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BU Research at Global Women`s (GLOW) Conference 2016

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Research from Bournemouth University was showcased at the Global Women`s (GLOW) conference organised by University of Manchester on 24th November 2016. The GLOW annual conference is designed to provide a platform for academics, policy makers and researchers involved in international maternal, child and reproductive health to share their experiences, build collaborations and inspire upcoming researchers to make a difference.

Under the theme `innovations to accelerate saving lives at birth` researchers were given the opportunity to share their ideas and novelties on improving newborn, child and maternal health. A key message echoed by speakers at the conference was on improving quality of maternity services at health facilities with a call to ensure interventions translate into saving lives along the continuum of care.

PhD student, Alice Ladur presented a poster In mama` shoes. Using board games with men to influence uptake of skilled birth attendants in Uganda. This research is about using educational board games as a means to engage with men to address barriers that hinder pregnant women from accessing skilled care at birth a key factor contributing to high maternal deaths in low income countries. Alice`s PhD project is supervised by Dr Zoe Sheppard and Professor Vanora Hundley.

Key highlights for me from the GLOW conference was receiving feedback on the game that will be tested next year in Uganda and a call for excellence as articulately stated by one of the keynote speakers ` let us all do our part in saving lives at birth and do it well`. It is possible to improve health outcomes for pregnant mothers and babies in resource constrained settings.

If you are interested in finding out more about this research, please contact me at aladur@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

Encouraging GPs to engage in self-reflection

Being a reflective doctor is integral to the safe practice of medicine and forms a significant part of the assessment process for General Practitioners in the UK. Reflective practice is integral to Fitness to Practice and Maintaining an ethical approach as identified in the RCGP training curriculum:

As a GP you should aim at understanding and learning to use your own attitudes, strengths and weaknesses, values and beliefs in a partnership with your individual patients. This requires a reflective approach and the development of insight and an awareness of self. Being honest and realistic about your own abilities, strengths, weaknesses and priorities will help you in dealing with your patients and problems; the lack of self awareness will make your job as a GP very difficult. (RCGP Curriculum)

Rutherford (Programme Leader – MA Advertising) and Dr Emer Forde (GP Foundation Programme Director – Centre for General Practice) have been leading a series of workshops with GP trainees which uses photography as a means to encourage meaningful and constructive self-reflection.

01-the-shadow-of-the-photographer-coverIn addition to our snapshots of friends and family, holidays and special events, many of us also make photographs of things… just because we liked the way something looked, but often without knowing why our attention had been attracted to a particular scene. For example, we might photograph two children playing in a park, an old house, or a bicycle lying in the grass – but we don’t know those children, or the people who lived in that house, and that’s not our bicycle. It was suggested that, when we are prompted to record a scene with which we have no conscious or logical connection, it may be that we have intuitively recognised a personally relevant metaphor in the arrangement of elements – and one to which our subconscious is now trying to bring to our attention.

The GP trainees were asked to carry a camera with them wherever they went and to be prepared to photograph those scenes or ‘moments’ that attracted their attention with an intuitive ‘tap on the shoulder’.

After identifying the three or four photographs at which they regularly paused when leafing casually (‘absent mindedly’) through their photographs, the GP trainees were then asked to reflect on the significance of both the individual elements within the frame as well as the ‘story’ depicted in the picture – and to try to identify the aspect(s) of their personal or professional lives the photographs appear to describe allegorically. The GP trainees were required to submit a self-reflective commentary of 500-1000 words explaining what they had learned about themselves as a result of this project – and how the photographs led to these insights.

These workshops have formed the basis of an ongoing research project, leading to three articles for diverse academic journals currently in preparation.

The photographs produced by the GP trainees in these workshops will be exhibited at the Atrium gallery (Talbot campus) in the week of 12 December 2016.

SHIVA project progresses with innovation funding

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

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The SHIVA Project has received Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) that runs for 12 months from August 2016 until July 2017. (HEIF 5+1+1.)

The HEIF funding will be critical in terms of supporting the development of networks locally, nationally and beyond. The key aims will be to link user groups and stakeholders in education, health and wellbeing related to children, young people and adults, through the creative digital innovations offered by the SHIVA project.

This project which brought innovative virtual sculpting tools to children with complex disabilities, enabling them to partake in creative digital activities from which they had previously been excluded was recognised in the Time Higher Awards last November winning the Outstanding Digital Innovation in Teaching or Research Category.

Originally the SHIVA project on 3D modelling and 3D printing for young people with disabilities was funded by the EU Interreg programme with the duration from 2010 to 2015.

The original project team worked with the Victoria Education Centre (VEC) in Poole.  As the project ended in 2015, it was clear there was scope to take this project beyond the initial funding and the SHIVA project has successfully been awarded impact acceleration funding and more recently HEIF funding.

A new Research Assistant, Michelle Wu, an NCCA graduate (2016), is the latest member to join this team. Michelle will be involved in turning the SHIVA system into a deployable product with proper installation, configuration and usage instructions. This area of work will help make SHIVA accessible to all potential users in the UK and further afield and strengthen the potential for developing networks that will benefit from this award winning technology.

For more information on this project contact Alexander Pasko or Oleg Fryazinov within the Faculty of Media and Communication.

Jayne Codling within RKEO co-ordinates the HEIF project portfolio for BU. Feel free to contact Jayne if you have any questions regarding HEIF at BU or knowledge exchange activities including business engagement and innovation funding.

‘Meet the Entrepreneur’

The Business School and Centre for Entrepreneurship were delighted to welcome Paul Tansey to BU in the second in the 2016/17 series of ‘Meet the Entrepreneur’ events.

Paul Tansey, Founder & MD of Intergage, a local B2B marketing agency, met students on Friday 25 November in the Kimmeridge Lecture Theatre to talk about his own personal journey as an entrepreneur and share the many lessons he has learned on the way.

Paul is a regular marketing speaker and talks about a wide range of topics including digital marketing, entrepreneurship, customer satisfaction, web design, on-line advertising and branding. When not running Intergage or speaking on marketing subjects, Paul says he can usually be found discussing marketing with clients or involved with the Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), where he is the Junior Vice President.

Mark Painter, Business Development Manager for the Business School said, ‘this was a fascinating and really valuable session. Paul provided a highly personal insight into the many ups and downs he has experienced as an entrepreneur’. Mark added, ‘there was plenty for us all to go away and think about in terms of our own roles, such as the potential rewards of doing tasks that take us out of our comfort zone. Paul also highlighted the importance of going into business to gain the freedom to do things our own way and manage our own time rather than simply for money.’

These events are a great opportunity for our staff and students to hear about the personal journey of a profiled entrepreneur and to learn more about their experiences as a business owner and their approach to founding and growing a business. The third event in this series will be held at the Executive Business Centre on Wednesday 15th February 2017 and feature Olly Whittle, Founder and CEO of BudiPay.   

The ‘Meet the Entrepreneur’ seminars are internal events for students and staff. More information can be found at www.bucfe.com/events

 

CQR lunchtime seminars “In Conversation … ”Auto-ethnography and Auto-biography” next Wednesday

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Following  on from the very successful (and jam packed!) earlier seminars, the Centre for Qualitative Research “In Conversation …”  series continues with

Auto-ethnography and Auto-biography

presented by

Judith Chapman and Sarah Collard

Wed., 7 December, Royal London House 201 at 1 pm.

 Mark your diaries now and join us for an intriguing conversation!

Because CQR is keen to make information available to students and staff about qualitative METHODS, the seminars are arranged somewhat differently than the typical lunchtime seminar.

We are asking TWO (or more) presenters to agree to present each research method as a CONVERSATION…first, between each other, and then with the audience.  We are also asking that no PowerPoint be used in order that it is truly a conversation and NOT a lecture. The conversations will be about a particular research method and its pros and cons, NOT research projects or outcomes.

Many of us then move next door to RLH to Naked Cafe to continue the conversations and network. Faculty and Students invited to attend!

See you next Wednesday at Royal London House 201 at 1 pm.  Students and Staff are Welcome!!

Bournemouth University Researchers Win ‘Innovation Oscar’ for Third Year in a Row

innovation

iet-awardBournemouth University researchers Professor Venky Dubey and Dr Neil Vaughan have won a prestigious Information Technology Award at the IET Innovation Awards for their Orthopaedic Simulator.

Funded by the Wessex Academic Health Science Network, the simulator allows surgeons to practice on a virtual engineering-based hip model, which will improve safety and durability in hip replacements.

With the growing aging population, there are 66,000 hip replacements performed annually in the UK. The simulator helps to improve surgeon’s accuracy and skill, by enabling them to practice, which will reduce the amount of surgeries which dislocate. This number currently stands at 20%.

As well as being a considerable resource for trainee surgeons, the device will also enable current surgeons to improve their accuracy. The simulator will allow NHS surgeons to focus more on their patients, by freeing up consultancy time and reducing training costs.

The IET Innovation awards are considered a ‘Technological Oscar’ in science, engineering and technology.

The judging panel commented, “The simulator was an excellent entry that is receiving international acclaim in the important application of 3D technologies within the global health industry.”

The simulator has been developed by research undertaken in a partnership between Bournemouth University and Royal Bournemouth and Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts.

When asked about the award Professor Dubey commented, “It is marvellous winning another innovation award. This is testimony of our hard work and ingenuity that we put in to our projects. This is the third year in a row that we have won the Innovation Awards,”

“This confirms that BU is second to none when it comes to innovation. We’d like to thank our collaborators and partners who have supported our projects over the years.”

New projects in the Student Project Bank!

New projects are available in the Student Project Bank! We have a wide variety of projects in the bank with organisations such as Macmillan Caring Locally, Volunteer Centre Dorset, Pause Cat Cafe and Faithworks Wessex. Projects are available to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at BU and can be used for their dissertation, assignment, unit or group work. Members of staff may also choose a project to set to their students.

The complete list of projects is available here.

New projects:

SPB033: Promotional video for Faithworks Wessex

Suitable for: Undergraduate/ postgraduate

Description: Create a video that showcases the work Faithworks does in the local community. There will be the opportunity to interview staff, volunteers and clients of Faithworks. This video will be used to raise the profile of the charity in the community and to attract volunteers.

SPB034: Video series to raise awareness of addiction and The Recovery Course

Suitable for: Undergraduate/ postgraduate

Description: Create a series of short videos to educate people around addiction and to promote St Swithuns Recovery Course. There will be the opportunity to work with the recovery ministry head, observe the course and to interview some members of the recovery course. These videos will be used as part of a national marketing and promotion campaign.

SPB035: Alcohol: Friend or Foe? Research project

Suitable for: Undergraduate/ postgraduate

Description: Identify and review existing research on the impact of alcohol consumption on the drinker and others. Identify gaps in the current literature and create a research methodology to address these gaps. Produce a report on your findings.

Apply now

If you would like to find out more and apply for one of the above projects, send us an email to request a project brief and an application form.

AHRC – Securing the future of arts and humanities research in the UK

Funding opportunities, student research

ahrcPlans for a new round of Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) have been launched by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Designed to provide world-class training opportunities for arts and humanities doctoral students in the UK, this new round of DTPs will commence in 2018 and provide studentships that begin in October 2019.

Research organisations, based in the UK, that are interested in helping to deliver the scheme should look to form a consortium of at least two organisations. To meet the key criteria for DTP2, organisations will be required to focus on excellent training, championing inter-disciplinarity and deepening collaboration with the voluntary, public and commercial sectors.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council is the largest UK funder of postgraduate training in the arts and humanities.

Research organisations delivering the Doctoral Training Partnerships will make the decisions about tailored studentship awards based on the needs of each student.

Any consortium of research organisations that are interested in applying for a Doctoral Training Partnership need to submit a statement of intent by the 13th April 2017. Early in 2017, the AHRC will be running a series of town hall meetings and surgeries to discuss the schemes in more detail.  A research organisation can only be involved in one application.  Therefore, if you’re forming a consortium or have been asked to join one then you must inform RKEO by 31st January 2017.  Please contact Jo Garrad, RKEO Funding Development Manager.

More information and guidelines on the Doctoral Training Partnerships 2 Call can be found on the AHRC website.

Corporate and Marketing Communications academic group contributes to AHRC grant

Five years ago ‘Channel 4’ approached the Corporate and Marketing Communications academic group (CMC) to ask us to carry out for them some highly interpretive research around the Paralympics – they were interested to know how audiences make sense of the coverage and thus how they might frame this event in future. From this came award winning, nation-wide phenomenological study conducted over the period of 18 months.

Indirectly this also led to ‘Channel 4’ re-thinking some of the ways in which they promoted and covered the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. Some of those Colleagues involved in this project decided to delve deeper and edited a book published by Routledge (2015) and entitled ‘Reframing Disability? Media, (Dis)Empowerment, and Voice in the 2012 Paralympics’.

As a direct result of being editors of this book, Professor Michael Silk approached Carrie Hodges, Dan Jackson and Richard Scullion to form the core bid team at Bournemouth University for the AHRC grant entitled:  ‘Re-presenting parasport bodies: the cultural legacy of the Paralympics’. In November 2016, the team got the news that they were successful in securing over £600k to fund a 30 month long series of studies that will involve a variety of qualitative research packages to consider audience interpretations, the media production and dissemination of the Games, related content as well as media analysis. The project will culminate in an interactive public exhibition and a documentary film.

 

Surveys at Avebury and Stonehenge on German TV

Collaborative research between Professor Tim Darvill in the Centre for Archaeology and Anthropology at BU and Professor Fritz Lüth of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin was featured in a short television programme made by ARD, the first German channel, first broadcast on 26 November. The programme focuses on the extensive high resolution geophysical surveys being undertaken within the Avebury and Stonehenge World Heritage Site, and was filmed during the 2016 fieldwork season in September. Click here to view the programme.

British Pain Society Meeting – Headaches and Migraines

Awarded & submitted bids, student research

Headache Special Interest Group Meeting 16th November 2016

I was supported to attend the above workshop as part of the development of my PhD which is entitled: Identifying subgroups of migraine patients who could benefit from physical therapy.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that between 50% and 75% of adults aged 18–65 years globally have had at least one headache in the last year with more than 10% reporting migraines. Migraines/severe headaches are a debilitating condition often requiring time off which has huge social, economic and personal consequences.

Approximately 35- 50% of those who suffer migraines achieve some sort of relief through medication. It is important that those who do not respond to medication find pain relief through other means for example physical therapy. The aim of my study will be a 2 arm RCT aimed at identifying migraine effect moderators, comparing physical therapy with usual medication in a tertiary migraine clinic.

The work shop run by the British Pain Society on migraines/severe headaches involved presentations from colleagues nationally who discussed; pathophysiology, comorbidities, new pharmacological and non pharmacological approaches for the treatment of migraine.

The issues of peripheral and central sensitisation were addressed and are two common areas for discussion in the pathophysiology of migraine and other pain conditions. One of the peripheral triggers to migraines that was considered were temporomandibular disorders. This raised issues around comorbidities that contribute to migraine (of which there are many) and how these may be managed using physical therapy such as physical therapy Cary.

One of the interesting aspects I took away from the day was the concept that the development of migraines may be as a result of an impairment of homeostasis and the involvement of contributory stressors. I believe this is an important development and will form part of my study.

What is clear is that the treatment and management of migraines/severe headaches are still a major challenge and my research project will aim to address a very relevant topic.

Jim Odell PhD Student and supervision team Dr Carol Clark, Dr Damian Fay and Dr Jonny Branney

RKEDF Workshop – Innovate UK: A Guide to Funding

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer

rkeo-dev-logo-squareAs part of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework, RKEO are holding a workshop for academics to learn more about funding opportunities from Innovate UK.  This workshop will be led by our local Innovate UK KTP Adviser and the will be talking about various Innovate UK funding opportunities.  There will also be a drop-in session for one-to-one advice.

Venue: Talbot Campus

Date: Friday 9th December 2016

Time: 10.00-12.00

Book your space by contacting Organisational Development.

For further information, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser.

Research Staff Association coffee morning 30.11.16 – theme funding

The BU Research Staff Association coffee morning is back for 2016/17. It is still an informal opportunity to get together but will now have a research related theme.

This month’s theme is funding and we are delighted to welcome guest speakers Ehren Milner (RKEO), Emily Cieciura (RKEO), Lisa Gale-Andrews (Clinical Research Unit), and Sharon Docherty (Clinical Research Unit) to share their knowldge about funding.

  • Date: 30 November 2016
  • Time: 10-11am
  • Venue: Global Hub, DG68, Talbot Campus

We look forward to seeing you there.

Please let us know if you are attending so we can order enough cake mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk

BU Research Staff Association