Category / Research communication

Research in the NHS – HR Good Practice Resource Pack updated

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Guidance, NHS, PG research, Research communication, Research Ethics, student research

Researchers from BU wishing to conduct their research within NHS premises will require the appropriate documentation. There is plenty of guidance available to guide researchers through these processes.

The Human Resources (HR) Good Practice Resource Pack has been reviewed and updated in light of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into force in the UK on 25 May 2018.

The HR Good Practice Resource Pack describes the process for handling HR arrangements for researchers and provides a streamlined approach for confirming details of the pre-engagement checks they have undergone with the NHS.

Changes to the document include:

  1. Inclusion of a transparency notice, which informs and clarifies to the applicant the purpose of collecting their personal data, their rights relating to data processing, as well as fulfilling other GDPR transparency requirements.
  2. The data requested in the Research Passport application form has been minimised following discussion with Data Protection and Information Governance Officers and Human Resource experts.
  3. All references to the Data Protection Act 1998 have been updated to DPA 2018.

You can find all the updated documents here along with the RDS workflow here surrounding staffing and delegation.

Remember that there is guidance available at BU with regard to implementing your research in a healthcare setting. Take a look at the Clinical Governance blog for documents, links and training opportunities. You can also get in touch with BU’s Research Ethics team with any queries.

Wessex patients report positive experience of research for a second year

Clinical Governance, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Research communication, Research news

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) Wessex has recently conducted a survey, distributed amongst the 10 NHS organisations in the Wessex region. This is the second time the CRN Wessex patient research experience survey (PRES) has been conducted, and ran throughout October 2018.

400 responses were received anonymously, and showed that 96% of participants had a good experience of taking part in research. It also showed that 98% of research participants surveyed had all the information that they needed in relation to the study.

Copied from the original article –

‘Many of those surveyed reported that the research staff supporting them were friendly and helpful and that they had a considerable amount of time to spend with them in order to explain the study and answer any questions.

The survey also highlighted that one of the key motivators for taking part in research was a desire to help others, with one participant commenting: “It’s good to know that this research could help future generations of patients.”’

 

The survey will be conducted again in October of this year.

EDGE International Conference 2019 – CONNECTED

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Events, international, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Research communication, Research Ethics, research integrity, Research news

BU takes responsibility for a large number of NHS-based research projects, spanning a number of clinical areas. To better support BU’s position as Sponsor for these studies, last August the university adopted the EDGE system. This allows us to better collaborate with our NHS colleagues and to ensure our research data is held in a secure and central location. Currently the system is being piloted within the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences for a year.

Last week the EDGE International Conference took place at The Vox Conference Centre in Birmingham, hosted by Fergus Walsh, the BBC’s Medical Correspondent, and organised by the Clinical Informatics Research Unit at the University of Southampton.

Over the two days we heard from speakers from across various organisations during breakouts, workshops and meet & greet sessions. Topics ranged from how to get the best out of the system’s features, using EDGE to connect with colleagues, and use of the system to improve the recording of study data and procedures. Given our implementation of EDGE, and the rarity of use by Universities, BU’s Clinical Governance Advisor, Suzy Wignall was invited to present on how BU has integrated the system.

Across the two days we likewise had keynote sessions, including talks from colleagues in New Zealand and Belgium where the system has been implemented. We also heard from parents of children who have been given access to life-saving research projects, improving their quality of life and health conditions, substantially.

The full agenda can be found here, with EDGE’s twitter feed here, showing photos from the event, and numerous tweets by colleagues.

For any guidance regarding implementing your research in a healthcare setting, take a look at the Clinical Governance blog or get in touch with BU’s Research Ethics team with any queries.

New book: Digital Entrepreneurship in SSA

BU research, Research communication, Research news

We are pleased to let you know that our book titled “Digital Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects” is now published. Book, edited by Dr Nasiru Taura, Dr Elvira Bolat and Dr Nnamdi Madichie, is a unique collection of case studies from Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania and seeks to unpack and debate why and how some digital enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa progress while other firms either stagnate or regress.

https://biteable.com/watch/presentation-1-copy-2206199/

The book features cases across multiple industries which are today revolutionising the use of digital technologies, i.e. fin-tech, ed-tech, media-tech, animation games and agri-tech. For example, Chapter 6, written by Dr Paula Callus, discusses “how digital art practices can challenge notions of authenticity in the discourse of African art” (Callus 2019, p. 126). Ten chapters are authored by the pull of international academics across different disciplines.

We hope you might be interested to find out more and order your own copy. Do get in touch with the editors via:

Dr Nasiru Taura – ntaura@bournemouth.ac.uk

Dr Elvira Bolat – ebolat@bournemouth.ac.uk

Dr Nnamdi Madichie – nnamdi.madichie@lsbm.ac.uk

 

British Academy – Knowledge Frontiers International Interdisciplinary Research Projects

BU research, Funding opportunities, humanities, international, Research communication, Research news

The British Academy is inviting proposals from UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences – active at any career stage – looking to lead interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with colleagues from the natural, engineering and/or medical sciences.

 

 

Aims

The purpose of each project will be to develop new ideas and methods to bear on existing international challenges. Projects will need to demonstrate an innovative and interdisciplinary partnership (between researchers in the social sciences or the humanities on the one hand and counterparts in the natural, engineering and/or medical sciences on the other), yielding new conceptual understanding and policy-relevant evidence on questions of international significance.

Eligibility Requirements

The lead applicant must be based at an eligible UK university or research institute, and be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience).

Collaboration between researchers in different institutions is encouraged, where appropriate, given the nature and aims of this programme, and applications may include named co-applicants and other participants from overseas.

Value and Duration

Awards of up to £50,000 and 18 months in duration are available. The awards are not offered on a full economic costing basis.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy’s Grant Management System (GMS), Flexi-Grant®. The deadline for submissions and UK institutional approval is 15 May 2019 at 17.00 (UK time).

Contact Details

Please contact internationalchallenges@thebritishacademy.ac.uk or call 020 7969 5220 for further information.

If you are interested in applying to this call then please contact your RDS Funding Development Officer, in the first instance at least 3 weeks prior to the stated deadline.

British Academy – European Identities Funding Call

BU research, Funding opportunities, humanities, international, Research communication, Research news

The British Academy is inviting proposals from UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences – active at any career stage – looking to develop and lead interdisciplinary projects on questions related to European identities under our programme on The Humanities and Social Sciences Tackling the UK’s International Challenges.

 

Aims

We are keen to support projects undertaking research on European past, present and futures, particularly with regards to both the diversity and shared belongings of European cultures, histories, languages, and identities. Applications that engage with historical and current tropes and senses of European belonging and/or belonging in Europe from a variety of European or global perspectives, and with the work done by competing narratives of belonging, and their wider associational fields or legacies, will be particularly welcome.

Eligibility Requirements

The lead applicant must be based at an eligible UK university or research institute, and be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience).

Value and Duration

Awards of up to £50,000 and 18 months in duration are available. The awards are not offered on a full economic costing basis.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy’s Grant Management System (GMS), Flexi-Grant®. The deadline for submissions and UK institutional approval is 15 May 2019 at 17.00 (UK time).

Contact Details

Please contact internationalchallenges@thebritishacademy.ac.uk or call 020 7969 5220 for further information.

If you are interested in applying to this call then please contact your RDS Funding Development Officer, in the first instance at least 3 weeks prior to the stated deadline.

British Academy – Borders Funding Call

BU research, EU, Funding opportunities, humanities, Research communication, Research news

The British Academy is inviting proposals from UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences – active at any career stage – looking to develop and lead interdisciplinary projects on questions related to borders under our programme on The Humanities and Social Sciences Tackling the UK’s International Challenges.

 

Aims

We are keen to support research projects wishing to explore varying understandings of borders, and to shape thinking about both internal dynamics within borders and cross-border issues that have global significance. Borders are defined for this purpose in as broad a sense as possible, encompassing not only traditional borders that demarcate territory but also any boundary – whether articulated or hidden, formal or informal – drawn around or between peoples and experiences.

Eligibility Requirements

The lead applicant must be based at an eligible UK university or research institute, and be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience).

Collaboration between researchers in different disciplines and institutions is particularly encouraged, where appropriate, given the nature and aims of this programme, and applications may include named co-applicants and other participants from overseas.

Value and Duration

Awards of up to £50,000 and 18 months in duration are available. The awards are not offered on a full economic costing basis.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy’s Grant Management System (GMS), Flexi-Grant®. The deadline for submissions and UK institutional approval is 15 May 2019 at 17.00 (UK time).

Contact Details

Please contact internationalchallenges@thebritishacademy.ac.uk or call 020 7969 5220 for further information.

If you are interested in applying to this call then please contact your RDS Funding Development Officer, in the first instance at least 3 weeks prior to the stated deadline.

The 4th AD-Autonomy Meeting in Brighton – Preparations for the e-Platform Launch

BU research, Research communication, Research news

As part of the ERASMUS+2017 project, Dr Ben Hicks and Irma Konovalova from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre and Psychology department, hosted a three day meeting with their European partners from Slovenia, Turkey, Greece and Spain. The meetings were held in Brighton from the 11th-13th March 2019 and were the fourth in a series that have taken place over the past 1.5 years in the representative partner countries. During this time, the project has sought to collaborate alongside people with dementia and their care partners to explore how they seek to retain their autonomy throughout their journey with dementia, as well as develop an information portal that can support them with the challenges they may encounter. This fourth meeting presented an opportunity for the project partners to get together, view a prototype of the online information portal and discuss the training they will be delivering to the end-users during May-July 2019.

 

The fourth meeting is underway

The first day involved discussions about the training processes and the validation measures that could be used to explore its impact on the quality of life for people with dementia and their care partners. Given the varying professional backgrounds of the partners, with both academics and practitioners present, it was unsurprising that these were the liveliest discussions. However, by the end of the day an outcome was reached that satisfied everyone and so all partners headed off for a well-deserved dinner at a local tapas restaurant.  Although the discussions had been long, and sometimes fairly heated, everyone remained excited and positive about the final stages of the project.

 

Experiencing some Spanish culture in Brighton

The concluding two days were a little less emotionally charged, as the partners discussed the implementation of the training program within the different countries as well as the dissemination of the final outputs. The project will conclude in September 2019 and plans are underway to present the findings through: setting up local events within the representative countries; writing one technical and one academic paper for the varied audiences; and delivering presentations at international conferences. So far two conferences have been targeted for 2019: the International MinD Conference “Designing with and for People with Dementia: Wellbeing, Empowerment and Happiness,” held in Germany, and the Open Living Lab Days “Co-creating innovation: scaling up from Local to Global” in Greece.  However, given the positive feedback the project has received to date, it is likely that more opportunities for international dissemination will present themselves in the future.

Exciting times await!

By Irma Konovalova

 

 

 

 

Research Photography Competition: prize giving

BU research, Research communication, Research news

Thank you to everyone who entered or voted for an image in this year’s Research Photography Competition.  Hundreds of staff, students and members of the public have helped to select this year’s winner, which we will be announcing in the Poole House Art Gallery on Thursday 14 March at 10am.

Please do join us if you can.  You can book your free tickets here.

All images will be on display in the Art Gallery until the end of March.