Category / Training

British Science Association Media Fellowships 2015 – applications open

Training

The British Science Association’sMedia Fellowship scheme provides a unique opportunity for practising scientists, clinicians and engineers to spend three to six weeks working at a media outlet, such as the Guardian, the Times, or the BBC.

Every year up to ten Media Fellows are mentored by professional journalists and learn how the media operates and reports on science, how to communicate with the media and to engage the wider public with science through the media.

The scheme has been running since 1987 and gives scientists, engineers and their colleagues, the confidence and willingness to engage with the media and tackle issues of mistrust and misrepresentation and to give journalists access to new scientific expertise; as well as providing opportunities for discussion and debate.

After their media placement Fellows attend the British Science Festival in September, which provides an opportunity to gain valuable experience working alongside a range of media organisations from all over the UK in our dedicated Press Centre. The Festival also offers opportunities to learn from a wide range of public engagement activities and network with academics, journalists and science communicators.

Applications are open until 3 April 2015.

In order to apply, you must complete the form on the BSA’s website, as well as provide a letter of support from your employer to say they are happy to release you to take part in the Fellowship.

 

Researcher Development Evaluation Toolkit

Training

Are you aware of the new unveiling of the Researcher Development Evaluation Toolkit? This could be a fantastic opportunity for you. The aim of the toolkit, which is developed by the Vitae Impact and Evaluation Group, is to provide researcher developers, policy and decision makers with access to a range of useful evaluation resources including evaluation template shared by our member institutions, case studies, papers, presentation and links.

This toolkit is a great addition to resources on impact and brings together the significant body of work Vitae and the Vitae Impact and Evaluation Group have developed since the original researcher development sector impact framework document first published in 2008. This resource should prove a great support to those evaluating impact whether new to the area or experienced in evaluation.

These resources can help with focusing on what is important when planning and implementing researcher development evaluation projects.

Impact levels for researcher development evaluation – The Impact Framework establishes a clear and robust focus for evaluation of researcher development initiatives and activity. It takes you through five levels of evaluation

Planning your evaluation – A step by step approach to help plan a successful evaluation study.

Evaluation templates – These are useful templates to help in the design of researcher development evaluation surveys.

Evaluation case studies – These researcher development impact case studies are written by higher education institutions in the UK.

Papers and Presentation – These give you access to recent papers and presentations with useful references to help develop successful evaluation studies.

Useful Links – There is additional information available to members on specific topics linked to researcher development evaluation.

There is huge encouragement for the members to contribute more examples of evaluation templates – join the Vitae Member Community for future updates.

Learn how to target high impact journals!

Guidance, Info Days, Publishing, Training

My Publishing Experience: Prof. Matthew Bennett

Wed 11 March 13:00-14:30 , TAG03, Tolpuddle Annexe, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University.

On Wednesday 11th March, Prof. Matthew Bennett will be hosting a Writing Academy lunchbyte session at TAG03, Tolpuddle Annexe, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University.

In this session, Matthew will talk about his personal publishing experience, his approaches to research and writing, how to develop a publication strategy and the challenges of working with colleagues and dealing with both reviewers and editors.  He will talk about all type of publishing from journal articles, to books via edited compilations.  Drawing on personal experience he will also focus on how you target high impact journals.   After the presentation, attendees are invited to stay and discuss the topic with the speaker over lunch.

To book a place on either of these workshops, please email staffdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk

If you have any questions relating to these sessions then please contact Pengpeng Hatch.

 

Europe needs Post-Docs!

PG research, Training

You can apply to the Call for Expressions of Interest  if you are from the EU Member States and from Associated Countries: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Republic of Moldova, Switzerland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

You will also need to meet the following educational requirements:

A level of education corresponding to completed university studies of at least three (3) years attested by a diploma and

  1. at least five (5) years of professional experience in one of the fields listed below:
    – OR –
  2. a doctoral diploma in one of the fields listed below (see sections II and VI of the call):

Biology, Chemistry, Natural Sciences, Life Sciences, Biochemistry, Oceanography / Marine Sciences, Nanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Veterinary, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Sciences, Statistics, Material Sciences, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Educational Sciences, Psychology , Geography, Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Engineering, Meteorology, Ecology, Forestry, Geology, Hydrological Sciences, Medical Sciences, Pharmacy, Nutritional Sciences

If this does not apply to you but you have a colleague who would benefit from this opportunity, please pass this information on to them.

Serendipitous Impact and the Power of No: lessons from CEMP’s Research Away Day

R & KE Operations, Training

On Friday February 13, 2015 eighteen researchers across all stages of their careers came together for our CEMP Research Away Day. Hosted at the Old School House By the Sea in Boscombe, the day focused on how we can foster our media & education research culture, from REF strategy to collaboration building, both at BU and beyond.

Kicking us off with REF and Impact, Rebecca Edwards from RKEO spoke about key issues including the new Open Access Guidelines and how we can work to evidence our impact. She summed up 8 key points to takeaway:

1. Know your Open Access
2. Go Gold when possible – use RKEO fund
3. Collaborate with other institutions and international colleagues
4. Identify and developing Impact Case Studies
5. Evidencing your Impact as you go along (testimonials, visitor counts, etc)
6. Promote your research on the BU research website
7. Aim to increase research income
8. Focus on PhD registrations and completions

Sound like a gigantic task for just one person? These goals are not for individuals to accomplish alone. Working in teams and groups is key for doing innovative research, producing outputs and building successful bids. Making connections between our work is a necessary beginning.

Isabella Rega’s Making Connections session got the group talking about where our interests intersect. Using three different coloured post-it notes, we wrote down the issues (green), methods (pink) and stakeholders (yellow) that we work with. Participatory research methods, HE teaching and learning, and Education and Social Change emerged as key overlaps.

Out of these connections some concrete plans emerged, including turning fusion project output into educational resources and a participatory methods workshop day.

From project plans to project afterlife, we shifted to speak about documenting and evidencing impact. We looked at four case studies of research projects including ETAG and Copyrightuser.org, their significance and who they reached. Rebecca Edwards provided advice on how we evidence, measure and track our project’s impact. Sometimes these impacts can be anticipated, but more often there is serendipity and surprise.

Tracking Impact

-Tiers of influence
-Is influencing an organisation enough? How do we understand what this was?
-Testimonials
-Formal letters from key institutions
-If you’ve done research at another institution it doesn’t count at our institution. Impact stays at institution. Reason is because it is usually about groups.
-Entire groups can be rewarded for impact
-Demonstrate the evidence of impact on policy —> Following the story
-Distinct contribution of the University
-Can’t always see the impact from the outset —> serendipity involved, not always
-visitors counts and the result of them

After a tasty, if unidentifiable food-filled lunch from Bosconova, we ran a reflection session on barriers to research bidding and publishing. Designed to get us thinking about the personal and structural constraints on our research, the session helped us room-source practical solutions to common challenges.

Richard Wallis got us back up on our feet with a enthusiastic round of Research Speed Dating. Partnering up with colleagues for short bursts of time, we quickly exchanged project ideas offering feedback and fostering more research connections. Julian McDougall and Richard Berger rounded out the afternoon with a go-around. Everyone shared their upcoming plans and outlined the support they would need to achieve them.

Described by participants as a “fantastic day,” we left feeling the best kind of inspired: more excited and less exhausted about the research plans that lay ahead for CEMP’s growing educational research community.

Anna Feigenbaum is a CEMP Fellow. To find out more about CEMP and how to get involved, check out the website: http://www.cemp.ac.uk/

Biographic Narrative Interpretative Method Training

Training

Louise Oliver

My research on child-to-parent abuse aims to interview families who are experiencing this issue, using the Biographic Narrative Interpretative Method (BNIM) developed by Tom Wengraf.  BNIM involves conducting rule governed interviews in which the first part of the interview is unstructured and the second part uses the words of the participant to ask more questions.  The analysis of the gathered information will be by using reflecting teams. These teams will help to maintain ‘multi-voiced’ interpretations. This idiographic method opens up the possibility for concurrently investigating multiple experiences, and through a better understanding, allows the development of new working-hypotheses.

 

The BNIM training is divided into two sections; the first part covers the interview technique to be used and the second part involves looking at the analysis method (This part will be delivered in 2015).

 

Having attended the first part of the training, understanding has been gained as to how challenging the interview technique is.  To know when to “push” for a ‘Particular Incident Narrative’ (PIN) can only be developed through practice, as is knowing when the participant is giving a PIN and not a generic incident narrative.   The initial training has involved holding six interviews; improving each time   with practice.  All attendees have had the opportunity to send two transcripts and notes to Wengraf for further critique, prior to holding the pilot interview.

 

There are three sub-sessions within this interview technique.  The first one uses the ‘Single -Question aimed at Inducing Narratives’ (SQUIN).  This involves asking one question, such as “tell me your life story” and allowing the participant to talk about what is important to them.  After a short break, or if appropriate another day, sub-session two can begin, using CUED-questions which are the participant’s exact words in the order given, pushing towards  the PINs.  Sub-session three is used, if required, on a separate day, to garner more information relevant to the research, using a semi-structured interview technique.

 

What has been observed is how powerful this interview technique is, to garner information especially when the interviewer is not steering the interview.  How deep the participant goes into their memory when they are relating a particular PIN, determines how detailed the story becomes.  This technique, if used properly, can open up endless possibilities that may not have been considered previously.

Researcher Development Framework

student research, Training

Vitae 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.

Vitae_RDF_logo_2011The 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.

US Funding Opportunities – videos

Awarded & submitted bids, Funding opportunities, Research assessment, Training

For one month only (expiry: 6th March 2015), we have access to the following ARMA* videos:

ARMA Introduction to US Funding

In this video, Dr Stephen Conway, Senior Assistant Registrar at the University of Oxford, delivers an essential introduction to US funding. Dr Conway covers strategic priorities and the current drivers. He goes on to exemplify a case study from the University of Oxford. Outputs of the project are examined and conclusions are drawn.

ARMA – Applying for US Funding

Speakers: Patricia Hawk – Director of Sponsored Programs, Oregon State University and Vivian Holmes, Director of Sponsored Research Operations, The Broad institute of MIT and Harvard.

Patricia Hawk and Vivian Holmes deliver essential information to support US applications for funding. The process from the initial search, to proposal preparation and specifics such as allowances for salaries, equipment and travel are examined.

ARMA – Managing US Awards

Speakers: Patricia Hawk – Director of Sponsored Programs, Oregon State University and Vivian Holmes, Director of Sponsored Research Operations, The Broad institute of MIT and Harvard.

Patricia and Vivian deliver this essential guide to managing US awards which includes the types of grant, shared responsibilities, management of project costs, performance issues, project reporting, federal payment methods, close-out responsibilities, audit and VAT.

* Associate of Research Managers and Administrators

You can access a short trailer on the ARMA website and an excerpt, giving the top ten tips for US funding opportunities. The latter also discusses why a service such as RKEO is the essential partner in developing and managing your bid, regardless of the funder’s location.

To access these resources, please contact Charmain Lyons (mailto:clyons@bournemouth.ac.uk) and she will send you the code and joining instructions.

 

 

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Information Sessions – 27th and 28th January

Funding opportunities, Training

Emily Cieciura and Paul Lynch, Research Facilitators for EU and International funders, are hosting information sessions for forthcoming Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action calls.

Come along to EB705 on Tuesday 27th January at 10:30 or P335 on Wednesday 28th January at 3:30pm. Both sessions will last approximately one hour including time for questions.

No need to book!

 

Introductory Session: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2015

Training

Introductory Session: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2015 – European (EF) and Global (GF)

WHAT: Two brief overview sessions (1 hour) introducing the fellowships,  the support being offered to staff applying and a mapping of the processes both internal and external.

 WHERE: Lansdowne (B407) : Tuesday 27th January 10.30am-11.30am , Talbot (P335): Wednesday 28th January 3.30pm-4.30pm (it’s the same session – one for each campus).

The 2015 call for these very popular fellowships is launching 12/03/15.  The scheme involves a Researcher, potentially from anywhere in the world, coming to BU for 1 or 2 years with generous funding for salary and other costs.

Come along and find out more!

UKRO Reminder – RISE workshop 22 January 2015

Training

Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE): Information Event

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

European Funding Opportunities for SMEs – Webinar 12/1/15

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Training

Join the Knowledge Transfer Network for a lunchtime webinar on 12th January 2015 to hear more about European funding opportunities and initiatives available to UK registered SME’s.

Although, universities cannot always bid directly to all calls (some must be submitted by the company), knowing what is available may enhance your conversations with business contacts.

Find out more about the Horizon 2020 SME instrument from the UK National Contact Point, Jane Watkins, who will also introduce the new ‘Fast Track to Innovation’ instrument to be launched in January 2015.

SME Instrument

  • A new-dedicated SME scheme to fill gaps in funding for early stage, high-risk research and development. It targets all types of SMEs and provides support across all areas of innovation, science and technology

Fast Track to Innovation Instrument

  • Fast Track to Innovation instrument aiming to speed up the time from idea to market and to increase the participation of industry, SMEs and first time applicants. It will support small consortia of three to five organisations with strong business participation to give promising ideas the last push before entering the market. It is open to ideas in any area of technology or application and to any legal entity established in the EU or in a country associated to Horizon 2020

In addition, Graham Mobbs (European Operations Manager – Innovate UK) will discuss the Eurostars Initiative.

Eurostars

  • The Eurostars programme is targeted at innovative SMEs wanting to take part in collaborative research with partners across Europe and associated countries. The SME takes the lead in a transnational consortium, with the aim to develop innovative products, processes and services, ultimately to gain a competitive advantage.

If you can’t wait until January please take a look at the dedicated UK SME Horizon 2020 and European Initiatives webpage: www.h2020uk.org/smes

The webinar will be on the 12th January 2015 at 12 noon. To book your place please register via the eventbrite link below:

http://ktnsmeeuropeanfunding.eventbrite.com

marc.burke@ktn-uk.org

07515334818

EUADS: Deadline tomorrow!

Funding opportunities, Training

The EU Academic Development Scheme (EUADS) is a unique scheme developed to kick start your career in EU research, and is open to all BU academic staff.  The scheme will help you work towards making a submission by providing unlimited 1-2-1 support from an expert EU bid writer, group mentoring and unlimited assistance in actually writing your application over a 12 month period.  In addition to the training, the EUADS scheme also includes an individual fund. Each successful participant will have access to grants up to £3ooo to spend on activities supporting bid development, such as:
• Travel with the intent of networking
• Conference attendance with the intent of networking
• Pilot research work
• Fieldwork
• Attendance at external networking events leading to collaborative research proposals
• Meetings with external organisations to establish collaborations
• Preparation of specialist material or data
• Replacement teaching 

You can read more on this scheme in the EUADS Policy Document  and make a submission using the  EUADS Application Form.   

The deadline for applications is Friday 19th December 2014.  Applications and any questions should be submitted to the Funding Development Coordinator, Giles Ashton, gashton@bournemouth.ac.uk

UKRO – RISE workshop in January 2015

Training

Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE): Information Event

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EUADS: 1 week left to apply!

Funding opportunities, Training

The EU Academic Development Scheme (EUADS) is a unique scheme developed to kick start your career in EU research, and is open to all BU academic staff.  The scheme will help you work towards making a submission by providing unlimited 1-2-1 support from an expert EU bid writer, group mentoring and unlimited assistance in actually writing your application over a 12 month period.  In addition to the training, the EUADS scheme also includes an individual fund. Each successful participant will have access to grants up to £3ooo to spend on activities supporting bid development, such as:
• Travel with the intent of networking
• Conference attendance with the intent of networking
• Pilot research work
• Fieldwork
• Attendance at external networking events leading to collaborative research proposals
• Meetings with external organisations to establish collaborations
• Preparation of specialist material or data
• Replacement teaching 

You can read more on this scheme in the EUADS Policy Document  and make a submission using the  EUADS Application Form.   

The deadline for applications is Friday 19th December 2014.  Applications and any questions should be submitted to the Funding Development Coordinator, Giles Ashton, gashton@bournemouth.ac.uk

UKRO visit to BU – last chance to reserve your place!

Training

UK Research OfficeOur UKRO contact, Maribel Glogowski, will be coming to Bournemouth on December 11th.  We benefit from the services, information and support provided by UKRO throughout the year but this is your opportunity to see and speak to our representative in person.  This year Maribel will be making two presentations open for all to attend.

Both presentations address H2020 but rather than just being another overview we’ve asked Maribel to feedback on H2020 so far and then to zoom in on an area we do a lot of work in but which can be difficult to place in H2020 – Social Science and Humanities.  As H2020 has sought (with varying degrees of success) to ‘embed’ elements of Social Science and Humanities across the whole work programme; collaborations across disciplines have become increasingly standard and as impact has moved (particularly in the EU) to the top of the agenda insights into the role of Social Sciences and Humanities in H2020 are pertinent across all disciplines.

The agenda (BG14: Lansdowne) is as follows:

9.30am-10.45am:

      i. Brief introduction and overview of UKRO

     ii. H2020 in action – what’s happened so far and where’s it going?

10.45am-11.15am: Coffee and networking

11.15am-12.30pm: Social Sciences and Humanities in H2020

Please contact Organisational Development by following the link if you wish to attend.

For those unfamiliar with UKRO (The UK Research Office), it is the European office of the UK Research Councils.  UKRO’s mission is to promote effective UK engagement in EU research, innovation and higher education activities, by:

  • Enabling the UK research community to make informed decisions about participation in EU programmes and to maximise the opportunities available to them;
  • Supporting UK input into European research policy development and implementation through informing and interfacing with the appropriate bodies; and
  • Developing and maintaining a suite of quality services that meet the evolving needs of sponsors and subscribers.

Bournemouth subscribes to the information and assistance services of UKRO. For many years UKRO have been providing us with the latest EU information on funding calls, policy and providing advice on how to make a great application.  UKRO are also the national contact point for the UK in relation to Marie Curie actions and the ERC (European Research Council).

EUADS: deadline for applications is approaching!

Funding opportunities, Training

The EU Academic Development Scheme (EUADS) is a unique scheme developed to kick start your career in EU research, and is open to all BU academic staff.  The scheme will help you work towards making a submission by providing unlimited 1-2-1 support from an expert EU bid writer, group mentoring and unlimited assistance in actually writing your application over a 12 month period.  In addition to the training, the EUADS scheme also includes an individual fund. Each successful participant will have access to grants up to £3ooo to spend on activities supporting bid development, such as:
• Travel with the intent of networking
• Conference attendance with the intent of networking
• Pilot research work
• Fieldwork
• Attendance at external networking events leading to collaborative research proposals
• Meetings with external organisations to establish collaborations
• Preparation of specialist material or data
• Replacement teaching 

You can read more on this scheme in the EUADS Policy Document  and make a submission using the  EUADS Application Form.   

The deadline for applications is Friday 19th December 2014.  Applications and any questions should be submitted to the Funding Development Coordinator, Giles Ashton, gashton@bournemouth.ac.uk