Category / Uncategorized

BU PhD student publishes in The Conversation

BU research, data management, Featured academics, international, Postgraduate Research, Publishing, research integrity, research methods, Student Engagement, the conversation, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations the Abier Hamidi, PhD student in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) whose PhD work was published in The Conversation this week (24 April) under the title Social media now trumps traditional family networks in Libya – my Facebook survey reached 446,000 women.  Her piece in The Conversation on the recruitment of female participants for a PhD study in a rather patriarchal society brings together issues of anonymity, gender, and wider social culture.

This is Abier’s PhD research is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health and the Global Engagement Lead in the Department of Nursing Sciences, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH).

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

New book on Kinky Sexual Subcultures

Uncategorized

A new book exploring kinky sexual subcultures, by BU’s Liam Wignall, is out now.

Recent social and attitudinal changes related to sex and sexuality have allowed people with kink interests to explore kink in new ways; kink is no longer underground and secretive, and instead it is normal to see somebody reading Fifty Shades of Grey on public transport and see more examples of kink in mainstream media (such as the popular Netflix show How to Build a Sex Room. There is also an abundance of information online about kink (including tutorials on how to play safe; discussions of consent; online forums and kinky social networking sites). As such, people are engaging in kink in new ways like the use of marital aids including this Quality bullet vibrators.

Kinky in the Digital Age documents the impact of these attitudinal and technological changes. The book brings together over 6 years of ethnographic data and 74 interviews with kinky gay and bisexual men to provide a rich insight into how kink subcultures operate in contemporary society. Importantly, the book showcases how the internet has transformed how gay and bisexual men explore kink and incorporate it into the sexual and social identities.

The book also provides a detailed story of how a relatively new kink subculture, pup play, has developed, taking full advantage of the internet and the ability to connect easily with others, as well as newer iterations of kink that focus on the more playful elements of the activities. The growing popularity of pup play is explored, as well as how people can explore different aspects of themselves through a pup identity.

Kinky in the Digital Age is available now from all reputable book stores.

Earth Day 2023: How BU research is helping to protect and preserve a sustainable environment

Uncategorized

Today is Earth Day, an annual event dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring action to tackle the various environmental challenges facing our planet. The day is marked by an estimated one billion people across more than 190 countries.

This year’s theme is Invest in our Planet, marking the importance of dedicating time, resources, and energy to protecting our environment and solving the climate crisis.

At BU, we’re passionate about protecting and preserving a sustainable environment. Through our research we’re helping to save endangered species, protect coastal and freshwater regions, and understand ecosystems – learning from the past to impact the future. Here are just some of the ways in which we’re doing so:

3DPARE project – creating new habitats for marine life

Coastal habitats have been gradually degraded through a range of human activity, including fishing, dredging, pollution and coastal development. Along with partners in France, Spain and Portugal, BU is part of the 3DPARE (3D Printing Artificial Reefs in the Atlantic) project – which is exploring whether 3D printed artificial reefs can help provide new habitats for marine life and increase biodiversity.

Nine reefs made from sustainable, low-carbon concrete were placed in Poole Harbour in March 2020 and are now home to over 100 species – including edible crab, pollack, wrasse, gobies and mullet.

ADDISONIC – better prediction and extension of the lives of materials, reducing global waste

The ADDISONIC (Advanced Manufacturing Ultrasonic Fatigue Prediction and Life Extension) research cluster at BU is finding ways to better predict and, most importantly, extend the lives of engineering materials.

The team aims to extend the life of components by applying ultrasonic fatigue testing to much more quickly and reliably predict the lifespan of individual parts.

This will not only enable these parts to be manufactured more efficiently but will also reduce the amount of material used in their production –  decreasing waste and reducing the likelihood of materials ending up in landfill.

Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions (IMSET) – using the past to support our response to environmental change

With expertise across archaeology, ecology and modelling, IMSET aims to address the issue of how we respond to environmental change, learning from how past societies adapted.

An aerial image of the Brazilian Atlantic ForestCurrent research, being led by Dr Phil Riris, is exploring how human occupation and land use over hundreds of years has affected the Brazilian Atlantic Forest – one of the world’s most critically threatened tropical forests. It’s hoped that these insights will help to inform future protection and conservation efforts.

 

Find out more about BU’s work and research protecting and preserving a sustainable environment

Globe icons created by Freepik – Flaticon

Double congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker

Featured academics, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker, Professor of Society & Social Welfare in the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work, who just published his historical-sociological analysis of British Welfare under the title Analysing the History of British Social Welfare – Compassion, Coercion and Beyond.  The book it is published by Policy Press and will be available next week.   This book offers insights into the development of social welfare policies in Britain. By identifying continuities in welfare policy, practice and thought throughout history, it offers the potential for the development of new thinking, policy making and practice.

In addition Jonathan also published a new edition of his popular textbook Introducing Social Work SECOND EDITION.  This edited volume included chapters by BU academics Dr. Orlanda Harvey (Chapter 26) and Dr. Sally Lee (Chapter 22) as well as an array of internationally renowned social work academics.

Congratulations!
Prof.Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH

Post-Doctoral Researchers, Research Assistants, ECR’s, Research Fellows.

Uncategorized

It’s the last few days of the CEDARS survey and not many of you have completed the survey. We would particularly love to hear your thoughts/feedback.

Don’t miss the chance to influence policies and initiatives relating to research at BU. Please complete the BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023 (Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research survey)* today. The survey closes this Friday 21st April.

This is an important survey as it benchmarks BU against the rest of the sector. It will, therefore, help us to identify where we are excelling and where there is room for improvement.

Participating in this study will also influence policy. Your input will help us to understand where to focus our efforts and resources – it will give us the data to make the argument for you. (The results of the previous PIRLS and CROS surveys that CEDARS has replaced were used to develop new policies and initiatives, as well as training and development opportunities).

Please complete the CEDARS survey if you are research-active (whether on a full-time, part-time or part-time hourly paid contract). This includes researchers at all stages in your career, those who manage researchers, or are Principal Investigators, or contribute to research by providing professional services for researchers, (i.e. researcher developers, research officers or technical staff).

Your responses will be anonymous; you will not be identified or identifiable in any published results. It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey. BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please email Rachel Arnold: rarnold@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Thank you, the Research Development and Support Team

*CEDARS is a national survey that explores the views and experiences of researchers and those supporting researchers across the UK. It is based on the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, which aims to create the best culture for researchers to thrive. This survey replaces the previous CROS and PIRLS surveys.

Please find more information here on the ‘Concordat to Support the Careers of Researchers’ and what BU is doing to support researchers.

Launch of Global Hospitality Research Alliance (GHRA)

Uncategorized

 

The 41st International Labour Process Conference (ILPC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow,12-14 April 2023

Launch of Global Hospitality Research Alliance (GHRA)

At a special session during the ILPC conference, the GHRA was launched.  This was a timely event, given the theme of the conference ‘Fair and Decent work in a Global Economy?’

The GHRA brings over 20 researchers from 11 institutions representing eleven countries. While certain GHRA members have been researching hospitality work and workplace issues for several decades, there has been a drive since 2020 for members to work more closely together to explore common themes with respect to the work experiences of hospitality workers. Our growing evidence base is increasingly being used to further our academic understanding of the issues involved, inform policy, and motivate societal change towards improving hospitality through critical research.

 

 

 

 

Several frameworks are employed in our research, including the Oxfordian fair work principles (Fairwork, 2022) of fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management and fair representation. We also address several of the United Nation(’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well -being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

In our work, we discuss practical implications to inform policymakers and management teams within the hospitality and tourism sector in dealing with endemic phenomena such as abuse and harassment of hospitality employees.

The launch of the alliance offers an exciting opportunity for existing and new members to work together more closely to further intellectual activism and explore paths to change in policy and practice for better hospitality/service work and workplaces.

With research expertise in tourism work and employment, including employee wellbeing, Professor Adele Ladkin says “this is a wonderful initiative, and over the duration of the conference we had an opportunity to listen, learn, and devise an action plan for our next steps.  It was a privilege to spend time with a group of collegiate and like-minded researchers who are driven by our common cause.”

Join us!

For any further information, contact aladkin@bournemouth.ac.uk or take a look at our LinkedIn page: GHRA https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9311179/

Successful event with senior policymakers in Nepal

BU research, Events, international, Research news, Uncategorized

Today, the last day of the Nepalese year 2079, we held a well attended event to discuss the preliminary findings of the interdisciplinary study of the impact of federalisation on health system in the country.  We invited policymakers and politicians from all three levels of government in the country to help the research team to analyse the large amount of high-quality data.  This meeting helped to validate the study results and guide our future capacity building as part of this project.  We were pleasantly surprised by the number who turned up and with their  active engagement!

One of the interesting comments made by the participants was that this was the first time that they had met with staff from differ levels to discuss the working of the system.  In fact, participants expressed that they wanted more opportunities to have this kind of discussions across all three levels of government. The researchers reported both positive and negative developments in the decentralized health system of Nepal.  Positive aspects included, for example, improvements in the availability of resources for health, the construction of new health posts and hospitals, better availability of essential medicines in many places.  We also commented on the positive management of COVID-19, compared to other many countries.  The policymakers from local, provincial and national level largely agreed with our findings and analyses.

This stakeholders’ event is part of the Nepal Federal Health System Project, our major collaborative project examining the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure in 2015.  This is a joint project (2020-2024) led by colleagues the University of Sheffield in collaboration with the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, with two partners in Nepal, namely Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) and PHASE Nepal.  This longitudinal interdisciplinary study is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref. MR/T023554/1].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Dementia research in Nepal

BU research, Events, international, Research news, Uncategorized

Yesterday (April 11th) Dr. Bibha Simkhada presented key findings from our research project on ‘Cultural practice and policy in dementia care in Nepal’.  She spoke at the ‘Ninth National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal’.  This annual health summit in Kathmandu is organised by the NHRC (Nepal Health Research Council).  Dr. Simkhada, who is Visiting Faculty in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS), started this work whilst at Bournemouth University, before she moved to the University of Huddersfield to become a Senior Lecturer in Nursing.  This project is a cross-faculty collaboration with Dr. Shanti Shanker in the Department of Psychology.

This qualitative study comprising four face-to-face interviews and four focus groups with carers, health workers and other stakeholders.  The two key conclusion she presented are:

  • Stigma and stereotyping around dementia needs addressing. Nepal needs better policies, guidelines and service provision for people living with dementia and their carers.
  • There is need for inclusion of Dementia/Alzheimer education in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula of nurses, doctors and allied health professionals in Nepal.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

BU researchers: We need your help!

Uncategorized

Please help to develop BU policies and initiatives relating to research at BU by completing the  BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023 (Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research survey)*.

This is an important survey as it benchmarks BU against the rest of the sector. It will, therefore, help us to identify where we are excelling and where there is room for improvement.

Participating in this study will also influence policy. Your input will help us to understand where to focus our efforts and resources – it will give us the data to make the argument for you. (The results of the previous PIRLS and CROS surveys that CEDARS has replaced were used to develop new policies and initiatives, as well as training and development opportunities).

Please complete the CEDARS survey if you are research-active (whether on a full-time, part-time or part-time hourly paid contract). This includes researchers at all stages in your career, those who manage researchers, or are Principal Investigators, or contribute to research by providing professional services for researchers, (i.e. researcher developers, research officers or technical staff).

The survey is running from 20th March to 21st April. Your responses will be anonymous; you will not be identified or identifiable in any published results. It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey. BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please email Rachel Arnold: rarnold@bournemouth.ac.uk

Thank you, the Research Development and Support Team

*CEDARS is a national survey that explores the views and experiences of researchers and those supporting researchers across the UK. It is based on the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, which aims to create the best culture for researchers to thrive. This survey replaces the previous CROS and PIRLS surveys.

Please find more information here on the ‘Concordat to Support the Careers of Researchers’ and what BU is doing to support researchers.

Conference presence in Nepal

BU research, Events, international, Uncategorized

Our study on the impact of federalism on the health system in Nepal got great coverage at the ‘Ninth National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal’ on Tuesday 11th April.  This annual conference in Kathmandu is organised by the NHRC (Nepal Health Research Council).

In the morning Prof. Sujan Marahatta (who is Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University) and Prof. Simon Rushton from the University of Sheffield presented in the plenary session.  They jointly outlined the preliminary study findings.  In the afternoon, our collaborator Dr. Jiban Karki (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) presented more detailed findings on ‘Human resource management at local level in Nepal’s federalised health system’ from the same study.

During the whole day we also had a poster presentation on display under the title ‘COVID-19 as a challenge to Nepal’s newly-federalised health system: Capacities, responsibilities, and mindsets’.

All dissemination was part of the Nepal Federal Health System Project, our major collaborative project examining the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure in 2015.  This is a joint project (2020-2024) led by the University of Sheffield and collaborating with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) and PHASE Nepal.  This longitudinal interdisciplinary study is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref. MR/T023554/1].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

Erasmus+ exchange visit to Nepal by Dr. Rebecca Neal

BU research, international, Uncategorized

Last weekend Dr. Rebecca Neal, from the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) arrived in Kathmandu on her Erasmus+ exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Nepal.  Rebecca is a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology in the Department of Rehabilitation & Sport Sciences.  She met with Prof. Sujan Marahatta at MMIHS to discuss her her teaching in Kathmandu (see photo).  Prof. Marahatta is also BU Visiting Faculty in FHSS. Rebecca faciltiated a workshop session with MSc students on their research proposals for their dissertations on her first day in Kathmandu.

BU is currently in the process of renewing its MoA with MMIHS, to continue working together after the completion of the Erasmus+ programme.  We aim to to maintain the partnership, as the BU-MMIHS collaboration includes various funded and unfunded research projects apart from the Erasmus+ programme.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Future of Complex Innovative Trial Design

BU research, international, Research communication, Research news, Uncategorized

The latest Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) publication on the last day of March is an editorial in the Nepal Journal of  Epidemiology.  This editorial ‘The Promising Future for Complex Innovative Trial Design in Clinical Research’ has as its lead author, FHSS’s Visiting Faculty Dr. Brijesh Sathian.

 

Reference:

  1. Sathian, B., van Teijlingen, E., Banerjee, I., Asim, M., Kabir, R. (2023) The Promising Future for Complex Innovative Trial Design in Clinical Research. Nepal Journal of  Epidemiology, 13(1):1256-1257.