship between mechanisms (M) and context (C) – expressed as the ‘O=M+C’ formula.
However, integral to mechanisms are both resources (typically the programme or intervention) and reasoning. With it sometimes hard to adequately illustrate and distinguish these two characteristics in the CMO configuration, Dalkin et al (2015) propose a new iteration of Pawson and Tilley’s (1997) original CMO formula – expressed as ‘M(Resources) + C→M(Reasoning) = O’. I’m afraid you’ll have to come and ask me in person for my CMO configuration!
In conjunction with findings and evidence from existing literature to inform research protocols, this conceptual formula is used to gather data, and interrogate to ‘scratch beneath the surface’ as to what happens in social programmes and interventions, why, for whom and in what context. Finally, and importantly to note, realist evaluation has no methodological prescriptions – although it is particularly suited to mixed methods and qualitative research methods.
The realist methodology community is a very friendly and collegiate one. Do get in touch to discuss this approach. If I can’t help you (for example, I haven’t discussed realist synthesis – a kind of systematic review approach using the realist philosophy and CMO configuration), I can pass you on to someone who might be able to (The RAMASES JISCMail list is a good start).
My next workshop has a lot to live up to!
References
Dalkin, S. M., Greenhalgh, J., Jones, D., Cunningham, B. & Lhussier, M. 2015. What’s in a mechanism? Development of a key concept in realist evaluation. Implementation Science, 10.
Danermark, B., Ekstrom, M., Jakobsen, L. & Karlsson, J. C. 2002. Explaining Society: Critical realism in the social sciences, London, Routledge.
Easton, G. 2010. Critical realism in case study research. Industrial Marketing Management, 39, 118–128.
Pawson, R., Greenhalgh, T., Harvey, G. & Walshe, K. 2005. Realist review – a new method of systematic review designed for complex policy interventions. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 10, 21-34.
Pawson, R. & Tilley, N. 1997. Realistic Evaluation, London, Sage.
SDRC has developed a significant research portfolio in collaboration with industrial partners within corrosion, corrosion modelling, corrosion simulation, in-situ and remote corrosion condition monitoring.
SDRC industrial partners in corrosion research include The Tank Museum at Bovington, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory Ministry of Defence and Wessex Institute of Technology.
SDRC researchers have delivered invited guest speaking on the above topics in corrosion at the University of Oxford, Cranfield University, Institute of Physics and University of Southampton.
This activity also led to organising the 1st BU-International Tank Museums Conference at BU and organising a special session at the recent Contact & Surface conference that included solving corrosion issues through Surface Engineering.
Recent publication “Optimisation of interface roughness and coating thickness to maximise coating–substrate adhesion – a failure prediction and reliability assessment modelling” has made to the top 16th in the top 20 most read Taylor & Francis publications list with 409 article views/downloads.
Another recent publication “Modelling of metal-coating delamination incorporating variable environmental parameters” now stands 2nd in the above list with 1161 article views/downloads.
It is worth noting that the first publication was available since April 13, 2015 and the later publication was available since December 15, 2014. The rest of the papers (except one Feb 7, 2014) in the Taylor & Francis most read articles list were available since April-Aug 2012.
If you have interest in the above research area or would like to know more please visit SDRC webpage or contact
Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)
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
In the team of three psychology PGRs are Becca (2nd year), Anna and Simon (both 3rd years working hard on their theses). They have teamed up to race in the Bournemouth International Triathlon on 5th July doing the sprint distance: 750m Channel swim, 22k bike ride, and a 5k run between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers. 
Becca, Anna and Simon are raising funds for Marie Curie UK, a charity that helps people affected by terminal illnesses.
Why are they doing it? Because they want to help; one night of nursing care costs an £160, which is a lot of money for those affected and needing support. Anna, one of the team members says: “My undergraduate lecturer died of cancer last year at the age of thirty six. Nurses and staff at a Marie Curie hospice had helped him tremendously during his struggle with the illness and he was always praising them for their dedication and all the work they did. If we can provide some comfort to others by our fundraising initiative, then this is all we want to do. We’ll do all the running anyway!”
The team has a very successful record of supporting Marie Curie UK and has taken part in Pandemonium Obstacle Race in 2014, raising an amazing £385 for the charity.
This year so far, team PhD has collected £335 via their Just Giving page and with two weeks until the race, there is still time to raise more! If you would like to sponsor Anna, Becca and Simon, please visit their Just Giving Page on: https://www.justgiving.com/Team-PhD/
We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.
Speaker: Hana Almakky
Title: Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture
Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM
Date: Wednesday 10th June 2015
Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus
Abstract: Social media has continued growing in Saudi Arabia. Millions of businesses and trades are now using social media for entertainment, advertisement and promoting themselves internationally.
Social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc., have gained huge popularity at personal as well as professional scale. Therefore, work is being done to evolve the modes of communication over these platforms, extensively.
My research explores the effect of Saudi cultures on the design of social media site of Facebook. This talk presents the updated results of the research and proposes a theoretical framework that guides the design of a user interface for Facebook to meet the Saudi’s expectations.
We hope to see you there.
BU staff can login below:
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease
Patient & Public Involvement workshop with Arabic women European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease
BU Professor has been invited to a series of plenary and invited lectures.
An Interview of BU-lead EU H2020 FIRST project published in “Horizon”, the EU Research & Innovation Magazine
Research Information Network