Category / Research assessment

Handing over the BU REF baton

BU research, Research assessment

Well, the day has finally come when I’m to hand over the BU REF baton to Peng Peng Ooi who is to take over as the BU Research Development Officer for the REF while I am on maternity leave. She’s had a crash course in all things REF since she began at the RDU in July and has very much landed in at the deep end because of the mock REF exercise on outputs that’s currently taking place!

This hasn’t put her off though, and she’s poised ready to take things forward in the coming months prior to the REF submission deadline in November 2013.

It just remains to wish you all the very best with your submissions and to thank you for your cooperation with the REF preparations so far. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the blog for all BU REF-related information. See you next year!

Anita Somner

Research Development Officer (REF)

Latest BU REF Highlight Report now available

BU research, Research assessment, Research news

The latest BU REF Highlight Report (#12) is now available for BU staff to download. It covers the period from January to July 2012.

Features in this report include information about:

You can access your copy of the report from the following location on the I-drive (just copy and paste the following into Windows Explorer): I:\R&KEO\Public\RDU\REF\REF preparations\REF highlight reports

REF2014 – Dissemination of REF documents

REF Subjects, Research assessment

The University is currently preparing to take part in the first Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment, which is a national exercise to assess the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. To ensure that the University abides by its principles of transparency, consistency, accountability and inclusivity in preparing and finalising the BU submission to the REF, the BU REF 2014 Code of Practice (v2), BU REF Frequently Asked Questions and BU REF Individual Staff Circumstances Disclosure Form have been developed and are now being formally disseminated to all BU academic staff to ensure all eligible staff are fully informed. When you have received this email, it is important that you read the information contained in these documents and you are therefore required to acknowledge receipt of this communication by sending the automatic ‘read receipt’ to the email as soon as possible.

These documents are also available on the BU Research Blog under the ‘REF’ tab.

In conjunction with the dissemination of these key documents, two open sessions have been scheduled for the autumn to give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have prior to the collection of the first round of BU REF Individual Staff Circumstances Disclosure Forms (due to be returned by 31 October 2012):

Talbot Campus:

Date: 27 September 2012

Time : 11.30am to 1.00pm

Venue: The Wallace Lecture Theatre, Weymouth House

Lansdowne Campus:

Date: 11 October 2012

Time: 3.00pm to 4.30pm

Venue: EB306, Executive Business Centre

You are invited to attend either event – more details will be circulated in due course. If you are unable to attend but have any queries, please contact Peng Peng Ooi (Research Development Officer – REF: pengpeng.ooi@bournemouth.ac.uk).

Many thanks for your cooperation in this and hopefully this information is useful for you.

Latest journal impact factors

BU research, Research assessment

Following the release of the latest Journal Citation Reports® on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Knowledge database, we have compiled a list of the top ranking journals in various fields related to BU research. BU staff can access these lists by going to the designated folder on the I-drive (copy and paste the following path into Windows Explorer and press return): I:\R&KEO\Public\RDU\Journal Impact Factors 2012.

If there are any additional subject areas that you would like to see included, please leave a comment to this post, below.

Related blog posts that may be of interest:

Updates from the BU REF Academic Leadership Team (RALT) meetings

BU research, Research assessment

The BU REF Academic Leadership Team (RALT) meets every month to discuss matters relating to BU’s preparations for its submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2013. The group is chaired by Matthew Bennett (Pro Vice-Chancellor) and consists of the 12 Unit of Assessment (UOA) Leaders, who are academics from across the different Schools in the University, the REF Communications Manager (Sally Gates), the Head of the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office (Julie Northam) and representatives from the BU REF Academic Steering Group (RASG). The meetings are administered and minuted by the Research Development Officer for the REF (Anita Somner/Peng Peng Ooi).

A summary of the most recent meetings is below for your information. The next meeting is scheduled for September due to staff taking their summer holidays (hopefully there will be some sunshine soon!).

17 May 2012

  • Feedback from external reviewers was presented by two UOA Leaders following the previous mock exercise on impact and environment over the winter 2011/2012.
  • The process for the current outputs mock exercise was outlined and deadlines given for returning all information prior to it being sent to the external reviewers.
  • An update was given on the BU REF Code of Practice and on the first phase of equality and diversity training for those involved in coordinating the REF at BU, which had recently taken place.
  • The REF Communication Manager gave an update on progress with developing the BU impact case studies and on the provision of social media training for academics.

18 June 2012

  • Progress with the collation of data for the outputs mock was discussed. Most of the paperwork had been received on time, which was great news!
  • Preparations for the full mock in spring 2013 were discussed along with the kind of support UOA Leaders might need.
  • Forthcoming REF deadlines for the provision of certain information ahead of the 2013 submission deadline were highlighted.
  • The REF Communications Manager gave a report on the outcomes of a series of meetings held recently with UOA Leaders discussing the BU impact case studies.

 

BU REF Code of Practice gets the green light!

BU research, Research assessment

Since submitting the BU Research Excellence Framework (REF) Code of Practice to the REF Team at HEFCE in April (see previous blog post for details), we have been waiting for their feedback as to whether our Code meets the requirements and guidance on equality and diversity considerations for our REF preparations and submission. We finally had confimation from HEFCE on Monday that the REF Equality and Diversity Panel had reviewed all the Codes that had been submitted in April and that our Code did indeed meet the REF Team’s criteria and is now officially approved! This is great news and means that we can now make it available here on the BU Research Blog.

A PDF copy of the Code and the recently published BU REF Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) will be circulated to academic staff in due course but you can access your copy here in the meantime. For the BU REF FAQs, which accompany the Code, a new tab has been added to the Blog (see REF tab above). Here you’ll find a series of questions and answers on a range of topics that should hopefully help with any initial burning issues you may have about the REF and our preparations here at BU. If you have a question that is not answered in the FAQs, please do leave a response to the relevant FAQ page on the Blog and we will follow this up for you. Alternatively you can contact me or Julie Northam in the Research Development Unit via email.

For more information about the REF at BU, see the previous REF posts on the Blog by clicking on the ‘ref’ tag. You can also access additional information from the REF website.

BU summer mock REF exercise gets underway

BU research, Research assessment

The fourth in a series of mock Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercises is currently underway at BU, with the paperwork now on its way to the external reviewers who have been specially recruited for their expertise in their subject area. The reviewers will spend the next month or so going through all the forms and submitted outputs and will provide feedback on each submission.

After reviewing the forms, the reviewers will also be involved in a meeting involving the BU Unit of Assessment (UOA) Leader and three or four nominated BU academics from each UOA to discuss the submissions and the feedback given. These meetings are due to take place during the early autumn. Once all the review meetings have taken place, the reviewers’ comments and the outcomes from the meetings will be compiled – this information will then be fed back to academics by the relevant UOA Leaders to help in the further development of the REF submissions.

The next (and final) REF mock exercise is due to take place during February to April 2013; it will be a full dry run and will be the last chance for you to receive external feedback on your outputs before the final REF submission deadline on 29th November 2013.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank all the BU academics who have been involved in the current mock exercise for taking part and for responding promptly to any queries. Thanks also to the UOA Leaders for collating the information and submitting it on time, particularly as the deadlines were quite tight. Your joint cooperation is much appreciated!

For all previous REF postings on the BU Research Blog, click here.

Emerald Literati Network 2012 Awards for Excellence

BU research, Research assessment, Research Integritiy, Research news, Uncategorized

Professor Jonathan Parker

Professor Jonathan Parker, Deputy Dean for Research in the School of Health and Social Care has been chosen as an Outstanding Reviewer at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2012. Each year Emerald names and rewards the Outstanding Reviewers who contribute to the success of the journals.  Each journal’s Editor has nominated the Reviewer they believe has been that title’s most Outstanding Reviewer.

The most Outstanding Reviewers are chosen following consultation amongst the journal’s Editors, whom are eminent academics or managers. Professor Parker was selected for the very impressive and significant contribution he made as a Reviewer to The Journal of Adult Protection throughout 2011.

BU REF Code of Practice available now!

Research assessment

As I mentioned in my previous post about the forthcoming outputs mock REF exercise, we have recently submitted our final draft REF Code of Practice document to the REF Team for their approval. We produced this document to help inform staff about the policies and processes around submitting to the REF in November 2013, as well as to meet the four UK higher education funding bodies’ request that each institution making a submission to the REF must develop and apply such a code when selecting staff to include in their submission.

The BU REF Code of Practice is the culmination of months of drafting and approval, and sets out the approach that will be, and has already been, taken by BU in preparing its REF2014 submission. It therefore includes important information about the schedule of mock REF exercises that you are able to take part in (Chapter 3), and about declaring any circumstances that may have affected your ability to produce the four outputs required (Chapter 5), along with other equality and diversity aspects. Staff eligibility and selection are also covered.

Throughout the document there are references to the relevant paragraphs within the key publications published by the REF Team, which are: Assessment Framework and Guidance on Submissions and Panel Criteria and Working Methods.

Because this document is still subject to the approval of the REF Team’s Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP), the Code is currently available to BU staff via the new Staff Intranet under ‘Policies, Forms and Procedures/Research’. We will make it fully available here on the Blog once we’ve received the EDAP feedback, so watch this space!

Limber up for the next BU mock REF exercise

Research assessment

Just as the Olympic athletes are getting set for the 2012 games, so are we gearing up to launch the summer 2012 mock REF exercise for BU academic staff, this time looking at research outputs. This follows on from our previous light-touch review exercise, which was open to all academic staff and took place over the winter of 2010/2011.

This latest exercise will be the fourth in a series of different preparation exercises that have been held or are due to take place at BU ahead of the REF2014 submission deadline on 29 November 2013. Just as the athletes will have taken part in warm-up events and qualifiers to test their fitness and shine before selectors, so the mock REF exercises are a useful ‘dry run’ to give you a feel for what’s going to be required for the real thing. Equally, you’ll get valuable feedback on your outputs from external reviewers and your UOA Leader, and it will enable us to test out our data collection processes.

As in the light touch review, the outputs mock will be open to all academic staff. The relevant form will be distributed via your UOA leader in due course so it would be a good time to start thinking about which outputs you’re likely to put forward. Although REF2014 requires a maximum of four outputs, we’re giving you the opportunity to get feedback from the reviewers on up to six outputs, so make the most of this chance to really shape your outputs submission.

Also under starter’s orders – the BU REF Code of Practice will shortly be circulated to all staff, which outlines the timetable of REF preparation exercises and includes a host of other useful information related to how BU is preparing for REF2014. The final draft of this document has just been submitted to the REF Team for formal approval so watch this space for more information about this.

If you need any more information about the REF, have a look at all the previous blog posts that we’ve included here, or visit the new-look REF website. Alternatively, you can contact myself or Julie Northam in the Research Development Unit, or leave a comment below.

REF Panel Criteria summaries by UOA

Guidance, Research assessment

The final REF Panel Criteria and Working Methods documentation was released by the REF Team (based at HEFCE) at the end of January.

As a handy guide to the information the RDU has summarised the headline information for the UOA in the documents listed below:

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy – UOA 3 panel criteria summary

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience – UOA 4 panel criteria summary

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences – UOA 7 panel criteria summary

Computer Science and Informatics – UOA 11 panel criteria summary

General Engineering – UOA 15 panel criteria summary

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology – UOA 17 panel criteria summary

Business and Management Studies – UOA 19 panel criteria summary

Law – UOA 20 panel criteria summary

Social Work and Social Policy – UOA 22 panel criteria summary

Sports and Exerise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism – UOA 26 panel criteria summary

Art and Design – UOA 34 panel criteria summary

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies – UOA 36 panel criteria summary

Happy reading! If you have any questions about the REF then please do let me know.

The second brilliant external REF event at BU!

Research assessment, Research news

On Wednesday this week BU hosted a REF Team-supported event for universities in the south of England explaining the content of the recently released REF Panel Working Methods and Criteria documentation. This was the second REF event that has been hosted at BU in the past 12 months. The first event was held in May 2011 and you can read about it here: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2011/05/25/the-excellent-hefce-ref-event-at-bu/

The event, attended by over 150 delegates from 32 institutions, outlined the similarities between how the four Main Panels will review submissions, as well as focusing on the differences between the panels particularly in how they will define and assess impact in the context of the REF.

Chris Taylor, Deputy REF Manager, spoke about the technical aspects of the REF, e.g. the timetable, element weightings, and institutional REF codes of practice, and then looked at each of the three elements of the REF in depth – impact, outputs and environment.

Prof Stephen Holgate, Chair of Main Panel A, then delivered a very interesting presentation on the similarities between the four Main Panels which have been vastly improved since the sector-wide consultation on the Panel Working Methods documentation last autumn. The Panels have put in a significant amount of work to ensuring their working methods will be as simple, transparent and similar as possible which is excellent news.

After break there were four concurrent sessions, each focusing on one of the Main Panels. Event attendees could choose to attend one session. The session were led by:

  • Main Panel A – Prof Stephen Holgate (Chair of Main Panel A)
  • Main Panel B – Prof Philip Nelson (Chair of the General Engineering sub-panel)
  • Main Panel C – Prof John Scott (Chair of the Sociology sub-panel)
  • Main Panel D – Prof Bruce Brown (Chair of Main Panel D)

After the concurrent sessions, all presenters took part in a Q&A session back in Kimmeridge House.

One of the key messages of the day was that the sub-panels will not make use of journal impact factors, journal ranking lists, or other journal scoring information to inform the review of outputs. Citation data will be provided by the REF Team to sub-panels:

  • Main Panel A: Sub-panels 1-6
  • Main Panel B: Sub-panels 7-11
  • Main Panel C: Sub-panel 18

Research collaboration (e.g. links with other institutions, business and industry, international collaboration, etc) was also highlighted at numerous points throughout the event as being of particular importance in the environment element of the assessment.

Regarding impact, Prof Holgate stressed that the assessment of impact was not necessarily linked to the size of the population affected but to the reach and significance of the impact – for example, a 4* impact case study could be for a drug that cured three people or 3 billion people.

Also interesting was the focus on 4* research being that which is transformative research and that this could be the synthesis of knowledge and the identification of a new way of doing things. A review paper could therefore be assessed as 4* if it meets this definition. Prof Holgate remarked: “we are in an era of transformation. We want game changing outputs to be submitted to the REF”.

The event was closed by Prof Matthew Bennett at 1pm after which point event attendees networked over lunch. Feedback from attendees so far has been very positive!

If you attended the session then we’d love to know what you thought! Let us know by adding a comment to this post.

The slides will be available shortly via the Blog.

REF draft code of practice – BU academic staff comments invited

Research assessment

Over the past 18-24 months we have been working on a code of practice to set out the approach that is being taken at BU in preparing our REF submission. The document has largely been authored by Anita Somner, Judith Wilson, Dr James Palfreman-Kay and myself with input from Prof Kate Galvin, and has been approved by the REF Academic Steering Group and REF Academic Leadership Team. It is a requirement for all institutions submitting to the REF to have a code of practice in place which has been approved by the REF Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP), and the initial deadline for submitting draft codes to the EDAP is midday on 27 April 2012.

We are now inviting all academic staff to comment on this version of the BU REF code of practice. Comments received will help to refine the document in advance of the final version being sent by the VC to the EDAP at the end of April. A feedback form is available for completion by academic staff wishing to comment on the draft document.

The draft code of practice and the feedback form are available from the I-drive: I:\CRKT\Public\RDU\REF\COP feedback

Responses should be emailed to Anita Somner by 5pm on Friday 16 March 2012.

I am happy to discuss the document with colleagues and/or to meet as appropriate. If you have any queries, please do let me know.

Thanks

Julie

Involving undergraduates in research: the Psychology Research Apprenticeship Scheme

BU research, Fusion, Research assessment

Following on from Sally Gates’ recent blog about involving undergraduates in research, we thought it would be good to share with the blog readership our experience of the Research Apprenticeship Scheme that we have been running in the Psychology Research Centre for the past three years.

Undergraduate students in their second year are offered the chance to work alongside staff and help them with their research.  These positions enable 2nd year students to work directly alongside staff and help them with their research.  Students get the chance to work together with researchers, gathering and analysing data, and working out what experimental findings might mean.  The students often get a chance to work with specialist equipment that they might not have been able to otherwise and gain in-depth knowledge of what research really involves. And of course it looks great on their CVs. This experience engenders the research bug in the students – two were intrigued enough to apply for and win funding from the Nuffield Foundation for summer work in the Psychology Research Centre – and those students and others from the scheme are busy applying for PhD positions this year.   The scheme also provides the students with invaluable experience for their own research project in their final year of study.

Of course, the scheme also helps staff.  We really appreciate the help and support the ‘apprentices’ provide.  The scheme has really grown and this year we were able to offer 25 research apprenticeship positions to 2nd year students.  We hope the scheme will go from strength to strength and that in future years we may be able to offer one or two paid summer placements to our best undergraduate apprentice researchers.

BUCRU – Supporting the development of grant applications

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Funding opportunities, Post-award, Publishing, Research assessment, Research news

In today’s post we give a case study of how Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) recently supported the development of a grant application.

Case study

We recently supported a Programme Development Grant (www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/PGfAR/PDG/Pages/default.aspx) application to the National Health Service (NHS) National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The Unit receives funding from the NIHR to be the Dorset Office of the NIHR Research Design Service (RDS), and thus can support local researchers in the University and the NHS to develop their funding applications. The topic of this grant application was early warning systems for use in an obstetric setting. Early warning systems are used by clinical staff in hospital to identify clinical problems before they get too serious, for example by regularly monitoring vital signs such as blood pressure. The purpose of Programme Development Grants is to fund preliminary work ahead of a larger Programme Grant for Applied Research (PGAR; www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/PGfAR/Pages/Home.aspx). 

This support involved:

  • Providing methodological input in systematic reviews, surveys, qualitative designs, quantitative designs notably a sample size calculation, and trial design.
  • Patient and public involvement (PPI) – the team has a designated person supporting PPI.
  • Team development – a strong team needed to be developed with the appropriate skill mix to deliver the programme of research.  Four members of BUCRU became co-applicants on the proposal bringing methodological expertise in systematic reviews, qualitative research, quantitative research, and PPI support.  Via our link with the RDS we also have access to health economist support.   Collaborations were initiated with the Wessex Health Innovation and Education Cluster (HIEC; www.wessexhiecpartnership.org.uk/) to gain support in the educational/ training aspects of the research.  
  • Liaison – we liaised with a number of different organisations, such as Research and Knowledge Exchange Operations for costing the Bournemouth University (BU) costs, the NHS host organisation that will be responsible for the research, and the Market Research Group (MRG; https://mrg.bournemouth.ac.uk/) who were involved to support the administration and data entry for the survey component of the project.
  • Identification of appropriate funding schemes.
  • Obtained peer review from RDS colleagues across the region to provide feedback on the suitability of the funding scheme and the ‘readiness’ for submission. This service is usually provided through regular Scientific Committee meetings that act as ‘mock’ funding committees (www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/scientific_committee.htm).

Quote from lead applicant: “Without the expertise and assistance of BUCRU staff it would not have been possible to even contemplate applying for a large and competitive grant such as the NIHR Programme Development Grant” .

Please contact us for support with health research:

Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

Southern Universities REF event at BU – 22 February 2012 – book your place NOW!

Research assessment

REF logo
BU is hosting a 1/2 day REF event on Wednesday 22 February 2012. All staff are invited to attend.
 
The final panel working methods and criteria documents are due to be published in January 2012. This event will provide an update on the current developments with the REF and the confirmed REF panel documentation, focusing specifically on the assessment of impact within each of the four Main Panels.
 
Each of the REF Main Panels will be represented. If you have any questions about the REF, how research will be assessed and graded, or how impact will be assessed then you should attend this event! 😀
 
The event is open to BU staff and external delegates. There are already 130 delegates registered to attend, representing 32 different universities.

The event is free to attend but booking is essential.

For further information (including the programme) and to register, visit HERE.

People at Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Post-award, Publishing, Research assessment, Research news

In yesterday’s posting we gave a brief introduction to BUCRU. Today we introduce you to the members of the team.

 

Louise Ward

Louise is one of the administrators for the unit and has been with the team since 2008.  She has worked in various NHS settings and has an interest in marketing.  Both her undergraduate and Masters degrees were studied here at Bournemouth University.

Professor Paul Thompson

Paul is Consultant Rheumatologist at Poole Hospitaland Visiting Professor at BU. He was appointed Director of the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) in 2007, where he has been leading developments between research and education active doctors in NHS Trusts and the academic community at the University. He is Co-director of BUCRU, Lead for the musculoskeletal local priority group for the Western Comprehensive Local Research Network (CLRN) and Fellow of the NHS Improvement Faculty. He is interested in clinical research and service development in the rheumatic diseases. He supervises PhD students and is an External Examiner at other Universities.

Dr Sarah Thomas

Sarah is Deputy Director (methodology). She has a background in psychology and since 2000 has worked in the NHS in Dorset.  As well as supporting other researchers in a Research Design Service capacity, she also conducts research. Her main research interests are in the field of multiple sclerosis (MS) and she is currently Chief Investigator for a pilot study funded by the UK MS Society exploring the use of the Nintendo Wii™ in people with MS.

Professor Peter Thomas

Peter is Co-Director and leads on research methodology. He has a background in epidemiology and statistics, and has been with Bournemouth University since 1996. He has a special research interest in psychosocial aspects of chronic disease and much of his recent work has focussed on multiple sclerosis.

Dr Zoe Sheppard

Zoe is a demographer with particular experience investigating socio-economic status.  She joined Bournemouth University in October 2009 as a Research Fellow in Research Methods.  She provides research methods support for people doing health research and support writing grant applications in her National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Design Service (RDS) capacity.

Suzanne Sheppard

Suzanne is a Clinical Researcher recently recruited from the pharmaceutical industry to help manage the unit’s clinical trials.  She has experience in setting-up and monitoring clinical trials across phases 1 to 3 in a variety of therapeutic areas. 

Annabel Kenny

Annabel is a Clinical Research Administrator who joined Bournemouth University in October 2009.  She provides support to Dr. Tamas Hickish, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Royal Bournemouth Hospital/Poole Hospital and the rest of the research team on various ongoing research projects within the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit.

Liz Griffiths

Liz works for the Royal Bournemouth Hospital as a research facilitator.  She has been working in research within the NHS since 2003 in a variety of roles.  Currently focusing on supporting researchers to develop proposals and prepare submissions to regulatory authorities.

Louise Fazakarley

Louise is a Physiotherapy lecturer with experience in neurological rehabilitation, the management of chronic disability and rehabilitation research. She joined Bournemouth University in 2006 to establish and teach on the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy course. Louise is currently working on the MS Society funded pilot study to look at the Nintendo Wii™ as a method of helping people with MS increase their physical activity.

Audrey Dixon

Audrey is the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) co-ordinator and co-administrator for BUCRU.  She has worked for the NHS since 1988.  She first joined Professor Paul Thompson in 2001 to assist him with his academic work, following his secondment to the university.  Audrey was seconded to BU in 2003.  She now looks after a growing Visiting Faculty of 41 members and the education arm of CoPMRE. She is very proud to see the little acorn grow into a Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education and BUCRU.

Roger Baker

Roger is Professor of Clinical Psychology and runs the MSc course Foundations in Clinical Psychology at BU. He is also a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust.  He has expertise in the design of assessments and questionnaires, research design and clinical evaluation of services and has worked in a dual role as researcher and clinical psychologist at Leeds, Aberdeen & Bournemouth Universities and in NHS Trusts specialising in Mental Health.

Helen Allen

Helen is a health psychologist with a nursing and midwifery background.  She has a qualitative background with a particular interest in the mind:body interface and chronic disease, including patient empowerment.  She is the Unit lead on Public Patient Involvement.

Contact us: In the first instance please contact:

 Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Post-award, Publishing, Research assessment, Research news

This week the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) will be posting daily blogs. In these blogs we will tell you a little about the Unit, what we do, who we are, and how we might be able to help in your research endeavours.

What is BUCRU?  

BUCRU is a new model for supporting and conducting health related research in Dorset. It supports researchers in improving the quality, quantity and efficiency of research across the University and local National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. It does this by:

  • helping researchers with developing high quality applications for external research funding (including small grants)
  • ongoing involvement in funded research projects
  • a “pay-as-you-go” consultation service for other work

How can BUCRU help?

BUCRU can provide help in the following areas:

  • Study design
  • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Statistics, data management and data analysis
  • Patient and public involvement in research
  • Trial management
  • Ethics, governance and other regulatory issues
  • Linking University and NHS researchers

BUCRU focuses on health research that has relevance to the NHS. The Unit is available to Bournemouth University staff and people working locally in the NHS. There are no general restrictions on topic area or professional background of the researcher. However we do have special interests in areas such as chronic disease and complex interventions (interventions in nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychology and so on).

How is it funded?  

BUCRU is partly funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and incorporates the Dorset office of the NIHR Research Design Service (http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk). Further funding comes from a variety of research grants and contracts.

Contact us: In the first instance please contact

Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/