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Centre for Midwifery, Maternity and Perinatal Health (CMMPH) represented at the 5th European Midwives Association Education Conference

ema-conference-flyer

The CMMPH was well represented at the above international conference highlighting innovations in education, practice and regulation. The conference was held this year in London and attended by HRH The Princess Royal. Presentations from CMMPH colleagues ranged from developing a common framework for assessing practice and innovative on-line education approaches, to dignity and care in pregnancy and childbirth and how evidence is utilised in practice.

Presentations (oral and poster) include:

  1. i) Grading Practice: A common framework to aid consistency and parity across midwifery education programmes in the UK, Fisher M and Way S
  2. ii) Dignity and care in pregnancy and childbirth: Educating student midwives, Hall J and Mitchell M I
  3. ii) The BRIEF randomised trial: do Cochrane summaries help midwifery students understand the findings of Cochrane systematic reviews? Alderdice, F and Hundley, V
  4. iv) UUPP study: Updating the understanding of perineal practice at the time of birth across the UK, Stride, S, Hundley, V, and Way, S.
  5. v) Promoting physiological birth in Malta: reflection on an educational project. Poster, Hall J and with three midwifery colleagues from Mater Dei Hospital, Malta
  6. vi) Not just ticking the boxes: online practice assessment in midwifery. Poster, Angell, C. Wilkins, C., Leamon, J. and Way, S.

Other research that is currently ongoing at BU, but was highlighted at the conference was the Interim report of the Human Rights & Dignity Experience of Disabled Women during Pregnancy, Childbirth and Early Parenting. Hall, J., Collins, B., Ireland, J. and Hundley, V.

group-photo

 

The photo is of (L-R) Jenny Hall, Sara Stride, Sue Way, Carol Wilkins, Catherine Angell and Vanora Hundley.

BU ADGE to chair ASEAN region conference

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Associate Dean (Global Engagement) in the Faculty of Media and Communication, Professor Guy Starkey, has been invited to be Programme Chair of the JMComm 2017 conference in October in Singapore. The call for papers has just been published, and you can find it below.

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Call for papers for the Global Science and Technology Forum’s 6th Annual International Conference on Journalism & Mass Communications (JMComm 2017). The conference will take place from 9th – 10th October 2017 in Singapore. 

Past contributors have included scholars from Europe, the Americas, Australasia, Africa and elsewhere. Accepted papers will be considered for publication.

The paper submission deadline is 8th May 2017. The call is now open at http://www.jmcomm.org/call-for-papers/en/cfp.html

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Guy would be grateful if you could help disseminate the JMComm 2017 call for papers through your own networks. For ANY inquiries, please email secretariat@jmcomm.org

Four new FHSS publications

open access, Publishing, writing

bond-ahmed-2016

Congratulations to Dr. Carol Bond and Dr. Osman Ahmed in FHSS on the publication of their latest academic paper ‘Can I help you? Information sharing in online discussion forums by people living with a long-term condition’ [1].    Further congratulations are due to Osman who recently had three other papers accepted for publication [2-4].

 

Prof Edwin van Teijlingen

 

References:

  1.  Bond, C., Ahmed, O., 2016. Can I help you? Information sharing in online discussion forums by people living with a long-term condition. Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics, 23 (3).
  2. West L.R., Griffin , S., Weiler, R., Ahmed,O. 2016 Management of concussion in disability sport: a different ball game? British Journal of Sports Medicine doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096767
  3. “Educating the masses: Suggestions for improving online concussion information via the mainstream media” in Concussion (not available online yet)
  4. “Do Neurocognitive SCAT3 Baseline Test Scores Differ Between Footballers (Soccer) Living With and Without Disability? A Cross-Sectional Study” in Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine (not yet available online)

 

 

HSS staff achieve eHealth publication

open access

Dr Carol Bond (Principal Academic Digital Health) and Dr Osman Ahmed (Lecturer in Physiotherapy) have recently had their work on online health information sharing published in the Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics.

Building upon their prior work on online communities, this study took a qualitative approach to explore the information shared by online discussion boards and how users shared this information. The study used diabetes forums as an exam, with key findings showing that much of the information sharing came from experience (including sharing their experiences from interactions with healthcare professionals). Drs Bond and Ahmed are now developing this work further by exploring similar patterns using other social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, etc).

This paper is available online at:

https://hijournal.bcs.org/index.php/jhi/article/view/853

Bond, CS; Ahmed, OH. Can I help you? Information sharing in online discussion forums by people living with a long-term condition. Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics, 2016;23(3):620-626.

 

 

BU Physio makes it into Frontline!

Congratulations go to Debbie Neal, physiotherapy lecturer in HSS, for her recent appearance in the Frontline Journal (the professional magazine of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy). Debbie was interviewed in relation to her post as the training and evaluation lead for the South Somerset Symphony programme. The article is also available online at:

http://www.csp.org.uk/frontline/article/leadership-taking-flight

We are fortunate enough to have someone as experienced as Debbie within our team here at BU, and its great that her leadership role is being recognised by Frontline!

Bournemouth University researchers awarded major new research council grant to explore Paralympic coverage

Para-athlete
This summer saw Team GB win 147 medals at the Paralympic Games in Rio – their highest total since the 1988 Games in South Korea.  As in 2012, media coverage of the Games celebrated the achievements of Britain’s ‘super humans’, but now the Games have finished for another 4 years, what difference has that coverage made in the lives of people with disabilities?Researchers at Bournemouth University, in collaboration with colleagues at Loughborough University, the University of Bath, Nottingham Trent University, and the University of Western Ontario, have been awarded a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to find out exactly how extensive media coverage of para-sports shapes public perceptions of, and attitudes towards people with disabilities. The interdisciplinary team will be led by Professor Michael Silk, a Professor of Sport in BU’s Faculty of Management and Director of the Sport & Physical Activity Research Centre.

“How people with disabilities are treated in everyday life is influenced by the way that they’re portrayed in the media, but there is very little evidence to explain exactly how the visibility of para-sport athletes makes a difference to the everyday lives of people with disabilities,” explains Professor Silk, “There is a need to find out how para-sport broadcasts are put together and what audiences think of such coverage. This can help us to understand how such coverage changes the way people with disabilities are treated and perceived.”

The project builds on previous research conducted at Bournemouth that explored the way athletes with disabilities were represented in the media during the 2012 Paralympic Games.  This coverage celebrated athletes for their achievements as ‘super humans’.  Subsequent research questions the narrative of para-athletes as ‘super-humans’ and suggests that many people with disabilities largely didn’t benefit from the legacy of the Games.”

“The coverage of the last two Paralympic Games has certainly elevated the visibility of certain types of disability,” continues Professor Silk, “and this might open the door to potential social change.  Despite this, much work is needed to better understand the ways in which athletes are presented in the media and the very real barriers faced by people with disabilities when participating in everyday life.”

“To find out more about the role of Paralympic coverage in everyday life, the research addresses how different audiences make sense of this coverage.  We’ll also be analysing broadcast coverage of this year’s Paralympics and talking to staff from Channel 4 – the UK’s official Paralympic broadcaster and a project partner on this research.  We want to find out more about their editorial decision-making process.  We’ll be sharing our findings through an exhibition and full-length documentary.”

“We’re going to be working with a wide range of people and organisations – Paralympics GB, former Paralympians, disability artists and activists to name just a few – to develop recommendations that will impact future coverage of para-sport.  We want to influence para-sport coverage so that it’s inclusive, stereotype-free and makes a difference to the daily lives of people with disabilities.  Ultimately we hope that our project will help to positively influence the way that para-athletes are portrayed through Paralympic broadcasts across the world.”

research*eu – latest update

Funding opportunities, international

EveryCORDIS research eu month the European Commission publishes research*eu, their round-up of the latest news from research projects funded by their various schemes.

The following highlights will be of interest to academics at BU:

October 2016 (Special feature: What we can learn from insects?)

November 2016 (Special feature: Shaping the future of offshore wind)

By taking a look at these items and the many others reported in research*eu, you may find potential partners or spark ideas for future research collaboration. In addition, CORDIS, the European Commission’s primary portal for results of EU-funded research projects, provides a wealth of information to assist you when building a new project.

If you are considering applying for EU funding, please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International, to discuss your ideas!

Trust Repair in Service Sector (QR Funding Winner)

Awarded & submitted bids, BRIAN

Congratulations to academics from the Faculty of Management Dr Julie Robson, Prof. Juliet Memery, Dr Caroline Jackson, Dr Jason Sir, Dr Elvira Bolat and Samreen Ashraf for securing QR funding for their research into trust repair in the service sector.

Following a series of recent scandals and misdeeds there has been widespread erosion of trust in individual and indeed whole business sectors. This project examines trust repair in three very different high profile contexts: mis-selling in financial services (e.g. PPI); HR issues in the retail sector (Sports Direct) and safety issues within the leisure sector (Alton Towers).

With trust damage to firms occurring on an almost weekly basis, this research is not only topical but also responds to a very real business need in terms of providing firms with a framework to help them repair trust with their consumers.
This project kicked off this month. The research will be concluded by July 2017 with a dissemination event for academics and practitioners planned soon after.

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UoA25 funding – call for new proposals

REF Subjects

cel-logo-web    cemp-logo

The Centre for Excellence in Learning and the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice invite new applications for funding (up to £3000) to develop research outputs and impact and to enhance the research environment in relation to the Research Excellence Framework Unit of Assessment: Education.

Up to three proposals will be funded in this round.

This fund is exclusively to support the development of research and the generation of research impact in close alignment with BU’s UoA25 strategy, sub-themes and development spending plan. It is expected that recipients of funding will work towards submission to UoA25 in REF 2020. Staff applying for new funds, having been in receipt of UoA25 funding in 2015-16 will be subject to a review of outputs / impact generated from previous funding.

Funds can be used for the following kinds of activity:

  • Research output generation
  • New project development
  • Impact generation
  • Research events (hosting, arranging)
  • Data conversion

NB conference attendance should be funded through faculty QR budgets.

Applications – uoa25-funding-application-2016-17 – can be submitted up to January 13th 2017, and are particularly welcome from groups of staff with clear capacity-building objectives for UoA25.

PGR students will need to demonstrate that this funding is specifically for UoA25 related activity and cannot be covered by the standard PGR development funds.

Applications to: Brian McNulty, Research Development Co-ordinator, Faculty of Media & Communication – bmcnulty@bournemouth.ac.uk

Line manager or supervisor support is required for the level of commitment to the activities proposed.

All funds must be spent or committed by the end of July 2017.

 

New page for Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework

long-banner-intro-to-the-frameworkThere is now a static page introducing the BU Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework. If you are considering which sessions to book, this pages gives an overview of all the pathways and provides direct links to all the booking screens.

This page is within the BU Research Blog’s Research Toolkit. Please take a look at this area to see the various guides and support available.

Health Innovation Programme – February 2017

Business Engagement, innovation

innovation_591

This 3 day course is aimed at innovators and entrepreneurs who are looking to start or expand a healthcare related business.

Dates: 9, 10 & 14 February 2017

Location: University of Southamption Science Park

Deadline for applications:  31 January 2017*  – places will be filled on a first come first serve basis

For more information: click here

To apply: click here

How to Write a 4* Article

BRIAN, Guidance, Publishing, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Training, writing

Prof. Mark Reed

A fortnight ago Prof Mark Reed, Professor of Socio-Technical Innovation at Newcastle University and the man behind Fast Track Impact, tweeted some thoughts on how to write a 4* paper for the REF. He went on to explain his thinking in more detail in a guest post on the Research Fundementals blog, the post is published here with the authors permission.

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How do you write a 4* paper for the Research Excellence Framework (REF)? It is a question I’ve asked myself with some urgency since the Stern Review shredded my REF submission by not allowing me to bring my papers with me this year to my new position at Newcastle University.

Obviously the answer is going to differ depending on your discipline, but I think there are a few simple things that everyone can do to maximize their chances of getting a top graded research output.

I’m going to start with the assumption that you’ve actually done original, significant and rigorous work – if you haven’t then there is no point in reading any further. However, as I am increasingly asked to pre-review papers for colleagues across a range of disciplines, I am seeing examples of people who write up work as a 2* or 3* paper that has the potential to get a better score. I should point out that I believe that there is an important role for 1* and 2* papers, and that I regularly write these on purpose to address a problem of national significance and frame it for the specific, narrow audience that is likely to be able to benefit most from my work. However, whether I like it or not, as a Professor in a research-intensive University, there is an expectation that I will be submitted as a 4* researcher, which means I need a few 4* papers as well.

You can see some more detailed thoughts on what I think makes 4* for different types of paper in this Tweet:

As you’ll see from the discussion under that tweet though, my more detailed thoughts probably only apply to Units of Assessment across panels A-C, and probably isn’t relevant to the arts and humanities.

Having said this, I think there are a number of things we can all do to maximize the chances of our work being viewed favourably by REF panelists.

  1. Write to the criteria: when I was learning to drive, my instructor told me that in the test I should make sure I moved my head when I was looking in the rear view mirror, to make sure the examiner noticed I was using my mirrors. We’re all used to writing to the criteria of funding calls, and in fact we are all perfectly used to writing papers to the criteria of our target journals. In the last REF, research outputs were judged against three criteria: originality, significance and rigour. Whatever the interpretation of these criteria in your discipline, have you made it explicit to REF panelists reading your work exactly what is original, and why it is so original? Have you explained and effectively justified the significance of your work? And have you included evidence that your methods, analysis and interpretation is rigorous, even if you have to use supplementary material to include extra detail about your methods and data to get around journal word limits?
  1. Get REF feedback before you submit your work for publication: find out who is going to be reviewing research outputs for REF internally within your Unit of Assessment at your institution and ask them to review your work before you submit it. They may be able to make recommendations about how you might improve the paper in light of the REF criteria. Sometimes a little bit of extra work on the framing of your research in relation to wider contexts and issues can help articulate the significance of your work, and with additional reading and thinking, you may be able to position your work more effectively in relation to previous work to demonstrate its originality more clearly. Adding a few extra details to your methods and results may re-assure readers and reviewers that your approach is indeed rigorous. This is not just about doing world-leading research; it is about demonstrating to the world that your work is indeed world-leading. For me, these criteria are nothing new and are worth paying attention to, whether or not we are interested in REF. Meeting these three criteria will increase the chances that you get through peer-review and will increase the likelihood that your work gets cited.
  1. Analyse and discuss good practice in your own area: the only way to really “get your eye in” for REF is to actually look at examples of good and poor practice in your own area. Below, I’ve described how you can design an exercise to do this with your colleagues. You can do it yourself and learn a lot, but from my own experience, you learn a lot more by doing this as a discussion exercise with colleagues who work in your area. If you can, take notes from your discussion and try and distill some of the key lessons, so you can learn collectively as a group and more effectively review and support each others’ work.

How to organize a discussion to work out what makes a 4* paper in your area:

  • Identify top scoring institutions for your Unit of Assessment (UOA): download the REF2014 results, filter for your UOA (columns E or F), then filter so it only shows you the outputs (column J), and then filter for 4* (column L), showing only the institutions from your UOA that had the highest percentage of 4* outputs. Now for those institutions, look across the table (columns L-P) to see which has the highest proportion of outputs at either 3* or 4*. For example, an institution may have 80% of its outputs graded at 4* and 15% graded at 3*, meaning that 95% of its outputs were graded at 3-4*
  • Download a selection of papers from the top scoring institutions: go to your UOA on the REF website, find and click on the institutions you’ve identified in step 1, under “view submission data”, click on “research outputs”, copy and paste output titles into Google Scholar (or your search engine of choice) and download the articles. You may want to select outputs randomly, or you may want to go through more selectively, identifying outputs that are close to the areas your group specialize in
  • Repeat for low scoring institutions so you can compare and contrast high and low scoring outputs
  • Discuss examples: print copies of the high and low scoring outputs, labeled clearly, and in your next UOA meeting, let everyone choose a high and a low-scoring example. Given them 10-15 minutes to quickly read the outputs (focusing on title, abstract, introduction, figures and conclusions so you’re not there all day) and then ask the group (or small groups if there are many of you) to discuss the key factors that they think distinguish between high and low scoring outputs. Get your group(s) to distill the key principles that they think are most useful and disseminate these more widely to the group, so that anyone who wasn’t present can benefit.

It would be great if I could tell you that these are my “three easy ways to get a 4* paper” but doing work that is genuinely original, significant and rigorous is far from easy. If you have done work that is of the highest quality though, I hope that the ideas I’ve suggested here will help you get the credit you deserve for the great research you’ve done.

Researcher in residence programme

Funding opportunities, innovation

Technology in the hands

Open call

Digital Catapult and the RCUK Digital Economy (DE) Theme is now accepting applications for the Researchers in Residence Programme, to be hosted at the Digital Catapult Centre in London or at one of the local centres (Northern Ireland, Yorkshire, Brighton and North East & Tees Valley).

Projects can either be applied or more strategic in nature:

Applied projects will generally be user-centred and focused on impact generation in the short to medium term. Proposals should be relevant to one or more of the current Digital Catapult technology layers.

Strategic projects will help shape current Digital Catapult projects, and drive the creation of new activities or projects relevant to Digital Catapult’s overall mission. Proposals that highlight potential new directions, new users and novel means of impact generation are encouraged. The focus should be impact generation in the broadest sense. Projects could be undertaken on either a full time basis or via a series of short secondments to Digital Catapult.

Eligibility: Open to those with a contract of employment at a UK university, or PhD students who have submitted their thesis by the closing date, Sunday 8 January 2017.

Timeline: The closing date is 23:59, Sunday 8 January 2017 with decisions due by early March. The programme will run until 2018, with two funding calls each year. The next round will open for applications in summer.

Funding: all residencies will benefit from a grant of up to £25,000 to cover expenses, including travel and accommodation.

Further information

Newsletter and more information about Digtal Catapult

 

 

Sound recording, stories and memory: listening to stories ‘told’ by a tree

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Centre for Games and Music Technology Research.

sellasia

Speaker: Dr Panos Amelidis  (Bournemouth University Lecturer In Music & Audio Technology).

 

Title:     Sound recording, stories and memory: listening to stories ‘told’ by a tree

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 7th December 2016

Room: P409, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: The village of Sellasia in Southern Greece has perfect conditions for the cultivation and production of olives and olive oil, an activity very important for the economy of its inhabitants. But, can an olive tree be transformed into a fictional conduit of storytelling using audio recording technology and its possibilities? This seminar refers specifically and discusses three aspects of a practice-based research project, an audio-visual installation, ‘Stories of a Tree’ based on the sound produced by the olive tree as well as the soundscape of Sellasia. The first aspect is the concept and research questions of the project. The second concerns the methodology which was implemented for its realization, and the content in which it was placed. The third is the artistic challenge of communicating something about history and memory, related to the Sellasia village, through the medium of composed sound and interactive technology using a mixture of field recordings and interviews collected during the author’s staying at the village, as part of a residency organized by McGill University.

 

We hope to see you there.