Category / Research news

27th Managing Osteoporosis Conference – Prof Jane Murphy and Dr Susan Dewhurst

BU research, Events, Research news

 

Both Dr Susan Dewhurst and Prof Jane Murphy from BU’s Ageing and Dementia Research Centre  were invited to speak at the 27th Managing Osteoporosis conference 2019 on 9-10th December 2019 at RBCH alongside a number of high profile speakers from across the UK.  There were over 200 delegates from across the South including consultants, nurses and other Allied Health Professionals.  Susan spoke about ‘Exercise for Fall Prevention: What Works?’, whilst Jane updated delegates on ‘Diet, Nutrition and Ageing’.

The talks garnered a lot of interest  with new insights for  bone health and managing osteoporosis and opportunities for collaboration.

 

 

Community-Based Research Event – register your interest

BU research, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Research communication, Research news, Research Training, Training

An exciting opportunity to attend a workshop, please see below for further details –

‘A team from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) are working on a project looking at how we recruit research study participants from commercial High Street health care providers (e.g. Boots, SpecSavers etc), or organisations that support health in some way (e.g. gyms, slimming clubs etc).

The project is titled Community-Based Research and we are looking to answer two specific questions:

  1. How can people with known health issues being seen only ‘on the high street’ access research?
  2. How can people with known health risk factors, who are pre-disease diagnosis, access research?

These two groups could miss out on research opportunities currently because they don’t come into the standard health system until they are either considered to be too severe for High Street treatment (in the case of group 1) or they already have a health problem (in the case of group 2).  We are looking to develop a process by which we can actively recruit participants at scale for trials before they need to access the health service, thus enabling better recruitment of milder disease and pre-disease phenotypes.  We are aware that research is happening in these two groups and would like to pull together researchers who have this experience in order to learn from their successes and challenges.

To support this ETI we are running a workshop on January 31st, 10.30-3.30, at The Wesley Euston Hotel & Conference Venue, London, which will bring together the research community to discuss:

a)      Examples of how we currently recruit from these settings, identifying successes and challenges

b)      Based on these, identifying the key elements of a recruitment strategy that the Clinical Research Network could use

We would like to invite researchers to attend if this would be of interest. Please could nominated representatives complete this Eventbrite registration page (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nihr-crn-community-based-research-event-tickets-83954384825) including indicating which Specialty they are representing.’

Ten ‘rules’ for being creative in producing research

BU research, PG research, Research news, Uncategorized

By Kip Jones

Since the changing of the year seems to be the time for lists, top ten lists, etc., I decided to compile mine about being creative whist producing cutting‐edge research. Not for the faint‐hearted! Here goes:

1. Be curious. Be a detective. Be ready to be surprised by answers you never expected. It should, in the end, be a good story that you can tell.

2. Insure that the method fits the question(s). This can often take some time. Be willing to investigate until you find the right method. This will save you a lot of grief later.

3. Explore methods. Combine them, expand them, reinvented them, but be prepared to then follow them.

4. If your research question is about people, find a way to really involve them in the process, not just answer some stupid questions.

5. Don’t panic if you method produces a lot of data. Swim in it. It’s fun and it is here that the surprises bubble up. Whatever you do, try to avoid reducing the amount of data by ‘categorizing’ it. (I detest little boxes.)

6. Think hard and long about how you want to share the results of your efforts. Text is only one of many possibilities. Really try to get your personal interests out of the way in this process and let the data lead you in selecting a format or art form.

7. Research is about discovery; Dissemination is about putting your findings into action. Ideally, we can be creative at both.

8. About half of your effort (and time) should be on producing the research, the other half on creating the outputs.

9. Creative outputs produce unexpected outcomes. Be willing to experiment, ‘go it alone’. ‘Doing’ and ‘making’ produce additional findings. Use them, they are rich and you’ve earned them.

10. Be willing to make 100 versions, then one more (Sister Corita Kent). It’s that last one that you will use.

Note: Remember, oh ye serious social scientists, that in Big Science, some of the greatest discoveries were made through mistakes and acknowledging the unexpected. Therefore:

Rule 11: Be curious about the history of your craft. Soak up as much as you can. It will both inspire and lead you.

This article by Kip Jones originally appeared on his

personal KIPWORLD blog and was then published by Creative Quarter and Social Science Space.

Photo of the week: ‘Halo’

BU research, Research news

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students for our Research Photography Competition which took place earlier this year.

These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

This week’s photo of the week is the last in the series, taken by Mikhail Kapychka; The Royal Society 2019 Astronomy category winner

‘Halo’ 

‘This image of the lunar halo inspired me to explore this natural phenomenon. I accidentally saw a halo around the moon and took this photo in the night winter forest. A halo is an optical phenomenon, a glowing ring around a light source. There are many types of halos and they are caused mainly by ice crystals in Cirrus clouds at an altitude of 5-10 km in the upper troposphere. The type of halo depends on the shape and location of the crystals. Light reflected and refracted by ice crystals often decomposes into a spectrum, making the halo look like a rainbow. The most vivid and full-colour are pargelia and anti-aircraft arc, less bright-tangent small and large halo.’

‘Now I am engaged in research and a variety of this natural phenomenon, I have a large collection of photos of different types of halo around the world, and thanks to this, people learn about this fascinating phenomenon.’

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series or the Research Photography Competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk

FHSS PhD student Orlanda Harvey in this month’s edition of HED Matters

BU research, Doctoral College, ECR Network, Featured academics, PG research, Publishing, Research news, Student Engagement, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing

PhD student Orlanda Harvey featured in this month’s edition of HED Matters as Early Career Researcher (ECR) with an article on ‘ECR Spotlight: From Social Work to Studying Steroids’ [1].  HED Matters is an online magazine about the use of legal and illegal substances to enhance the human condition published biannually by the HED network. It brings together recent advances in drug research and experiences from both drug users and practitioners. This December 2019 issue focuses on sexual human enhancers.  Orlanda’s PhD research project addresses men’s experiences of recreational Anabolic Androgenic Steroid (AAS) use.

Earlier this year she also published a peer-reviewed paper form her research : “Support for people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Systematic Scoping Review into what they want and what they access” in the Open Access journal BMC Public Health [2].  Since there is a paucity of research on support for people using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS), this latter article synthesised the available evidence.  Orlanda’s  PhD I the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences is being supervised by Dr Margarete Parrish, Dr Steven Trenoweth and Prof Edwin van Teijlingen.

 

References:

  1. Harvey, O., (2019) ECR Spotlight: From Social Work to Studying Steroids, HED Matters 2(2):16-19.
  2. Harvey, O., Keen, S., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E. (2019) Support for people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Systematic Literature Review into what they want and what they access. BMC Public Health 19: 1024      https://rdcu.be/bMFon

Call for members to UKRI International Development Peer Review College

BU research, Research news

UKRI is very pleased to announce a Call for new members to the UKRI International Development Peer Review College. UKRI is inviting applications for new members to the College from both academics and non-academics from organisations based in or working with DAC list countries, such as policymakers, non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations. Eligible applicants should have ODA experience as well as interdisciplinary knowledge. The Call opens on 25 November and closes 20 December 15.00 UK time.

UKRI especially invites applications from women to achieve their aim of a 50:50 gender balance in College membership. UKRI is also especially keen to receive applications from applicants in certain DAC-list countries (please see section 4 in the Call text) and from certain research areas where the College has a shortage (please see section 5 in Call text).

The Call text has information on eligibility, how to and where to apply. UKRI strongly advises potential applicants to read through the Call text carefully and to look at the SmartSurvey screenshots before starting their application.

A letter of support is required from a senior member of BU. For academics: If you are a professor, your letter of support should be signed by the VC. If you are a senior lecturer, your letter of support should be signed by a department head or equivalent. If you are an Early Career Researcher, it should be signed by a professor in your department or equivalent. Please contact your signatory and confirm their support before beginning your application.

More information about the College can be found on the College webpage.

If you are interested in applying then please inform Jo Garrad in RDS.

NCCR Book Launch Next Wednesday

Events, Research Centres, Research news

To celebrate the achievements of several Centre members who have had books published over the last year, we are holding a Book Launch next Wednesday 11 December in Fusion F104 from 4-6. Authors will be on hand to introduce their work and there will also be an opportunity to find out more about the work of the Centre.  Refreshments including mince pies will be provided.

 

Research Training Events into the New Year

BU research, Research news, Research Training

We have some great RKEDF research training events coming up over the next few weeks to help support you in your research activities

December

Thursday 19th December RKEDF: Preparing Practice-Based Research Outputs for Assessment

January

Monday 13th January RKEDF: Research Outputs – Writing Day
Tuesday 14th January RKEDF: Writing Academy
Wednesday 15th January RKEDF: Working with Industry
Friday 17th January RKEDF: Preparing Practice-Based Research Outputs for Assessment
Thursday 30th January RKEDF: Environment Narrative Writing Day

You can see all the Organisational Development and RKEDF events in one place on the handy calendar of events.

Please note that all sessions are now targeted, so look closely at the event page to ensure that the event is suitable for you. In addition, most RKEDF events now require the approval of your Head of Department (or other nominated approver). Please follow the instructions given on the event page and the template email for you to initiate the booking request.

If you have any queries, please get in touch!

CoPMRE Visiting Faculty bi-annual event

BU research, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, nhs, NHS, Research Centres, Research news

Yesterday CoPMRE welcomed 30 colleagues to our Visiting Faculty bi-annual event showcasing the exciting medical developments at BU from the new Bournemouth Gateway Building to the Institute of Medical Imaging and Visualisation. The key priorities to support delivery of BU2025 were presented by Dr Clare Wedderburn, Interim Head of Department of Medicine & Public Health presented.  Juan Campos-Perez, Clinical Research Co-ordinator, BUCRU spoke about Biobanks which were highlighted in Professor Emma King’s research presentation on immunotherapy.  Professor Jeffrey Wale, Lecturer in Law encouraged innovative medical cross faculty collaboration demonstrated by his recent research collaboration with Professor Sam Rowlands, Visiting Professor resulting in four co-authored papers. The main focus of the meeting centred around Visiting Faculty engagement in research and education to help us achieve our aims.  The audience reported that they were ‘very excited’ about these new developments at BU and were keen to support this vision.

Photo of the week: ‘Through different eyes’

BU research, Research news

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students for our Research Photography Competition which took place earlier this year.

These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

This week’s photo of the week was taken by Chantel Cox and is titled;

‘Through different eyes’

‘My research is looking at how our identities are affected as we get older and how older people with frailty manage these changes. This image is of a great grandfather and great grandson looking out to sea in Poole. This is where my research is being carried out but it made me think how although they are both looking at the same scene they are looking at it through totally different eyes. This is the same as we get older and look at all aspects of the world’

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series or the Research Photography Competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk

BU Bridging Fund

Research news, research staff

In summer 2015, we launched the BU Bridging Fund Scheme which aims to provide additional stability to fixed-term researchers who often rely on short-term contracts usually linked to external funding. This situation may impact on continuity of employment and job security and can result in a costly loss of researcher talent for the institution.

The Scheme aims to mitigate these circumstances by redeploying the researcher where possible, or where feasible, by providing ‘bridging funding’ for the continuation of employment for a short-term (maximum three months and up to six months, in exceptional circumstances) between research grants. It is intended to permit the temporary employment, in certain circumstances, of researchers between fixed-term contracts at BU, for whom no other source of funding is available, in order to:

(a) encourage the retention of experienced and skilled staff, and sustain research teams and expertise;

(b) avoid the break in employment and career which might otherwise be faced by such staff;

(c) maximise the opportunity for such staff to produce high-quality outputs and/or research impact at the end of funded contracts/grants.

The Scheme was updated in 2019 to:

  1. Increase the potential bridging period to a maximum of six months in exceptional cases (from the max of three months as it is currently).
  2. Update the application criteria so that applications will only be considered when one of the following conditions has been met at the point of application:
      1. Sufficient external funding has been secured to retain the researcher but there is an unavoidable gap (usually up to three months, but up to six months can be considered) between funding.
      2. The researcher is named on a submitted application for research funding and the decision is pending with an outcome expected before the end of the bridging period.

To find out more about the scheme, including how to apply for bridging funding, see the scheme guidelines.

The Bridging Fund Scheme is an action from our Athena SWAN action plan (which aims to create a more gender inclusive culture at BU) and our EC HR Excellence in Research Award (which aims to increase BU’s alignment with the national Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers).

IRAS Central Booking Service closure

Clinical Governance, nhs, NHS, Research Ethics, Research news

Please note that the Central Booking Service (CBS; used to book in for review of “IRAS Form” applications and applications only requiring ethical review) will close at 4.30pm on Wednesday 18 December 2019 and will re-open at 9am on Thursday 2 January 2020.

If you need to book in your project for NHS REC review please take note of this Christmas closure.

Any queries please email Research Ethics.

Checklist now available to support researchers undertaking clinical research

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Guidance, nhs, NHS, Research Ethics, research integrity, Research news

Suzy Wignall (Clinical Governance Advisor – Research Development & Support) and Juan Campos-Perez (Clinical Research Coordinator – Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit) have compiled a checklist (PDF and word formats) that can be used to support researchers through the process of applying for and conducting clinical research.

The document contains links to various documents and further resources to guide researchers through areas such as applying for external approvals, running the study and closing the study. The checklist clearly sets out what tasks are required, the support/resources available to complete this tasks, a space to write your own notes/how this task was resolved and the date it was completed. Using this document will help you ensure that all the required tasks are completed during your research journey.

The document is also here on the Clinical Governance blog.

Remember – support and guidance is on offer at BU if you are thinking of conducting clinical research, whether in the NHS, private healthcare or social care  – contact details for Suzy and Juan are on the checklist, and you can also take a look at the Clinical Governance blog for resources and updates.