Category / Research news

UKRO – RISE workshop in January 2015

BU research, EU, Research news, Training

Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE): Information Event

In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the UK Research Office is holding an information event for researchers who are interested in applying for the 2015 MSCA Research and Innovation Staff Exchange call, which opens on 6 January 2015, with a closing date of 28 April 2015.

Aim of the Research and Innovation Staff Exchange funding
The RISE scheme supports projects which promote international and/or inter-sectoral collaboration through staff exchanges and the sharing of knowledge and best practice. The scheme involves organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors, organisations based in Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries) and outside of Europe (third countries).

Date and venue
Thursday, 22 January 2015
London South Bank University
Room 806, Keyworth Centre
Keyworth Street
London  SE1 6NG

Aim of Information Event
The event will provide participants with an in-depth overview of the RISE scheme. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals.

Who should attend?
The event is aimed at staff at UK academic and non-academic organisations, including industry, who are planning to submit a proposal to the RISE call.

Registration
Attendance is free of charge, but capacity at the venue is limited and places will therefore be allocated on a first come first served basis. Register via the UKRO workshop announcement.

The event will only take place if a minimum number of participants is reached. All interested participants will be notified by Friday 16 January 2015 at the very latest.

Agenda
The event will cover key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals. A successful RISE 2014 project case study will be presented by the Principal Investigator.

News from the Consumer Research Group: The CR@B is dead … long live the CRG!!

BU research, PG research, REF Subjects, Research news, Research themes, Uncategorized

 

The newly renamed ‘Consumer Research Group’ (formally known as CR@B (Consumer Research @ Bournemouth) … but now rebranded!) held its second meeting last week which again brought together consumer researchers from a wide range of disciplines across the University for lively discussions around the opportunities for cross-disciplinary research (over coffee and mince pies!).  The aim of the meeting was to begin to identify themes around which groups or clusters of consumer researchers could discuss potential collaborations and plan activities for the future.  From the meeting seven themes were initially proposed (see diagram above), and whilst these may initially remain fluid, they offer great opportunity for further discussion.  A notable outcome from this meeting was the variety of consumer research areas being explored at BU, and the number of potential linkages that could be made between different groups, across and between these themes, to develop an even stronger research profile for the CRG.

The next meeting for the ‘Consumer Research Group’ will be 2-4pm on Wednesday 28th January in PG19.  Professor John Fletcher – Pro Vice Chancellor – Research and Innovation – will open the meeting.  

Anyone who is doing consumer research of any description is welcome to join and contribute to the discussions – and as before there will be coffee and cake to help our consumer thinking along.

If you would like to come along please email any of the other contacts below so that we can get a feel for numbers.  If you are unable to make this meeting but are interested in being involved please email us to let us know and we will keep you informed about future events.

Jeff Bray (Tourism; jbray@bournemouth.ac.uk)

Juliet Memery (Business School; jmemery@bournemouth.ac.uk)

Janice Denegri-Knott (Media School; JDKnott@bournemouth.ac.uk)

Siné McDougall (SciTech; smcdougall@bournemouth.ac.uk)

A forthcoming book from the new Faculty of Management receives endorsements from UNDESA, UNEP, UNESCO and the European Commission

BU research, Publishing, Research news

The concept of the green economy has entered mainstream policy debates and been endorsed by the United Nations, other international institutions and forums, such as the G-20. The Rio+20 UN summit specifically draw attention to the green economy approach in the context of sustainable development. The role of tourism sector will continue to be crucial in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. However, there are ambiguities about how tourism and allied industries can maximize their contribution to human well-being and ensure environmentally sustainability, embracing issues of political economy, geography and business ethics.

In this context, the forthcoming book “Tourism in the Green Economy” (Routledge, 2015) edited in line with BU research themes has been received externally as one of the many examples of our fusion agenda enriching the world. The book received valuable endorsements from key international organisations advancing sustainable development policy and actions worldwide.

“Building on the outcome of Rio+20, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, through its Division for Sustainable Development, has been working closely with the UN system, in particular, the World Tourism Organization and United Nations Environment Programme to advance sustainable tourism in the context of sustainable development and more specifically in national planning processes. In this regard, initiatives by the academic world to help policy makers and practitioners develop a better understanding of the dynamic and concrete linkages between tourism and sustainable development are therefore of great importance. This publication addresses the potential role that tourism could play towards a green economy. It also provides good practices, policy orientations as well as implications for future research in this area. The publication is therefore a timely and important input for tourism and sustainability stakeholders.” – Nikhil Seth, Director, Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Secretariat.

“This publication offers an objective assessment of the challenges faced by green economy and their application to the tourism sector, as well as opportunities for promoting a global and local sustainable tourism through resource efficiency, green jobs and sustainable consumption and production patterns. Tourism stakeholders will find inspiration in this book, from its multiple case studies, in defining and promoting methods and tools for implementing sustainable tourism while valuing local resources and educating the tourist community.” – Dr Arab Hoballah, Chief of the Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, UNEP.

“We welcome this publication which covers the topic of tourism and in particular the aspect of sustainable tourism with the aim of providing useful insights on how tourism could adapt to green economy, and how to make tourism more sustainable” – Francesca Tudini, Head of Tourism Policy Unit, European Commission.

“This publication brings new insights into the need to green the rapidly-growing tourism industry. The case studies show the challenges and opportunities common to both developed and developing countries, echoing UNESCO’s efforts to build inclusive green societies and sustainable tourism through Biosphere Reserves, World Heritage (including marine) sites, and Geoparks.” – Dr Wendy Watson-Wright, Executive Secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission; and Assistant Director General a.i., Natural Sciences, UNESCO.

The book provides consensus about what the green economy entails, the important role tourism can play in a green economy, responsible business practices from many countries, on-going and emerging research initiatives that will enable tourism’s transition to a green economy. For more details and full list of chapters, please visit: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415709217/

Showcasing Undergraduate Research Excellence – SUREBU 2015: call for submissions

Fusion, Research news, student research

SUREBU is a Fusion funded project aimed at showcasing the best of BU’s undergraduate research.  Research is broadly defined and could include work towards an undergraduate essay or dissertation, work carried out as part of a volunteer or work placement, or activities for an academic society.  Not only are research skills a central part of undergraduate study and academic life, but they are also vital skills for any future career.  By encouraging undergraduate students to think critically and develop their skills, research will help to enhance their student experience and increase their employability upon graduation.

The call for submissions is now open, and all BU undergraduate students – from all schools and courses – are eligible to apply.  Examples of research could be anything from preparing for a dissertation or an essay to work carried out during a placement year to volunteering or work with academic societies.   The main criteria is that evidence of the student’s own critical thinking can be demonstrated.  As well as developing new skills, this is a good opportunity to enhance their CVs through a conference presentation, publication of abstract or even being the winner of awards and prizes.

To get involved, register on SUREBU’s website and submit an abstract.  Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words, with a title no longer than 150 characters.  The deadline for submission is 5th January 2015.  If you know of a student or recent graduate who would be eligible to submit, do encourage them to apply!

Newton – funding update

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

Further to the November post outlining the Newton Funding opportunities, two new calls have been announced for China and India.  Please note the closing dates:

 

UK-China Research and Innovation Partnership Fund (deadline: 27/02/2015)

Newton-Bhabha PhD Placements Programme (deadline: 15/01/2015)

India-UK Collaborative Industrial R&D Programme (deadline: 15/04/2015)

Further information and application guidance available on the website.

If you wish to apply, please contact your RKEO Officer as soon as possible.

Third book in PR history series published by Palgrave

Research news, Uncategorized

The third book in Professor Tom Watson’s edited world history of public relations series, Middle Eastern and African Perspectives on the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices, has arrived.

Ten chapters from Turkey to South Africa and the Arab Gulf to Nigeria are covered by 14 authors.

The next book in the series, Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives, is due for online publishing by Palgrave Macmillan in its Pivot series next week. The hard copy will follow in 3-4 weeks’ time.

And the manuscript on Western European Perspectives will be submitted next week, too.

Busy times for PR history scholarship and publishing!

Are you working with companies in an agri-food, space or user experience arena? Then this pot of funding may be of interest to you!

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Research news

Have you heard about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)?  Or wanted to work on one?

Introduction to KTP

KTP is a part-funded government scheme to encourage collaboration on innovative projects between academia and business.  KTP is managed by Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) and further information can be found here.

Themed Calls

Innovate UK has a number of funding priorities which they highlight through dedicated competitions throughout the year.  Currently there are 3 competitions where extra funding has been allocated for projects relating to agri-food, space and user experience.

Agri-food

The reason for this call is to improve the competitiveness, resilience and responsiveness of the agri-food supply chain – from primary production, including aquaculture, through to retail.

  • Call closes on 11th February 2015

Space

All projects must use expertise from outside the space sector.  “Upstream” projects need to be generally aligned with the National Space Technology Strategy and “downstream” projects need to link to a defined market/end product.

  • Call closes on 11th February 2015

User experience

The aim of this call is to encourage new, enhanced forms of interaction between computing systems and the people who use them.  Proposals may address technologies that contribute to these new forms such as sensing information about the user or those that improve specific type of experience, such as mobile and wearable devices.

  • Call closes on 15th April 2015

To find out more about KTP or further information on these calls, please contact Rachel Clarke, Knowledge Exchange Adviser (KTP) on 61347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk

BU at the THE Awards 2014

BU research, PG research, Research news

 

The Bournemouth University and Poole Hospital research team who developed a medical device to make epidurals safer and more effective, were celebrating being shortlisted for the THE Awards 2014 in London last night.

The project was nominated for Outstanding ICT initiative of the Year and – although pipped to the post by the Open University – being shortlisted for an award of this calibre is an incredible achievement and honour.

BU’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation Professor John Fletcher was at the ceremony. He said: “Congratulations to the NHS-BU team for being shortlisted. We were very worthy contestants.  I felt privileged and proud to share the evening with such a successful team.”

The nominated team at the awards ceremonyThe clinical project was initially proposed by the senior consultant anesthetist at Poole Hospital, Professor Mike Wee. The device was developed by Dr Neil Vaughan for his PhD, supervised by Professor Wee and Dr Venky Dubey. Dr Richard Isaacs – now at Southampton General Hospital – was also part of the research team. All four, pictured here, were at the awards ceremony, along with colleagues from across the university who have supported this innovative and important project.

Comedian Jack Dee hosted proceedings, sharing his unique and entertaining take on the Higher Education sector!

A full list of categories and winners can be viewed on the THE website. The event organisers also took over £9000 in donations for the Institute of International Education’s ‘Scholar Rescue Fund’; a charity that has led global efforts to rescue threatened scholars and students.

Congratulations to all nominees and winners and thank you to THE for such organising such a fabulous evening!

Image: (Top left clockwise) Dr Venky Dubey, Dr Neil Vaughan, Dr Richard Isaacs, Professor Mike Wee.

Wanted ! – Researchers for Silicon South

Research news

Position: 2 full-time freelance contracts available for 3 months each

Day rate: £100 plus travel expenses

Location: Dorset

Silicon South is working on behalf of the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership to develop a strategy for boosting the digital creative economy in Dorset. Silicon South has committed to undertake a series of research and feasibility studies which together will inform a full-scale investment strategy setting out how this growth can be achieved.

Silicon South is looking for two freelance full-time researchers to assist in the development of the strategy by undertaking research and analysis on a range of projects related to the creative and digital sector. Working to the Director of Silicon South, you will undertake a combination of primary and secondary data analysis and research on a variety of topics relevant to Silicon South’s strategy.

Informal enquires about the post are welcomed. Please contact Anthony Story on 07702 103872.

Please send a CV and covering letter detailing your experience to: paul.webster@siliconsouth.org.uk

Closing date: Noon, 8 December 2014.

Click here for more information including application details.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

Arts and Humanities Research Council

International Placement Scheme: Shanghai Theatre Academy, for early career researchers, post-doctoral research assistants and AHRC-funded doctoral students to undertake a three to four month funded fellowship at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Shanghai Theatre Academy IPS fellows receive a contribution of £600 towards their flights costs, their visa costs paid, plus a monthly allowance of £1200. Closing Date: 15/1/15

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Modular Training Partnerships (MTPs) fund the development of industrially-relevant short training courses at Masters level. Training should be developed in close collaboration with industry, and evidence of industrial demand is a key requirement for funding. Closing Date: 4/2/15

FLexible Interchange Programme(FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities. The award may be for up to 24 months and cost up to £150,000. Closing Date: 4/2/15

Economic and Social Research Council

ESRC/DFID Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research Outline Research Grants Call 2014-15. The purpose of the scheme is to provide a more robust conceptual and empirical basis for development and to enhance the quality and impact of social science research on poverty reduction. Scheme-funded research will have high potential for impact on policy and practice in low-income countries through the use of the new knowledge created. Awards will be between £100,000 and £500,000 from a minimum duration of one year up to a maximum of three years. Closing Date: 22/1/15 at 16:00

Urban Transformations Research Call. The ESRC invites innovative and ambitious proposals to support new research which adds significant value to the broad portfolio of cites and urban transformations research currently supported by the ESRC and other research funders. High quality proposals are sought which fill clearly identified gaps in the current funding landscape. Grants will be for a maximum of three years and between £750,000 and £1 million. Closing Date: 5/2/15

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

EPSRC Centres for Mathematical Sciences in Healthcare, will be awarding up to £6 million to support the creation of Multidisciplinary Research Centres, bringing together researchers working in the Mathematical Sciences with academics and stakeholders within the Healthcare Technologies space. Closing Date: 29/1/15 at 16:00

ERA-Net ANIHWA

The third call in the area of animal healths and welfare has opened. There are 20 funding organisations involved from 16 countries and a total budget of €10 million available. Closing Date: 12/2/15

Nesta

Longitude Prize 2014 is a challenge with a £10 million prize fund to help solve the problem of global antibiotic resistance. Closing Date: Applications can be submitted at any time

Wellcome Trust

Development Awards, worth up to £10,000 for a maximum of one year, are available to support the development of TV, radio, games or film projects that engage (as a whole or in part) with biomedical science and its impact on our lives in an innovative, entertaining and accessible way. Closing Date: Applications may be submitted at any time during the year.

Investigator Award, small or large (up to £3 million) and lasting up to seven years, provide flexible support at a level and length appropriate to enable researchers to address the most important questions of relevance to human and animal health and disease. Closing Date: 20/2/15

Investigator Award in Medical Humanties, in the range of £100,000 to £200,000 per year for up to five years, provide flexible support at a level and length to enable recipients to explore health, wellbeing or biomedical science in the contexts of the humanities. Closing Date: 23/1/15

Investigator Awards in Society and Ethics, in the range of £100,000 to £200,000 per year for up to five years, provide flexible support at a level and length to enable recipients to explore health, wellbeing or biomedical science in their social or ethical contexts. Closing Date: 23/1/15

Pathfinder Awards kick-start pilot projects that have significant potential to help develop innovative new products that address an unmet need in healthcare and offer a potential new solution. Pathfinder Awards fund innovative discrete pilot studies to develop assets and de-risk future development. Projects may last up to 18 months and the average award amount is envisaged to be in the region of £100,000, but up to £350,000 will be considered in exceptional circumstances. Closing Date: 6/2/15


Sustaining Excellence Awards, typically be in the range of £90,000 to £1,000,000 spread across three to five years, supports the enhanced delivery of existing outstanding public engagement projects and models of working, alongside strategic planning and organisational development and resilience. It aims to reduce the level of repeat project-based applications to other Engaging Science schemes, in particular People, Society and Arts awards, in favour of a longer-term approach to support. Closing Date: 18/2/15

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

Congratulations to HSC student Mr. Jib Acharya

BU research, PG research, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized

HSC PhD student Jib Acharya presented the preliminary results of his thesis research in a poster presentation entitled “A Comparative Study on Nutritional Problems in Preschool Aged Children of Nepal”

The poster was accepted at the 3rd World Congress of Public Health Nutrition Conference in Gran Canaria,  Spain, 2014.

Mr. Acharya’s poster was displayed as a traditional paper poster but also a digital poster on television screens around the conference.  The thesis work is supervised in the School of Health & Social Care by Dr. Jane Murphy, Dr. Martin Hind and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.  The attendance of this conference was made possible due to the support of a Santander award.

Congratulations

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Breastfeeding research presented in Cornwall

BU research, Featured academics, Knowledge Transfer, PG research, Research news, Uncategorized

Congratulations to Alison Taylor, senior lecturer in midwifery who presented preliminary findings of her PhD as keynote speaker last month at the Cornwall  Real Baby Milk conference.  Alison’s presentation ‘Women’s Breastfeeding Experiences – shared using video diaries’ was very well received.  Alison’s fieldwork has been supported by the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust , she received the first Tricia Anderson award in 2008. Founded in 1983, the Trust supports midwives and student midwives to undertake further education and to carry out projects designed to improve the care of mothers and babies.

More details on the conference can be found at:

http://realbabymilk.org/couldnt-make-real-baby-milk-cornwall-conference-last-month/

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

A Fishy Tale: BS Consumer Researchers visit Norway

BU research, Funding opportunities, REF Subjects, Research news, Research themes, Uncategorized

Last week Professor Juliet Memery and Dr Dawn Birch from the Business School, supported by the Cyber Security Unit, travelled to Tromso in Norway at the invitation of the University of Tromso.  The aim of the trip was to discuss future research collaborations and funding opportunities around the areas of food security, food crime, food waste and technology with a particular emphasis on fish and seafood.

Whilst there Juliet and Dawn met with academics from the University of Tromso, including Professor Svein Ottar Olsen and Professor Kåre Skallerud, as well as Pirjo Honkanen, Director of Research (Consumer and marketing research) and Petter Olsen, senior scientist, from Nofima, one of the largest institutes for applied research within the fields of fisheries, aquaculture and food industry in Europe.  A series of research presentations revealed a number of areas of mutual interest which will be scoped out and explored further with a view to securing EU/Research Council funding.  Additionally they met with analysts at the Head Office of the Norwegian Seafood Council to discuss their role and research in the seafood industry and explore potential opportunities for them to be included in future research collaborations.

Overall it was a very successful networking trip, and a reciprocal visit to Bournemouth is anticipated in the coming months to further strengthen relationships and collaborations.

NERC Innovation Projects

Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Research news

 

The Innovation Projects call supports projects that are likely to generate little or no commercial return, but which will deliver impact.

The call aims to increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research output by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users.  The Follow-on Fund is for those projects that aim to be fully commercialised with a revenue stream derived from licensing, spinouts, consultancy etc.

A maximum of £125k (£100k at 80% FEC) may be requested.  Projects are expected to start in May 2015 and to last for up to 12 months.  Smaller, targeted activities of three to six months are also welcome and NERC anticipates seeing a range of requests within the £125k limit, reflecting a diverse range of potential projects and activities.

The closing date is 16.00 hrs on 18th December, 2014

For further information go to  the  website