BU Research Blog

5 February 2024

Age Friendly Communities co-ordinator to present at Community Voices webinar February 14th 12-1pm

February’s webinar welcomes Heather Olive the Age Friendly Community Coordinator for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

In a response to the older population increasing globally The World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2010 created an initiative called ‘Age Friendly Communities.’ The aim is that Age Friendly Communities enable people to continue to stay living in their homes, living the life they want to live for as long as possible. Importantly in these communities, older residents help to shape the place that they live. Locally we have built a network of over 80 organisations working towards this common aim. Nationally we share knowledge and best practice through the support of the Centre for Ageing Better.

Community voices is a collaboration between BU PIER partnership and Centre for Seldom Heard Voices to provide a platform and a voice to local community activists.

Please do join us for this webinar….

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31 January 2024

Café Scientifique: The PGR Sessions – Tuesday 7 May 2024

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

Are you a Postgraduate Researcher at Bournemouth University? Do you want to share your research with a public audience and improve your communication skills? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you.

We are looking for 3-4 post-graduate researchers to take part in a special edition of our Café Scientifique public event series to deliver a short talk about your research to a friendly public audience. The event will take place from 6:30-8:00pm on Tuesday 7 May 2024 at The Black Cherry in Boscombe.

Café Scientifique is a fun and informal way to engage the public with your research and get feedback from different perspectives. You will receive training and support from our experienced Café Scientifique organisers in the Public Engagement Team, who will help you prepare and deliver your talk with confidence.

Please complete a short form to let us know why you are interested in getting involved, and include a bit about your research.

If selected, we will send you guidance on how to develop and deliver an engaging talk to a public audience. We will ask you to produce and practice a ‘draft’ version of your talk.

You will be invited to attend a training session on Tuesday 9 April to deliver your talk in front of the organisers and other speakers involved with the event. We will provide you with supportive feedback and ask you to do the same to the other selected speakers.

The Public Engagement Team will organise the event and promote it to local public audiences. The team will support you every step of the way. From developing your ideas to engage with a public audience, to setting up and promoting your event. We will also be on hand on the day to help your event run smoothly

If you are interested, please complete this form. The deadline for applying is Friday 8 March, 5pm.

Please note: Completing this form does not guarantee you a space. We will be in touch with you to discuss your interest.

If you have any questions about getting involved with Café Sci, please get in touch with the Public Engagement with Research Team: publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.

30 January 2024

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with our research. The Public Engagement with Research team in Research Development and Support can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our monthly newsletters and via our social media channels.

To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;

Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme. Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event. For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May.

Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content.

Share your upcoming public event or activity

If you have any questions, please contact the team publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

30 January 2024

The Secrets of Public Engagement: Free Online Event – Tuesday 27 February 1-1:45pm

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

The Secrets of Public Engagement – Free Online Event

Tuesday 27 February 1-1:45pm

Are you passionate about sharing your work in STEM? Do you want to capture the imagination when explaining your love of science? Join the team behind New Scientist Live to discover the secrets behind the UK’s biggest science show.

In this free lunchtime virtual event, host Martin Davies (Head of Event Production, New Scientist) will welcome science communicator and engagement consultant Dr Jamie Gallagher, as he reveals how to prepare memorable talks and interactive stands that leave a lasting impression. Martin will also be joined by colleague Jacqui Mccarron, as they explore what they look for when inviting speakers and selecting exhibitors for New Scientist Live.

Jamie Gallagher is an award-winning freelance communicator and engagement professional with ten years’ experience in the delivery and evaluation of quality engagement projects. Working across dozens of institutions and subject areas he has helped improve the reach, profile and impact of research engagement in almost every discipline. Jamie is also a science communicator and can often be found on TV, radio or stage making research accessible.

Who should watch?

Sci-Comms Professionals
Public Engagement Officers
Researchers involved with public engagement
Science speakers and demonstrators
STEM ambassadors
Anyone else interested in communicating STEM topics to a public audience

Benefits of watching

Learn about how New Scientist Live communicates complicated ideas to a general audience
Discover how to have the greatest impact when exhibiting
Find out what makes a great science talk
Learn how to amplify your message to a wider, underrepresented audience

Booking information:

This online event will start at 1pm on Tuesday 27 February 2024. Access to a recording of the event will be exclusively available to registrants for the 12 months following the live event. The on-demand recording will be available to view within 24 hours of the live discussion.

Ring Central will email your ticket confirmation to you immediately after registering. You will also receive a separate email from Ring Central with a link to access the event within a week of the event start date; please note that each link is unique and should not be shared.

Tickets are non-transferable to any other New Scientist event.

Register here

26 January 2024

Free Training – Preparing for Impact in REF 2029

Public engagement, Training Adam Morris

A reminder that the three-part webinar series from hivve titled Preparing for Impact in REF 2029 starts next week.

Following the December 2023 announcement from UKRI that REF would be postponed until 2029, this free series is aimed at UK academics who want to get to grips with research impact in general, what the REF requirements are, and how they can begin preparing to ensure maximum success and minimal stress for the 2029 assessment.

The hivve team has been working with institutions since REF 2014 to help prepare for the impact element of the assessment, including the development of Impact Case Studies (ICS), and we are looking forward to sharing our experience with you in the new year.

31/01/24

9:15-10am GMT

Introduction to Research Impact, Impact Case Studies (ICS) and the Research Excellence Framework (REF)

Research impact from REF 2014 to 2029 – a look at how the guidelines and expectations have evolved
What is impact? An exploration of key definitions + the Logic Model
Preparing academics, Impact Officers/Managers and Research Officers/Managers for REF 2029

28/02/24

9:15-10am GMT

Engaging with Stakeholders and Collecting Data and Evidence

Understand how to identify your stakeholders
Recognise the impact data you should collect and what you should start recording immediately
Learn what evidence to gather and how to approach capturing this

10/04/24

9:15-10am GMT+1

Structuring Compelling Impact Case Studies (ICS) for REF 2029

Understand what a 4* Impact Case Study looks like
Identify key dos and don’ts and top tips
Learn how to run valuable internal mock reviews of Impact Case Studies

15 January 2024

Research methods capacity building in Nepal

international, PG research, Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday, Sunday 14th January, I was invited by Bournemouth University’s former PhD student Dr. Pratik Adhikary to run a three-hour methods session on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions at the Nepal Injury Research Centre (NIRC). The workshop was based on work normally presented as part of BU’s Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme.

The audience comprised PhD students based at NIRC, as well as at Kathmandu Medical College (KMC), and Nepal’s oldest and largest university, Tribhuvan University. Participants were involved in research into many different research questions, ranging from road traffic accidents to sexual health and the well-being of migrant workers. NIRC was established with funding from the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Programme and it is a partnership between KMC and the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE).

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)

15 January 2024

TV interview in Nepal

international, Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Two days ago Professor Edwin van Teijlingen from BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences was interviewed by the national television channel News24 in Kathmandu, Nepal. His interview covered some more personal questions, including the question how Edwin became involved in research in Nepal two decades ago, followed questions about recent research projects. The latter involved questions about the nearly completed project “The Impact of Federalisation on Nepal’s Health System: A longitudinal Analysis’. This project, launched in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, is led by the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with BU, the University of Huddersfield, Canterbury Christ Church University, PHASE Nepal and MMIHS (Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences). This nearly four-year project is UK-funded by the MRC (Medical Research Council), the Wellcome Trust and DFID (now called the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office [FCDO]) under the Health Systems Research Initiative.

There were also questions about the health and well-being of Nepal’s migrant workers, partly related to a recently finished study on kidney health of migrant workers funded by The Colt Foundation and a new project led by La Isla Network in the United States of America (USA). La Isla Network, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (in the USA) , Nepal Development Society and Bournemouth University are leading the first-ever international effort to research and address trafficking among Nepalese labour migrants. The work is funded by a $4 million cooperative agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, International Programs.

The television company has already put the half-hour interview on YouTube, to watch it click here!

10 January 2024

Newspaper coverage in Nepal

international, Public engagement, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

One print daily English-language newspaper The Annapurna Express and one online newspaper Gazzabkoo Magazine published articles this week on our project on strengthening the health system in Nepal. The latter used the title ‘Strengthening Health Systems for Better Health‘ and the former opted for the headline ‘Forum on health system strengthening’.

Our interdisciplinary study ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system: a longitudinal analysis’ is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref. MR/T023554/1]. In this Nepal Federal Health System Project we study the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move in 2015 from a centralised political system to a more federal structure of government . This joint project is led by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, Canterbury Christ Church University and two institutions in Nepal, namely MMIHS (Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences) and PHASE Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMWH (Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health)

10 January 2024

Communication in the aftermath of an NHS staff suicide: New research published today!

Fusion themes, NHS, open accecss, open access, PG research, Public engagement, Publishing, Research Ethics, student research aluce

Prof. Ann Luce (FMC), Ms. Georgia Turner (PhD candidate FST), Ms. Lauren Kennedy (MSc student FST) and Dr. Reece D. Bush-Evans (Lecturer in FST) are pleased to announce the publication of their most recent work in British Medical Journal: Medical Humanities titled, “Quite simply they don’t communicate: a case study of a National Health Service response to staff suicide”. You can access the article here for free.

Workplace suicide can have significant knock-on effects within an organisation, yet research has shown within the healthcare profession, not all staff receive suicide prevention training, and few employers take the time to reflect on the need to change workplace policies or practices following the death of a staff member to suicide. How staff suicide is communicated across an organisation and to family members is important. Effective crisis communication is critical for effective management for a timely and sensitive response to a staff suicide within an organisation. By doing so, workplaces can help to reduce the significant emotional trauma suicide can have on an employee, and support good mental health across its workforce.

This groundbreaking work in the field of suicide prevention is already having an impact. The work was cited by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee recent report on “Improving Mental Health Services”. Furthermore, the research has served as the underpinning evidence for NHS England’s National Suicide Prevention Toolkit for England, which will be implemented across all NHS Trusts in England. And, with a renewed focus on healthcare suicide, with a specific focus on female nurses, the research served as underpinning evidence for England’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy that was released in September 2023.

The team would like to thank all research participants as this was a difficult project to complete. Further, thanks must also be extended to NHS England for funding, the BU Open Access Fund, and the colleagues across BU who read drafts of the work prior to publication.

9 January 2024

Would you like to develop your public involvement in research approach and skills?

Public engagement mhughes

Applications are now open for the April delivery of the Public involvement in research CPD unit co-delivered twice a year with the BU PIER Partnership. The focus of the 5 week unit is on harnessing lived experience expertise in health and social care research, service improvement and/or professional practice and developing an evidence informed public involvement strategy for your own study, project or role. The unit places specific emphasis on collaborating with groups currently under-served by research.

The national online unit is open to practitioners, researchers, public involvement leads and academics at all career stages with free places offered to BU PhD students through the research development programme.

To find out more, including dates and fees, please see here. Please share with your colleagues, PGRs and external networks including anyone you are supporting to develop fellowship scheme applications who may wish to include this unit within their training plan.

9 January 2024

ECR Public Engagement Opportunity: Share your research with the public at Café Scientifique

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

Are you an Early Career Researcher looking to gain experience in Public Engagement? Would you like to share your research with a public audience? Get involved with our Café Scientifique series

Café Scientifique is a public event that takes place at The Black Cherry in Boscombe on the first Tuesday evening of the month (excluding January & August), and is organised centrally by the BU Public Engagement with Research Team, part of Research Development and Support.

The format involves delivering a short talk, followed by the opportunity for discussion and questions from a varied public audience. It is a fantastic opportunity for you to gain experience in engaging with the public in a friendly relaxed atmosphere.

We welcome academics at all career stages, although this opportunity is particularly valuable for those getting started in engaging with the public. We encourage collaboration between less experienced and more experienced public speakers to help provide support and gain a rewarding learning experience.

The team will support you every step of the way. From developing your ideas to engage with a public audience, to setting up and promoting your event. We will also be on hand on the day to help your event run smoothly.

Complete our form to Register your interest

Please note: Completing this form does not guarantee you a space. We will be in touch with you to discuss your interest.

If you have any questions about getting involved with Café Sci, please get in touch with the Public Engagement with Research Team: publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.

8 January 2024

New Scientist Live 2024: Call for Speakers and Exhibitors

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

New Scientist Live is a three-day science festival and exhibition that combines the best of in-person and virtual events. Connecting a global online audience with face-to-face visitors, speakers and dozens of exhibitors for talks, discussions and hands-on demonstrations.

New Scientist Live will take place from 12-14 October 2024 at ExCeL London.

The organisers are looking for new voices and ideas to inform, inspire and surprise audiences. If you’ve got an idea for a talk at New Scientist Live, please complete this Nomination Form with your ideas. There is no limit on the number of nominations.

Nominations close at 23:59 on Wednesday 31 January 2024

They are also looking for new and exciting exhibitors for their show floor. Do you have an idea for an interactive stand, where visitors to the show can get hands-on with leading-edge science, and talk to researchers forging the future? If you are interested in engaging with a diverse audience, ranging from school children to retirees and everyone in between, please email jacqui.mccarron@newscientist.com for more information.

8 January 2024

Do you have an idea to engage public audiences with science & research? British Science Festival 2024 Open Call – Deadline Tuesday 16 January

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

Do you have an idea to engage public audiences with science and research?

Event proposals for the British Science Festival 2024 are open.

The British Science Festival will take place in East London from Wednesday 11 – Sunday 15 September 2024, and will be hosted by the University of East London.

The programme showcases cutting-edge science, technology, and ideas that challenge, inspire and excite audiences. Each year, thousands of people come together to celebrate the latest developments in research and engage in open discussion about issues affecting our culture and society.

Anyone can propose an event and the festival celebrates science in its broadest sense. The British Science Festival are looking for proposals from individuals, researchers, industry professionals, artists, writers, organisations, charities, academic institutions, and more. They aim to programme a range of formats from talks to drop-in activities and creative content that challenges perceptions of what science is and can be.

The festival is free and open to all, but content should be appropriate for an adult (16+ audience).

More information, including how to submit a proposal, can be found here: British Science Festival 2024 Open Call

Before developing and submitting your proposal, please read the FAQs

To submit a proposal for an event please complete the proposal form

Deadline for proposals: 23.59 on Tuesday 16 January 2024.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to discuss your proposal, please email festival@britishscienceassociation.org.

Alternatively, should you wish to discuss your application with the Public Engagement with Research team, please email publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

5 January 2024

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with our research. The Public Engagement with Research team in Research Development and Support can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our monthly newsletters and via our social media channels.

To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;

Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme. Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event. For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May.

Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content.

Share your upcoming public event or activity

If you have any questions, please contact the team publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

5 January 2024

Public Engagement Opportunity: Share your research with the public at Café Scientifique

Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Public engagement ballen

Would you like to share your research with a public audience? Get involved with our Café Scientifique series

Café Scientifique is a public event that takes place at The Black Cherry in Boscombe on the first Tuesday evening of the month (excluding January & August), and is organised centrally by the BU Public Engagement with Research Team, part of Research Development and Support.

The format involves delivering a short talk, followed by the opportunity for discussion and questions from a varied public audience. It is a fantastic opportunity for you to gain experience in engaging with the public in a friendly relaxed atmosphere.

We welcome academics at all career stages, although this opportunity is particularly valuable for those getting started in engaging with the public. We encourage collaboration between less experienced and more experienced public speakers to help provide support and gain a rewarding learning experience.

The team will support you every step of the way. From developing your ideas to engage with a public audience, to setting up and promoting your event. We will also be on hand on the day to help your event run smoothly.

Complete our form to Register your interest

Please note: Completing this form does not guarantee you a space. We will be in touch with you to discuss your interest.

If you have any questions about getting involved with Café Sci, please get in touch with the Public Engagement with Research Team: publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.

5 January 2024

Café Scientifique Tuesday 6 February 2024 – The Sun and the Moon and the Stars: Ancient Britons and their skyscapes

Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Public engagement ballen

At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience

We’ll be joined by Pamela Armstrong on Tuesday 6 February from 6:30 – 8:00pm.

The first monuments ever built on our landscapes were mounds known as barrows. These communal places made of earth and stone were designed to house the dead. There are those who say the people who built these huge structures deliberately oriented them to the sun, the moon and the stars.

Join Pamela Armstrong, Skyscape Archaeologist from Bournemouth University to explore the old stones, the old ways and the old skies.

This event will be held at The Black Cherry in Boscombe, Bournemouth. Although the talks start at 6:30pm, the café will be open early so we encourage you to arrive early for a drink and a bite to eat before the talk starts.

If you have any questions about this event, or if you’re interested in getting involved with a future Café Sci event, please email the Public Engagement with Research Team: publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

15 December 2023

Upcoming opportunities & training for policy influencing

Public engagement, Training Amanda Edwards

Final round-up of the year from Parliament

The following opportunities to engage with policymakers and Parliament have been compiled by UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU). If you’d like to be kept up to date, you can also subscribe directly to KEU’s weekly round-up:

Book now for policy workshop & networking lunch: 26 January

Facilitated by the Knowledge Exchange Lead at the UK Parliament, this workshop is aimed at those with little to no experience of engaging with Parliament. It includes information-sharing and practical tasks, designed to help you take the first steps in engaging with policy through Parliament. This is a hands-on session and you will need to bring a laptop and/or smartphone.

There will also be the opportunity to network with colleagues from AECC University College and AUB during lunch after the session has ended.

Sign up here by Thursday 4 January 2024.

14 December 2023

New internal seed fund for public engagement with research launching in 2024

Public engagement Amanda Edwards

Enabling meaningful engagement with stakeholders

Research is more likely to lead to impact if there is engagement with beneficiaries and research users from the outset. To help foster the development of our research at BU, improving quality, bid success and leading to greater impact, we are setting up a pilot seed fund scheme in the new year.

The aim is to embed public engagement with research in order to:

improve the quality of funding bids
support engaged research delivery
accelerate the translation of research findings into impact

The fund will operate on a rolling basis and provide small amounts of money to kickstart or further develop engagement. It could be used, for example, to cover travel costs for meeting prospective partners or hosting a stakeholder networking event.

Applicants will be expected to outline how the funding will lead to further engagement and how that engagement will be used to enhance external bidding or impact acceleration.

Full details of the funding and how to apply will follow early in the new year. In the meantime, if you are interested in applying, the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) has a wealth of free resources available.

For informal enquiries about the fund, please email Amanda Edwards, Impact Manager.

Category / Public engagement

Age Friendly Communities co-ordinator to present at Community Voices webinar February 14th 12-1pm

Café Scientifique: The PGR Sessions – Tuesday 7 May 2024

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

The Secrets of Public Engagement: Free Online Event – Tuesday 27 February 1-1:45pm

Register here

Free Training – Preparing for Impact in REF 2029

Communication in the aftermath of an NHS staff suicide: New research published today!

Would you like to develop your public involvement in research approach and skills?

ECR Public Engagement Opportunity: Share your research with the public at Café Scientifique

Complete our form to Register your interest

New Scientist Live 2024: Call for Speakers and Exhibitors

Do you have an idea to engage public audiences with science & research? British Science Festival 2024 Open Call – Deadline Tuesday 16 January

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Public Engagement Opportunity: Share your research with the public at Café Scientifique

Complete our form to Register your interest

Café Scientifique Tuesday 6 February 2024 – The Sun and the Moon and the Stars: Ancient Britons and their skyscapes

Upcoming opportunities & training for policy influencing

Final round-up of the year from Parliament

Book now for policy workshop & networking lunch: 26 January

Sign up here by Thursday 4 January 2024.

New internal seed fund for public engagement with research launching in 2024

Enabling meaningful engagement with stakeholders

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Category / Public engagement

Complete our form to Register your interest

Complete our form to Register your interest

Final round-up of the year from Parliament

Book now for policy workshop & networking lunch: 26 January

Sign up here by Thursday 4 January 2024.

Enabling meaningful engagement with stakeholders

Other services

Don’t miss a post!

Recent posts

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