Category / PG research

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

Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Speaker: Hana AlmakkySaudi_Facebook

 

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.

PG Researcher Development Workshops available throughout June/July

For all Postgraduate Researchers – the following PG Researcher Development workshops are available throughout June/July:

  • Tuesday 2 June 2015 – Time Management
  • Tuesday 2 June 2015 – How to manage your Research Project
  • Wednesday 3 June 2015 – Presentation Skills
  • Wednesday 10 June 2015 – Introduction to Nvivo
  • Thursday 11 June 2015 – Advanced Nvivo – By invitation only*
  • Monday 15 June 2015 – Manage, Influence & Motivate!
  • Wednesday 17 June 2015 – Library Session: Development a Search Strategy and Using Researcher Tools
  • Thursday 18 June 2015 Intro to ‘Observation as a social science research method’
  • Thursday 25 June 2015 – Managing your Citations using Endnote and Endnote Web
  • Tuesday 7 July and Thursday 9 July – Advanced Presentation Skills – By invitation only*
  • Wednesday 22 July 2015 – Preparing for your Initial Review

If any are of interest to you, booking is via myBU Graduate School PGR Community (don’t forget to log on with your student username and password)

 

Hybrid War as 21st Century Conflict

The emergence of Hybrid Threats and Hybrid War as new security challenges of the 21st Century – from its early examples in Israels war against Hezbollah in 2006 to Russia’s War in Eastern Ukraine. Dr. Sascha Dov Bachmann, Associate Professor in Law, Co-Director of BU’s Conflict, Rule of Law and Society( https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/centre/conflict-rule-of-law-and-society/) presented at the 24th Annual SLS-BIICL Conference  on Theory and International Law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in London. He argues that Hybrid War is more than Compound Warfare by utilising new technologies of cyber and Hybrid Threats. His work on teh subject was recently published as HYBRID WARS: THE 21st-CENTURY’S NEW THREATS TO GLOBAL PEACE AND SECURITY in the South African Journal of Military Studies, http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1110/1107.

New paper by PhD student Sheetal Sharma

Sheetal Sharma, PhD student in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health (CMMPH), published her latest paper this week in the Asian Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities [1].  The paper ‘Nepenglish’ or ‘Nepali English’: A New Version of English? raises the question whether we are beginning to see a new variant of English.

The paper is co-authored with Mrs. Pragyan Joshi from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kathmandu and BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.   Sheetal’s PhD research focuses on the evaluation of a large-sclae maternity care improvement intervention in rural Nepal.

The paper is based on listening to people in Nepal speaking English and reading their writing in English.  English is a living language and different native and non-native speakers develop English in slightly different ways. This paper argues that it is time to consider whether we should study the English spoken by native-Nepali speakers (Nepenglish) as a separately developing variant of English. The question is particularly intriguing since Nepali English bears such a similarity with Indian English, as both are largely based on originally Sanskrit-based languages. The focus is particularly on how native-Nepali speakers express themselves in English.

 

 

Reference:

 

  1. Sharma, S., Joshi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) ‘Nepenglish’ or ‘Nepali English’: A new version of English? Asian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences 4(2): 188-193. www.ajssh.leena-luna.co.jp/AJSSHPDFs/Vol.4%282%29/AJSSH2015%284.2-21%29.pdf

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

 

Highlights from the World Confederation of Physical Therapy Congress, Singapore, May 2015

 

Around 3400 delegates from all over the world gathered in Singapore at the start of May for the World Confederation for Physical Therapy Congress.  With an impressive 572 platform presentations, 1,578 poster sessions, and 36 networking sessions there was certainly plenty of opportunity to be informed and stimulated by new ideas.

 

Three representatives attended from Bournemouth University (Judith Chapman, Carol Clark and Clare Farrance) who presented some of their current research (8 papers) around reflective practice, chronic pain, joint hyper-mobility and physical activity.  Clare commented that sharing research around these areas provided “a great opportunity to see where our research at BU sits within the clinical and academic physiotherapy situation worldwide”.

 

Other highlights included learning more about educational approaches for undergraduate students, the use of integrating technology to support people with long-term conditions, furthering international relationships and collaborations, and of course the amazing array of food in Singapore (including the chilli crab!).

 

Many thanks to the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences and Santander PGR Mobility Awards for funding to make attendance at this valuable conference possible.

PG Researcher Development Workshops available throughout May

For all postgraduate Researchers – the following PG Researcher Development workshops are available throughout May:

  • Friday 1 May 2015 – ResearchPAD – A beginner’s guide
  • Wednesday 6 May 2015 – Creative Thinking
  • Thursday 7 May – IT Skills: Word – Structuring your Thesis
  • Wednesday 13 May 2015 – How to Conduct a Literature Review
  • NEW for 2014-15: Wednesday 13 May 2015 – Careers Series: Marketing yourself in person: Interviews
  • Thursday 14 May –  IT Skills: Excel – Introduction to Essential Features
  • Wednesday 20 May 2015 – Ethics: ethical systems, requirements and professional standards
  • Thursday 21 May – IT Skills: PowerPoint 2010: Create and Enhance your Presentation
  • Thursday 21 May 2015 – Interviewing in semi-structured interviews
  • NEW for 2014-15: Wednesday 27 May 2015 – Careers Series: Commercial Awareness
  • Thursday 28 May – IT Skills:  Introduction to Access
  • Thursday 28 May 2015 – Introduction to Focus Groups

See PGR Workshops – An Overview for further information about the workshops.  If any are of interest to you, booking is via myBU Graduate School PGR Community (don’t forget to log on with your student username and password)

Congratulations to the winners of the Research Photography Competition

‘Can you tell the story of your research in a single image?’  That’s the challenge we set BU’s academics and postgraduates earlier this year, and the overwhelming response saw researchers from all across the university downing tools to take up their cameras and think of unusual ways to illustrate their research.

The resulting images demonstrate not just the creativity of our academics and postgraduates, but also the fascinating range of research taking place at BU.

Researchers from all across the university, working in areas as diverse as dementia, archaeology, kayaking and 3D printing submitted images to the competition.

Thousands of BU students, staff and members of the public voted for their favourite images, and we can now reveal the winners.

Winner – Sarah Hambidge, ‘Care Farming: Providing Brighter Futures for Young and Old’

Sarah photo

Down on a farm, tucked away in the beautiful Dorset countryside, the therapeutic use of farming practices is being used to provide health, social and educational care services for a wide range of people. The farm offers the opportunity for people who are the hardest to reach, to utilise a rural environment to enhance their well-being and to achieve their potential. The farm has achieved many great success stories of people who have turned their lives around, been given confidence in their own value and become equipped with the learning they need to successfully engage in wider society. The challenge they now face is to show this model of care is successful to enable their work to continue and grow.

Historically, much of the awareness and research regarding mental health issues has focused predominantly on females, whilst males with mental health concerns have faced an element of negativity from society, despite being at higher risk of depression and loneliness, alcohol dependency, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and suicide. My study aims to explore the benefits of the care farm model as an alternative social care intervention on improving physical / mental health outcomes and the quality of life of young males with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties as well as older men with dementia, and the benefits of intergenerational interaction between the two groups.

Runner up – Rosa Spencer-Tansley, ‘What causes mental illness?’

Rosa photo

1 in 4 of us will experience mental health problems in our lifetime. The pathophysiology of mental illness involves a interplay of genetic and environmental factors and it is only the last few years that the aetiological picture has started to show. As a result uncertainty and oversimplified ideas regarding the causes of mental illness exist. This can exacerbate stigma and increase the emotional burden of mental illness amongst families. A major function of Psychiatric Genetic Counselling is to help affected individuals and families. This can help them successfully adapt to the condition as well as address and reduce feelings of shame, guilt, blame and stigma, thus having both informative and therapeutic values.

I will explore understanding amongst the UK about the causes of mental illness in order to evaluate the application of Psychiatric Genetic Counselling to the UK. This photograph captures 100 BU students’ answers to the question: “What causes mental illness?”

Runner up – Jordan Thomas, Stephanie Farrant, Robert Moore and Sulaf Assi, ‘On-spot Identification of Counterfeit Products Using Handheld Instruments’

Stephanie photo

The last decade has witnessed a change in the use of medicine products beyond diseases’ treatments to improve an individual’s life. Lifestyle products include medicines, cosmetic and herbal products which improve physical appearance and physical/mental performance. Counterfeit lifestyle products could be encountered anywhere across the wholesale supply chain.

The effects resulting from a counterfeit lifestyle product could range from ineffectiveness (at their best) to toxic/lethal effects (at their worst). As these products can be encountered anywhere, it is important to develop rapid, non-destructive and mobile technology for their identification. Handheld instruments techniques offer these advantages. Therefore, this project underlies developing methods for the rapid and non-destructive identification of counterfeit lifestyle products using handheld spectroscopic techniques.

In particular, the project involves building libraries which contain signatures of lifestyle products and materials commonly present in these products.

For one day only, you can view a full exhibition of all submissions in K101, Kimmeridge House on 28th April from 2pm – 4pm.