Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
This part of the blog features news and information for postgraduate research students and supervisors
Check out the May e-newsletter.
All ‘monthly update for researcher development, culture and community’ e-newsletters are available in a dedicated content area on the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme Brightspace unit.
If you have any questions about the e-newsletter or would like to feature content, please contact Natalie [Doctoral College Programme Manager].
Have your say
Deadline approaching! This year’s Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) will close in *ten days*
Don’t miss the chance to tell us about your experience at Bournemouth University by taking part in the Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey which closes on Monday 15 May 2023. We are keen to make sure our PGRs have the best possible experience while studying at Bournemouth University. To do this, we need to know what you think works well and what as a University we could do better.
Upon completing the survey, PGRs will be entered into a free prize draw where you can win one of four prizes of a £50 Love2shop voucher. Terms and conditions apply.
In addition and as a thank you for taking part, we will be making a £1 donation for every survey completed to the student mental health wellbeing charity, Student Minds.
How do I take part?
PGRs received an email from the University on Monday 17 April 2023 containing a unique link which allows you to access and complete the survey. If you can’t find this email, contact PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk and we’ll help you to get access.
What will I be asked?
The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete. Your response is confidential and any reporting will be entirely anonymous. The survey is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at BU. It will ask you to share your views on supervision, resources, research culture, community, progress and assessment, responsibilities, support, research skills, profession development, opportunities, and overall experience.
Why should I take part?
Your feedback is important. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is the only national survey of PGRs and so is the only way for us to compare how we are doing with other institutions and to make changes that will improve your experience in the future.
More information
If you would like to know more about the survey, please visit: PRES 2023
We hope you take the opportunity to get involved this year and help us make improvements to your experience.
Best wishes,
The Doctoral College
Book your place early to attend these popular bespoke supervisory development sessions coming up in the next month, facilitated by the Doctoral College and key academic colleagues. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.
The sessions are aimed at all staff who are new to, or experienced at, research degree supervision and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process. Staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU.
Full details of each session below can be found on the Supervisory Development Opportunities intranet page. Please use the booking form link below.
|
Supervisory Session |
Date | Time | Location |
| Supervisory Development Lunchbite | UKCGE Route to Recognition for Supervisory Practice | Wednesday 10 May | 12:00 – 13:00 | Online |
| Supervisory Development Lunchbite | Benefits of a PhD by Publication | Thursday 11 May | 12:00 – 13:00 | Online |
| Doctoral Supervision: New Supervisors Development | Tuesday 16 May | 10:00 – 14:30 | Online |
|
Supervisory Development Lunchbite | Chairing Vivas: The Role of the Chair |
Thursday 1 June | 12:00 – 13:00 | Online |
Yesterday FHSS graduate Dr. Shaqaieq Ashrafi Dost heard from Razi International Medical Journal the the paper from her Ph.D. study had been accepted for publication. Her paper ‘Management capacity in the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) Afghanistan: Political and socio-cultural issues’ is based on a mixed-methods case-study was conducted with staff at the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. The Ph.D. study explores MoPH’s management capacity. Interviews were conducted with 12 senior staff and qualitative data were analysed thematically. A quantitative survey, covering directors of 30 departments, was analysed using descriptive statistics.
The paper reports that management capacity was generally weak. Key appointments including directors were subject to political interference and many directors appointed by politicians lacked the skills to manage well. Consequently, those directors were not able to support employees appropriately or to create a healthy work environment. The respondents reported that there were strong socio-cultural influences such as nepotism and favouritism. Often employees believed they were not treated consistently or fairly. This was compounded by overly complex administrative systems. The authors concluded that the Afghan government needs to appoint competent and committed staff who can recognize/address the gaps in the functioning of the Ministry, especially the negative political and socio-cultural practices that undermine effectiveness.The reader needs to bear in mind that this Ph.D. study was conducted prior to the 2021 takeover by the Taliban. Putting the paper’s conclusion in perspective.
Razi International Medical Journal founded in 2021 is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal from Afghanistan that aims to impact public health and global health and distributed internationally. The journal is Open Access and published in electronic and paper-based format twice a year, and there is no article publishing charge (APCs).
Two vacancies have arisen for the posts of University Representative, the leaders of the Research Staff Association. This is not a faculty-specific post, any eligible person from any faculty can apply.
The BU Research Staff Association(RSA) is a forum to promote research culture at BU. Research staff from across BU are encouraged to attend to network with others researchers, disseminate their work, discuss career opportunities, hear updates on how BU is implementing the Research Concordat, and give feedback or raise concerns that will help to develop and support the research community at BU.
In addition to the two leaders, there are two reps from each faculty.
Eligible research staff are those on fixed-term or open-ended employment contracts (not PTHP/casual contracts) who have at least one year remaining on their contract at the time of recruitment.
If you are interested in this role, please supply a few words to demonstrate your suitability, interest, availability in relation to the position to Researchdev@bournemouth.ac.uk by the 02/05/2023.
Please contact your faculty RSA rep to chat about it if you have any queries.
Ensuring the wellbeing of PGRs and supervisors can be challenging and this session will look at how to stay well when dealing with emotionally demanding research. This discussion will be led by Professor Lee-Ann Fenge, FHSS.
Staff attending this session will:
Date: Thursday 27 April 2023
Time: 12:00 – 13:00
To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.
Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.
Have your say
The Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) is now open
Share your feedback with us by taking part in the Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey. We are keen to make sure our PGRs have the best possible experience while studying at Bournemouth University. To do this, we need to know what you think works well and what as a University we could do better.
Upon completing the survey, PGRs will be entered into a free prize draw where you can win one of four prizes of a £50 Love2shop gift voucher. Terms and conditions apply.
In addition and as a thank you for taking part, we will be making a £1 donation for every survey completed to the student mental health wellbeing charity, Student Minds.
How do I take part?
PGRs will receive an email from the University on Monday 17 April 2023 containing a unique link which will allow you to access and complete the survey. If you can’t find this email, contact PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk and we’ll help you to get access.
What will I be asked?
The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete. Your response is confidential and any reporting will be entirely anonymous. The survey is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at BU. It will ask you to share your views on supervision, resources, research culture, community, progress and assessment, responsibilities, support, research skills, profession development, opportunities, and overall experience.
Why should I take part?
Your feedback is important. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is the only national survey of PGRs and so is the only way for us to compare how we are doing with other institutions and to make changes that will improve your experience in the future.
More information
If you would like to know more about the survey, please visit: PRES 2023
We hope you take the opportunity to get involved this year and help us make improvements to your experience.
Best wishes,
The Doctoral College
The first half of April I have been in Nepal on the ERASMUS+ exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences MMIHS). Apart from teaching and running tutorial and workshops at the host institution the exchange can also include student supervision. I had the pleasure of offering some support to one of the MMIHS Master of Public Health (MPH) students. Ms. Binita Dawadi designed an interesting project under the title on factors associated with burnout among nurses in the district of Jhapa (Nepal). 
She recently complete her research project as part of her dissertation which she subsequently presented as a poster at last week’s Ninth National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal. This annual research conference organised by the NHRC (Nepal Health Research Council) was held in Kathmandu on 11-12 April.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Perinatal Health {CMMPH}
Congratulations to Bronwyn Sherriff, Carol Clark, Clare Killingback and Dave Newell. Their manuscript titled “Musculoskeletal practitioners’ perceptions of contextual factors that may influence chronic low back pain outcomes: a modified Delphi study” was recently published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. The Delphi study provides initial insights regarding a panel of musculoskeletal practitioners’ attitudes towards contextual factors during chronic low-back pain (LBP) rehabilitation in the UK. If you are interested in their findings, click here: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-023-00482-4 or as a PDF: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12998-023-00482-4.pdf.
Congratulations and well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (CMMPH)
We are pleased to announce a one-week extension to the date for submission of abstracts, for the inaugural FHSS PGR Conference, which is being held on Tuesday 6th June from 09:30-13:30, in BGB.
The revised abstract submission date is Friday 21st April
We welcome abstracts for presentations or posters, from all PGRs in FHSS, no matter what stage of your studies you are at, focusing on the conference theme of ‘doing postgraduate research in health and social care’. Do get in touch with the conference committee at FHSSPGRConferenceCommittee@live.bournemouth.ac.uk if you are unsure and want to discuss your ideas before submitting an abstract.
Don’t forget that we welcome the submission of posters that you have presented elsewhere over the last year – please submit a brief abstract, as outlined below.
You can submit your abstract by scanning the QR code, or following this link (https://forms.office.com/e/RK7uhNc7LT)
Best wishes
Tanya (on behalf of the conference committee)
Check out the April e-newsletter.
All ‘monthly update for researcher development, culture and community’ e-newsletters are available in a dedicated content area on the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme Brightspace unit.
If you have any questions about the e-newsletter or would like to feature content, please contact Natalie [Doctoral College Programme Manager].
Have your say
PRES will launch on Monday 17 April 2023 for postgraduate research (PGR) students to complete.
Look out for an email from the University containing your unique link to the survey.
We are keen to make sure our PGRs have the best possible experience while studying with us. To do this, we need to know what you think works well and what as a University we could do better. This is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at Bournemouth University. We also kindly ask that all supervisors encourage their PGRs to participate in the survey.
Thank you to all PGRs who completed the 2022 PRES survey – we listened to you and your feedback has helped us to enhance your PGR experience in a range of areas.
This year the survey will open on Monday 17 April 2023 and close on Monday 15 May 2023. Upon completing the survey, PGRs will be entered into a free prize draw where you can win one of four prizes of a £50 Love2shop gift voucher. Terms and conditions apply.
In addition, and as thank you for taking part, we will be making a £1 donation for every survey completed to the student mental health wellbeing charity, Student Minds.
How do I take part?
PGRs will receive an email from the University on Monday 17 April 2023 containing a unique link which will allow you to access and complete the survey. If you can’t find this email, contact PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk and we’ll help you to get access.
What will I be asked?
The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete. Your response is confidential, and any reporting will be entirely anonymous. The survey is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at BU. It will ask you to share your views on supervision, resources, research culture, community, progress and assessment, responsibilities, support, research skills, profession development, opportunities, and overall experience.
Why should I take part?
Your feedback is important. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is the only national survey of PGRs and so is the only way for us to compare how we are doing with other institutions and to make changes that will improve your experience in the future.
More information
If you would like to know more about the survey, please visit: PRES 2023
We hope you take the opportunity to get involved this year and help us make improvements to your experience.
Best wishes,
The Doctoral College
For any PRES related queries, please email: PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk
Since the introduction of the new electronic ITB form on 24 January 2022, there have been incremental updates and the current e-ITB form is now available.
The e-ITB form continues to give a better user experience, creates a more efficient administrative control process for Research Development and Support (RDS) and provides accurate reporting outcomes for management.
Updated ITB form: The Intention to Bid (ITB) form and the updated Research Costings Request Sheet are both available now in the Policies & Procedures/Research/Pre-award section of the intranet under Research > Pre-award. Please complete the Research Costings Request Sheet and attach it to the e-ITB form for completion. PDF copies of all submissions can be printed or saved but there are limitations to editing a form once it has been submitted.
Please send RDS the completed e-ITB form and Costing Request Sheet by the latest 4 weeks before the deadline.
Bid Enquiry Process: If you have more than 4 weeks to the submission deadline and need advice or support regarding a bid, please access the same form link and select ‘Enquiry/Advice on Bidding’. This ensures that the pre-award team will see your Enquiry, rather than emailing a sole officer who may not be available at the time.
As a service, RDS is committed to delivering service excellence to enable BU’s academic community to deliver and grow world-leading research for societal benefit. The program of work continues to look at processes to enhance the user experience.
Changes include improvements to the pre- and post-award support being offered. Building on the delivery of a new Principal Investigator report which is currently in the final stages of being rolled out, and continuing our collaboration with the Transformation Team.
Expressions of interest invited for Chair and Deputy Chairs of BU’s Research Funding Panels
***DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 14th APRIL 2023***
We are seeking expressions of interest (EoIs) for Chair and Deputy Chair of the new funding panels:
Applications from underrepresented groups (women, minority ethnic, declared disability) are particularly welcome.
What are the Research Funding Panels?
These are the new, agile and responsive way that internal funds for projects that support Doctoral Studentships, Research Development, and Knowledge Exchange and Innovation will be managed at BU from August 2023.
Why should I apply to be a Chair or Deputy Chair? What’s in it for me?
Being a Chair or Deputy Chair of a funding panel means that you are involved in making important decisions about applications for funding. This means you need to be able to evaluate applications fairly and be able to express your thoughts about them effectively in meetings and via feedback. You will be directly involved in the process and therefore helping to ensure that internal funding at BU is used for projects that will have real world impact. It’s also a great opportunity to engage with colleagues from across the faculties.
Chair and Deputy Chair further information:
Eligibility is as follows: EoIs from full members of the Professoriate for the posts of Chair and from Associate Professors and Professors for the posts of Deputy Chair.
These posts are very important to the running of the panels you will be chairing meetings, ensuring that decision-making is fair and robust. As such, we require applicants to these posts to have some experience of chairing meetings, sound knowledge of the panels area and a keen desire to lead the research and knowledge exchange agenda across the university. There won’t be huge demands on your time, but you will be required to read and review multiple applications and there will be occasions when you may need to respond swiftly to requests to amend uses of funds.
Sounds like it could be interesting. How do I apply?
EoIs for the Chair or Deputy Chair roles should consist of a case (maximum length of one page) outlining your suitability for the role. Please outline your experience, your understanding of agenda and anything else you feel relevant.
These should be submitted to the relevant panel mailbox by the deadline of 4.30pm 14th April 2023. Please ensure your EoI clearly states whether you are applying for the Chair or Deputy Chair position.
Studentship Funding Panel – DoctoralCollege@bournemouth.ac.uk
Research Development Funding Panel – ResearchDevelopmentFund@bournemouth.ac.uk
Knowledge Exchange & Innovation Funding Panel – KEandInnovationFund@bournemouth.ac.uk
Whether you are a new supervisor, you plan to be one, or you have experience but are new to Bournemouth University, this development workshop is for you.
The workshop, which is mandatory for new supervisors, offers the necessary knowledge to supervise Postgraduate Research students by placing this knowledge within both the internal and external regulatory framework.
This workshop will cover the following key areas:
Book your place onto one of the Doctoral Supervision: New Supervisors Development workshops below. Further details about this workshop can also be found on the staff intranet.
| Date | Time | Location | Booking |
| Wednesday 22 March 2023 | 10:00 – 14:30 | Lansdowne Campus | Book |
| Tuesday 16 May 2023 | 10:00 – 14:30 | Talbot Campus | Book |
All ‘monthly update for researcher development, culture and community’ e-newsletters are available in a dedicated content area on the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme Brightspace unit.
If you missed the March e-newsletter, you can check it out.
If you have any questions about the e-newsletter or would like to feature content, please contact Natalie [Doctoral College Programme Manager].
BU LEAP’s research collaboration with Invisible Flock will culminate this year headlining the Brighton Festival on 6 and 7th May in the beautiful Dome Theatre.
A tall siamang sleeping tree. By AHKorstjens
The sleeping tree is a celebration of the beauty of the Indonesian forest.
Sleeping trees are large trees that are regularly re-used by primates. In this case the work is inspired by the small ape the siamang, Symphalangus syndactylus. Siamangs are endangered apes that live in small monogamous family groups and eat mostly fruit and leaves high up in the canopy. At that height, they are exposed to the high temperatures that we now see in this region. BU’s LEAP research has focused on understanding how temperatures and forest structure vary within this diverse yet previously selectively logged forest, and how such variation influences the behaviour and survival of local wildlife.
How do apes manage current and future conditions?
Siamang Mother and Child at Leuser National Park, Credit: Amanda Korstjenst
LEAP (Landscape Ecology and Primatology) research at BU is led by Prof. Amanda Korstjens, Prof. Ross Hill, Dr Philippa Gillingham, and Dr Tom Davis. Siamang research at BU formed part of the PhD research of Dr Chris Marsh and Dr Helen Slater and the MRes research by Emma Hankinson, Rosanna Consiglio, Nathan Harrison, and Jake Hill. Chris and Nathan followed siamang daily through the forests, with local rangers Ucok, Dian and Yagsa, and other Sikundur field station rangers.
Visitors to The Sleeping Tree at Brighton Festival will enjoy the multitude of sounds typical of this biodiversity hotspot. The experience follows the natural cycle of sounds within the forest and is ever changing. If you get up early on Sunday the 7th you can enjoy the morning call chorus of siamangs, lar gibbons and Thomas langurs. Throughout the Saturday and Sunday there will be the multitude of sounds of insects (especially the always present cicadas), amphibians, birds, deer, pigs, monkeys, elephants, and other wildlife that inhabits the forest. On Saturday there will be a panel discussion about acoustic research and the plight of biodiversity in Sumatra. Sunday also features a unique sound performance The Sleeping Tree Sound Installation | Brighton Festival
The recordings were collected within the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem, the last place on earth that harbours orang-utans, Sumatran tigers, Sumatran elephants, Sumatran rhino, and two smaller ape species (the siamang and the lar gibbon). This forest is one of the world’s most biodiverse places and plays a major role in the world’s hope of managing climate change.
Gunung Leuser ecosystem is a designated UNESCO Biosphere but it is only partly protected as a National Park and it is under constant threat of human encroachment, logging, and extraction of forest products and wildlife.
BU’s LEAP team has worked with Syiah Kuala University, Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), Liverpool John Moores’ university, Invisible Flock, and award-winning Leuser Conservation Forum (FKL) to better understand which aspects of forest structure and micro-climatic conditions influence the survival of orang-utans, siamang and elephants.
Our acoustic journey started with a collaboration with Dr Tom Davis at BU and continued with the collaboration with the multi-award-winning interactive arts studio Invisible Flock. Victoria Pratt, Ben Eaton and Amanda Korstjens tried out various acoustic devices under the very challenging Sumatran forest conditions, during a great (occasionally muddy) trip to the Sumatran forests. Based on our findings, Invisible Flock then developed the bespoke audio recording equipment (see OFR – Open Field Recorder – Invisible Flock) and The Sleeping Tree (Pohon Tidur) – Invisible Flock.
The recordings used for the Brighton Festival sound installation consist of those collected by Victoria Pratt, Ben Eaton and Simon Fletcher, supported by LEAP, FKL, and SOCP, using directional and ambisonic microphones. These are supplemented by the OFR recordings set out by the Invisible Flock team and managed and collected over 3 months by Dr Helen Slater.
The field work depended further on many people, including Dr Abdullah Abdullah of Syiah Kuala University (UnSyiah), and Matthew Nowak and Iain Singleton of SOCP, Graham Usher, the amazing SOCP field staff at Sikundur: Suprayudi, Ucok and Supri, Riki, Ben, Winn, Argus, Chiara Ripa, and the always inspiring Rudi Putra and the team of Forum Konservasi Leuser (FKL).
Currently, BU undergraduate Independent Research Students, Chloe Shaw, Ellie Vincent, Archie Bedford, and Devon Humphries are analysing the sound files to further identify how distance to forest edge, and gun shots at night influence siamang, Thomas langurs, birds, and lar gibbon vocalisations captured by Dr Slater’s work. Their work will feature on videos displayed at the exhibition.
Find LEAP’s scientific publications via BU’s e-prints: Bournemouth University Research Online [BURO] – Search results for Sikundur.
More information on the work by LEAP: go-LEAP: Landscape Ecology and Primatology
More information on the work by Invisible Flock: Home – Invisible Flock
More details and information on the work, see: our publication: https://issuu.com/invisibleflock/docs/the_sleeping_tree_publication
To support conservation in Leuser, please support the FKL: https://leuserconservancy.or.id
Sumatran Orangutan Programme: SOCP – Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme
Hosted by the Doctoral College, these one hour online lunch bite sessions supplement the regular New and Established Supervisory Development Sessions and are aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in research degree supervision.Each session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.
This session is focused on identifying best practice in recruiting PGRs and exploring ways of ensuring you recruit the best candidates. This discussion will be led by Dr Sally Reynolds, FST.
Staff attending this session will:
Date: Wednesday, 1 March 2023
Time: 12:00 – 13:00
To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.
Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.
BU staff can login below:
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