Category / student research

International Longevity Centre host blog by HSS PhD student Andy Harding

PG research, student research

The following was hosted by the International Longevity Centre:

The Future of Welfare Consumerism: Future challenges and opportunities of welfare consumerism in health and social care

Welfare rights and financial advice_mThe rationale for the creation of the welfare state in the post war period was, in large part, because a market approach to welfare had failed. So how can the market and consumerism now be the solution? Despite this philosophical question, for more than two decades welfare consumerism and markets has been and continues to be at the heart of UK health and social care policy. This presents many challenges and opportunities for practitioners, policymakers and researchers alike – particularly concerning older people. Older people are the largest ‘customer’ of welfare services, thus any welfare policy has major ramifications for us all in later life. But what are the important issues? The important issues are basic, but at the same time complex. There is not one welfare market, and with older people not a homogenous group, there are different types and cohorts of consumers.

The basic issue is simple. It is perhaps not comfortable to label welfare as a commodity. A commodity implies a good or service that we purchase to suit a desire. Yet, rarely does welfare satisfy a desire. On the other hand, we access welfare provision because we have a need. Indeed, it is a commodity and market unlike mainstream markets. Whereas mainstream consumers can use their ‘invisible hand’ to navigate markets and access the type or brand of tea, coffee, tablet or laptop that they like, the need to access welfare is characterised by significant information asymmetries, and often complex, vulnerable and emotional circumstances.

Considering these relative complexities, we know remarkably little about how older people act in welfare markets. Although the welfare consumer might have little in common with the mainstream consumer, nevertheless consumer theory provides a platform to outline the more complex challenges for future research and policy.

Implicit in using markets as a means to allocate resources is that consumers are informed and make good quality choices. This in turn requires us to focus on how older welfare consumers become informed – are they adequately informed? Do they seek impartial and independent information and advice (I&A)? How do they act on and use I&A? How can we ensure that I&A services are funded properly and have adequate coverage? These are just some of the broader future challenges and questions that must be addressed.

These are challenges for both health and social care, where the consumerist landscape created by individual budgets and direct payments, first trail blazed in social care (and mostly lobbied for by younger groups), is now being introduced for increasing numbers of older people with chronic and longer term health conditions. Choices of provider and care package/pathway are now and will increasingly be the norm in health and social care.

In addition, my own on-going doctoral study with FirstStop, a third sector provider of information and advice on housing and care issues in later life, acts to highlight another under looked area – housing. Housing may have a longer association with markets and consumerism, yet it is nevertheless a central pillar of welfare. And for good reason – the appropriateness of housing (e.g. preventing falls and fractures in the home as the stereotypical and archetypal example) in later life can be a key determinant of health and wellbeing. In other words, appropriate housing can reduce the likelihood that an older person needs to access health services and social care.

This final point should also chime with the fiscally minded – informed older welfare consumers, through accessing good quality I&A equates to older people making more informed choices about welfare and enables independence. By implication, this means less dependency on welfare – something which, as consumers who will all grow old one day, should be desirable to us all.

 

NVivo Introduction

student research, Training

Nvivological_model_diagramNVivo Indtroduction offers focuses on the requisite management decisions one should make at the beginning of one’s project such as what is my data?

Should I code audio or transcripts and what are the advantages and limitations of either approach? How does the software work?

Why should I integrate my background information or demographics and what is auto-coding and how might it help to better understand my data and prepare it for the cycles of manual interpretive coding to follow?

How do I integrate my chosen methodological approach in using NVivo and reconcile it with the philosophical underpinnings to apply such methods as Grounded Theory, Discourse Analysis, Content Analysis, Thematic Analysis or Narrative Interpretive Methods as just some examples.

Day 1 has an emphasis on the conceptual although the afternoon session is more rooted in the practical. By the end of day 1, participants should be able to set-up an NVivo database, back it up, import their data, setup a coding structure and code their data to it and set up and integrate their demographics.

We have hired the services of an external facilitator to offer support in this for academic staff as part of the BRAD programme. Ben Meehan worked in industry for twenty six years. For the past thirteen years he has worked as an independent consultant in support of computer aided qualitative data analysis projects (CAQDAS). He is a QSR approved trainer and consultant. He has worked in all of the major universities and Institutes of Technology in Ireland and Northern Ireland. His work outside of the educational sector includes major global companies such as Intel where he consults in support of their on-going ethnographic research and the Centre for Global Health where he has recently worked in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique (2009) and in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Tanzania with the University of Heidelberg (2010) and Ethiopia for the Ethiopian Public Health Association (2011) and the Population Council, Zambia (2012). Apart from Africa, Ben regularly conducts workshops in Germany, France, UK, Northern Ireland, the US (Maryland, 2011, Yale, 2012) and Australia.

The session is on Wed 18th Novemeber 2015 09:00 – 16:00 on Talbot campus. There are limited spaces so please do ensure you get one by booking on the Organisational and Staff Development webpages.

BU Represented at the 8th European Public Health Conference

international, student research

Ben and clare milanBU had two representatives from FHSS attending with over 1000 delegates at the European Public Health Conference in Milan last week. Ben Hayes, winner of the best oral presentation at SURE (Showcasing Undergraduate Research Excellence) BU Conference 2015 presented the results of his undergraduate dissertation entitled ‘Investigating the effect of lifestyle interventions to reduce risk factors for Metabolic Syndrome’. Clare Farrance shared the preliminary results of her PhD study around the area of older people’s adherence to exercise.

It was a great opportunity to learn from experienced researchers and hear about the current topics most relevant in the world of Public Health. Many thanks to Bournemouth University for their funding assistance which allowed us to attend.eph-logo

If you’d like to hear more about our research please feel free to get in touch with Ben at: benhayes01@gmail.com or Clare at: cfarrance@yahoo.co.uk

Undergraduate Research Assistantship Programme – staff application deadline this Sunday.

Funding opportunities, student research

The current round of applications for the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme is closing on Sunday 25th October.

To apply for funding to recruit a URA, please email your application to urap@bournemouth.ac.uk

If you have any questions about the scheme, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme – staff application deadline extended

student research

Staff are invited to submit applications for an undergraduate research assistant (URA).

The Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme aims to support at least 50 undergraduate students to work under the guidance of an experienced academic in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline.

The staff application deadline has been extended to Sunday 25th October.

To apply for a URA, please complete the following URA Application and send to urap@bournemouth.ac.uk by midnight on Sunday 25th October.  The following selection criteria will help your application.

If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk

Undergraduate Research Assistantships – academic applications deadline extension – 25th October 2015

Funding opportunities, student research

The Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) programme academic applications are live.

If you need any assistance with your research projects, a URA could help your project greatly.  If your application is approved, you will recruit a student work with you on your research project for either 75 or 100 hours between 18th January 2016 and 21st March 2016.  Alternatively, there is an option to apply for the summer programme now.  The summer programme features support from a URA, full time for 6 weeks over the summer.

Academics who took part in the programme last year had experienced a variety of achievements, some highlights include:

  • “The process will likely inform a case study for my Teach@BU portfolio as well as future bids and I hope to continue working [with the URA] together by co-creating outputs”
  • “Based on their [URA] more than satisfactory performance and competence, my co-investigator and I have invited her [URA] to continue working on the study to write up (co-author two academic articles) and disseminate the findings”
  • “We have been invited to present the findings at the FoM research seminar, an ESRC seminar in September and we are also looking to publish this work and apply for follow-on funding”
  • “[URA] has contributed immensely to the advancement of both project”

Please submit your completed URA Application to urap@bournemouth.ac.uk by midnight on Sunday 25th October 2015.

If you have any queries, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Vitae and the Researcher Development Framework

Guidance, PG research, student research, Training

Vitae logoVitae is an organisation set up to promote career development in both postgraduate researchers and academic staff. Their Researcher Development Framework is intended to help people monitor their skills and plan their personal development. At BU we will be using this framework to format the training on offer for the postgraduate research students and academic staff.

The Vitae website is an excellent resource and the organisation regularly runs free training events for researchers, PGRs and those involved in research development. Upcoming events include Vitae Connections: Supporting Open Researchers.

The Researcher Development Framework (RDF) is the professional development framework to realise the potential of researchers. The RDF is a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers in higher education. It was designed following interviews with many successful researchers across the sector and articulates the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of a successful researcher.

There is a planner available on the Vitae website to help you assess which stage you are at with your skills and a tutorial providing guidance on how to use the framework.

Top 10 tips from researchers on using the Researcher Development Framework (RDF):

1. You might choose to use the RDF for short term as well as long term development. The RDF can be used in planning for your long term career ambitions but also to make a feasible short term plan. It can be useful to imagine your long term ambitions in order to focus your career path however the reality of progressing through to the higher phases may be more difficult to plan. In the short term, making decisions about how to progress to the next phase or what sub-domains are most important for you will be easier. Try to be realistic when setting these short term goals.

2. Use the RDF to highlight your strengths and areas for development and how these might be used to benefit/influence your personal, professional and career development.

3. Use the RDF to highlight your applicable and transferable skills. This is important for career progression within or outside academia.

4. Prioritise those areas which are most relevant. You don’t have to try to develop in all the areas of the RDF at once. There may be some sub-domains/descriptors where there is less relevance in progressing through the phases for you.

5. Draw on experiences outside of work to evidence your capabilities.

6. Progression to the highest phase in a descriptor will not be applicable to everyone but being aware of the possibilities can aid personal and career development.

7. Talk to others to get their views about your strengths and capabilities. Your supervisor, manager, peers, family and friends are a great source of information to find out more about yourself. Talk to them about how they perceive your capabilities. By understanding how others view you, you will be able to make more informed choices about your future.

8. To move from one phase to the next why not explore attending courses. These courses may be run at a local level (within your University) or may only be run nationally or internationally so awareness of opportunities for training is important. Vitae also run a wide range of courses which address many aspects of personal and career development.

9. Some phases may only be reached through experience and practice however good self-awareness and professional development planning will aid the process.

10. Networking is likely to enable you to reach more experienced phases.

Launch of the BU Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme 2015/16

student research

Following on from a successful pilot, I am delighted to announce the launch of BU’s Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme.  This programme is managed via the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO), is funded by the Fusion Investment Fund and offers paid employment opportunities for approximately 55 BU undergraduate students to work in a research position that is directly related to their academic studies or career path, under the guidance of experienced academics, within our clusters, centres and institutes.  The programme will enable students to assist academic staff with their research projects as well as provide valuable research experience to enrich their student experience.

In 2015/16, the scheme will be made up of two programmes; a semester-based programme and a summer programme.

Each programme will have a two stage application process; 1) Academic Application Form 1516 and 2) student recruitment for approved URA positions.

These URA vacancies will be available for BU students only, where URA applicants must be able to work in the UK and be enrolled during the time of their assistantship. Staff can only have one active URA application in operation at any one time.

We are now accepting applications from academic staff for URA positions.  The closing date for academic applications has been extended to 25th October 2015.  Completed application forms should be sent to urap@bournemouth.ac.uk  Before submitting your application, please see the following criteria for selecting staff applications for funding.

Please note that applications are now open for both the semester-based programme and the summer programme, with a further round of applications for the summer programme opening in 2016.

If you have any queries, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk

Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme 2015/16

Funding opportunities, student research

Following from a successful pilot, the Undergraduate Research Assistantships (URA) scheme will continue in 2015/16.

The scheme will be made up of two programmes; a semester-based programme and a summer programme. Each programme will have a two stage application process; 1) academic applications for a URA and 2) student recruitment for approved URA positions. Staff can only have one active URA application in operation at any one time.

Semester-based programme

This placement is flexible where the student will work for a maximum of either 75 hours or 100 hours (to be requested on the academic application form) during the spring semester between 18th January 2016 and 21st March 2016.  This programme will have the capacity to accept at least 25 individual placements (where placements are 100 hours) and two groups of three students (per group), where each student will work for a maximum of 75 hours (i.e. one project would have three students working a combined total of 225 hours).

Summer programme

This placement is for successful students to work full-time (37 hours per week) for six weeks between 13th June 2016 and 31st August 2016. This programme will have the capacity for approximately 25 placements.

Once applications are open, staff will apply for the funding via an application form. A panel of representatives from the University Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee will review all staff applications and decide which applications to continue to the student recruitment stage of the scheme.

Approved academic applications will be advertised as URA positions to students with student applications being received, processed and managed centrally within the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) and distributed to the relevant academics after the closing date. The academics will be responsible for shortlisting, interviewing and providing interview feedback to their own candidates.

BU academic staff will be invited to apply for a URA to assist with their research projects in October 2015.

If you have any queries about this scheme, please contact Rachel Clarke – clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk or 01202 961347.

Research ethics updated forms

PG research, Post-award, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, student research

ethicsNew academic year, New forms!

New versions of the ethics forms available now, have a look at the research ethics page for the full details, under useful documents.

The new forms are the Participant Info Sheet and the previously titled Consent form, now titled Participant Agreement Form.

Please make sure you start using the new versions from now on, and please do let us know how you find them.

BU Ethics team

Vitae and the Researcher Development Framework

Guidance, PG research, student research, Training

Vitae logoVitae is an organisation set up to promote career development in both postgraduate researchers and academic staff. Their Researcher Development Framework is intended to help people monitor their skills and plan their personal development. At BU we will be using this framework to format the training on offer for the postgraduate research students and academic staff.

The Vitae website is an excellent resource and the organisation regularly runs free training events for researchers, PGRs and those involved in research development. Upcoming events include Vitae Connections: Supporting Open Researchers.

The Researcher Development Framework (RDF) is the professional development framework to realise the potential of researchers. The RDF is a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers in higher education. It was designed following interviews with many successful researchers across the sector and articulates the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of a successful researcher.

There is a planner available on the Vitae website to help you assess which stage you are at with your skills and a tutorial providing guidance on how to use the framework.

Top 10 tips from researchers on using the Researcher Development Framework (RDF):

1. You might choose to use the RDF for short term as well as long term development. The RDF can be used in planning for your long term career ambitions but also to make a feasible short term plan. It can be useful to imagine your long term ambitions in order to focus your career path however the reality of progressing through to the higher phases may be more difficult to plan. In the short term, making decisions about how to progress to the next phase or what sub-domains are most important for you will be easier. Try to be realistic when setting these short term goals.

2. Use the RDF to highlight your strengths and areas for development and how these might be used to benefit/influence your personal, professional and career development.

3. Use the RDF to highlight your applicable and transferable skills. This is important for career progression within or outside academia.

4. Prioritise those areas which are most relevant. You don’t have to try to develop in all the areas of the RDF at once. There may be some sub-domains/descriptors where there is less relevance in progressing through the phases for you.

5. Draw on experiences outside of work to evidence your capabilities.

6. Progression to the highest phase in a descriptor will not be applicable to everyone but being aware of the possibilities can aid personal and career development.

7. Talk to others to get their views about your strengths and capabilities. Your supervisor, manager, peers, family and friends are a great source of information to find out more about yourself. Talk to them about how they perceive your capabilities. By understanding how others view you, you will be able to make more informed choices about your future.

8. To move from one phase to the next why not explore attending courses. These courses may be run at a local level (within your University) or may only be run nationally or internationally so awareness of opportunities for training is important. Vitae also run a wide range of courses which address many aspects of personal and career development.

9. Some phases may only be reached through experience and practice however good self-awareness and professional development planning will aid the process.

10. Networking is likely to enable you to reach more experienced phases.

 

Matt Bentley’s Fusion Fund Research – South Africa Final Update

Fusion, student research

Daniel and Lee

The 2015 Fusion Fund research project has now come to an end. The last few months saw two BU students, Daniel Wirepa and Claudia O’Sullivan travel to Stellenbosch to undertake the research project examining the development of a novel slow-release technology for application in the treatment of pest infestations in the abalone aquaculture industry. Unfortunately, Claudia had to return to the UK in June for personal reasons but Daniel stayed working in Carol Simon’s labs alongside Lee, one of her research students.

 

Worm Culture Room

Daniel was working on the incorporation of a natural toxin, produced by microscopic algae, into a gel which acts to keep the toxin where it is required to act on the larvae of a shell-boring pest. The shell borer is a small marine worm that causes damage to the shells of cultured abalone (see previous blogs).

 

Bioassay

This pilot study will form the basis for a future research studentship which will link Bournemouth University, Stellenbosch University in South Africa and one of the world’s leading abalone farms in Hermanus, Abagold Pty, Ltd. The outputs of the research will be presented at next year’s International Polychaete Conference in Cardiff with Daniel as a co-author.

Sharing My Experiences Supervising an Undergraduate Research Assistant!

Research assessment, student research

As the Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) working with me sadly finishes today, wanted to briefly share my experiences.  The URA brought a useful practitioner perspective as well as creativity and was a pleasure to work with, working independently under supervision.  She achieved so much in six weeks:  After an induction, she subscribed to Blogs, attended the Festival of Learning along with meetings and webinars for networking.  Time was spent reviewing the Research Excellence Framework (REF) guidance and identifying good practice from previously submitted case studies.  Working with academics, evidence to date was collated for two potential REF case studies for two Units of Assessment.  Many outputs were produced e.g. Blog postings; a seminar presentation well attended by cross-Faculty and central staff provoking much interest; resources to empower staff to develop their own case studies; online resource; poster production.

The URA developed many transferable skills and hope that the process enhanced her student experience.  Through mentoring from a PhD student, she is now interested in pursuing a cross-Faculty PhD sometime in the future.  However, it has very much been a two-way process and I have also developed skills and intelligence from managing the role.  The process will likely inform a case study for my Teach@BU portfolio as well as future bids and I hope to continue working together by co-creating outputs.

All that’s left to say is thank you very very much to her, the PhD student who mentored her, and the organisers of the scheme.  I thoroughly recommend staff to apply to the scheme and students to apply for such roles – it’s win win!