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TalkBU: Taylor Swift, zombies and why popular culture matters in Higher Education.

BU research, Research news

Taylor Swift, zombies and why popular culture matters in Higher Education.

Talk BU Live returns to Dylan’s Bar with this live talk from Dr Sam Goodman on Tuesday 29 September 2015 at 5:30pm.

The modern university is a troubled place. Under the pressure of reduced government funding and the rising expectations that come with increased student fees, the emphasis in contemporary media is on degrees that lead directly to a career.

As a result humanities subjects, such as English Literature and cultural studies, have come under criticism for being too broad, too wide reaching. It has been suggested that these degrees should focus solely on those subjects and skills that will ‘guarantee’ employment – a return to the so-called classics of Shakespeare and Dickens.

This decision would limit the texts and scope of the humanities and undermine the ability of scholars to pursue research, ultimately damaging the student experience in the process.

Using high-profile examples from contemporary popular culture, such as Taylor Swift, and the rise of the Zombie in video games, film and TV, BU’s Dr Sam Goodman will argue that the value of diverse humanities and the importance of academic freedom has never been greater.

About Dr Sam Goodman

Sam lectures in linguistics at BU and his research interests include 20th Century literature with a broad focus on identity, medicine, notions of Englishness and Empire, and post-World War 2 popular culture. This year he was selected as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker and has recently published a book on spy novels, entitled “British Spy Fiction & the End of Empire”.

About Talk BU Live

Talk BU Live is a series of free on-campus events designed to get people talking and thinking. Talks are no more than 20 minutes long and open to all students and staff at BU.

You can get involved by tweeting #TalkBU or find out more by contacting the team or visiting the Talk BU page on the website.

Assistive Music Technology

BU research, Featured academics, PG research, Research news

SenseEggSystemWe would like to invite you to the first research seminar of new academic year for the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Speaker: Asha Blatherwick

 

Title:   Assistive Music Technology

 

Date: Wednesday 30th September 2015

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: Music is essential to most of us. It can light up all areas of the brain and help to develop skills with communication and establishing identity. People use musical experiences to create meaning and coherence in states and times of adversity using its transformative properties. Music can be explored actively by playing instruments, or passively, such as listening to music and can be used to enter a state of flow.

Exploring music actively in this way can be restricted for someone with cognitive, physical, or sensory impairments. The barriers they face may cause gaps between their musical gestures and the music making means available to them. Using technology, we can bridge these gaps by focusing on a person’s capability to create personal instruments that allow for active music making and exploration of sound. Technology can be used to turn tiny movements into huge sounds and tangible user interfaces can be used to investigate the relationship between the physical and digital world, leading to new modes of interaction.

My research will take an Action Research approach to create bespoke tangible tools that combine hardware and software, allowing users to create and explore sound using their capabilities in a participatory way.

 

We hope to see you there.

 

Latest Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

Money Bear Funding

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Innovate UK

Analytical technologies for pharmaceuticals

Innovate UK is to invest up to £4 million in collaborative R&D projects to address the UK’s need for improved analytical technologies that support the development of current and next generation biopharmaceutical products.

The aim of this competition is to advance the industry by addressing sector-specific challenges relating to analytical technologies for testing and characterising biopharmaceutical products and monitoring processes, as well as the supporting informatics tools.

Max Award: £500,000 to £1.5 million Deadline: 14 October for registration, 21 October 2015 for EOI

Brazil-UK collaborative industrial research & development competition

Innovate UK and SENAI (the National Service for Industrial Training) of Brazil are to invest up to £3.4 million in collaborative industrial R&D projects that propose new commercial solutions to critical challenges impacting the socio-economic growth and development of Brazil in relation to its energy, water, and waste management.

Max Award: Total funding up to £3.4 million Deadline: 7 December 2015

RCUK – CONACYT

Research Partnerships – UK & Mexico

This initiative will provide funding for transformative and high-quality collaborative research projects which address the following topics:

  • Nutrition and Health
  • Inclusive, accountable and secure society
  • Instrumentation Development for Applications in Big Science

The objective is to deliver significant research funding for internationally competitive and innovative collaborative projects between researchers from Mexico and the UK that will allow the pursuit of shared research interests.

Max Award: Unspecified for up to 5 years Deadline: 23 October 2015 for Intentions to Submit, 24 November 2015 for full submission

BBSRC

BBSRC & State of Sao Paulo Research Foundation – Joint Call in advanced biofuels

This call aims to advance the excellent scientific relationships developed between UK and Brazilian scientists and encourage new partnerships to develop integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels, producing industrially relevant scientific outputs which can be taken up by a global industry.

Max Award: Unspecified for up to 5 years Deadline: 26 October 2015 for Intention to Submit and 19 November 2015 for full submission

Resilience of the UK food systems in a global context

The programme will integrate biological, environmental and social sciences to support interdisciplinary projects addressing one or more of the following key themes:

  • Optimising the productivity, resilience and sustainability of agricultural systems and landscapes
  • Optimising resilience of food supply chains both locally and globally
  • Influencing food choice for health, sustainability and resilience at the individual and household level.

Max Award: Unspecified for up to 5 years, total of £14million Deadline: 27 October 2015

Standard follow-on funding

The Follow-on funding programme is designed to support the translation of fundamental research funded by us into practical application, including commercialisation. The aim of the programme is to help researchers maximise the societal and economic benefits of their research.

This programme is a proof-of-concept model where further work on an idea will take it through to the stage at which the route to application is clear, which may include a spin-out or licensing opportunity.

Max Award: £250,000 for 12 – 18 months Deadline: 11 November 2015

International workshops scheme

This call makes around 8 awards each year for a workshop to be held overseas or in the UK. The aims are:

  • To stimulate joint working in topics important to BBSRC’s strategy
  • To match numbers of scientists from the UK with other countries to identify areas of commonality and explore the potential for international collaboration
  • To receive applications involving collaborations with any other country, although the US, Canada, Brazil, EU member states, Japan, China, India Australia and New Zealand are particularly encouraged.

Max Award: £10,000 Deadline: 12 November 2015

NERC

NERC & State of Sao Paulo Research Foundation – Sustainable gas futures

This call is supported by the UK through the Newton Fund which forms part of the UK government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment. The AO/CFP is only open to joint UK-Brazil applications. NERC will provide up to £1m of funding (80% FEC) to eligible UK-based researchers and São Paulo partner organizations will match this with equivalent research effort to eligible researchers associated with research institutions in the State of São Paulo.

Max Award: Up to £80,000 Deadline: 10 November 2015

Advanced training short courses initiative

This call invites proposals offering training in a variety of forms that fall both within the NERC science remit as well as addressing one or more of the Priority Training Areas contained within the ATSC Announcement of Opportunity document. Training must prioritise NERC-funded PhD students or develop the skills of environmental sciences early career researchers (working within academic and/or non-academic settings) for future careers in research and other contexts.

Max Award: £20,000 – £50,000 Deadline: 12 November 2015

Soil security research fellowship awards

The overarching aim of the Soil Security programme is to advance understanding of the ability of soils to adapt to perturbations. It will do this by building an integrated and predictive understanding of the multiple functions of soil. This will improve forecasts of the soil system’s response to changes in climate, vegetation or land management at scales of analysis that match the scale of decision making.Max

Max Award: Up to £2 million Deadline: 3 December 2015

Wellcome Trust

Senior Research Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Science

This scheme provides support for outstanding postdoctoral scientists based in academic institutions in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Max Award: Covers basic salary, research expenses and specified other costs for up to 5 years Deadline: 8 December for preliminary application, 26 February 2016 for full submission

Senior Research Fellowships in Clinical Science

These Fellowships provide support for clinical academics with exceptional ability and outstanding promise to further develop their research potential.

Max Award: Covers basic salary, research expenses and specified other costs for up to 5 years Deadline: 8 December for preliminary application, 26 February 2016 for full submission

EUREKA, EU

Eureka Innovation Award

Each project nomination must target one specific category:

  • Competitiveness: for projects where more than one partner has substantially improved their position vis à vis their direct competitors with the help of a EUREKA project.
  • Added value: for projects, where more than one partner has yielded substantial growth in productivity, turnover and increase in the number of employees from the exploitation of the results of a EUREKA project.
  • Innovators of tomorrow: for projects which have successfully implemented a promising new and disruptive technology or concept with a clear economic, societal and environmental impact compared to existing solutions.

Max Award: First prize in each category: 6000 euros and pan-European promotion package of 10,000 euros Deadline: 15 October 2015

Directorate-General for Climate Action, EU

The objective of the study is to undertake a fact-finding exercise to examine whether there is any conclusive evidence of carbon leakage occurring in phase III of the EU ETS as a result of pricing carbon. This is important in the current context: work is ongoing in preparation for the revision of the Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards post-2020 provisions. A Commission proposal for the revision has been presented in July 2015 and one of the main elements of the future system will be establishing measures to address the risk of carbon leakage.

Max Award: 250,000 – 300,000 euros Deadline: 26 October 2015

ERANID & ERA-Net, EU

Understanding Drug Use Pathways

A first Joint call was launched on 15 September 2015 and aims at funding multidisciplinary transnational research in “Understanding drug use pathways”. The content of this call reflects the findings of a large programme of work to identify common research priorities for illicit drugs in Europe that resulted in a Strategic Research Agenda. The call encourages research that will provide a better understanding of the processes underlying the dynamics of drug use pathways and transitions between types of drug use.

Max Award: Total funding 4 million euros Deadline: 24 November 2015

European Agency for Safety & Health at Work, EU

Eusebio Rial-Gonzalez Innovation & Practice Award in Occupational Health Psychology

The European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, in collaboration with European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, invites applications for their Eusebio Rial-Gonzalez innovation and practice award in occupational health psychology. This aims to award contributions to the field of occupational health psychology.

Max Award: Not specified Deadline: 1 February 2016

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, US

Explore new ways to measure delivery & use of digital financial services data

Develop an innovative analytics or data capture solution to improve the delivery and use of digital financial services in developing countries. The focus of this call is on solutions that are relevant to commercial strategies and likely to make large improvements in performance outcomes for commercial deployments.

Max Award: USD100,000 for Phase I projects, up to USD1 million for Phase II projects Deadline: 11 November 2015

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your  RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

“Styles of Good Sense” Ethics, Filmmaking and Scholarship

BU research, PG research, Research news

Crew shooting early scene for the short, research-based film, RUFUS STONE

Crew shooting early scene for the short, research-based film, RUFUS STONE

Kip Jones’ draft Chapter for The Routledge International Handbook on Narrative and Life History was deposited today on BRIAN and Academia.edu. The book’s section on Ethics is edited by Ivor Goodson, with assistance from Ari Antikainen, Molly Andrews and Pat Sikes. Jones’ Chapter entitled, “Styles of Good Sense—Ethics, Filmmaking and Scholarship” is based upon his experience as researcher, author and producer of the award winning short film, RUFUS STONE.

Jones proposes that aesthetics and ethics need to be considered in concert and that they are at the very heart of arts-based research. Ethics and Aesthetics become intertwined and support one another. Jones states:

‘Ethics, much like aesthetics, is often misunderstood as something effusive, illusive and somehow, decision-making by the few on a rarefied echelon, involving pronouncements of grand moral impact and/or sophisticated discrimination. For these kinds of reasons and to avoid potential headaches, it is often assumed that checklists and committees will be far better at making such decisions than mere individuals.’

Jones believes that ethics and aesthetics need to remain the prerogative of the researcher/filmmaker and her/his participants and audiences. By developing a trust in instinct and intuition and the naturally expressive and moral potential of our personal resources, research involving people’s stories can become richer and more human, if we only are willing to jettison some of the baggage of the old academic rigor and dry procedural ethics.

Jones’ involvement in the section of the book on Ethics will include co-contributors Arthur Frank, Norm Denzin, Laurel Richardson and Carolyn Ellis, and will be published in the New Year.

 

 

Concordat on Open Research Data

BU research, Post-award, Publishing, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, Research news

open dataAs mentioned by Emily in her August HE Policy post, a draft concordat has been published which seeks to make research data in the UK more openly accessible for use.

The concordat has been drafted under the auspices of the UK Open Research Data Forum [Note 1] by a multi-stakeholder working group, which includes HEFCE, Research Councils UK (RCUK), Jisc, the Wellcome Trust and Universities UK.  It aims to help ensure that the research data gathered and generated by members of the UK research community is made openly available for use by others wherever possible, in a manner consistent with relevant legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks and norms.

The concordat aims to establish a set of expectations of good practice, with the intention of making open research data the standard for publicly funded research over the long term.  It recognises the different responsibilities of researchers, their employers and the funders of research, although the intention is not to mandate, codify or require specific activities.

The full draft concordat can be found here – http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/opendata/

Key principals are outlined below:

Definition of Research Data used:

“Research Data are quantitative information or qualitative statements collected by researchers in the course of their work by experimentation, observation, interview or other methods. Data may be raw or primary (e.g. direct from measurement or collection) or derived from primary data for subsequent analysis or interpretation (e.g. cleaned up or as an extract from a larger data set). The purpose of open research data is to provide the information necessary to support or validate a research project’s observations, findings or outputs. Data may include, for example, statistics, collections of digital images, sound recordings, transcripts of interviews, survey data and fieldwork observations with appropriate annotations.”

Principle #1

Open access to research data is an enabler of high quality research, a facilitator of innovation and safeguards good research practice.

Principle #2

Good data management is fundamental to all stages of the research process and should be established at the outset.

Principle #3

Data must be curated so that they are accessible, discoverable and useable.

Principle #4

Open access to research data carries a significant cost, which should be respected by all parties.

Principle #5

There are sound reasons why the openness of research data may need to be restricted but any restrictions must be justified and justifiable.

Principle #6

The right of the creators of research data to reasonable first use is recognised.

Principle #7

Use of others’ data should always conform to legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks including appropriate acknowledgement.

Principle #8

Data supporting publications should be accessible by the publication date and should be in a citeable form.

Principle #9

Support for the development of appropriate data skills is recognised as a responsibility for all stakeholders.

Principle #10

Regular reviews of progress towards open access to research data should be undertaken.

RUFUS STONE shortlisted for AHRC Research in Film Award

BU research, Research news, Uncategorized

Kip Rufus location

The research-based biopic RUFUS STONE has just been shortlisted for the AHRC Research in Film Anniversary Prize for best AHRC funded film since 1998.

A central strand of the activities taking place throughout 2015 to mark the AHRC’s tenth anniversary, the awards attracted nearly 200 entries across the five categories.

The awards are designed to recognise the creative and innovative work being undertaken at the interface between research and film by world-leading researchers, practitioners and filmmakers in the UK arts and humanities research community.

RUFUS STONE was based on three years of research on older LGBT citizens living in south west England and Wales. The research team was led by Kip Jones and included Lee-Ann Fenge and Rosie Read on the team.

Bournemouth’s Kip Jones acted as Author and Executive Producer, with Josh Appignanesi directing the film. RUFUS STONE was produced by Parkville Pictures, London.

More information on the research and film-making

Watch the film here.

World Federation of Chiropractic Conference, Athens May 2015

BU research, PG research, Research news

From May 13-16th 2015 I had the pleasure of representing BU at the joint World Federation of Chiropractic 13th Biennial Congress/European Chiropractors’ Union Convention in Athens. This is the premiere conference within the chiropractic profession which attracts hundreds of clinicians and researchers from around the world. The Congress was entitled ‘The Alpha and Omega of Spinal Healthcare’ in deference to the historical links with the host country as Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, utilised methods of spinal manipulation.

First up in my session - cool as a cucumber...

First up in my session at Hilton Athens – cool as a cucumber (also thinking, “Maybe I’ll get to present in the big fancy hall next time…?”)

I enjoyed finding out about the latest understanding of spine biomechanics and how this might relate to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with spine conditions, as well as networking with researchers with international reputations in the musculoskeletal field. During my platform presentation I presented work on the measurement of inter-vertebral motion in the cervical spine (neck) that I did as part of my PhD last year at the Institute of Musculoskeletal Research & Clinical Implementation based at AECC, a partner college of BU. The abstract was published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine I will be following this up with a paper for publication in the near future. Please don’t hesistate to contact me if this is a research area that you are interested in.

Away from the conference I enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful and historic city of Athens where I enjoyed the freshest fruit and vegetables I’ve ever tasted. The top of Mount Lykavittus (Lofos Lykavittou) provided the most amazing panoramic views – and I could even see the Parthenon from my hotel balcony!

Mount Lykavittus, Athens

Mount Lykavittus, Athens

It was an interesting time, to say the least, to be in Athens. I was expecting there to be protests, particularly around the parliament building, but our visit seemed to coincide with a period of calm, certainly in the area of Athens surrounding the conference hotel. Since then there have obviously been continuing problems for the area from which arose Western culture and philosophy, and the least I can say is that I sincerely hope that things improve soon for present-day Greece.

Statue in Panatheniak stadium

Statue in Panatheniak stadium, Athens

Have you checked out the interactive Research Lifecycle diagram yet?

BU research, Research news

If you haven’t then you most definitely should! Our Research Lifecycle diagram is a jazzy interactive part of the BU Research Blog that shows the support and initiatives that are available to staff and students at each stage of the research lifecycle. The information is general enough so as to apply to all disciplines and you can use it to organize and identify the many activities involved in your research. You can explore the Research Lifecycle to find information on how to get started with:

1. Developing your research strategy

2. Developing your proposal

3. The research process

4. Publication and dissemination

5. Impact

RKEO will be adding to the Research Lifecycle to ensure it always contains the most up to date information to support you with planning, organising and undertaking your research.

You can access the diagram from the links in this post or from the menu bar that appears on all screens in the Research Blog.

76,659 unique visitors in one year! A review of the readership of the BU Research Blog

Research news

We regularly monitor engagement with our award-winning BU Research Blog using the fabulous Google Analytics tool. Over the past year engagement has been incredible. The stats below are based on the period 11 September 2014 to 10 September 2015 (1 year).

On average during this period the blog received 76,659  unique visitors, each spending approximately 1.5 minutes on the site. The blog is generally much busier on weekdays attracting between 250 and 1,000 unique visitors each day. In total there have been almost 175,000 page views.

The majority of our visitors came, unsurprisingly, from the UK (64%) and over the past year we have received visits from people based in 192 different countries. After the UK, the next ten countries from which visitors most frequented the blog were:

  1. United States
  2. Philippines
  3. Germany
  4. India
  5. France
  6. Spain
  7. Australia
  8. Netherlands
  9. Canada
  10. Italy

Also unsurprisingly the majority of visitors came from Bournemouth and Poole (30.8%) indicating that the blog is alive and well among BU colleagues. The next ten UK cities from which visitors most frequented the blog were:

  1. London
  2. Southampton
  3. Birmingham
  4. Edinburgh
  5. Manchester
  6. Bristol
  7. Leeds
  8. Oxford
  9. Cambridge
  10. Sheffield

This map shows the locations of all the cities from where the blog has been accessed in the past year:

blog city map 14-15

 

Approximately 60% of visitors find us via internet search engines. The top search terms that led readers to our blog over the past year are:

  • sky
  • poverty
  • sport
  • good luck
  • research blog
  • bu research blog
  • environment
  • help
  • ref 2020
  • usa
  • transport
  • bournemouth university research blog
  • erasmus mundus fusion mobility
  • professor matt bentley

33% of visitors are direct traffic, i.e. via the web address, the BU Staff Intranet, or the Daily Digest email. This is excellent as it shows that you lovely people who work at Bournemouth University are using the blog – hooray!

Over the year 35% (25%) of visits to the blog were made by returning visitors and 65% (75%) were made by new visitors (last year’s figures shown in brackets).

Of those who access the blog direct (i.e. mainly BU staff) the 10 most accessed pages last year were:

This is all excellent news. We’re always open to receiving feedback about the blog – please email us at any time with any comments, suggestions, etc, or add a comment to this blog post.

If you would like access to add your own stories and posts to the blog then email Rhyannan Hurst (rhurst@bournemouth.ac.uk) and she’ll get you started!

 

RKEO faculty-facing staff – when and where?

Research news

RKEO has a number of posts that directly support colleagues in the Faculties with bid preparation and submission and the post-award management of grants and contracts. These staff members spend approximately 50% of their time based in the Faculty offices. Information on when and where you can expect to find them when they are working in your Faculty is available here on the Research Blog here: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/contact/faculty-facing-staff/.