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Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group – Call for Members (Academics, PGRs and ECRs)

Guidance, PG research, student research, Training

Looking for your input…

Do you want to contribute to a University Steering Group?

Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.

There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:

  • Develop and enhance the strategic direction, nature, quality, development and delivery of the University’s provision of researcher development for postgraduate research students (PGRs) which reflect the needs of all PGRs.
  • Guide centrally and faculty provided researcher development provisions promoting complimentary support of both increasing the personalisation of support for PGRs.
  • Evaluate University-wide PGR researcher development provisions, to ensure all programme content is maintained at a high standard and aligns with the university strategic priorities under BU2025.
  • Promote the benefits of facilitation of researcher development to staff and the benefits of engaging with researcher development to PGRs.
  • Enhance the overall PGR student experience at BU.

See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.

Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.

Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative

Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.

External Survey – Research Integrity

Research Integritiy

Would you like to contribute to a research study of research integrity in the UK?

Research England, on behalf of UKRI, have commissioned Vitae in partnership with the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) to conduct a study exploring what motivates researchers to maintain high standards of research integrity.

Steven Hill, Director of Research at Research England said: “Research integrity, broadly the conducting of research in a way that ensures that it is trustworthy, ethical and abides by professional standards, is vital to ensure the accuracy of the results and conclusions of research.”

Researchers experience many pressures, incentives, disciplinary norms, and personal motivations that may affect the way research is carried out. The study aims to understand these factors and how they may relate (positively or negatively) to research integrity.
You are invited to share your thoughts and experiences through this survey.

Click for more information and to access the survey.

The survey is open until 6 November 2019.

N.B. this blog post is promoting an external survey. BU is not responsible for this external content.

Talk/session with the Wessex Clinical Research Network Study Support Service

Info Days, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, Research Ethics

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health and care research – the NIHR oversee 15 Clinical Research Networks (CRN) and these CRNs work alongside NHS Trusts, primary care providers and Universities. Each CRN has a dedicated Study Support Service.

The NIHR have a portfolio of research studies that are eligible for consideration for support from the CRN in England.  Portfolio status is usually vital to participating NHS Trusts when considering undertaking a proposed study.

Information on the NIHR portfolio is present on the research blog, but at this session our local CRN’s Study Support team will provide you with an opportunity to hear about and discuss the network and the service, and how it could benefit you.

This session is aimed at those planning on conducting clinical research.
It is also designed to raise awareness at BU about the benefits and importance of the NIHR portfolio, so if you’re just interested in learning more, please book on.

The session will take place on Tuesday 10th December at 2:3opm until 4:00pm on Lansdowne Campus.

To register your interest or if you have any queries, please get in touch with Research Ethics.

New report highlights how NIHR support for clinical research benefits the UK economy and NHS

NHS

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health research and offer support to NHS Trusts, researchers, universities and any other organisation conducting clinical research.

A recent report shows that the support given by the NIHR via their Clinical Research Networks  (CRN) generated an estimated £8 billion of gross value added (GVA) to the NHS, over the last 3 years. The support also generated 47,467 full time equivalent jobs for the UK.

Other key findings from the report include:

Over the three year period (financial years) 2016/17 to 2018/19:

  • The estimated annual economic contribution of NIHR CRN supported studies increased by £0.1 billion (GVA) between 2016/17 and 2018/19 (up from £2.6 billion in financial year 2016/17, to £2.7 billion in financial year 2018/19) – linked to increased commercial contract research activity supported by the NIHR CRN  
  • For each patient recruited onto a commercially-funded trial supported by the NIHR CRN, on average NHS providers in England received an estimated £9,200 from life sciences companies, and on average saved an estimated £5,800 per patient (where trial drugs replaced the standard treatment)
  • The number of studies and patients recruited onto NIHR CRN supported studies have both increased by approximately 30% in three years (financial year 2016/17 – financial year 2018/19)

There was also a cost saving to the NHS of £28.6 million where trial drugs were provided and use in place of standard drugs.

You can view the NIHR article here and the full report here.

As taken from the article, Matt Cooper, Business Development and Marketing Director at the NIHR Clinical Research Network said:

“The benefits to the UK of a strong and productive NIHR Clinical Research Network, working in partnership with the NHS, are clearly demonstrated in this report. It describes sustained growth in the Clinical Research Network Portfolio of both clinical research and its value to the UK economy –  £2.7billion in 2018/19, an increase of £300million from the previous report in 2016.”

Remember – support is on offer at BU if you are thinking of introducing your research ideas into the NHS – email the Research Ethics mailbox, and take a look at the Clinical Governance blog.

Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group – Call for Members (Academics, PGRs and ECRs)

PG research, Student Engagement

Do you want to contribute to a University Steering Group?

Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.

There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:

  • Develop and enhance the strategic direction, nature, quality, development and delivery of the University’s provision of researcher development for postgraduate research students (PGRs) which reflect the needs of all PGRs.
  • Guide centrally and faculty provided researcher development provisions promoting complimentary support of both increasing the personalisation of support for PGRs.
  • Evaluate University-wide PGR researcher development provisions, to ensure all programme content is maintained at a high standard and aligns with the university strategic priorities under BU2025.
  • Promote the benefits of facilitation of researcher development to staff and the benefits of engaging with researcher development to PGRs.
  • Enhance the overall PGR student experience at BU.

See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.

Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.

Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative

Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.

Open Access Week – Fabulous Friday!!

Guidance, Publishing, writing

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Lot’s of fabulous things have been going on across the sector to celebrate Open Access Week 2019. Here are a small selection…

 

 

The publishers have also been getting involved with numerous events, one of note is Royal Society Publishing who made all their content free to access this week. You can browse journals here.

Southampton University hosted a A Very Short Introduction to Open Access using Biscuits –

Edge Hill University hosted as a webinar with Open Book Publishers. This non-profit organisation publishes academic books on an OA basis and doesn’t charge authors fees to use the service.

Open Access Week has been truly international with events across the globe:

To end, here is a lovely quote posted by University of Tennessee which reminds us why open access matters…

Last chance – RDS Academic and Researcher Induction

The Research Development and Support (RDS, formerly RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction.

Signpost with the words Help, Support, Advice, Guidance and Assistance on the direction arrows, against a bright blue cloudy sky.This event provides an overview of all the practical information staff need to begin developing their research plans at BU, using both internal and external networks; to develop and disseminate research outcomes; and maximising the available funding opportunities.Objectives

  • The primary aim of this event is to raise participants’ awareness of how to get started in research at BU or, for more established staff, how to take their research to the next level
  • To provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

Indicative content

  • An overview of research at BU and how RDS can help/support academic staff
  • The importance of horizon-scanning, signposting relevant internal and external funding opportunities and clarifying the applications process
  • How to grow a R&KE portfolio, including academic development schemes
  • How to develop internal and external research networks
  • Key points on research ethics and developing research outputs
  • Getting started with Knowledge Exchange and business engagement

For more information about the event, please see the following link.  The eleventh induction will be held on Wednesday, 3oth October 2019 in Melbury House, 5th Floor, Garden Room.

Title Date Time Location
Research Development & Support (RDS) Research Induction Wednesday 30th October 2019 9.00 – 12.00 Lansdowne Campus

9.00-9.15 – Coffee/tea and cake/fruit will be available on arrival

9.15 – RDS academic induction (with a break at 10.45)

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RDS staff

12.00 – Close

There will also be literature and information packs available.

If you would like to attend the induction then please book your place through Organisational Development and you can also visit their pages here.

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Regards,

The RDS team

HEIF-6 funding now available for innovative KE projects

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, HEIF, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer

HEIF-6 funding now available for innovative Knowledge Exchange (KE) projects

 

Research England provide Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) to universities to facilitate a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between them and the wider world, which result in economic and social benefit to the UK.  The current round of funding is referred to as HEIF-6 and runs from August 2017 to July 2022.

 

An internal call is now open for applications from BU colleagues who wish to develop innovative projects.  Funding will be awarded to those applications that clearly demonstrate how new/existing collaborations will be developed and how societal/economic impact will be achieved, specifically in relation to the generation and exploitation of Intellectual Property and commercialisation.  Interdisciplinary and/or cross-Faculty/Professional Services proposal are encouraged, as are proposals with international collaborators.

 

We anticipate making awards of £25,000-£100,000 per project per year.  Please note that the total fund allocated to this call is approximately £300,000 per year.  Projects should be up to 24 months in duration and must align to one of BU’s HEIF-6 themes:

  • Advanced manufacturing
  • Health (focusing on digital health and e-health)
  • Digital and creative

 

Colleagues wishing to apply should read BU’s HEIF-6 strategy and the HEIF-6 FAQs before completing the HEIF-6 application form (part 1 and part 2).  These documents can be found on the i-drive (I:/RDS/Public/HEIF 6).

 

It is highly recommended that you contact Research Development and Support (RDS) prior to applying to this fund to ensure your project is within the scope of the fund.  Please contact Knowledge Exchange Adviser, Rachel Clarke, who will discuss in further detail the purpose of the fund and how your project aligns to it.

 

Applications must be supported by the Project Lead’s Faculty and signed by their Head of Department and relevant Deputy Dean (Research and Professional Practice).  Any queries should be sent to Rachel Clarke (heif@bournemouth.ac.uk) in the first instance.

 

Completed application should be sent to HEIF@bournemouth.ac.uk by midnight on Monday 9th December.  The HEIF panel aims to confirm the outcomes of applications by the end of January 2020.

Open Access week – Thesis Thursday

Today, we are celebrating our Open Access doctoral theses.

There are 822 theses available through BURO. Furthermore, BU theses have been downloaded 1586 from EThOS in the last year.

 

 

Some highlights from our collection of theses include:

European Union 

European integration reassessed: a grounded theory approach.

 An analysis of the perceived effects of European Economic Monetary Union upon the hotel industry in the north of Portugal

Social media

Problematic attachment to social media: lived experience and behavioural archetypes.

Audience at the gates: how the BBC is using social media to identify talent and involve audiences in programme production.

Hackers gonna hack: investigating the effect of group processes and social identities within online hacking communities.

News

News, activism and social media: reporting the Egyptian Revolution and its aftermath by Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, RT and XINHUA.

Politics, terrorism and the news media: a case study of Saudi Arabia (2006-2007).

Climate change

Impact of climate change on extinction risk of montane tree species.

Tourist understanding of and engagement with the climate change impacts of holidays.

Predicting ecological impacts of climate change and species introductions on a temperate chalk stream in Southern Britain – a dynamic food web model approach.

Heritage

The Local community as a stakeholder group and its participation in UNESCO’s World Heritage nomination process: Jatiluwih Village, Bali, Indonesia.

Understanding heritage: multiple meanings and values.

Roman Britain

Chickens in the archaeological material culture of Roman Britain, France, and Belgium.

Making the invisible, visible. Iron age and roman salt-production in Southern Britain.

Integrating zooarchaeology into studies of Roman Britain and Medieval Russia.

Healthiness, through the material culture of the late iron age and roman large urban-type settlements of South-East Britain.

Health

Measuring what works: a mixed-methods evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal.

On being a mental health service user and becoming a service user representative: an autoethnography.

 

5th International Conference for Marketing in the Insurance Industry

conferences

FOM academics from the department of Marketing, Strategy and Innovation presented their work at the  International Conference for Marketing in the Insurance Industry (ICMI) held in Paris. This conference attracted an international audience of insurance specialists including academics, practitioners and industry consultants.

Dr Julie Robson presented two joint papers. The first examined the negative impact of brand spillover in the  financial services sector on individual U.K. based insurance companies and was co-authored with Prof Jillian Farquhar from Solent University/University of Pretoria. The second paper detailed research conducted in France on how multi-channels can destroy (rather than create) customer value. This paper was co-authored with  Prof Illaria Dalla Pozza from IPAG, Paris and Prof Jillian Farquhar.

FoM doctoral student, Ella Ejime also presented her research on psychological distance. Her results compared consumer perceptions in the UK and Nigeria. Ella is a matched funded PhD student  funded by IPAG and BU.

This conference is now in its fifth year having been held at IPAG Paris, St Gallen Switzerland and BU England.   More details about ICMI and the Association for Insurance Marketing can be found here.

 

Royal Society Content for Free!!

Guidance, writing

For Open Access week, all of the The Royals Society’s content is free to access. Browse their journals: http://bit.ly/2W1pIac 

Dr Nasiru Taura – Keynote speaker at the Africa Logistics Conference

Digital innovations of the future in the field of flying robotics and drones technology are competing over the African Airspace. Few examples include: The UPS, Zipline, & GAVI partnership to begin aerial transport of healthcare supplies in Rwanda; The AfroTech Spin off Red/Blue testing of cargo drones capable of covering distances of up to 80km (50 miles) as well as the Flying donkeys (robotic flying vehicle) to deliver cargo across Africa?

While it is clear that these companies could benefit from scale economies due to humanitarian/development issues in Africa and save lives, it is unclear how Africa could make the most of this opportunity. Dr Nasiru Taura of the Faculty of Management – Department of Marketing, Strategy, and Innovation – was invited as one of the few world-leading experts on digital entrepreneurship in Sub Saharan Africa – to be a guest speaker at the recently held 7th Africa Logistics Conference. The annual Africa Logistics Conference (ALC) brings together local and regional researchers, business leaders and professionals from humanitarian, government, donor, academic and private sectors to share knowledge on issues, trends, and opportunities related to supply chain networks in the context of humanitarian & development logistics in Africa. The event was held from 2nd to 3rd October 2019  in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr Taura draws from his research and professional practice expertise across a range of his publications on digital entrepreneurship to reflect on issues such as:

  • why Africa on one hand and drones/robotics companies on the other needs each other?;
  • why the 4th industrial revolution presents different sets of opportunities for actualizing African dreams?.

Dr Taura argues that Africa can become more prosperous by taking an active, instead of passive, role to co-create/co-produce body of knowledge that could underpin the development of the said futuristic technologies. However, he asserts that African governments need to engage in globalisation, improved absorptive capacity, & knowledge mapping of the humanitarian/development supply chains to be successful.

Should you be interested in Dr Taura’s work please see some of the favorites below or get in touch via email:

1) The digital entrepreneurship in Sub Saharan Africa (2019);
2) Accelerating Tech-enabled Entrepreneurship in Sub- Saharan Africa: A two-sector assessment – work presented  in 20th Annual International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD) held at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (May 2019);
3) Feature in the Conversation Africa;
4) A recent paper titled ‘Intra-cluster knowledge exchange and frequency of product innovation in a digital cluster’ published in 3* (ABS ranked) Journal of Small Business Management.

 

Photo of the Week: ‘Cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for smart cities’

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students for our Research Photography Competition which took place earlier this year.

These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

This week’s photo of the week was taken by Neetesh Saxena and is titled;

‘Cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for smart cities’

This image focuses on the solar and wind energy, which can be utilised in the upcoming smart cities to make the system more efficient, self-manageable, and optimised resourced, and also a cost-effective and mostly available energy resource for the smart devices.

Neetesh Saxena’s research focuses on the system’s efficiency and security aspects.

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series or the Research Photography Competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk