As one Festival of Learning ends, another one arises. The call for expressions of interest for FOL 2016 is now open – this is just the idea stage and is your opportunity to say that you’d like to be considered for next year.

Over the past few years the Festival of Learning has had circa 5,000 visits. To further this success in 2016, we need you to host lectures, workshops and debates (or whatever type of engaging activity you can think of) showcasing our fantastic knowledge base at BU.

Why get involved?

• It is a great opportunity to celebrate life at BU and share your passion with a different audience.
• It can add fresh perspective to your research. Read this article about how public engagement can help you think about your research from a fresh perspective.
• It can change people’s lives. Here in the Festival office we have been moved by members of the public telling us about how the Festival has helped reignite a passion for learning, helped support the growth of the charity and even helped people to walk barefoot on a beach for the first time in years.
• It is a great networking opportunity. Colleagues involved in the Festival in previous years have developed partnerships which have, for example, led to collaborative PhD studentships.
• It is fantastic for skills development. Especially for early career researchers, the Festival offers an unprecedented opportunity to develop communication techniques which engage members of the public and builds confidence in communicating complex ideas (essential for a future lecturing career!)
• It helps to meet the expectation of funders and policy makers. The European Commission, HEFCE and our Research Councils (amongst others) expect researchers to demonstrate to the public the value of their research. The Festival provides of a great vehicle to do this as you will receive central support (e.g. for marketing) rather than going it alone.
• It can support student recruitment. And not just undergraduates, but those looking for postgraduate courses and short courses who have never before considered BU as a potential place to study.

Stuck for Ideas?

We had some fantastic events at this year’s festival. Why not have a look at the website to see the kinds of things that went on. Listed below are some of the favourite events from 2015 that demonstrated some innovative and tactful ways to engage the public with research.

• Zombie Science was a series of fun and interactive sessions looking into the causes of disease and infection control.
• Jurassica was an event for children to learn about the incredible Jurassic Coast on our doorstep and an opportunity for them to create their own individual work of art to take home.
• Improve your teamwork was an event that was ideal for individuals and businesses wanting to learn more about how individuals operate in teams, develop an understanding of team roles and ultimately, improve performance.
• The cyber security awareness workshop gave attendees a chance to learn about the latest cyber threats, learn how secure their password is, and how people may be watching them with interactive demonstrations.
• Radio drama involved the public in producing, developing and recording short form radio dramas for birst.co.uk and broadcasting them live at the end of the day, supported by actors, staff and students in the Media School. This gave the public a chance to see the radio studio at work behind the scenes.
• Mindful over mindless was a talk that explained to the public how and why they should incorporate mindfulness into their daily lives to improve their wellbeing and explored the close relationship between the mind and body by drawing on the effects that modern living can have on our physiology.

What hasn’t been done before?

Well a lot certainly has been done but if you can think outside the box a bit, there are tonnes of new ways to engage the audience. We love what Science Ceilidh do. They run workshops of your favourite dances rejigged with a twist of science. From simulating your immune system with the Dashing White Blood Cell to swinging your partner DNA base-pairs in the Orcadian-Strip-the-Helix -They’re pulling all the stops out to make science enjoyable and understandable to everyone in an innovative way.

You don’t have to run a long event. Many members of the public actually prefer to attend an event which only lasts an hour or so, rather than for a whole day.

Fill out the expressions of interest application here to get involved. We’re completely open to ideas and we’d love to hear from you! Contact Naomi Kay for any queries.

I am glad to receive the Fusion Investment Fund to visit and establish the cooperation with the world famous Simulation & Electronic Animation Lab (SEALAB), the University of Utah, USA.

“Almost every influential person in the modern computer graphics community either passed through the University of Utah or came into contact with it in some way ”- From The Algorithmic Image: Graphic Visions of the Computer Age, by Robert Rivlin.

The University of Utah has one of the earliest and world leading computer graphics research groups, who developed the first display of computer animation in 1976. The University of Utah Medical Centre is one of the 100 Great Hospitals in America. As the key member, Prof. Ladislav is a recipient of an NSF (National Science Foundation) CAREER award which is the NSF’s most prestigious award in support of junior faculty. In the last ten years, Prof. Ladislav published many top-level papers on SIGGRAPH (ACM Transaction on Graphics), and the total number of citation of his work amounts to more than 900.​

The link between NCCA and SEALAB was firstly established by my PhD student Kun Qian. He has contacted Prof. Ladislav (one of the key members of SEALAB) long time ago to discuss various research questions on deformation. Due to the similarity of research interest, we were constantly in touch to discuss the solution of some challenging problems. Prof. Ladislav’s research focuses on geometry based shape deformations which is an essential technique in real-time medical simulation. Our research group has developed many advanced techniques of collision detection, haptic feedback and realistic rendering for real-time medical simulation. We will pay a visit to the University of Utah, combining the expertise and professional knowledge from both partners to perfect our system for the surgery training.

Xiaosong Yang

I have recently returned from presenting at this conference in Trondheim, Norway. It was a very positive experience and there was a great deal of dialogue and networking  amongst the participants.

“The lived experience of intentional weight loss whilst living in a society with cultural expectations of thinness”

Dr Teresa Burdett

Monday

Staff Teaching Qualifications

It has been argued that the failure of universities to supply sufficiently robust data on staff teaching qualifications is another obstacle to the government’s bid to introduce a Teaching Excellence Framework. HEFCE has asked universities to reveal how many of their staff hold an accredited teaching qualification, with the information viewed as a potential metric in the teaching excellence framework. Lack of teaching qualification data seen as blow to TEF (THE).

NUS

The NUS Vice-President for Higher Education has argued that traditional methods of assessment such as exams and essays “privileged people from certain backgrounds”, particularly the privately educated, and that getting a good mark often reflected “that you know how to play the game” rather than “the effort you have put in or the learning that has gone on”. NUS vice-president blames university teaching for struggles of poorer students (THE).

Students in Work

The insurance company Endsleigh has revealed that three out of every four students are working either part or full-time to help fund their way through university. Three out of every four students working to help fund university, according to new figures (The Independent).

Tuesday

International Students

Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield discusses the integration of international students studying in the UK. He argues that one of the greatest challenges may be convincing home students that they can benefit from working and socialising with international students. Get UK students out of comfort zone and engaging with international peers (The Guardian).

University Admissions

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire has argued that there should be a longer-term aim to move to a system of applying to university after students know their result, rather than the current system of relying on predicted grades to receive conditional offers. University applications ‘should come after results’ (BBC News).

Wednesday

NSS

The National Student Survey results revealed that undergraduate satisfaction has held steady despite the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees in England. National Student Survey 2015: £9K fees fail to dent satisfaction (THE).

Thursday

QAA

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) has responded to the current quality assessment review. Their response reveals that the QAA supports most of the principles behind the consultation. However, it argues that the UK Quality Code should be reformed rather than removed. Fighting for survival (Research Professional).

A-Level Results

A-Level results revealed that more than 409,000 students have been accepted on to UK higher education courses, a record high and a rise of 3 per cent on the same point last year. Figures also reveal that the gender gap in university admissions continues to widen, with 27,000 more young women than men set to enrol. A-level results 2015: record number of students accepted into UK higher education (THE).

Friday

HE Funding

A report due to be published next month by the influential thinktank, Policy Exchange, argues for funding to be redistributed from university to FE provision. The report is expected to argue that FE colleges would be better placed to meet the growing demand for higher-level technical qualifications than universities, so government funding should be allocated accordingly. Cut university budgets to fund FE, suggests thinktank (THE).

In 2012, Bournemouth University signed up to the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) Manifesto for public engagement. Further details can be found here: http://bit.ly/1LNCZZv.

In order to understand the extent to which as BU is embedding public engagement, staff and students are being asked to complete this survey on annual basis. This will be used to assess progress and inform future plans.

The survey can be found here: http://bit.ly/1L1Rryf and I would be most grateful if you could promote participation in the survey to any staff and students that you work with.

Three £20 Amazon vouchers will be given to participants entering the prize draw. It is anticipated that this survey will take 10 minutes to complete. Responses must be received by 4th September.

Any queries about this survey should be sent to Rebecca Edwards (redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk). All responses will remain confidential.

Monday

Ernst and Young

Ernst and Young, one of the UK’s biggest graduate recruiters is to remove degree classification from the entry criteria for its hiring programmes. The company claims they have found “no evidence” that success at university was correlated with achievement in professional qualifications. Ernst and Young drops degree classification threshold for graduate recruitment (THE).

Tuesday

UCAS

UCAS has been accused of blocking efforts to improve social mobility by refusing to release important data it holds on students from poor backgrounds. The Chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, has called on UCAS to open up its gold mine of information to help end the “national scandal” of disadvantaged children missing out on places at top universities. Ucas refusing to release data it holds on students from poor backgrounds – while making £12m a year selling applicants’ details  (The Independent).

Wednesday

A Level Results

A shift towards teenagers taking the more traditional academic subjects will be revealed when A-level results are published next week. More students are now opting to take English and Maths at A-Level. A-level results will reveal shift in focus towards more traditional academic subjects  (The Independent).

Thursday

Graduate Wages

According to a study by the Sutton Trust and upReach, Graduates’ wages increase more quickly if they went to a private school, compounding the fact that privileged university leavers attract higher starting salaries too. Graduates who went to private school ‘get bigger pay rises’ (THE).

Friday

Graduate Tax

When speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Andy Burnham, a Labour leadership contender, promised to replace tuition fees with a graduate tax if he leads the party into government.  This policy would be a shift from Labour’s current policy of lowering tuition fees in England to £6,000 a year by reducing tax relief enjoyed by those earning above £150,000. Andy Burnham pledges to replace tuition fees with graduate tax (THE).

Hello my name is Oliver Cooke and I have recently started on my work placement working as the new Student Engagement Coordinator within the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office. I am responsible for engaging students with the research that Bournemouth University undertakes and to organise events where this engagement can be informative and entertaining.

I am currently working towards my degree in Media Studies and have a major interest in the advertisement sector. During my studies at Bournemouth University I worked as the Varsity Videographer for SportBU, which has given me a great amount of knowledge and expertise that will allow me to perform well in my new position.

I have major interests in films and music, as well as competing for the BU Olympic Weightlifting team.

Communicate 2015: Challenging Partnerships will run from the 10^th of November till the 11^th of November at the Bristol Science Centre. This event is the UK’s leading conference for environmental communicators, bringing together over 150 delegates each year to develop their skills, share best practice and debate the latest issues in engaging people with the natural world

During these two days there will be inspiring content, interactive workshops and engaging discussion in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere that provides fantastic opportunities for networking with fellow communicators.

It’s a great opportunity to learn more about public engagement and research communication through interactive sessions, top tips and networking with people across the sector.

The event began in the Bristol Natural History Consortium in 2003, when 6 organisations in Bristol joined forces on flagship environmental communication projects. From 2003-2008 they worked together under a message of understanding, before gaining charitable status in May 2008.

To register to the event and find out more please visit www.communicatenow.org.uk

Professor Colin Prichard from BU (social work) featured on the front page of The Times yesterday in an article which considers why Dementia is being diagnosed a decade earlier than it was 20 years ago.

A version of the article ‘Dementia victims are getting younger’ can be seen online at The Times http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/

Colin Prichard and Emily Rosenorn-Lanng analysed data from 21 westernised countries, including the UK, between 1989 and 2010. The findings are published in the journal: Surgical Neorology International.

To assist current discussions with policy makers, the Chartered Association of Business Schools are accepting papers on how business schools can help solve the UK productivity crisis.

The Government has made the drive for increased productivity a key policy focus. To help the Chartered ABS in its discussions with policy makers and influencers (about the important contributions business schools make to its students, the economy and society) there is a call  for thought piece papers on the subject of productivity.

Where will UK productivity come from? We know that the UK punches above its weight in terms of scientific innovation and ground-breaking discoveries. But this world-leading performance fails to translate into commercial products and world-leading businesses. The crucial bridge between laboratory and market is, if not missing, then distinctly wobbly in the UK. And this is despite prolonged effort by successive governments to build this bridge, through the Technology Strategy Board, then Innovate UK, catapults, and numerous other policy initiatives. Why is this a hard problem? Chartered ABS thinks that part of the problem stems from the UK’s STEM/business divide. We train excellent scientists, but we give them none of the business skills that would unlock the commercial potential of their ideas. The UK’s business schools want to see a move from a narrow focus on STEM, to STEMM: where Management is seen as a core part of Science and Engineering training, education and research. Management education The evidence shows a wide gap between the skills of UK managers and their US and European peers. Research by the Chartered Management Institute in 2004 found that British employers spent on average just €1,625 (£1,430) a year on developing each manager, against €4,438 in Germany, €3,387 in Denmark and €2,674 in France. Only a fifth of UK business leaders have any management qualification, the CMI says.

Work by Nick Bloom, John van Reenen, and others has highlighted the significant effect that management skills have on firm productivity and performance. As they conclude: “improved management practice is one of the most effective ways for a firm to outperform its peers.” They further note “The overall performance of most countries is determined not by the performance of its leading companies, but by the size of its ‘tail’ of poor performers.” http://web.stanford.edu/~nbloom/ManagementReport.pdf

By working with SMEs, through initiatives like the Small Business Charter, UK business schools can act as catalysts for management change, raising the skills of UK managers to the levels of their European peers, and in turn driving up UK productivity.

Papers

Thought pieces addressing the topic “What can business schools do to drive up the UK’s productivity?” should be between 500 and 2000 words and submitted to Anne Kiem and Anne.Kiem@charteredabs.org by 11 September 2015. Selected papers may be published on the Chartered ABS website and may be used in discussions and roundtable events with MPs and policy makers. Papers may also be used as part of the lobbying activities of the Chartered ABS at the upcoming Conservative and Labour party conferences.

Monday

Inequality

A study has revealed that high-achieving children from privileged backgrounds in England have a 53 per cent chance of entering a Russell Group university, compared with a one in four chance for their disadvantaged peers. Affluent children reach top universities no matter the system (THE).

Tuesday

Learning Gain 

Soon, there will be new efforts to explore the ‘learning gain’ which is known as the skills and knowledge that students develop in higher education. HEFCE is soon to launch around a dozen pilot projects to look at ways to measure the learning gain. One attempt to answer this is the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (Ahelo) run by the OCED. Earlier this month, however, it was announced that England would not be taking part in Ahelo, many have greeted the news with relief. Universities say no to new ranking (The Guardian).

UUK campaign for Europe

Universities UK have officially launched their Universities for Europe campaign. The aim of the campaign is to ensure that the significant benefits of EU membership to universities – and through them, to the British people – are properly explained. Higher education 

University leaders make the case for EU membership (UUK).

REF

James Wilsdon has written a blog in defence of the REF exercise following the attack by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). In a five-page briefing, the IEA calls for the REF to be abolished because it is too costly, distorts research priorities and can be gamed. “The UK universities need the REF. We benefit enormously from the stable and relatively unrestricted funding that it delivers each year to our research system. And that system has been strengthened by the REF’s emphasis on the wider impacts of UK research, which are now captured in a searchable database of almost 7,000 case studies.” In defence of the Research Excellence Framework (The Guardian).

Wednesday

Business-University Collaboration

A third of companies surveyed by the data firm Beauhurst, said that academics lack the commercial understanding needed to make a business-university collaboration work. Academics lack understanding to make business-university links work, says study (THE).

University Finances

An article looks at the likely impacts of the latest round of cuts on universities and discusses how institutions may manage their finances. Hard Evidence: are universities strapped for cash? (The Conversation).

Thursday

TEF

Madeleine Atkins, the Chief Executive of HEFCE has argued that new arrangements for quality assurance and the teaching excellence framework should form a single overall system to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication. Quality assurance and TEF should be ‘one system’, says Hefce head (THE).

Tuition Fees

A report by the Sutton Trust has revealed that poorer students in England may be put off university by funding changes that could leave them with higher debts than middle-class graduates helped by their parents.  Higher debts may deter poor students from university, says report (BBC).

UK interdisciplinary research

A report by Elsevier explored international comparisons with UK interdisciplinary research. The report highlights an increasing global trend towards interdisciplinarity and confirms the UK’s world-leading research performance. Review of the UK’s interdisciplinary research (HEFCE).

Friday

Widening Participation

Sixth-formers are more likely to go to university if they are told about the social benefits rather than shown the potential long-term financial gains, new research from the government’s nudge unit (Cabinet Office behavioural insights team) has found. Tales of social life are best advert for university (The Times).