Category / Biodiversity, Environmental Change & Green Economy

Building capacity for Sustainable Development through ERASMUS

Fusion

 

Through the ERASMUS mobility fund, I shall be visiting the Universidade da Beira Interior in Portugal, in May this year. The purpose of the trip is to share best practice in relation to sustainable development, explore how attitudes to energy conservation and ‘green behaviours’ differ from the UK,  and  through collaboration, build capacity for change. 

The Univeridade da Beira is located in the North of Portugal. They have undertaken quite unique projects in relation to conserving their estates – which comprise former factories and even a monastery –  but they have done far less in terms of educating students for sustainable development. Previous collaboration with Portugal has resulted in a number of papers in relation to the green agenda; current work is focusing on energy and Fairtrade.

ERASMUS offers a great opportunity to develop relationships with European partners; it is also very useful for academics who wish to develop their langauge skills.

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Website training sessions

Training

Screen shot of new website

I just wanted to remind colleagues that we are hosting training sessions for the new research webpages on Friday 7 February and Friday 14 February.

These 90 minute sessions are open to all BU academic staff, post graduate research students and those supporting researchers in their communications activity.

During the session you will learn the following:

  • Why BU has new research webpages
  • How you can upload content to the website
  • How the site can be used most effectively to maximise exposure of BU research.

Sessions are informal and if they fall over lunchtime, do feel free to bring a sandwich!

To book on one of the following sessions please use the links below…

Friday 7 February 2014 12:00-13:30 – S103 Studland House, Lansdowne Campus

Friday 14 February 2014 10:00-11:30 – P131 Poole House, Talbot Campus

Friday 14 February 2014 14:30-16:00 – P131 Poole House, Talbot Campus

If you have any questions about the website or training sessions, please email the research website team.

 

Erasmus students enjoying microbial life!

Awarded & submitted bids, Funding opportunities

The new Faculty of Science and Technology has started the new year welcoming three new Erasmus students through the TECHNO 1 and 2 (Erasmus Mundus Partnership) and the Erasmus Practicals placements, respectively. Two of them are being hosted by Dr Genoveva Esteban, Conservation Ecology and Environmental Science Group:  Hai Luu, from Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh province in Vietnam has a Techno 2 studentship until mid June; Sara Giménez, from University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, has a placement studentship for three months. Hai and Sara are working with Genoveva on unicellular organisms from freshwater habitats and from soils; these microscopic organisms can be used in the assessment and monitoring of water and soil quality.  Hai says: “TECHNO project brought me a great opportunity to study in an advanced education environment. Also, I am really interested in research on single-celled organisms and hope to learn from Dr Genoveva Esteban’s experience”.   Sara adds “This opportunity allows me to meet some fantastic people and get unique experiences, and on top of this I am getting fascinating scientific knowledge”.

The persons in charge of TECHNO 1 and TECHNO 2 at BU are Dr Demetra Andreou (Lecturer in Environmental Science), Dr Emilie Hardouin (Associate Lecturer in Conservation Genetics) and Mrs Heather Cashin (Senior Programme Administrator).

From left to right, Sara Giménez, Genoveva Esteban and Hai Luu at East Stoke Fen Nature Reserve near Wareham.

New research web pages and removal of old pages

Training

On Monday 27 January the Digital Communications Team will integrate the new research web pages into the main BU site.

This will include a link from the homepage and from the School pages. (School copy has been developed with the Deans and DDRs to introduce the new site, provide an overview of the School’s research and outline the research themes the School is involved in).

The Digital Communications Team will also start removing the old research pages on Monday. This will include removing the research centre pages, which have either been moved to the new site, elsewhere, or identified as no longer required.

In addition to notification from Professor Matthew Bennett and the Schools, the research website team have tried to speak to all staff in person to ensure required content is moved across and outdated content is removed. This has been a massive exercise and apologies if we have missed anyone. If you do have any concerns regarding your pages, please email the website team as soon as possible. All old content will be moved onto an internal BU server, where it will be kept for a period of six months before being finally deleted.

Screenshot of the new research website

Feedback from researchers already using the new site is that it is very flexible, quick and easy to use and allows easy integration of a variety of different media content types.

If you would like to find out more about using the new site or joining us for a training session, please read my blog post from earlier in the week.

Research website training sessions

Training

 BU’s new research website is an externally facing communications channel. It allows you to add and update research-related content quickly and easily. The site is flexible and accommodates a range of digital media content. You can login with your usual BU username and password and start creating content here.Screen shot of new website

We are hosting a series of 90 minute training sessions, which are open to all BU academic staff, post graduate research students and those supporting researchers in their communications activity.

During the session you will learn the following:

  • Why BU has a new research website
  • How you can upload content to the website
  • How the site can be used most effectively to maximise exposure of BU research.

There are three sessions taking place next month on Talbot Campus and at the Lansdowne. These are hosted by the website designer Matt Northam and me. Sessions are informal and if they fall over lunchtime, do feel free to bring a sandwich!

To book on one of the following sessions please use the links below…

Friday 7 February 2014 12:00-13:30 – S103 Studland House, Lansdowne Campus

Friday 14 February 2014 10:00-11:30 – P131 Poole House, Talbot Campus

Friday 14 February 2014 14:30-16:00 – P131 Poole House, Talbot Campus

If you have any questions about the website or training sessions, please email the research website team.

 

Atrium BRC stand

Emily Loring and I are in the Atrium, Poole House, Talbot Campus today giving out copies of the Bournemouth Research Chronicle (BRC) magazine to academic staff. Do come along and pick up a copy and have a cake with us!

We will be here until 4:30pm today (Tuesday) and again on Thursday between 9am-5pm.

Sustainable Design Research Centre: Research Seminar

PG research

Title – Understanding the corrosion of archaeological iron to better manage its conservation

Date:  Wednesday   12-03-2014

Start: 12:00 Finish: 12:30

Venue: PG 22 (Poole House)

Abstract – Worldwide there are millions of archaeological iron objects stored in museums. Most are inherently unstable, with their chloride content being cited as being the main corrosion driver in conjunction with relative humidity. Attempts to prevent their corrosion are time consuming and costly, with limited numbers of evidence-based conservation options available to managers. The talk reports work examining relationships between chloride and relative humidity for archaeological iron. The outcomes of the study are discussed in relation to their potential for developing new approaches to managing preservation of the archaeological iron heritage.

The above seminar will be delivered by Professor David Watkinson. He is Head of Conservation at Cardiff University, where he teaches undergraduate and post-graduate conservation students and directs conservation research. The Cardiff University ferrous metals research group is quantifying the corrosion rate of archaeological iron and evaluating desalination treatments, as well as carrying out studies to quantify the performance of protective coatings for heritage wrought iron and steels. David’s corrosion research underpinned the design for the desiccated storage of Brunel’s iconic steamship ss Great Britain and in 2010 he was awarded the Plowden Medal for innovative research and services to conservation.

All BU staff and students, who have interest in this area in terms of research and education, are invited to this research seminar. Please feel free to forward this invitation to your external contacts who might have interest in corrosion, conservation, structural integrity and related area.

These seminars are organised by the University Sustainable Design Research Centre in the Faculty of Science & Technology to provide a platform for disseminating latest research activities and results. These seminars are good opportunity of networking for both BU staff and students.

If you would like further information on research activities in corrosion, corrosion simulation and corrosion monitoring please visit SDRC webpage. For any specific inquiries please contact

Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)

Director Sustainable Design Research Centre

Bournemouth Research Chronicle

Research themes

The third edition of the Bournemouth Research Chronicle (BRC) is now published. Thank you very much to everyone who contributed.

Front cover of the BRC

This is a glossy ‘coffee table’ magazine with some lovely images.  It is aimed at peer researchers and research collaborators, prospective funders and (perhaps most importantly) research users such businesses, government organisations, policy makers and charities.

We all know that communication is an integral part of the link between research and societal impact and this magazine is a great way to get the message heard by the right people.

Content is presented through BU’s eight research themes. This edition provides a snapshot of some of the work BU submitted to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. In particular it focuses on the societal impact of our research, which forms a key part of REF2014.

 

DistributionInside cover of the BRC

Every BU academic will receive a copy of the BRC. My colleagues and I will be in the Atrium, Poole House on Tuesday and Thursday next week with a large stash so do pop along, say hello and pick up yours. Otherwise, we’ll put it in the internal post for you.

Throughout January I’ll be sending the BRC to an extensive list of research users, including policy makers, community figures, opinion leaders, businesses and journalists. I will be providing a supply to each School so please do send it to your contacts, collaborators, peers, prospective funders, industry partners or anyone else who has an interest in BU’s research.

R&KEO will keep a larger stock of the BRC. If you would like copies for an event or conference then email me (Sally Gates – Editor) to arrange a delivery.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed and happy reading!

Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC) – Research Seminar

PG research

Title

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NOVEL ALTERNATIVE RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY

Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC) – Research Seminar

Date: Wednesday 8th Jan

Venue: P 406

Time: 12:00 – 12:30

 

Abstract

Renewable Technology is a BU recognised sub-theme within Technology & Design. SDRC has significant portfolio of research within Renewable Technology, this include Cross-Channel Consortium in Mechanical Current Turbine (MCT) research , working closely with community interest groups such as Poole Tidal Energy Partnership in Tidal Energy, final year design projects in Tidal Energy, Heat Pumps & Retro-Fitted Micro Wind Turbines & cross-school activity within Fusion initiative.

Fossil fuels have become the main energy source for human after the Industrial Revolution. However, with ever-increasing energy consumption, they are not sustainable in terms of their finite reserves, environmental implications and contributions to climate change. Within the Energy 2020A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy, the EU and UK have together set a mutual objective to generate renewable energy as 20% of the total energy supply by 2020, for further details please click here. The current research aims to develop low cost renewable technology systems with competitive efficiency and readily adaptable systems both for domestic and commercial applications. In this seminar, the study will present the project background and experimental methodology employed for recording thermodynamic attributes of the solar thermal system to be used in mathematical analyses. The presentation will also present some results and engineering design of key components for improving the overall thermal efficiency of the solar thermal system.

Biography

Bruce Wen is currently conducting research as a PhD student. This research project is fully funded by Future Energy Source Ltd [Dr Zulfiqar Khan PI]. The proposed programme is a direct response to the needs of developing novel alternative renewable technology solutions capable of converting solar energy into useful clean energy. Bruce has participated in the DEC PGR conference and currently planning to present at the BU Graduate School Annual Conference this month.

If you have interest in this research area or would like further information then please contact

Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)

Director SDRC

Email: zkhan@bournemouth.ac.uk

A Fusion funded ‘Royal’ visit

Fusion

Santander Mobility Network Fusion Funds allowed me to visit King Juan Carlos University (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, URJC) in Madrid, Spain, a few weeks ago. After being hit by the parvovirus 24hr after arriving in Madrid I finally managed to pull myself together and visit Dr Marcos Mendez at the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, who had arranged for me to meet the Head of the Department, the Head of the Postgraduate School, some academics and undergraduate students. I introduced them to (and left them with several hard copies of) BU’s Summer Schools and our Master’s courses; we also discussed placement opportunities for BU and URJC students. One of them (from URJC) will be visiting us in the New Year funded by Erasmus placement funds. Academics at URJC Department of Biodiversity and Conservation are extremely keen in receiving BU students to work on the wealth of terrestrial and aquatic conservation projects that are running in the Department.

Overall, it was a very productive visit and we now are exploring funding opportunities to develop further this collaboration. If you know of any student looking for a placement, URJC can offer a great opportunity… in the wonderful town of Madrid. Drop me an email (Genoveva Esteban, School of Applied Sciences – gesteban@bournemouth.ac.uk) and I will get it organised.

Research website training sessions

Training

On Monday many of you will have seen Rebecca Edwards’ blog post giving more information about the new research website. It explains why BU is developing it, when the site will be live, how it will work and addresses some frequently asked questions that have cropped up in discussions.

If you missed this post you can view it here.

The new website will have a host of additional features, making it easier for you to update and add your own content. It provides a considerably improved platform for integrating a wider variety of content, such as image galleries and videos.

Research website screengrabTraining sessions are taking place over the next two months. You can book a session online or contact Rebecca Edwards for more information.

Using the website is surprisingly easy and in the sessions you’ll learn how to upload, edit and tag content. Rather than carrying out training sessions with ‘dummy’ test material, we would like to use the time for you to upload relevant content to your research theme.

We’d be grateful if you could please have something available that you can upload during the training session. Examples could include:

–          New or recent images

–          Videos

–          Details of a new research project

–          Details of successful grant applications

–          A profile of a post graduate researcher

–          Information about planned or recent public engagement activity

Rebecca Edwards or I will be happy to answer any questions in the meantime, so do get in touch. We look forward to seeing you at one of the training sessions.

Poole Bay Bait Cam

This edited footage was not obtained from an aquarium but from rocks near Bournemouth Pier in Poole Bay during the summer of 2013. GoPro cameras attached to a weighted framework were deployed to depths of between 3-8m. Fish and invertebrates are attracted to bait fixed to a pole extended in front of the camera – a technique known as Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV). The method is particularly suited to areas where conventional traps or mobile nets are excluded, such as in protected areas or where obstacles create hazards for SCUBA divers. The data collected will be compared with video obtained from Boscombe Artificial Surf Reef and other sites within the Bay.

How many species can you identify?

This research carried out by Bournemouth University is supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Watch in 1080p HD for best results.

Find more over on the Poole & Purbeck Portal.

Energy Management for existing buildings. Competition now open

Funding opportunities

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Research Councils’ UK Energy Programme are to invest up to £4m in collaborative R&D to stimulate innovation in the field of energy management for existing buildings.

The aim of this competition is to advance significantly the capabilities of UK businesses so that they can capture a greater share of growing UK and global markets.

Consortia must be collaborative and led by a business. They should include at least one business that provides solutions for energy management, such as technology providers, building/facility/energy managers or engineers. The TSB are also encouraging consortia to include a potential customer for their energy management innovation and, where appropriate, researchers from relevant academic or research organisations.

This is a two-stage competition that opened for applicants on 14 October 2013. Applicants must register by noon on 20 November 2013. The deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 27 November 2013.

A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 23 October 2013. For more information and to register please click here.

Publication of the Third NUS/HEA ‘Student Attitudes towards and skills for Sustainable Development’ report

This is the third year of reporting on student attitudes towards, and skills for, sustainable development (SD) continuing research conducted in 2010 and 2011

Two page Executive summary available at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/sustainability/Executive_summary_2013-4.pdf

Full report at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/sustainability/2013_student_skills_final_report

BU is well placed in addressing SD within the curriculum but perhaps we could do more?

Biodiversity, Environmental Change & Green Economy Research Theme

Research themes

Please note for your diaries – a research theme get together on  Wednesday   20-11-2013  –   12:00-14:00 in  TA133.

It is a while since we had a theme meeting for Green Economy and now that we have also had a theme merger, it seems appropriate to get together as the new and broader group, share ideas, and meet those who are new, or who have not previously attended a theme event.

More details will follow but we thought as a starter what we might usefully do, is discuss ideas for the next Fesitival of Learning, consider/share how our research contributes/might contribute to the region, and agree ways of cooperating/organising the theme in the future.

Please email me if you are able to attend so that I can try to organise catering,

 

Chris Shiel