Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Dear all,
I would like to share with you this very insightful presentation made by Christie and James from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK). Could you please watch it and share (link below)your thoughts with me : kkooli@bournemouth.ac.uk? Especially could you share any thoughts about how valuable a BU IAB membership would be for you.
Regards, Kaouther
Dr Michelle Heward in a previous post discussed how BU’s Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC, @BournemouthADRC) have been engaging with older people to discuss research being undertaken, pitch new ideas of research we want to undertake, and listen to what this group believe we should be researching. The first 2 coffee mornings were led by Professor Jane Murphy discussing her research on nutrition, and Professor Jan Weiner discussing his research on wayfinding. The 3rd coffee morning was led by Dr Michele Board discussing how nursing has changed over the last 40 years, and her research exploring the role of Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACP’s) looking after older people during the COVID19 pandemic. Using pictures to generate discussion those attending discussed their own healthcare journeys and concerns about nurse education. ‘Bring back matron’ and why nurses needed to go to university were questions that generated much discussion. Michele explained that healthcare has dramatically changed since she started nursing. As an example 35 years ago women undergoing a hysterectomy would be in hospital 2 day pre operatively (!) and 10 days post operatively. Today women will be admitted on the day of their operation and remain in hospital between 1-5 days post op. Another example is in the care of those following a stroke. Patients would be in hospital for a long period of time and sat in ‘buxton chairs’ and tipped back because their balance was poor. Our understanding of post op care, and the care of people following a stroke has increased dramatically in that time, with shorter length of stay (Home is best suggests Board and McCormack 2018), and significantly better patient outcomes. 
The buxton chair has gone! These advances alongside an ageing population with multi-morbidity, increasing frailty, has led to an increase in acuity of care in acute hospital environments and in the community. Nurses need to be critical thinkers, challenging how we care and what is best for each individual patient. Nurses have to deliver excellent hands on care, with expert holistic assessment and evaluation skills. They lead teams and influence how care should be delivered from the bedside to strategic decision making. For those reasons nurses need to be knowledgeable, to critique the evidence as well as create the evidence to support how care should be delivered. That is why a university education, supported by 50% of their course in practice settings, is essential. That is the nurse I want to care for me and my loved ones, compassionate, kind, caring, and knowledgeable. To illustrate this further Michele shared examples of the research she is undertaking of the brilliant nurses and allied health professionals working as ACP’s during COVID19. 
During focus groups and 1-1 interviews the research team (Dr Dawn Morely, Dr Janet Scammell, Kelsie Fletcher,@AN4LTH) and 3 practitioners from Dorset Healthcare, Cliff Kilgore, Mary Edwards and Dr Pippa Collins,@DorsetHealth), heard how the ACP’s advocated for patients, led to the development of services, their responsiveness, flexibility and adaptability during an enormously challenging period – it was very inspiring. Their advanced critical thinking skills ensured the care they delivered was holistic and person centred. Hopefully those attending the coffee morning were convinced that a university education for nurses and the new role of ACP’s illustrated the expertise of postgraduate nurses delivering care on the front line.
Congratulations to Prof. Vanora Hundley who co-authored an important commentary ‘WHO next generation partograph: revolutionary steps towards individualised labour care’ in the international journal BJOG [1]. The authors comment on the partograph which is widely used across the globe as part of the assessment of labour progress. It was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the early 1990s as a routine tool for displaying the progress of labour. Despite its global acceptance, utilization and correct completion rates as low as 31% and 3% respectively, have been reported.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)
Reference:
Hofmeyr, GJ, Bernitz S, Bonet M, Bucagu M, Dao B, Downe S, Galadanci H, Homer CSE, Hundley V, et al. (2021) WHO next generation partograph: revolutionary steps towards individualised labour care (Commentary), BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, First published: 8 March 2021
There were 31 participants who attended a virtual STEAMLab for Animation, Simulation and Visualisation on 24/2/21. For some, it was an opportunity to meet new colleagues or members from other industries. For others, they are now working together on research funding applications.
The dates for the future planned STEAMLabs for 2021 are being finalised with key stakeholders and keynote speakers.
In order to make it easier to attend these events, the application process will be opened well in advance of the STEAMLabs. The schedule for the application opening of each themed STEAMLab event is below:
Assistive Technology – (applications open April 15th)
Medical Science – (applications open April 22nd)
Industrial Challenges –(applications open May 4th)
Global Challenges– (applications open May 12th)
Sustainability, Low Carbon Technology and Materials Science – (applications open June 1st)
A further post will follow for each event, with event timings, links to the application and other relevant information.
So…….what is a STEAMlab?
The STEAMLabs offer the opportunity to meet new people from all disciplines and sectors, and to spend dedicated time developing novel ideas for research projects.
We will also be inviting relevant external attendees to contribute to the day. We welcome academics, NGO/business/government representatives who wish to contribute to having a positive impact through addressing the world’s global challenges.
Who should attend?
STEAMLabs cover broad themes to ensure that they are open to everyone from all disciplines. So if you think you have something to contribute then come along. If you think that they don’t include you then please have a conversation with your RDS Facilitator who can explain how your research could make a vital contribution to new ideas and approaches. In order to encourage wider partnerships, each STEAMLab will include academics from other universities, as well as representatives from industry and other sectors.
If you have any queries about the STEAMLab programme, please contact Ehren Milner (emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk).
Dr Parisa Gilani is a Senior Lecturer in the Bournemouth University Business School. Her research focuses on leadership development and she has a particular interest in gender and leadership. In this blog post, she discusses her experience of mentorship at Bournemouth University.
Having a research mentor has proven to be the most valuable learning and development experience that I have been fortunate to have in my career so far. In January 2018, I found myself in a position whereby I was nearing the end of my three-year tenure as a Programme Coordinator for a very large degree within the Business School. I felt that I made some form of difference and impact within the educational sphere and had learnt a lot along the way, but three since having completed my PhD at Exeter University, I still had no research track record to speak of. As I had allowed my research to slip, I lost all confidence in my writing ability and did not know where to start in developing papers for publication. As this felt quite a lonely and overwhelming process, I requested a research mentor.
In order to identify a potential mentor, I looked beyond my own immediate research area and approached Julie Robson, an Associate Professor who I knew demonstrated an inclusive and supportive approach to working with Early Career Researchers – as well as being knowledgeable in qualitative approaches, writing papers and developing bids. Thankfully she agreed to embark on a mentoring relationship with me – something for which I am very grateful.
Julie met with me on a regular basis and helped to set challenging, but realistic goals. Having someone else to be accountable to (rather than just myself) pushed me to meet targets and go beyond my comfort zone. She built up my confidence by reading paper drafts and providing constructive and encouraging feedback, which persuaded me to bite the bullet and submit papers that I had been holding on to. Research can feel like a very personal process and allowing someone to read my work (beyond my PhD supervisors and examiners) felt like a big step. However, Julie was approachable, supportive and someone that I very quickly developed a trusting mentoring relationship with.
Julie also enabled me to access a host of other research related opportunities such as assessing PhD Transfer vivas, reviewing papers on a Special Issue she was editing and involving me in a large research project she was developing with the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjustors. Her reach has extended beyond research and she encouraged me and provided guidance in applying for promotion to Grade 8 in 2019. I had applied unsuccessfully two years previously, and she helped me to identify areas whereby I was ‘underselling’ and not articulating impact clearly enough.
Three years on and my confidence has increased – as has my research momentum. I have submitted papers and published and have been promoted to Senior Academic. I’m also working on two large research projects – which have the potential to be future impact case studies. Whilst I recognise, that I have a long way to go in developing my research profile, I cannot speak highly enough of my mentoring experience. This past year has been tough on everyone as we try to juggle multiple responsibilities and demands. However, Julie has proven to be a voice of reason – when I am being hard on myself and focusing on my own perceived lack of progress and has reminded me of my achievements and that we’re only human. She has been there to celebrate my successes as well as being a source of reassurance when things have not quite gone to plan.
I really recommend finding a research mentor who shares the same values as you, is knowledgeable and supportive, who demonstrates a collaborative and inclusive approach and who essentially you feel comfortable with and can get on with! These qualities, in my opinion are arguably more important than sharing exactly the same research interests. However, you may be surprised – and find that your interests overlap more than you think. I would like to thank Julie for all the time and energy she has invested in supporting and enabling my development – something I will always be very grateful for.
Based in the Bournemouth University Business School (BUBS), Dr Jeff Bray is a Consumer Behaviour researcher and educator focused on the societal challenges of sustainable consumption both from an environmental perspective and a personal (health) perspective. In this blog post, Jeff discusses his experience of mentoring and how it has helped and supported him throughout his career.
For me, mentoring started during my doctoral studies, building close working relationships with my supervisors. On completion, (though it has never been said & they might be surprised to read it here!) one of my supervisors seamlessly transitioned from supervisor to mentor. They initially invited me to join one of their funded research projects which proved to be an invaluable learning experience providing crucial exposure to the funded research landscape. Over the years we developed a number of bids and papers together, and the informal mentorship that has been implicit in this has helped me to gain confidence, knowledge and crucially the networks necessary to develop my own research leadership.
Being an academic can be really tough, juggling teaching commitments, supervision, administration alongside advancing research projects. A few wise or encouraging words from a mentor who has been through the same experiences can be so helpful. An effective mentor/mentee relationship relies on being open about concerns and thoughts and being willing to both give and receive honest feedback! Certainty the forthright feedback from my mentor has helped me develop my research skills considerable and I now find supporting colleagues with their research development really rewarding, perhaps I have becoe one of the informal mentors 🙂
Select Committee Inquiries launched since 8 March 2021:
SHORT DEADLINE: Policing and organisation of vigils relating to the safety of women in public places | Home Affairs Committee | Deadline for evidence submission: Sunday 21st March 2021
Children’s Homes | Education Committee | Deadline for evidence submission: Friday 23rd April 2021
Renewable energy in Scotland | Scottish Affairs Committee |Deadline for evidence submission: Friday 14th May 2021
Legislative Scrutiny: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill | Human Rights (Joint Committee) Deadline for evidence submission: Saturday 15th May 2021
Covid-19 and the criminal law | Justice Committee | Deadline for evidence submission: Friday 9th April 2021
Local government and the path to net zero | Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee | Deadline for evidence submission: Friday 30th April 2021
Tech and the future of UK foreign policy | Foreign Affairs Committee | Deadline for evidence submission: Tuesday 11th May 2021
Exciting online training events for researchers on Wednesday.
Places still available. Please book now!
| Wednesday 24th March 09:00 – 11:00
Dealing with Rejection Professor Edwin van Teijlingen will share some practical hints and tips on how to constructively and effectively deal with a journal rejection. To book, email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk |
| Wednesday 24th March 12:00 – 13:00
AHRC Research, Development and Engagement Fellowships Information Session This is the theme for this week’s Funding Development Briefing. Contact ResearchDev@bournemouth.ac.uk to book. |
| Wednesday 24th March 15:00 – 16:00
Early Career Researchers Network Meeting The theme of this month’s network briefing is BU’s Strategic Investment Areas, and how Early Career Researchers can get involved. To book, email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk |
You can see all the Organisational Development and Research Knowledge Development Framework (RKEDF) events in one place on the handy calendar of events.
If you have any queries, please get in touch!
Professor Heather Hartwell is a UK-registered nutritionist and Professor in the Bournemouth University Business School. She has led many research projects, including the EC FP7 project VeggieEAT, the EC Horizon 2020 project FoodSMART and the British Council / Newton Fund project Veg+. In this blog post, Heather shares her experience of being a mentor at Bournemouth University and her thoughts on the mentoring role and relationship.
My primary goal in undertaking the mentoring programme facilitated by Organisational Development in 2009 was to use my experience and help staff who would like to enhance their own personal development and assist colleagues in realising their full aspirations. It was to give back to a community which had been totally supportive to me during my time in HE.
While there are theoretical models such as GROW (please see below) and much academic debate, mentoring to me is more fluid, less structured and more dependent on the mentor/mentee relationship.
| Goals
|
Identify goal to be achieved |
| Reality | Acknowledge the current situation and raise self-awareness |
| Options
|
Identify alternative courses of action |
| Will | Identify what will need to be done to make decisions on how to proceed.
The way forward |
Table 1 – The GROW model (Whitmore 2002)
Respect for each other and commitment to action are crucial in a successful mentoring relationship where both are in tune and harmony. Notwithstanding, the nature of the mentor/mentee rapport changes with time; initially the focus may be on helping the member of staff settle into their new role, providing information and support on practical issues. The dynamics will then change to be more symbiotic and two way street.
Academic staff mentoring new academic colleagues may:
What type of person makes an Effective Mentor?
Clutterbuck (2004) suggests that a good mentor is someone who has:
I thoroughly enjoy the role and get great pleasure in the success of those who I support.
I hope that I am inspirational, enthusiastic and empathetic, although we must ask my mentees! The role takes my work to a new level within BU and provides a resource that hopefully will benefit not just individuals but the organisation as a whole.
References:
CLUTTERBUCK, D., 2004. Everyone Needs a Mentor. London: Institute of Personnel Management
Talbot Campus Ref: 658.407124
WHITMORE, J., 2002. Coaching for Performance: GROWing people, performance and purpose. London: Nicholas Brealey
Talbot Campus Ref: 658.312404
Professor Michael Silk is Deputy Dean for Research and Professional Practice in the Bournemouth University Business School (BUBS). His current research focusses on urban renewal, social inequalities and disability. He has received funding from the British Council, the ESRC, the AHRC, the British Academy and Sport England, amongst others. In this blog post, Michael discusses the support available in BUBS to support mentoring.
In 2020, and coinciding with the launch of BUBS, the School began restructuring research into defined Dept. based concentrations (Professorial Led Research Groups); these supplement interdisciplinary Research Centres that serve as the public face of excellent research. Predicated on alignment of activities with emergent Departmental and institutional strategic narratives, as well as other internal and external drivers–BU2025 core and strategic investment areas, UN Sustainable Development Goals, accrediting bodies, and UK Research Councils—these research groups are designed to balance the development of quality with a focus on development, focussing on short-term achievements (e.g. increasing the number of staff that are publishing and the quality of publications from those already published), medium term goals (higher quality larger bids and stronger external networks), and longer-term strategizing (enhance the interdisciplinary research culture, invest significantly in ECRs and evolve established research networks).
Based on research which suggests informal mentoring is often more effective than formal mentoring (e.g. Cotton & Raggins, 1999; Inzer, 2005) these groups provide a space for career development, role modelling, social interaction, as well as developing more focussed areas of research strength / capacity and thereby feeding into the wider BUBS narrative. Whilst the development of these groups has in part been impacted by the pandemic and will benefit from physical interaction, there have been a number of activities developed within these groups over the last few months (e.g. writing & bidding workshops). Furthermore, the School has put in place a new research infrastructure in each Department (a Postgraduate Research Lead, a Research Environment Lead, and a Strategic Research Lead) who work closely with the Head of Department (HoD) and Deputy Dean (Research and Professional Practice) who provide a more formal structure for inclusion, performance and environment in our research activities (including mentoring). To further maximise support (and indeed, compliment informal mentoring with formal mentoring given that a mix of styles is likely the best approach), we will be developing a formal mentoring programme across Fusion utilising an online platform / software.
Dear all,
Christie and James (Biographies below) from the IAB UK are our guests this coming Tuesday at 1 pm. They kindly accepted to give a talk on “Digital advertising regulation in the UK” to the MSc Marketing Management and MSc Marketing (Digital) students. This talk will provide our students deep insight into the industry of digital advertising.
If you wish to attend, please email me : kkooli@bournemouth.ac.uk and I will send a Zoom invitation.
Regards,
Kaouther
Christie Dennehy-Neil is Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs at IAB UK, the industry body for digital advertising. She works with the sector to achieve the optimal policy environment to support a sustainable future for digital advertising, and to help boost the understanding of the sector and its benefits within regulatory and political circles. Christie has overall responsibility for the IAB’s work on (self-)regulatory and public policy issues, and public affairs.
James Davies is Public Policy Manager at IAB UK, engaging with politicians and other policy-makers on the digital economy and digital advertising. He was previously Senior Policy Programmes Manager at BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, where he managed policy initiatives on digital education, the use of personal data and the societal impacts of social media. Prior to this James managed the political news website PoliticsHome.com and worked as a political consultant for Dods.
Tuesday 23rd March 2021, 10.00am – 12.30pm
Do you have a great idea for research in health, social care or public health?
Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?
The popular NIHR seminar continues online and will next take place on Tuesday 23rd March 2021 from 10.00am – 12.30pm. The seminar provides an overview of NIHR funding opportunities and research programme remits, requirements and application processes.
NIHR will give you top tips for your application and answer specific questions with experienced RDS South West advisers.
There are also have a limited number of 20-minute 1-to-1 appointments available after the seminar should you wish to discuss your proposed study with an RDS adviser. Find out more and book a place
Last Friday, we announced the call for game-changing research concepts to enable the growth of BU’s Strategic Investment Areas.
This is your opportunity to put forward the concepts for which BU will be known in the years to come. Concepts that are prioritised for development by the SIA Steering Groups, will benefit from tailored institutional support to turn your idea into a reality. This could include identification of match-funding, support from estates, personalised funding development support and much more – you tell us what you need!
Game-changing research concepts are welcomed from all of our academic community across all career stages.
To learn more about the SIAs, the open call and to discuss what you could do, read further details on the staff intranet and sign-up for sessions now by emailing sia@bournemouth.ac.uk.
Briefing events are taking place on the following dates:
General drop in-sessions for any queries, to discuss potential ideas or to identify potential BU partners are taking place on the following dates/times supported by SIA Steering Group members and RDS staff:
Email sia@bournemouth.ac.uk to get your diary invitation now!
The SURE conference was held virtually this year on March 17th with well over 100 participating throughout the afternoon including undergraduates from all faculties, staff and family & friends of students presenting. There was a wide variety of work drawn from that ranged from eg the impacts of drama in forensic settings, how human behavior affects mass outbreaks, newspaper reporting on Communist ideology, and impact of Covid 19 on business conferences. Students were recognized in each faculty for the quality of their work, with Amazon vouchers being awarded to Finlay Brown and Yana Livena (FMC), Natasha Cox and David Cabrini Back (HSS), Fin Underhill and Anne Heim (FST) and Jana Sasstamoinen and Tom Dexter (BUBS). The Sustainability prize was awarded to Jack Sykes of FMC by Eleanor Wills BU Sustainability Support Officer. An overall prize winner of a Masters Fee Waiver was awarded to Tara Walker of FST on her commendable work on how educational professionals personally manage inclusion (see her reaction here). This virtual conference once again highlights the wonderful work BU undergrads are capable of.
Staff from all faculties chipped in to support the students by way of chairing the online channels (streams). Keynotes were delivered by our esteemed colleagues Isa Rega of FMC on digital storytelling and empowerment, and a join presentation from Dean Lois Farquharson and Samreen Ashraf of BUBS on the power of research skills and our adaptation to a changing world. Vice Chancellor John Vinney was also on hand to welcome students and commend their work.
The SURE planning committee for 2021 was made up of Mary Beth Gouthro and Fiona Cownie as co-Chairs, Faculty Reps Miguel Moital, Roya Haratian and Andrew M’manga. A special shout out to Rae Bell, Student Communications officer who was integral to its function and hosting on the day. Some SURE participants have had abstracts accepted for the national BCUR conference hosted by the University of Leeds on April 12-13 where 20 BU students will be showcasing their work from across our faculties. 
The British Academy informed us yesterday that we have been successful in our application to the Writing Workshops 2021. The project builds research capacity of early career researchers researching gender in higher education institutions in Nepal. The grant will provide training in academic writing and publishing to help improve Nepali staff’s chances of getting published in international journals in English. The workshops will be co-delivered by a team of UK-based (Dr. Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen) and Dr. Rashmee Rajkarnikar from Nepal’s oldest university, Tribhuvan University, supported by Nepali scholars/editors from Social Science Baha (SSB).
We have planned three stages: 1) virtual mini workshops, guided discussion/input on academic writing, publishing, journal submission, and review processes ; 2) online workshops where participants present their draft papers/work and receive feedback from peers, mentors, invited speakers/editors and opportunities networking/collaborations (for co-authorship, peer review and peer support); and 3) monthly tutorials (webinars) later in 2021 to provide mentorship and peer support to participants.
This application is third time lucky as two previous applications to The British Academic for Writing Work had not been successful. Over the years the team has build up capacity in academic writing and publishing in Nepal ad hoc. This grant will allow us to offer a more systematic approach to academic writing capacity building in Nepal. It is building on a growing number of paper published by FHSS staff on various aspects of academic writing and publishing. [1-14]
References:
It is well known that climate-induced sea level rise is a major threat. What is less well know is the threat of sinking land. And in many of the most populated coastal areas, the land is sinking even faster than the sea is rising.
Parts of Tokyo for instance sank by 4 metres during the 20th century, with 2 metres or more of sinking reported in Shanghai, Bangkok, and New Orleans. This process is known as subsidence. Slow subsidence happens naturally in river deltas, and it can be accelerated by the extraction of groundwater, oil or gas which causes the soil to consolidate and the surface to lose elevation.
Subsidence leads to relative sea level rise (sea level rise plus land sinking). It turns croplands salty, damages buildings, causes widespread flooding and can even mean the loss of entire coastal areas.
Subsidence can threaten flooding in low-lying coastal areas, much more so than rising sea levels, yet scientists are only just realising the global implications of the threat with respect to coastal cities.
In fact, while the average coastal area experiences relative sea level rise of less than 3mm per year, the average coastal resident experiences a rise of around 8mm to 10mm per year. This is because so many people live in deltas and especially cities on deltas that are subsiding. That’s the key finding of our new research, where we analysed how fast cities are sinking across the world and compared them with global subsidence data including less densely populated coastlines.
Our finding reflects that people often choose to live in river deltas, floodplains and other areas that were already prone to sinking, and in doing so will further enhance subsidence. In particular, subsiding cities contain more than 150 million people in the coastal zone – that’s roughly 20% of people in the world who live by the sea. This means relative sealevel rise will have a more sudden and more severe impact than scientists had originally thought.
Here are a few of the most affected cities:
The Indonesian capital Jakarta is home to 10 million people, and is built on low-lying land next to the sea. Groundwater extraction caused the city to sink more than three metres from 1947 to 2010 and much of the city is still sinking by 10cm or more each year.
Subsidence does not occur evenly, leading to uneven risks that make urban planning difficult. Buildings are now flooded, cracks are appearing in infrastructure which is being abandoned.
Jakarta has built higher sea walls to keep up with the subsidence. But since groundwater pumping continues, this patching-up policy can only last so long before the same problems occur again. And the city needs to keep pumping since groundwater is used for drinking water. Taking water, the very thing that humans need to survive, ultimately puts people at risk from inundation.
The battle against subsidence is slowly being lost, with the government proposing in 2019 to move the capital to a purpose-built city on the island of Borneo more than 1,000km away, with subsidence being one of many reasons.
Developing rapidly in the past few decades, and now with a population of 26 million, Shanghai is another sinker. The city has maximum subsidence rates of around 2.5cm a year. Again this is mostly caused by lowering groundwater levels, in this case thanks to drainage to construct skyscrapers, metro lines and roads (for instance Metro Line 1, built in the 1990s, caused rapid subsidence).
If no additional protection is built, by 2100 this rate of subsidence and sea level rise mean that a storm surge could flood around 15% of the city.
In New Orleans, centuries of embankments and ditches had effectively drained the city and sunk it, leaving about half of it below sea level.
When Hurricane Katrina breached the levees in 2005, the city did not stand a chance. The hurricane caused at least US$40 billion (£29 billion) in damage and particularly took its toll on the city’s African American community. More than 1,570 people died across the state of Louisiana.
If the city had not subsided, damage would have been greatly reduced and lives would have been saved. Decisions that were made many decades or more ago set the path for the disasters that are seen today, and what we will see in the future.
So what can be done? Building a sea wall or dike is one immediate solution. This of course stops the water coming in, but remember that the sea wall is sinking too, so it has to be extra large in order to be effective in the long-term. In urban areas, engineers cannot raise ground easily: that can take decades as buildings and infrastructure are renewed. There is no simple solution, and large-scale urban subsidence is largely irreversible.
Some cities have found “solutions”. Tokyo for instance managed to stop subsidence from about 1960 onwards thanks to stronger regulations on water pumping, but it cannot get rid of the overall risk as parts of city are below sea level and depend on dikes and pumps to be habitable. Indonesia’s bold proposal to move its capital city may be the ultimate solution.
Increased urbanisation especially in deltas areas and the demand for freshwater means subsidence will remain a pressing issue in the coming decades. Dealing with subsidence is complementary to dealing with climate-induced sea level rise and both need to be addressed. A combination of rising seas and sinking lands will increasingly leave coastal cities at risk.
Sally Brown, Scientist, Bournemouth University and Robert James Nicholls, Professor of Climate Adaptation, University of East Anglia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The RDS Funding Development Briefings now occur weekly, on a Wednesday at 12 noon.
Each session covers the latest major funding opportunities, followed by a brief Q&A session. Some sessions also include a spotlight on a particular funding opportunity of strategic importance to BU.
Next Wednesday 24th March, there will be a spotlight on AHRC Research Development and Engagement Fellowships
We will cover:
For those unable to attend, the session will be recorded and shared on the Teams site under the ‘Files’ section, and also saved on the I Drive at I:\RDS\Public\Funding Pipeline\Funding Development Briefings.
Please email RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk to receive the Teams invite for these sessions.
Over the last few months, the Global Engagement Hub has organized a series of online research workshops with two priority SIA institutions in China, Northeastern University and Zhejiang University. BU has a longstanding relationship with both institutions.
In 2019, Bournemouth University launched a joint research centre of advanced materials with Northeastern University (NEU) in Shenyang China. The research centre focuses on creating new materials with large-scale applications in industrial manufacturing and healthcare. The research centre has four unique research themes; energy materials, healthcare, 2D materials technology and materials for sustainable applications that closely align to two strategic investment areas: Sustainability, Low Carbon Technology and Material Science, and Medical Science. The research centre is home to a number of ongoing research collaborations, including the work of a number of PhD students. The centre has received funding from the Chinese government for NEU PhD students to spend time at BU.
BU academics collaborated with colleagues from NEU in a three-day virtual workshop in December 2020 that focussed on the Sustainability and Low Carbon Technology and Medical Science SIAs. This workshop was a chance for early career researchers as well as established researchers to develop important networks with colleagues in China. The three-day event included presentations from researchers and PhD students at both universities. Following on from the event, the Global Engagement Hub together with Dr Amor Abdelkader, the lead academic of the partnership, are currently organising smaller meetings for workshop attendees to facilitate collaboration in the areas of materials science, medical imaging and environmental science.
In January 2021, BU hosted another virtual workshop, this time in collaboration with Zhejiang University (ZJU) to explore research and expertise aligned with BU’s strategic investment areas Animation, Simulation and Visualisation and its application to Medical Science. The two organisations have a long-standing history of research collaboration through the National Centre for Computer Animation, NCCA. Colleagues from BU and ZJU have published a range of papers together and collaborated on funding bid submissions.
Another link that BU has with ZJU is through the UK-China Health and Economy Partnership, which is a novel knowledge transfer partnership promoting long-term collaboration between leading academic institutions in China including ZJU and the United Kingdom. The aim of this project is to generate new expertise and techniques in health economics.
Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and Dr Daisy Fan in the BU Business School also have long-standing collaboration with Dr Jiaying Lu at the ZJU School of Management in the area of senior living and senior travel experience as well as work on social and economic sustainability in tourism.
If you have any links to these strategic partner universities or would like to collaborate with colleagues at these institutions, please email GlobalBU@bournemouth.ac.uk.
BU staff can login below:
SERVED research project: Supporting Evidence-based Research for Veterans Experiencing Dementia
Alzheimer’s Awareness Week – join us in BGB on Tuesday 20th May
Nanocoatings to Bionanocomposites: Sustainable Solutions
Take part in the 2025 ESRC Festival of Social Science – Deadline for applications: Thursday 15 May 2025 
AI learning to read emotions from motion….
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease
Research Information Network
Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme pre-Published