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Congratulations to Dr. Miguel Moital

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Dr. Moital (Departament of Events & Leisure, FoM) has just published a paper on Corporate Reputation Review (Palgrave) with two Spanish academics Dr. Marta Retamosa and Dr. Angel Millan. The paper focuses on satisfaction in higher education and is the result of a collaboration which started in 2014. You can access the paper here.

In 2015 Miguel spent a month at the University of Castilla la Mancha (UCLM) as part of the university’s visiting academic program, and in 2016 both Marta and Angel spent time at BU.

The CRR paper is the second resulting from the collaboration between Miguel and UCLM academics. In 2015 Miguel and Angel co-authored a paper published in Psychology & Marketing on the segmentation of business travellers.

Congratulations to PhD student Alice Ladur

BU research, open access, PG research, Publishing, Research news, student research, Uncategorized, writing

FHSS PhD student Alice Ladur has been awarded a small but very competitive grant by FfWG, the Funds for Women Graduates.  FfWG is the trading name of the BFWG Charitable Foundation and the BFWG (British Federation of Women Graduates), which is affiliated to the International Federation of University Women.

Alice is based in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH).  Her PhD research in Uganda is supervised by Prof. Vanora Hundley and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. Her thesis research has already resulted in an academic paper published in the international journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth, which Open Access.

Conference report (Miguel Moital) – ICOT 2019 in Braga, Porto (Portugal)

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I have just returned from Portugal where I attended the International Conference on Tourism – ICOT 2019, hosted by the Portuguese Catholic University – Braga Campus. The conference was co-organised by Konstantinos Andriotis and Carla Cardoso, two academics who hold PhDs from BU. ICOT is the child of Dr. Andriotis, a Professor in Tourism at the Middlesex University London, who has been running the conference for nine years, with previous editions in held in Greece, China, Cyprus, U.K., Italy and Thailand. Besides myself, Carla and Konstantinos, another BU PhD alumni attended the conference (Alexandra Correia from the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo), so we took a picture together.

Under the banner of “Tourism into the new decade: challenges and prospects”, the conference attempted to discuss the implications of the growth of tourism while identifying “future trends and examine various responses with respect to the appropriate policies and management techniques”. A total of 27 parallel sessions encompassing 122 paper presentations, a poster session and two keynote speeches made up the academic element of the conference. The conference attracted over 140 delegates from 30 countries representing nearly 100 universities.

Besides helping the local organising committee, my main involvement was running two special sessions in Portuguese. Although it is an international conference and presentations are usually in English, some Latin American academics do not have the confidence to present English and therefore providing sessions in Portuguese facilitated their participation in an international conference.

The conference took place in Braga, a municipality located one hour away from Porto. The venue was the beautiful Bom Jesus de Braga (Good Jesus of the Mount), a pilgrimage site with a monumental, Baroque stairway that climbs 116 meters. The site, which has this weekend (6 July) been awarded UNESCO’s World Heritage status, features six hotels and a conference/events centre boasting outstanding views over the city of Braga. The shrine is very well maintained and has received substantial investment in the past eight years to support its application to world heritage status. In addition to the Baroque stairway, its landmarks include the church at the top of the stairway, the funicular (inaugurated in 1882, remaining one of the oldest in the world using a system of water counterweights) and the well maintained gardens and forest.

The social programme started with a welcome session and drinks at the premises of the Catholic University attended by the Braga Mayor, the Bishop of Braga and the President of the Porto and North of Portugal Tourist Board.

The second day featured a showcase of regional foods and handicraft, as well as a Cavaquinho performance (The cavaquinho is a small Portuguese guitar with four wire or gut strings).

 

The gala dinner took place in Guimaraes city at the end of the third day. Participants had the chance to enjoy a guided tour across Guimaraes city center, a World Heritage site. The walk ended at the venue for the Gala dinner: the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza, whose construction initiated in the XV century. The gala dinner featured Fado (Portuguese traditional singing genre) and Rancho Folclorico (folk dance) performances.

The last day of the conference took place in Porto. The day started with a visit to Palácio da Bolsa, a beautiful building showing an eclectic architectural style influenced by eighteenth century neoclassical style, Tuscany architecture, as well as, English Neo-Palladian style. Dr. Ricardo Valente, Councillor for Tourism and Commerce at Porto city council, welcomed participants before a guided tour of the palace.

 

The day also included visits to other important landmarks , including ‘Caves Sandman’ (one of the famous Port Wine wineries on the south bank of the Douro River) and a river Cruise.

 

 

Samreen wins Jane K. Fenyo Award!

BRIAN, BU research, BU2025, Fusion, Uncategorized

Samreen Ashraf has presented her research paper titled’ Between a Banker and a Barbie: The illusions of social media’ at the ‘Academy of Marketing Science Conference’ which took place in Vancouver in May 2019. Samreen has won the best research paper (PhD) at the conference and is awarded with the prestigious Jane K. Fenyo Award. Samreen’s paper explores the gap between students’ digital identities and their potential professional identities.

Samreen Ashraf- AMS

 

Pretty pictures…sometimes that’s all you need

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A small gallery of microscopy images is being compiled to showcase some of the imaging done at BU. Whilst the images have been developed with the aim of being aesthetically pleasing they are derived from research questions and projects being conducted at BU. Producing such images helps with engagement, acting as a bridge between the onlooker and the science. The aim is to expand this gallery and for it to include images taken by students. Some of you may already have seen one of the images – it’s on a (well-known?) BU fridge magnet. Enjoy!

New BU cross-faculty publication

BU research, Featured academics, international, NHS, Publishing, Research Centres, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

This week Evidence-Based Midwifery published the latest article from the BU team working on the portrayal of midwifery and maternity in the media.  This qualitative paper ‘Changing the narrative around childbirth: whose responsibility is it?’ is co-authored by a multidisciplinary team including the disciplines of Midwifery, Sociology and Media.[1]  The lead author is Prof. Vanora Hundley in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), one of longest established centres at BU, her co-authors are Dr. Ann Luce in the Faculty of Media & Communication, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen director of CMMPH and Sophie Edlund, who was based at BU at the time of the research but who is now at Malmö University in Sweden.

The paper addresses societal’s interest in all aspects of childbirth, which is reflected in both social and traditional media. Stories often focus on dramatic, risky and mostly unrealistic events; misrepresenting childbirth and maternity care professionals. The authors raised the question: “Whose responsibility is it to ensure accurate representations of childbirth?”   Using semi-structured in-depth interviews with ten midwives working in the UK some working in the NHS, some in Higher Education or independent practice, the authors distilled four separate but inter-related themes:

(1) not my responsibility;

(2) fear of retribution;

(3) power balance; and

(4) social media.

The themes sat within two wider societal issues that reflect the current challenges for midwifery, these were (a) the ongoing battle between the social and the medical models of childbirth and (b) the impact of gender.  Finding that midwives fear the media resonates with experiences from a number of countries and professional groups. There is a need to change media discourse in both fictional and factual representations of childbirth and midwives have a critical role to play in this, but to do this they need to equip themselves with the skills necessary to engage with the media. Guidelines on responsible media reporting could ensure that media producers portray pregnancy, midwifery and maternity care as naturally as possible.

This paper is paper of a growing body of interdisciplinary research at BU across faculties, which had already resulted in six earlier publications. [2-7]  In addition last month Dr Chapleo from the Faculty of Management submitted a grant application to the ESRC under the title ‘Rebranding childbirth: understanding the role of marketing in influencing uptake of health services’, a joint application with CMMPH staff (Profs. Hundley & van Teijlingen) and the Media School (Dr. Luce).

 

References:

  1. Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E., Edlund, S. (2019) Changing the narrative around childbirth: whose responsibility is it? Evidence-based Midwifery 17(2): 47-52.
  2. Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C. (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 40 http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x
  3. van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Luce, A., Hundley, V. (2016) Media, Health & Health Promotion in Nepal, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 70-75. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15799/12744
  4. Luce, A., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) (2017) Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  5. Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 24(4): 444-447.
  6. Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Do midwives need to be more media savvy? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 25(1):5-10.
  7. van Teijlingen, E., De Vries, R., Luce, A., Hundley, V. (2017) Meer bemoeien met media (In Dutch: more engagement with media). Tijdschrift voor Verloskundigen (in Dutch: Journal for Midwives), 41 (6):28-29.

Fit for the Future – Leadership and Social Sciences: call for evidence

BU research, Uncategorized

Overview

The ESRC has launched its national consultation as part of the ‘Fit for the Future’ project and seeks your input. Led by Professor Matt Flinders from the University of Sheffield, this consultation focuses on the need to promote researcher and leadership development within the social sciences and aims to drive forward a more ambitious and collaborative national strategy.

The UK is home to a world-class social science research community which forms a vital element of the wider national science base. In order to nurture and develop this community it is critical to recognise both how the social context within which research takes place, and the research funding landscape are changing in ways that create new challenges and – more importantly – new opportunities.

The ESRC has published the evidence review completed by the project team. The ESRC wants to work collaboratively to respond to this and seeks input from researchers at all career stages, staff working in ROs to develop research capability, senior university leadership teams together with other organisations interested in building leadership capacity to inform the next stages in development. They particularly welcome responses to questions raised within the consultation paper which accompanies the review.

BU is preparing an institutional response to this call and welcomes your contribution to a topic that is critical to the future health and vitality of the social sciences.

How to contribute

If you would like your feedback to be included in the institutional response, please complete the feedback form and send to Amanda Lazar at alazar@bournemouth.ac.uk by Wednesday 24th July.

 

Timeline

The timeline for gathering feedback for an institutional response is as follows:

3rd  July Invite feedback from academic staff and DDRPPs
24th July Deadline for feedback to be sent to Amanda Lazar
8th August Draft response to be sent to OVC
9th August Submitted for UET approval
16th August Deadline for final institutional response

 

Research Capacity Building in Nepal: 600 reads

BU research, Centre for Excellence in Learning, Featured academics, international, Knowledge Exchange, open access, Publishing, Research communication, Research news, Training, Uncategorized, writing

A few times a month ResearchGate alerts me that another paper has reached a miles stone of so having been read some many times.   Today the ResearchGate message is about 600 reads for our paper ‘Research Methods Coverage in Medical and Health Science Curricula in Nepal’. [1]  This paper was a report  on research methods teaching in health-related Higher Education (HE) courses in the health and medical field in Nepal.  This paper originates from a DelPHE (Round 4), British Council award.  Our study ‘Partnership on Improving Access to Research Literature for HE Institutions in Nepal’ (PARI Initiative) was a collaboration between the oldest university in Nepal, namely Tribhuvan University and two UK university of which BU was one.    A further paper from the PARI Initiative was published a year later.  [2]   The lead author of both papers in BU Visiting Faculty Prof Padam Simkhada, who is Professor of International Public Health at the Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University.

The Nepal Journal of Epidemiology is a full Open Access journal which means anybody across the globe can access it for free.  The Nepal Journal of Epidemiology is part of  Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) a service established by INASP in 2007,  which provides online publication of Nepali journals.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:

  1. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Pokharel, T., Devkota, B., Pathak, R.S. (2013) Research Methods Coverage in Medical & Health Science Curricula in Nepal, Nepal Journal Epidemiology 3(3): 253-258. www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/9185
  2. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Devkota, B., Pathak, R.S., Sathian, B. (2014) Accessing research literature: A mixed-method study of academics in Higher Education Institutions in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(4): 405-14. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/11375

Challenging paper by Prof. Pritchard and colleagues

BU research, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to Bournemouth University’s Professor Colin Pritchard, Honorary Doctor of Science Anne Silk and their Southampton colleague Lars Hansen who recently published the paper ‘Are rises in Electro-Magnetic Field in the human environment, interacting with multiple environmental pollutions, the tripping point for increases in neurological deaths in the Western World?’  This paper in Medical Hypotheses (published by Elsevier) is a worrying analysis of the effects of (recent) technological progress on our health.  If this paper does not make you worry , at least remember one message: “No mobile phones in trouser pockets or under your pillow as you’re being bathed in 450Mhz.”

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

Pritchard, C., Silk, A., Hansen, L. (2019) Are rises in Electro-Magnetic Field in the human environment, interacting with multiple environmental pollutions, the tripping point for increases in neurological deaths in the Western World? Medical Hypotheses 127: 76-83.

 

Dr Yi Huang is awarded the Fellowship of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3)

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Dr Yi Huang is a Lecturer of Engineering at the Department of Design and Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology. She has recently become a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) in June 2019. This Fellowship award shows the recognition of Dr Huang’s significant contributions to the research and development of advanced engineering materials. Dr Huang was elected as a member of EPSRC Associate Peer Review College in February 2019.

Vianna Renaud, FMC PDA and CEMP doctoral student, presents research at the Change Agent Network Conference in Milton Keynes

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It was with great honour that I presented my research at the recent Change Agent Conference organised by Open University and held in Milton Keynes. The theme was on the evolving landscape of staff student partnership where various initiatives and university experiences were discussed and explored.

In my session, ‘Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda; student to student employability coaching and mentoring’, I shared the preliminary findings of my fieldwork. The audience was able to discuss and explore their thoughts on the highlighted themes that I had identified through my participants of final year / first year student pairs and the impact made on their awareness of their employability, confidence in their placement search, knowledge of the university resources, and their relationship with the Faculty and overall institution. The audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive with one comment from a student attendee stating that she wished her institution had implemented something similar as that would have made her feel more ‘relevant’ during her final year.

For more information please go to: https://www.can2019.co.uk/

 

 

Launch of the Manifesto for Responsible Project Management

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Sustainable development is now a global priority. Projects contributes billions to the global economy and need to be managed more responsibly if they are to avoid impacts that are damaging to the environment, people and society.  But how can project managers respond?

Dr Karen Thompson and Dr Nigel Williams, of the Department of Leadership, Strategy and Organisations, are hosting the second social learning workshop on Responsible Project Management at BU on Tuesday 2 & Wednesday 3 July 2019.

Incorporating feedback from professional bodies, academics and multi-national companies including Arup and Pcubed, the first RPM event last year led to the creation of an RPM Guide for practitioners, and now the team are ready to launch a draft Manifesto for Responsible Project Management.

 

 

“This work is an attempt to connect project management with the notion of sustainable development in a meaningful way using the concept of responsible management.”  Preface and introduction from “A guide to Responsible Project Management”, Dr Karen Thompson (Lead Author), 2018.

The main purpose of this social learning event is to develop awareness and resources to help Project Managers develop sustainability competencies to meet the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while achieving their objectives in their own companies.

Tom Taylor, joint founder of Buro Four, principal at Dashdot and past president of the Association for Project Management, will start the event by sharing his reflection on sustainability interventions in project management.  Formal, and not-so-formal, presentations will be interspersed with interactive activities to elicit feedback and new ideas about the opportunities, barriers and challenges of managing responsibly.  Speakers on Tuesday will include Luca Sabini from Hertfordshire University, Charles Miller formerly an engineer in the oil business, and Gwyn Jones, Director of the Association of Sustainability Practitioners. This first day will end with a relaxed walk and discussion along our lovely beach.

Rob Leslie-Carter, Arup Director, Shirley Thompson, DeskCoach and project management author Rory Burke will present on Wednesday.  Throughout the 2 days, the draft Manifesto will be refined in response to feedback and the event will conclude with a signing ceremony and launch of the Manifesto for Responsible Project Management.

This 2-day interactive workshop will bring together leading researchers and practitioners from across the UK and Europe.  Academics and practitioners with a keen interest in sustainability from any discipline are invited to join on one or both days.  Booking is essential.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/responsible-project-management-manifesto-launch-tickets-61483378440

For further information on this event please contact:

KThompson@bournemouth.ac.uk  or NWilliams@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Photo of the week

BU research, Research news, Uncategorized

The photo of the week series is a weekly series featuring photos taken by our academics and students for our Research Photography Competition, which provides a snapshot of some of the incredible research undertaken across the BU community.

This week’s photo of the week, ‘Llamas at Rainbow Mountain, Peru’ is by Karen Thompson, a senior lecturer in Leadership, Strategy and Organisations, from the Faculty of Management. 

Global warming is believed to have melted the snow and ice revealing Rainbow Mountain or Vinicunca, in the Andes in the Cusco region of Peru.  In recent years around 500 villagers are reported to have moved back to their ancestral land to act as guides to tourists bringing in around $400,000 a year to compliment farming activity in the region.  At 5,100m above sea level, the altitude and weather that can be inhospitable make for a challenging hike and yet there are fears of environmental destruction by the large numbers of tourists.   

The delicate balance between planet, people and profit is a key driver for my research and is represented by setting for my photograph.  The curious llamas captured my heart and as a result I used a llama as the icon for curiosity – one of the eight principles I identified for the concept of Responsible Project Management.  I used this photo in the practitioners’ Guide to Responsible Project Management that was created with colleagues, students and professional practitioners using a social learning approach to research.

Funding call for BU’s Strategic Investment Areas

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The BU2025 Strategic Plan outlines our Strategic Investment Areas (SIA) which are existing areas of expertise in which we will further grow our institutional performance to achieve the goals set out in BU2025. In order to drive this activity forward, two funding calls are held each year where Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for internal, pump-primed research projects may be submitted from staff across the institution in any/all of the SIAs.

The next internal call is now open for applications from BU colleagues who wish to develop innovative fundamental research proposals which will grow our institutional research income. Interdisciplinary and cross-faculty proposals are encouraged and proposals must align to one of BU’s Strategic Investment Areas:

  • Medical Science
  • Assistive Technology
  • Animation, Simulation & Visualisation
  • Sustainability, Low-carbon Technology & Materials Science.

Colleagues wishing to apply should review the scope of the Strategic Investment Areas and the Application Guidance before completing the EOI application form – you can find all the information you need on the staff intranet. Any queries on completing the application should be sent to SIA@bournemouth.ac.uk  and any queries related to the focus and scope of the SIA, to the relevant Convener.

Completed applications should be sent to SIA@bournemouth.ac.uk  by 5pm on 18 July 2019.

CEL Co-Creation Award- BSc Marketing Students

BU Challenges, BU research, Centre for Excellence in Learning, Events, Funding opportunities, Fusion, Student Engagement, student research, Uncategorized

Following a competitive bidding process, Emma Keene and Julia Karol (BSc Marketing, final year students) have been successfully awarded this year ‘staff student co-creation award’. Emma is awarded for the project’ The contour generation’ which looks into the negative impact of social media on millennial’s mental health. Emma is mentored by Samreen Ashraf.
Whereas Julia’s project, “The snob effect” looks into the impact of Instagram influencers on the consumption of luxury fashion”. Julia has worked under the supervision of Dr. Elvira Bolat.
Congratulations to both the winners!

Dr. Ann Luce elected to National Suicide Prevention Alliance Steering Group

humanities, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Uncategorized

Dr. Ann Luce, Principal Academic in Journalism and Communication in FMC was elected to the National Suicide Prevention Alliance Steering Group for a three-year term, starting June 2019.

The NSPA is a national alliance of public, private, voluntary and community organisations in England who take action to prevent suicide. Evolving out of the 2012 Call to Action for Suicide Prevention in England, NSPA’s Steering Group strategically influences the Government’s national strategy on preventing suicide, working closely with the Department of Health on both the National Strategy Advisory Group and the National Strategy Delivery Group, chaired by MP for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Jackie Doyle-Price.  

As part of her new role, Dr. Luce will be working on the steering group providing strategic direction and leadership, monitoring finances and allocation of resources, as well as overseeing governance for the organisation.  

Dr. Luce, who is research and media lead on the Pan-Dorset Suicide Prevention Strategy Plan through the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group looks forward to representing the interests of the South West and Bournemouth University at a national level. 

Dr. Luce has been researching and working in the area of suicide prevention for the last 15 years. She has written two sets of media reporting guidelines for the World Health Organisation through her work on the World Media Task Force for the Prevention of Suicide and has also written blogging guidelines for Save.org, the USA’s largest mental health charity. She has consulted with governments in Wales, Norway and Australia to reduce suicide rates and has served as an expert panel member and worked with Australian Government, under the National Suicide Prevention Leadership Program to create #chatsafe, a young person’s guide for communicating safely online about suicide. 

She can be contacted at: aluce@bournemouth.ac.uk or on Twitter: @stann2