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New BU guide for managing staff employed on external R&KE applications and awards

We’re pleased to announce a new guide to support BU staff with managing new and existing staff employed on external R&KE awards, as well as staffing information to include on applications for external funding. The ‘BU Guide for managing staff employed on external R&KE applications and awards’ can be found on the intranet here.

A working group led by RDS, and including HR and Faculty Operations Managers, has worked on the guide for the past six months. A team of academics have reviewed the content and provided feedback, which has been incorporated. A big thank you to all those who have contributed to the guide.

The guide aims to provide an overview of, and links to, all the information needed for including staff on external research and knowledge exchange (R&KE) applications (pre-award), and how to recruit and manage those staff if awarded on to a project (post-award). The guide is structured into pre-award and post-award to assist with both the completion of staff sections on an application form and guidance on what to do when your application has been awarded and/or you require support from HR, RDS, or your Faculty Operations team. It also contains FAQs, useful links and contacts. The guide complements and should be used in conjunction with HR guidance available on the staff intranet.

RDS staff will ensure that the guide is disseminated to applicants (upon receipt of an intention to bid form including staff) and award holders (when staff are to be recruited, etc.).

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2022 – Closing today

PG research

Still time to have your say

Final call for PGRs to complete this year’s Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) which closes today!

Don’t miss the chance to tell us about your postgraduate research experience at Bournemouth University by taking part in the Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey which closes today.

Upon completing the survey, PGRs will be entered into a free prize draw where you can win one of four prizes of a £50 Love2shop gift voucher. Terms and conditions apply.

In addition and as a thank you for taking part, the Doctoral College will now double our donation to the charity Student Minds, from £1 to £2 per PGR who completes PRES if we beat last year’s response rate. We are currently at 40% and need 41% – we are so close!

ALSO…

The highest response rate we ever achieved was 46% in 2018. If we exceed this, the Doctoral College will donate £500 to Student Minds.

How do I take part?

PGRs received an email from the University on Monday 4 April 2022 containing a unique link which allows you to access and complete the survey. If you can’t find this email, contact PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk and we’ll help you to get access.

What will I be asked?

The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete. Your response is confidential and any reporting will be entirely anonymous. The survey is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at BU. It will ask you to share your views on supervision, resources, the research community, progress and assessment, skills and professional development, and wellbeing.

Why should I take part?

Your feedback is important. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is the only national survey of PGRs and so is the only way for us to compare how we are doing with other institutions and to make changes that will improve your experience in the future.

More information

If you would like to know more about the survey, please visit: PRES 2022

We hope you take the opportunity to get involved this year and help us make improvements to your experience.

 

Best wishes,

The Doctoral College

Postgraduate Researchers and Supervisors | Monthly Update for Researcher Development

PG research, student research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for the researcher development e-newsletter sent last week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can view it within the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.

The start of the month is a great time to reflect on your upcoming postgraduate researcher development needs and explore what is being delivered this month as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme and what is available via your Faculty or Department. Remember some sessions only run once per year, so don’t miss out.

Please also subscribe to your Brightspace announcement notifications for updates when they are posted.

If you have any questions about the Researcher Development Programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Natalie (Research Skills & Development Officer)
pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk 

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | UKCGE Route to Recognition for Supervisory Practice

PG research, Training

Hosted by the Doctoral College, these one hour online lunch bite sessions supplement the regular New and Established Supervisory Development Sessions and are aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in research degree supervision.

Each session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.

This session provides an introduction to the UK Council for Graduate Education’s (UKCGE) Good Supervisory Practice Framework and the Research Supervision Recognition Programme which allows established supervisors to gain recognition for this challenging, but rewarding, role.

This discussion will be led Dr Martyn Polkinghorne, UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor, BUBS: Principal Academic, FLIE: Education Excellence Theme Leader, TeachBU: Academic Lead.

Staff attending will be able to: 

  • use the Framework to navigate the wide-ranging, highly complex and demanding set of roles that modern research supervisors must undertake to perform the role effectively
  • reflect on their own practice, compared to a benchmark of good practice
  • identify strengths and weaknesses and build upon the former and address the latter with targeted professional development
  • work towards recognition of their expertise by a national body.

Further details on the session as well as information on future lunchbite sessions can also be found on the staff intranet.

Date: Monday 16 May 2022

Time: 13:00 – 14:00, Teams

To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.

REF 2021 – the results are in!

REF Subjects, Research assessment

The wait is over and the REF 2021 results have now been published.

We’re delighted to reveal that 94% of our research has been found to be internationally-recognised or above, with 19% found to be world-leading in quality.

95.7% of our research was found to be delivering considerable impact or above, with 31.5% achieving an outstanding impact score.

This means that we have held and improved upon our position from REF 2014 while dramatically increasing the size of our submission. We submitted more than three times the number of staff than in REF 2014, and by maintaining quality, we have shown how the breadth and depth of our research portfolio has grown.

Highlights include:

  • UOAs 14 (Geography and Environmental Studies), 15 (Archaeology), 18 (Law), and 34 (Communications, Cultural and Media Studies) all scored 100% 4*+3* for impact
  • UOAs 15 (Archaeology) and 32 (Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory) scored 100% 4*+3* for environment
  • UOA 24 (Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism) scored 80% 4*+3* for outputs
  • UOA 34 (Communications, Cultural and Media Studies) is in Q1 for impact

Equality and diversity were key drivers in developing our submission, and we took a collaborative approach with a broad range of academic and professional staff working together to make our submission as inclusive as possible.

In total, we submitted 1,209 research outputs and 47 impact case studies across 13 Units of Assessment (up from eight UOAs in REF 2014) – which represents a huge amount of time, work, and energy from colleagues across the university.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the REF 2021 in some way – this is a moment to reflect and feel proud of everything we have achieved.

More information about our submission can be found the BU website and the full REF 2021 results are available on the REF website.

 

FUN Project dissemination and networking event

HEIF

FUN_logo
FUN (Feeling the UNfelt: Assistive Technology accessible digital environments with a haptic interface) is a 2-year HEIF funded research project designed to help address the current lack of (freely) available accessible software resources for children and young people (CYP) who have physical disabilities, specifically with a focus on learning about the physical world through gameplay and haptic feedback. The project is a partnership between Bournemouth University and Livability Victoria School in Poole (find more about the project here).

As the FUN project is coming to its end (finishing on 31st July 2022), we organised a dissemination and networking event on 5th May in the Executive Business Centre. The main aim of the event was to present and demonstrate our project outputs and discuss its future potential with relevant internal and external academics and professionals, thus setting the stage for building wider impact. There were four presentations, one guest talk, two demo sessions, and a discussion at the end. Besides BU academics working on this and other related Assistive Technology projects, there were external people with various backgrounds related to special education, including teachers, technicians, consultants, occupational therapists, and assistive technologists, coming from BU, Livability Victoria School, Langside School, Treloar School and College, and the ACE Centre.

After opening the event, Dr Vedad Hulusic, the PI on the project, invited Prof Christos Gatzidis, the convener of the Assistive Technology (AT) Strategic Investment Area (SIA) who gave a brief presentation on the AT SIA strategy and other related AT-related projects at BU. This was followed by the FUN project presentation by Dr Mark Moseley, a postdoctoral research assistant on the project. At the end of his presentation, Mark gave a short demo of the FUN educational games and invited everyone to try them themselves using either touchscreen or eye-gaze interaction.

FUN Accessible level builder FUN games demo

The guest speaker was Prof Pedro Encarnação from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP). In his talk titled “The use of physical and virtual robots to promote inclusive education” he covered his group’s work on physical and virtual robots and presented the results showing the success of virtual environments for children and young people in the educational setting. This was followed by a presentation by Dr Huseyin Dogan and Dr Paul Whittington who talked about the case studies of user ability detection, accessibility requirements capture, and provision of Assistive Technology recommendations – the work their group has been working on for the past few years. In the end, there was another demo session and a discussion on the past, present, and future of AT, instigating great participation by all participants.

FUN - Guest talk FUN - AT Projects

The FUN games are being finalised and will be freely available both as standalone (executable) as well as web-based (running in a web browser) software. The aim is to have these games available in as many special schools across the UK and beyond, and in homes of CYP who will be able to use them independently without required supervision and assistance. The users will be able to create personal profiles and configure all required accessibility and game features to make their experience as FUN as possible, as well as to create new in-game content for themselves and their peers. The event participants had very positive feedback on the FUN project and games and anticipated a significant impact through the improvement of the quality of life of CYP with physical disabilities, their parents, caregivers, and teachers. The FUN team plans to extend this project by strengthening existing and creating new collaborations. The extensions will be multidirectional involving co-design with practitioners, changing practices, policies, and curricula in special schools, and having such games being used in educational institutions allowing CYP with profound disabilities to have FUN while learning.

“I really enjoyed the day – fascinating, inspiring & really positive.“ – Teacher, Livability Victoria School

“Haptic device easily put on/off, providing good feedback to a child. Worth considering use with adults with learning disabilities.” – Occupational therapist, Langside School

“The students involved whom I work with enjoyed the sessions + it was something that enhanced their self-esteem.“ – Teacher, Livability Victoria School

“It can be easily adapted to make it accessible to a wider range of individuals.“ – AAC consultant, ACE Centre

“Very good, simple to setup and use.“ – Technician/Music teacher, Livability Victoria School

Research Integrity Week – starting next week

PG research, Research Ethics, Training

Come join us next week, for an exciting series of keynote speakers and bespoke workshops discussing many subjects under the theme of research integrity.

We start the week of events with a talk by James Parry, Chief Executive of UK Research integrity Office (UKRIO).

UKRIO is an independent charity, offering support to the public, researchers and organisations to further good practice in academic, scientific and medical research. They promote integrity and high ethical standards in research, as well as robust and fair methods to address poor practice and misconduct. They pursue these aims through their publications on research practice, in-depth support and services for research employers, their education and training activities, and by providing expert guidance in response to requests for assistance from individuals and organisations.

Established in 2006, their aims are to:

  • Promote the good governance, management and conduct of academic, scientific and medical research.
  • Share good practice on how to address poor practice, misconduct and unethical behaviour.
  • Give confidential, independent and expert advice on specific research projects, cases, problems and issues.

James directs UKRIO’s work programme and leads its advisory service, responding to queries and concerns about research practice from researchers and the public.

Join us online or in person on Monday 16 May 2022 at 10.30 am.

You can register your place here via Eventbrite.

BU Research into English Cricket – Fill out our survey if you attended The Hundred

Are you a cricket fan? Or does cricket bore you? Could a new, shorter, simpler competition change your view?

In 2021, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) launched a brand new competition – The Hundred – which aimed to attract a new audience to cricket. Were they successful? Who attended The Hundred, and what kind of experience did they have? A new research project at Bournemouth University seeks to answer these questions.

The project is being run by Dr Raf Nicholson and Dr Keith Parry, working in conjunction with the Women in Sport charity, which was founded in 1984 and campaigns to empower more women and girls to be active. We are very grateful for the financial support we have received from BU’s Charity Impact Fund to carry out the research.

The research involves a survey with people who attended one or more matches in The Hundred, and focus groups with some of our survey respondents. We will be writing up our results in a report, which we will present to the ECB.

We’ll also be reporting our findings here on the BU Research Blog in due course… but for now we need your help!

If you or any of your family members or friends attended The Hundred, could you spare 10 minutes to fill out our survey? https://bournemouth.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-hundred

Please share far and wide – many thanks!

RDS Research Facilitator focus to change – update one

Exciting changes are coming to you from August 2022 in terms of the support provided by RDS’ Research Facilitators.

As agreed at the December 2021 Research Performance and Management Committee, the focus of the Research Facilitators will change from Faculty-facing to funder specialisms, based on the major funders. The current post titles will change to ‘Research Facilitator for…’:

Contacts for each post will be confirmed next month. The focus of the Research Facilitator support will remain unchanged, which is to identify potential funding opportunities through horizon scanning and cascade these across BU; and within their funder specialisms – provide support to researchers to develop their bids through building research teams (including external collaborators as well as inter/multi-disciplinary teams within BU) and, advising on bid content and structure to ensure a high-quality bid is submitted to external funders. Support for all other types of bids will be provided through Faculty Leadership and Research Mentors.

The change to funder specialisms will mean that we can provide support to a larger number of academics through funder focussed briefings, scramble events, STEAMLabs (to form interdisciplinary ideas linked with external collaborators), and training through the RKEDF. We have already started transitioning to funder-focussed training, and opportunities are already available to you, such as:

  • Leverhulme Trust Research Project – Outline Stage – workshop 11/5/22
  • AHRC Research Development and Engagement Fellowships (ECR and Standard – open calls) – workshop 25/5/22
  • ESRC New investigator – workshop 8/6/22, and also
  • Repurposing Your Unsuccessful Grant Applications – workshops 20/5/22 and 7/7/22

In addition to Research Facilitators, there are several support options in place to support you through the pre-award process and finding funding opportunities tailored to you. BU have invested in Research Professional, which enables you to target opportunities specifically for your research area. If you are new to Research Professional, this link provides you with help guides and bi-monthly webinars to help you get started. In addition, weekly funder briefings will continue this academic year, and the programme for 2022/23 will ensure a greater focus on specific opportunities each week. We will also be trialling a user-friendly ‘funding opportunities’ newsletter shortly.

More information will be communicated in June to help you navigate the pre-award process and we will also confirm contact names for each funder specialism. Further communications will outline the changes leading up to August 2022. Stay tuned!

RDS Funding Development Briefing – Wed. 11/05/22

Funding opportunities

The next RDS Funding Development Briefing will be on Wednesday (11/05/22) at 12 noon.

There will be a spotlight presentation on the Royal Society Industry Fellowships call.

In case you are not sure where/how to join, please contact my colleague Alexandra Pekalski for further details.

Thank you to all of you who have engaged in the sessions to date, we are looking forward to meeting you again.

Reminder – Research Impact Basics training this week

Training

A reminder that we still have space on our training session Getting started with research impact: what is it? this Thursday 12 May at 2pm, to book via OD please click here.

This session will also be repeated on 12 October at 2pm, and we have several other RKEDF impact-related workshops coming up over the next couple of months; please use the links below to book onto them via OD:

Evidencing Impact 14 June, 2pm (repeated on 12 October, 2pm)

Impact and Funding Applications 30 June, 2pm

As part of the newly announced Research Conference: Building Impact on 7 June we will also be holding live sessions on the Anatomy of a Case Study, investigating what an excellent case study looks like. This will be repeated online the following day (8 June, 2pm) for those who can’t make it so do look out for booking links for this too.

If you have any questions, please contact the Impact Advisors – Amanda Lazar or Beth Steiner.

The Friday Prof-ile: John McAlaney

Welcome to The Friday Prof-ile – a chance to get to know some of our recently appointed Professors and Associate Professors a little better. Every Friday, we’ll be asking a different person the same set of questions to get an insight into their life, work and what makes them tick. 

John McAlaney

John McAlaney

This week, we’re chatting with Professor in Psychology, John McAlaney…

What are your research interests? What made you want to study these areas?  

My research looks at how and why people choose to engage in risky behaviours, with a focus on how this is influenced by social processes. As part of this I do work on a range of topics including hacking, digital addiction, fake news and online gambling.

More broadly I am interested in how to challenge misperceptions that people have about those around them.

Often as humans we assume that our peers behave and think is much more negative way than is actually the case. By documenting these misperceptions and presenting them back to a target population you empower people to make informed decisions, which is known as the social norms approach.

I am drawn to this approach because, unlike some other behaviour change approaches, it does not dictate to people how they should behave.

What has been your career highlight to date?  

Being invited to 10 Downing Street in 2012 to talk about how we can use technology to implement the social norms approach and to counter harmful stereotypes about young people.

What are you working on at the moment?  

The biggest project I am involved in at the moment is a GambleAware funded project on behaviour change and transparency in online gambling. As part of this work I have recently been the academic lead on BU’s successful application to be included on the Gambling Commission’s Research, Education and Treatment (RET) list. We are the first university in the UK to be included on this list, and only the second in the world. Our inclusion on this list opens up many opportunities for us to continue research into ways to address the harms caused by problematic gambling.

I am also working on several projects relating to cybersecurity. This work is the basis of my ongoing participant as an academic expert in the UN Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes.

If you weren’t an academic, what would you be doing?

I’ve always been interested in architecture, although I have terrible design skills. If that didn’t work out for me then I’d probably become a dog walker.

What do you do to unwind? 

Reading is something I find very relaxing – I would like to claim that I only reads the classics, but usually the more stressful a day I have the trashier my choice of book.

What’s the best thing about Bournemouth? 

I’m lucky to live within walking distance of the beach, which is great. I think I would struggle to live anywhere other than the coast now. Being from Scotland I still find the weather of the south coast to be a nice change.

If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?  

As someone who loves going to new places but dislikes the act of travel I would definitely choose teleportation.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what one luxury item would you take with you? 

It would have to be my Kindle. I could happily pass the years by sitting, reading under a palm tree.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Very few things in life actually matter that much. That probably sounds quite nihilistic, but it an idea I increasingly embrace as I get older. Most of the dramas we have in our lives are things we won’t even remember in 10 years. Sometimes you are ahead, sometimes you are behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. Also, wear sunscreen.

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2022 – Deadline approaching

PG research

Have your say

Deadline approaching! This year’s Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) will close in *ten days*

Don’t miss the chance to tell us about your experience at Bournemouth University by taking part in the Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey which closes on Monday 16 May 2022. We are keen to make sure our PGRs have the best possible experience while studying at Bournemouth University. To do this, we need to know what you think works well and what as a University we could do better.

Upon completing the survey, PGRs will be entered into a free prize draw where you can win one of four prizes of a £50 Love2shop voucher. Terms and conditions apply.

In addition and as a thank you for taking part, we will be making a £1 donation for every survey completed to the student mental health wellbeing charity, Student Minds.

How do I take part?

PGRs received an email from the University on Monday 4 April 2022 containing a unique link which allows you to access and complete the survey. If you can’t find this email, contact PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk and we’ll help you to get access.

What will I be asked?

The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete. Your response is confidential and any reporting will be entirely anonymous. The survey is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at BU. It will ask you to share your views on supervision, resources, the research community, progress and assessment, skills and professional development, and wellbeing.

Why should I take part?

Your feedback is important. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is the only national survey of PGRs and so is the only way for us to compare how we are doing with other institutions and to make changes that will improve your experience in the future.

More information

If you would like to know more about the survey, please visit: PRES 2022

We hope you take the opportunity to get involved this year and help us make improvements to your experience.

Best wishes,

The Doctoral College

Sexual Violence Staff and Student Conference at BU

conferences, Student Engagement, student research

Sexual Violence Student Conference: Legislation, Policy and Opinion

On 27 April staff and students from across BU came together in the new Bournemouth Gateway Building to share research and ideas on the topic of sexual violence.  The event was organised by Jane Healy, a criminologist in the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work in FHSS, in collaboration with Jamie Fletcher from Law, FMC, and Kari Davies from Psychology, FST.  The combination of social sciences, social work, psychology and law created a dynamic and exciting environment as students from all four disciplines were exposed to intriguing and engaging presentations on this broad topic.

From Law, second year student Teodora Nizirova, alongside lecturers Jamie Fletcher and Karolina Szopa, presented a fascinating paper on the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which at present distinguishes rape (as penile penetration) from sexual assault (which includes penetration from other sources). They proposed a gender-neutral definition of rape as an alternative to the current non-penile sexual assault charge, as a method of recognising the extent of the harm caused to those individuals who identify as non-binary or who are not in heteronormative relationships. Their presentation sparked a flourish of comments and debate from students and staff in attendance, and more about their proposal can be read here 

Jamie followed up by leading a discussion on R v Lawrence [2020] EWCA Crim 971, a recent case in the Court of Appeal, which held that lying about having a vasectomy did not negate consent in sexual intercourse, something which again produced much thought and debate from those in attendance.

Not to be outdone by the stimulating presentations from our Law Department, Psychology colleagues were quick to showcase the breadth of research they are currently undertaking on sexual violence. This included papers from Rachel Skinner, Psychology lecturer, on the relationships between rape myths and sexism/misogyny and an appeal from Rachel for those interested in this topic to collaborate with her on future work.  Two online papers swiftly followed: Ioana Crivatu, postdoctoral research assistant, presented on her qualitative study on group participation in sexual offences, and Ellie Reid, research assistant, shared findings on consistency and coincidence factors in sexual offences cases.  Kari Davies, lecturer in Psychology, concluded Psychology’s input by providing a whistle-stop tour of the variety of different work she and her colleagues are collaborating on, including BU’s contribution to “Project Bluestone” (which is a large project exploring rape and serious sexual offence investigations alongside colleagues from other institutions across the UK – more info here) as well as collaborative work on crime and policing in Switzerland with Maggie Hardiman.

Arguably saving the best for last (in my opinion), the Social Sciences and Social Work team finished off the afternoon with two and a bit papers from HSS.  BA Sociology student Sam Cheshire provided a confident and theoretically informed paper on his final year dissertation study, which involved interviewing survivors of domestic abuse and social services professionals. He emphasised the interlocations of power, violence and agency in his interpretation of the data, positioned within Foucauldian and neoliberalist concepts and structures. Orlanda Harvey, Lecturer in Social Work, then presented on her own project working with women survivors of domestic violence and highlighted the continuing taboo of disclosing sexual violence within relationships, providing strategies that she and Louise Oliver are using to engage with participants in a safe and supportive environment.

Finally, with only minutes remaining, Jane Healy concluded the afternoon with a very brief overview of her research into disabled women’s experiences of sexual violence, and shamelessly plugged her contribution to a book on “Misogyny as Hate Crime” which is available here (and will soon be available in the library collection).

The afternoon drew to a close with a rallying cry for more cross-faculty events for students and greater collaboration for staff on this topic.  The combination of distinct yet intersecting disciplinary work created an eclectic and refreshing mix of papers that provided much food for thought for staff and students alike. Students Teodora and Sam are to be particularly applauded for presenting for the first time to an audience of peers and academic staff.

Kari is keen to expand on collaborative expertise across BU in the fields of criminal justice, policing and sexual violence and is putting together a Sexual Violence working group. Please get in touch with her if you’d like to join.

Many thanks also to Kari for funding the tea and biscuits that kept us going through the afternoon! We are already looking forward to the next event.