Category / Research Training

Research Skills Toolkit – On demand online modules

Doctoral College, ECR Network, Research Concordat, Research Ethics, research staff, Research Training, student research, Training

There have been some updates to our Epigeum Research Skills Toolkit modules. Firstly, all modules as part of the Research Skills Toolkit are now available to all staff using your @bournemouth.ac.uk email address.

The toolkit covers topics such as Becoming a Researcher (available from 1 April), Entrepreneurship in the Research Context, Ethical Research, Research Methods, and Transferable Skills.

You will need to follow these steps to set up an account:

  1. Go to: https://courses.epigeum.com/register.
    Use token 678a512f when completing the form.
  2. An activation link will be sent to your e-mail. Please also check your JUNK mail.
  3. Once registration is complete, log in with this different link: https://courses.epigeum.com/login.

Adding the Research Ethics Modules:

  1. Once you have set up your account and logged in, click the person icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
  2. Select ‘Enter Token’.
    Use token 02d34ae8. 

If you already have an account:

If you already have an account set up, you will then need to follow these steps.

  1. Log into your account: https://courses.epigeum.com/login.
  2. Click the person icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
  3. Depending on what you are missing either add token 678a512f (for the wider Research Skills Toolkit modules) or 02d34ae8 (for the Research Ethics Modules).

Viewing your modules:

To start viewing and working through your chosen modules, click back on the person icon, and select my courses.

From 1 April the following courses will be added under a new collection named ‘Becoming a Researcher’.

  • Becoming a Researcher: Effective Management of Doctoral and Master’s Research (replacing Transferable Skills: Managing your research project).
  • Becoming a Researcher: Working with your supervisor (replacing Transferable Skills: Working with your supervisor).
  • Becoming a Researcher: Intellectual property in the research context (replacing Transferable Skills: Intellectual property in the research context).

Come along to a short demonstration on how to optimise the toolkit hosted by Epigeum’s Senior Learning Consultant Nick Broom. Register: Wednesday 4 May, 13:00 – 13:45, MS Teams.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch:

Natalie Stewart (PGRs &  PGR Supervisors) – nstewart@bournemouth.ac.uk. 

Sarah Bell (ECRs and other BU staff) – sarah.bell@bournemouth.ac.uk. 

Postgraduate Researchers and Supervisors | Monthly Update for Researcher Development

BU research, Doctoral College, Events, Featured, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research news, Research Supervision, Research Training, student research, Training

Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for researcher development e-newsletter sent earlier this week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can view it within the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.

The start of the month is a great time to reflect on your upcoming postgraduate researcher development needs and explore what is being delivered this month as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme and what is available via your Faculty or Department. Remember some sessions only run once per year, so don’t miss out.

Please also subscribe to your Brightspace announcement notifications for updates when they are posted.

If you have any questions about the Researcher Development Programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Natalie (Research Skills & Development Officer)
pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Institutional Learning from Funder Feedback: Strong research collaborations

BU research, Knowledge Exchange, Research Centres, research staff, Research Training

When a funding call comes out that matches your own interest or experience, it is easy to get caught up in the whirl-wind of excitement in assembling a team to put together an application. One of the first things most applicants think about is their immediate colleagues, past or current, from the academic world.

Somewhere along the way in the process, non-academic participants are considered.  In many cases, approaches are made to outside organisations – sometimes through existing contacts, to join on a proposal. When these organisations are approached, they are often asked to provide a letter of support, often without much substance or specificity when it is a new relationship. Feedback from various funders has demonstrated that what is being looked for is strong, existing relationships, in particular those that provide leveraged (matched) funding or resource. Good applications have been able to demonstrate true partnerships, and not tokenism through a bland letter of support. The RDS can help review draft letters of support to ensure they appear to meet funder need.

Why non-academic partnerships and collaborations?

Research partnerships and collaborations with non-academic experts (whether they be in business, health sectors, NGOs etc.) are likely to contribute in forms that will contribute to ‘real world’ uses, from practical experience.

Who you should approach will vary but it is best to have demonstrable proof of either working together or good strategic alignment with the planned research. The level of involvement will demonstrate a good partnership. A mistake that many make is contacting a ‘big’ company just because they are ‘big’, and not because they are the most appropriate partner for the research.

Support for finding non-academic collaborations

As well as any connections through current sectoral/subject experts within existing networks, at BU, there is support from Ehren Milner (emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk), the Research Facilitator for Industrial Collaborations, and Ian Jones (ijones@bournemouth.ac.uk), the Head of External Engagement. They field queries from organisations looking for collaborations from BU and may know of an organisation that would align with your research.

One of the best methods to build a network is to make yourself, and your research known through networking events. There are a series of collaborations events and STEAMlabs that BU run to help link together academics and external organisations.  Many other organisations (e.g. the KTN) run their own networking events. You should think about building your networks years in advance, not days.  One piece of advice that has come back from external organisations is that when it comes to leveraged funding, they like to know where their resources are going; so in most cases they wish to spend time getting to know academics first. A poor approach to new connections will start off asking for support before a direct conversation has even been held.

Guidance on Leading an external research application.

The above link will lead to a guide intended to assist you through the application stage when you intend to lead on an RKE project. The details of the process may vary between funding bodies, but the basic principles are likely to be very similar.

Helpful advice, and a pro forma table, are available to assist with ensuring the integrity of any collaborative relationships. Good luck, and happy networking!

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | ALS Inclusivity / Disability Awareness Week

Doctoral College, Events, Featured, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Supervision, Research Training, Training

The Doctoral College and Additional Learning Support, Student Services, are pleased to present this ALS Inclusivity / Disability Awareness Week specifically for those supporting postgraduate research students. There are three sessions, each of which will be focused on providing individuals with an understanding of different disabilities, and to develop an insight into how to best support PGRs with disabilities. The sessions will also address what reasonable adjustments can be made and what is the role of the supervisor.

The following sessions will be run:

  • Tuesday 8 March: ADD/ADHD/Dyspraxia led by Ildiko Balogh, Student Services
  • Wednesday 9 March: SpLD/Dyslexia led by Regina Karousou, Student Services
  • Thursday 10 March: Autism Spectrum Disorder led by Steevie Watson, Student Services

Staff attending will: 

  • have gained additional knowledge of specific disabilities
  • have gained additional knowledge of additional support available to PGRs with specific disabilities
  • have gained additional knowledge of how supervisor can support PGRs with specific disabilities
  • be aware of the relevant sections of the Code of Practice for Research Degrees
Lunchbite Session Date Time Location
Supporting PGRs with ADD/ADHD/ Dyspraxia Tuesday 8 March 2022 12:00 – 13:00 Online
Supporting PGRs with SpLD/Dyslexia Wednesday 9 March 2022 12:00 – 13:00 Online
Supporting PGRs with Autism Spectrum Disorder Thursday 10 March 2022 12:00 – 13:00 Online

To book a place onto a session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.

Equality Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) toolkit – NIHR webinar

BU research, BU2025, Events, Impact, NHS, Post-award, pre-award, Research Integritiy, Research Training

  

Dear colleagues

– Are you an NIHR funded researcher?
– Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?

NIHR Research Design Service East Midlands are hosting a webinar introducing the new EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity) toolkit and is a valuable starting point for researchers seeking to develop more inclusive research proposals.

The NIHR Research Design Service (RDS) has developed an EDI toolkit to support researchers to consider and embed EDI at each stage of their research project, from inception through to dissemination, implementation and impact.

The 90 minute webinar is on 30th March 2022 at 13.30.

More information and link to book here.

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

We can help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | UKCGE Route to Recognition for Supervisory Practice

Events, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Supervision, Research Training

Hosted by the Doctoral College, these one hour online lunch bite sessions supplement the regular New and Established Supervisory Development Sessions and are aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in research degree supervision.

Each session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.

This session provides an introduction to the UK Council for Graduate Education’s (UKCGE) Good Supervisory Practice Framework and the Research Supervision Recognition Programme which allows established supervisors to gain recognition for this challenging, but rewarding, role.

This discussion will be led Dr Martyn Polkinghorne, UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor, BUBS: Principal Academic, FLIE: Education Excellence Theme Leader, TeachBU: Academic Lead.

Staff attending will be able to: 

  • use the Framework to navigate the wide-ranging, highly complex and demanding set of roles that modern research supervisors must undertake to perform the role effectively
  • reflect on their own practice, compared to a benchmark of good practice
  • identify strengths and weaknesses and build upon the former and address the latter with targeted professional development
  • work towards recognition of their expertise by a national body.

Further details on the session as well as information on future lunchbite sessions can also be found on the staff intranet.

Date: Wednesday 2 March 2022

Time: 13:00 – 14:00, Teams

To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.

New Intention to Bid and Bid Enquiry Process

BU research, ECR Network, Funding opportunities, Guidance, Postgraduate Research, pre-award, R & KE Operations, Research Training

Following the announcement of the new electronic ITB form on 24 January 2022, these are some updates since the launch.

The new ITB form and Enquiry service will provide a better user experience and create a more efficient administrative control process for Research Development and Support (RDS).

 

New ITB form: The new Intention to Bid (ITB) form and the updated Research Costings Request Sheet are both available now in the Policies & Procedures/Research/Pre-award section of the intranet under Research > Pre-award. Please complete the Research Costings Request Sheet and attach it to the e-ITB form for completion. PDF copies of all submissions can be printed or saved but there are limitations to editing a form once it has been submitted.

 

Bid Enquiry Process: If you have more than 4 weeks to the submission deadline and need advice or support regarding a bid, please access the same form link and select ‘Enquiry/Advice on Bidding’. This ensures that the pre-award team will see your Enquiry, rather than emailing a sole officer who may not be available at the time.

 

As a service, RDS is committed to delivering service excellence to enable BU’s academic community to deliver and grow world-leading research for societal benefit. The program of work continues to look at processes to enhance the user experience.

 

Changes include improvements to the pre- and post-award support being offered. Building on the delivery of a new Principal Investigator report which is currently in the final stages of being rolled out, and continuing our collaboration with the Transformation Team.

 

For any queries about the transformation of pre-award services at BU, please contact Jo Garrad or Brian Kaliczynskyj to discuss further.

For any technical issues in relation to the form, please contact Roy Harvey directly.

Upcoming Research Impact Workshops – book now!

BU research, ECR Network, Impact, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, policy, Research Training, Training

We have five RKEDF Impact-related workshops coming up over the next month; please use the links below to book onto them via OD:

Impact and Funding Applications: 16th February at 15:00 

Influencing Policy – with Professor Mark Reed: 1st March at 13:00

Getting started with research Impact: what is it?: 8th March at 14:00

Inspirational Impact – a lunchtime seminar with Professor Zulfiqar Khan: 24th March at 13:00

Evidencing Impact – with Saskia Gent: 29th March at 9:30

We’d be delighted to see you there!

If you have any questions, please contact the Impact Advisors – Amanda Lazar or Beth Steiner

 

Research process seminar, Tuesday 15th Feb at 2pm on Zoom. Intersectional Methods of Visual Media Analysis

BU research, Research Training

You are warmly welcomed to this week’s research process seminar. Hosted in FMC but welcome to all staff and research students. This week’s talk is truly interdisciplinary, and delivered by a former BU staff member, now at Loughborough University (Emma Pullen).

 

Intersectional Methods of Visual Media Analysis by Dr. Emma Pullen & Dr. Laura Mora  

 

Is intersectionality a method? How can we implement intersectionality in our research? In this talk, Laura Mora and Emma Pullen cover the history and definition of (the nowadays buzzword) intersectionality, followed by a discussion of how its theory can be interpreted on a methodological level. As a tool for analysis, intersectionality makes visible how several systems of oppression (based on people’s identity markers) intersect and should be seen as mutually constitutive in creating power relations. This ensures that we move away from single-issue approaches (race-only or gender-only etc.) in our research, and instead reflect people’s complex realities. We discuss how to embed intersectionality into your sampling and in conducting a visual media analysis, discourse analysis and audience study. We also learn about the importance of intersectionality in positioning oneself as a researcher. Throughout the talk, we refer to our own visual media analysis of Paralympians’ Instagram posts, but there is plenty of room as well to walk through the possibilities of making research within your fields or case studies more intersectional.

 

Tuesday 15th Feb at 2pm on Zoom

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09

Meeting ID: 929 210 3478

Passcode: rps!4fmc

Hard to reach or hard to engage?

BU research, international, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Publishing, Research communication, Research news, Research Training, student research, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to FHSS PhD students Aniebiet Ekong and Nurudeen Adesina on the acceptance of their paper by MIDIRS Midwifery Digest [1]. This methodological paper reflects on their data collection approaches as part of their PhD involving African pregnant women in the UK.

This paper provides a snapshot of some of the challenges encountered during the recruitment of pregnant Black African women living in the UK for their research. Though there are several strategies documented to access/invite/recruit these ‘hard-to-reach population’ these recruitment strategies however were found to be unsuitable to properly engage members of this community. Furthermore, ethical guidelines around informed consent and gatekeeping seem to impede the successful engagement of the members of this community. It is believed that an insight into the experience and perceptions of ethnic minorities researchers will enhance pragmatic strategies that will increase future participation and retention of Black African women across different areas of health and social care research. This paper is co-authored with their BU PhD supervisors: Dr Jaqui-Hewitt Taylor, Dr Juliet Wood, Dr Pramod Regmi and Dr Fotini Tsofliou.

Well done !

Pramod Regmi

  1. Ekong, A., Adesina, N., Regmi, P., Tsofliou, F., Wood, J. and Taylor, J., 2022. Barriers and Facilitators to the recruitment of Black African women for research in the UK: Hard to engage and not hard to reach. MIDIRS Midwifery Digest (accepted).

RKEDF – Research Leadership Programme 2022 Applications open

Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Research Training, RKE development framework

Research Leadership Training Programme 2022

Following on from the successful pre Covid Research Leadership programme, (consistently rated 4+ out of 5), we are running a similar hybrid programme in 2022. This programme supports the development of all academics including Early Career Researchers, Mid-Career Academics, Senior Research Leaders and Associate Professors.

 

Participants will :

  • Be helped to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to lead teams to successfully deliver funded research projects, in line with stakeholder and funder requirements.
  • Gain an understanding of effective team leadership and team working within a research context in order to be able to devise strategies to get the best out of teams in the challenging environment of research.
  • Be equipped with an understanding of their strengths and limitations in order to be confident in developing their leadership skills in line with their career stage and future aspirations and be more confident to expand their funded research activities.

 

Quotes from last cohort:

“Totally relevant to tasks we have to undertake and very enjoyable learning experience”, (Early Career);

“Excellent workshop, learned a lot of useful information I didn’t know”, (Mid-Career); and

“Fantastic tools were given for future leaders both in research and academic leadership”, (Senior Research Leader).

 

Further details can be found here

Please apply  here. The deadline is the 14th March 2022.

*Please be aware that is NOT a course on bid writing.*

 

If you have any queries, please contact  hhenderson@bournemouth.ac.uk

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | ALS Inclusivity / Disability Awareness Week

Doctoral College, Events, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Supervision, Research Training, Training

The Doctoral College and Additional Learning Support, Student Services, are pleased to present this ALS Inclusivity / Disability Awareness Week specifically for those supporting postgraduate research students. There are three sessions, each of which will be focused on providing individuals with an understanding of different disabilities, and to develop an insight into how to best support PGRs with disabilities. The sessions will also address what reasonable adjustments can be made and what is the role of the supervisor.

The following sessions will be run:

  • Tuesday 8 March: ADD/ADHD/Dyspraxia led by Ildiko Balogh, Student Services
  • Wednesday 9 March: SpLD/Dyslexia led by Regina Karousou, Student Services
  • Thursday 10 March: Autism Spectrum Disorder led by Steevie Watson, Student Services

Staff attending will: 

  • have gained additional knowledge of specific disabilities
  • have gained additional knowledge of additional support available to PGRs with specific disabilities
  • have gained additional knowledge of how supervisor can support PGRs with specific disabilities
  • be aware of the relevant sections of the Code of Practice for Research Degrees
Lunchbite Session Date Time Location
Supporting PGRs with ADD/ADHD/ Dyspraxia Tuesday 8 March 2022 12:00 – 13:00 Online
Supporting PGRs with SpLD/Dyslexia Wednesday 9 March 2022 12:00 – 13:00 Online
Supporting PGRs with Autism Spectrum Disorder Thursday 10 March 2022 12:00 – 13:00 Online

To book a place onto a session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.

Postgraduate Researchers and Supervisors | Monthly Update for Researcher Development

BU research, Doctoral College, Events, Featured, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research news, Research Training, student research, Training

Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for researcher development e-newsletter sent earlier this week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can view it within the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.

The start of the month is a great time to reflect on your upcoming postgraduate researcher development needs and explore what is being delivered this month as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme and what is available via your Faculty or Department. Remember some sessions only run once per year, so don’t miss out.

Please also subscribe to your Brightspace announcement notifications for updates when they are posted.

If you have any questions about the Researcher Development Programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Natalie (Research Skills & Development Officer)
pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk 

RDS Academic and Researcher Inductions – 2022

BU research, Research Training, RKE development framework

As mentioned in Monday’s article on ‘getting started with research at BU‘, the Research Development and Support (RDS) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to a induction.

These events provide an overview of all the practical information staff need to begin developing their research plans at BU, using both internal and external networks; to develop and disseminate research outcomes; and maximising the available funding opportunities.

Objectives

  • The primary aim of the induction is to raise participants’ awareness of how to get started in research at BU or, for more established staff, how to take their research to the next level
  • To provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

Online induction being done a little bit differently

As we continue to hold inductions online, we continue to do these a bit differently (to avoid ‘death by PowerPoint’). As said yesterday, RDS prepare videos in advance so that attendees can watch these when suited to them before the induction day. There are nine videos in total (some are quite short, and the more important ones (on process) run to ~20 minutes) and all are available on Brightspace. The video topics are

  1. Overview of research at BU and Research Development and Support (RDS)
  2. Overview of the Funding Development Team
  3. Overview of the Project Delivery Team
  4. Overview of the Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team
  5. Applying for Research Funding at BU
  6. Managing your awarded grants
  7. Research Outputs
  8. Research Ethics
  9. Research Impact

These are sent in advance (aiming for three weeks’ beforehand) to those attending the induction.

On the day of the induction, we will run an interactive session where attendees can meet their RDS faculty-facing staff, and have the opportunity to ask any questions on any of the topics above, or anything else RDS related that they need more information on. There will be breakout rooms for each faculty, as well as a room for Research Outputs and Ethics, and a room for Research Impact and Knowledge Exchange. The main room will remain open for any questions on strategy and research at BU. This is a great opportunity to meet your RDS colleagues and to get 1-2-1 advice.

The inductions for 2022 will be held on:

Workshop Date Time  Location
RDS Academic & Researcher Induction 27th April 2022 09:30 – 11.00 Online
RDS Academic & Researcher Induction 19th October 2022 09:30 – 11.00 Online

If you would like to attend the induction then please book your place through Organisational Development and you can also visit their pages here.

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Regards,

The RDS team (this photo was obviously taken pre-pandemic)

Getting started with research at BU – videos

BU research, Research Training, RKE development framework

Research Development and Support (RDS) run induction sessions for all new starters and those who want a refresher in research. We revamped these last year so that we could have more interactive conversation on the induction day. In order to do this, we created a series of videos, which were sent to attendees three weeks’ beforehand.

These videos are available to all BU staff who want to get started with research at BU or want a refresher.

The videos can be found on Brightspace. The link should take you to the section ‘RDS Academic and Researcher Induction’ (if it doesn’t, you just need to scroll down to this section). There are nine videos in total (most are quite short and the longest one (five) runs to ~20 minutes). The video topics are:

  1. Overview of research at BU and Research Development and Support (RDS)
  2. Overview of the Funding Development Team
  3. Overview of the Project Delivery Team
  4. Overview of the Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team
  5. Applying for Research Funding at BU
  6. Managing your awarded grants
  7. Research Outputs
  8. Research Ethics
  9. Research Impact

If you can’t access the Brightspace link, please contact us at ResearchDev@bournemouth.ac.uk.

As a reminder, you can find a whole host of supporting information on research at BU on the research blog under ‘research toolkit‘ and ‘research lifecycle‘.

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | Supporting dissemination of PGR research

Doctoral College, Events, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Supervision, Research Training, Training

Hosted by the Doctoral College, these one hour online lunch bite sessions supplement the regular New and Established Supervisory Development Sessions and are aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in research degree supervision.

Each session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.

This session is focused on exploring ways to help PGRs disseminate their research work. This discussion will be led by Professor Matthew Bennett, FST.

Staff attending will: 

  • have gained additional knowledge of ways to disseminate PGR work to maximise academic and societal impact

Further details on the session as well as information on future lunchbite sessions can also be found on the staff intranet.

Date: Monday 7 February 2022

Time: 12:00 – 13:00, Teams

To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.

Research process seminar this week: Critical Discourse Analysis. Tuesday 1 Feb at 2pm on Zoom

Events, Research Training

You are warmly welcomed to this week’s research process seminar. The topic is critical discourse analysis and the session is led by BU’s Dr Catalin Brylla.

Critical Discourse Analysis looks at how social discourses are embedded in media texts through narrative and aesthetic elements. We will look at the case study of audio-visual media and disability representation, which can be applied to other discourses of stigma or social hegemonies.

These sessions are always practical and interactive, so please come along if you want to learn more about this methods.

Tuesday 1 Feb at 2pm on Zoom

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09

Meeting ID: 929 210 3478

Passcode: rps!4fmc

All staff and PGR students welcome. Hope to see you there