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UK Research Office training opportunties

Funding opportunities, Info Days

UKRO logoUKRO hold provides regular training events in their capacity as the UK National Contact Point for the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions​ (MSCA).

Forthcoming events:

26th October 2016: ERC Consolidator Grants Information and Proposal Writing Event to be held at the University of Glasgow

Are you a researcher interested in applying for the 2017 ERC Consolidator Grants call?

The session is aimed at researchers based in, or moving to, the UK who are planning to submit a proposal to the ERC Consolidator Grants call. The 2017 Consolidator Grants call is expected to open on 20 October 2016 and close on 9 February 2017. Applicants are expected to be active researchers and to have a track record of excellent research. The scheme is designed to support Principal Investigators (PIs) at the stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. To be eligible for the 2017 call, the PI must be 7-12 years from the date of award of their PhD on 1 January 2017, which is extendable in certain strict cases.

Another repeating event is being planned for a London location in November 2016.

 

12th October 2016: MSCA Innovative Training Networks (ITN) to be held at the University of West London

The ITN scheme supports joint research training and/or doctoral programmes, implemented by European partnerships of universities, research institutions, industry (incl. SMEs) and other non-academic organisations. The research training programmes are intended to provide doctoral students with excellent research skills, coupled with experience outside academia, hence developing their innovation capacities and employability prospects. The event aim to provide participants with an in-depth overview of the ITN scheme. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format for each scheme and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals. There will also be ample opportunity to ask questions. Attendance will be free of charge, thanks to the support from the University of West London.

To attend staff should register, via BU’s subscription, on the UKRO website. Please ensure that you have approval within your Faculty to attend. You should also register with UKRO so that you receive announcements concerning EU funding direct to your own inbox – make sure that you hear first!

If you are considering applying, please contact Emily Cieciura, REKO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International, in the first instance.

AHRC GCRF Pre-call announcement

Funding opportunities

ahrcAs part of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is intending to announce a call in October 2016 for large-scale, collaborative grants for international development. Funding will support multi-disciplinary, internationally collaborative programmes rooted in the arts and humanities that take an area-based approach to addressing global development challenges.

The intention is to make funding of £1.5-2 million and up to 3 years duration available per project through the ‘Network Plus’ funding model. This model provides opportunities to bring together arts and humanities area-based expertise across disciplines and research organisations to address a set of integrated development challenges in particular places, societies and development contexts. The AHRC anticipates funding up to 5 projects.

The application process is expected to be in two stages with the deadline for Expressions of Interest likely to be in January 2017. There will then be further engagement with those invited through to full submission stage, expected to be in early summer 2017.

In support of the anticipated launch of this call the AHRC is holding a Town Meeting / Networking event at The Studio in Birmingham on 4th November 2016. Further details of the event and how to apply for a place can be found on our Events pages.  RKEO strongly urges interested parties to attend the town meeting.  If you are interested in applying for this great opportunity then please contact Ehren Milner, RKEO Research Facilitator to see how he can support you.

Further information about the call will be announced on the AHRC website in due course.

Writing Academy Lunchbyte – Structuring your paper: looking at grammar, vocabulary and style

Publishing, writing

writing academy

Join us in this Writing Academy Lunchbyte session and have a better awareness of structuring your writing in terms of grammar,  vocabulary and style from Paul Barnes, who is the Lecturer in English For Academic Purposes.

Date : 5 October 2016 (Wednesday)

Time : 12.00 – 13.00 (presentation); 13:00 – 13:30 (lunch)

Venue : Talbot Campus

The following language aspects will be covered –

1. Grammar

  • Tense usage
  • Articles
  • Passive voice
  • Punctuation

2. Vocabulary

  • Signposting language
  • Linking words
  • Reporting verbs
  • Collocation

3. Style

  • Levels of formality
  • Objectivity
  • Language to avoid

Come and join us in this session and afterwards, there will be opportunities to have informal discussions with the presenter while having a bite to eat.

To ensure that we place the right catering order, please get in touch with Staff Development to book your place.

FMC-CMC’s Journal of Promotional of Communications Publishes New Volume

Fusion, student research

 

The editorial board of the Journal of Promotional Communications would like to announce that Volume 4 Number 1 is now available for download at: http://www.promotionalcommunications.org/index.php/pc/index.

Stephen Waddington, Partner and Chief Engagement Officer at Ketchum, writes the introductory commentary on the future of Public Relations. Seven papers follow, tackling pressing issues in promotional and political communication. The journal was launched in 2013 and is the first open-access, peer-review journal for the study of promotional cultures and communication to publish outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate work. This number includes seven outstanding papers penned by FMC-CMC students that had presented their research at CMC’s 6th Annual Promotional Communications Conference.

CMC students can choose to write a traditional dissertation of 10,000 words or write a research paper in the style of an 8,000-word journal article and deliver a 20-minute paper at the student conference.

Dr.Dan Jackson, Dr Richard Scullion, Dr Carrie Hodges, and Dr Janice Denegri-Knott received BU Fusion Funding to launch both the conference and the journal.

Last reminder for this Thursday 29th Sept ‘Coping with the new EU Landscape Workshop’

BU Challenges, international

eu_flagOur informative “Coping with the new EU Landscape” 2 workshops will be taking place this Thursday the 29th of September in the Octagon on Talbot Campus at:

10am – 11am (a few spaces available) and then a repeat of the session at 2pm – 3pm.

These introductory sessions will present, the now fairly stable, situation between the UK and the European Commission in respect of H2020; outlining the political and legal positions.

The key message is business as normal but there are many practical aspects that need to be taken into consideration. These will be explained together with strategies and tactics to optimise the bid approach; and even be advantageous in the short/medium term.

Martin Pickard, as WRG Europe Ltd, has had, along with many others, direct input at very senior level into the respective task forces and UK/Commission discussions and negotiations; enabling central insights into the requirements and opportunities to be successful.

There is still time, however don’t delay…. please email Dianne Goodman at dgoodman@bournemouth.ac.uk asap to book into one of these workshops.

 

RUFUS STONE to be Highlighted at ESRC Festival of Learning on the 7th November

esrc-fest

You are cordially invited to attend the gala 5th Anniversary Screening and Reception for the award-winning research based biopic, RUFUS STONE.

The Event will be held at the historic Shelley Theatre in Boscombe              

7 November from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.

rufus-shelley

Over the past five years, RUFUS STONE has been viewed in academic, community and service provider settings throughout the U.K. Uploaded to the Internet for just over a year, the film was viewed on line by more that 12 thousand viewers in 150 countries. It has won serveral film festival awards and was shortlisted for the AHRC Anniversary Prize in 2015.

The three-year research project behind the film’s success was part of the New Dynamics Programme of ageing in 21st Century Britain, supported by Research Councils UK. This event will hallmark this achievement and continue the film’s impact in the wider community.

We expect the gala event to atract an audience of the film’s cast and crew members, past participants in the research project, community workers and service providers, and a range of citizens, young and old, gay and straight, with an interest in LGBT history and the contributions that the film has made to myriad diversity efforts. Whether you have seen the film before, or this will be the first time on a large theatre screen, you will enjoy the occasion.

R.S.V.P. Places are limited to 150 seats only! Please register on the Eventbrite site as soon as possible to avoid being disappointed.

skip-harry

RKEO Academic and Researcher Induction

Guidance

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (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 R&KEO 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: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/research-lifecycle/developing-your-proposal/

The fifth induction will be held on Tuesday, 18th October 2016 on the 4th floor of Melbury House.

Title Date Time Location
Research & Knowledge Exchange Office (R&KEO) Research Induction Tuesday 18th October 2016 9.00 – 12.00 Lansdowne Campus

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

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

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RKEO 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 will directly contact those who have started at BU in the last five months.

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

Regards,

The RKEO teamRKEO

Research on digital consumption makes the Journal of Marketing Management Editor’s Choice List

Two papers on digital consumption co-authored by Dr Janice Denegri-Knott have been selected to appear in the Journal of Marketing Management’s new Editor’s Choice collection on digital consumption, and will be available free online until the end of November, 2016.

Redistributed consumer desire in digital virtual worlds of consumption

In this paper we discuss and illustrate how the use of software available in digital virtual worlds of consumption, including wish lists, watch lists and digital virtual goods (DVGs) interact with consumer desiring practices. We draw on a data set of three interpretative studies with technology users living in the South of England. We note the emergence of software-human desiring hybrids where various aspects of competence in and commitment to desire construction, maintenance and actualisation are distributed between subject and software, leading to new configurations of consumer desire. We bring to the fore the often neglected role of nonhuman agents in the practice of consumer desire and highlight the potential breaks caused in the assemblage of the practices unfolding in digital virtual worlds of consumption. Our study shows new ways in which consumer desire practices are re-assembled in software-human hybrids, thereby enhancing our understanding of the role of nonhuman agents (software) in consumer desire practices. It also contributes a finer understanding on how software used in the construction and actualization of desire ultimately reconfigure consumer desire practices into a management process, where the focus is not daydreaming activity or material commodities per se, but rather the software itself. Here, the software not only presents things to be desired, but also absorbs some of the skill and competence needed to conjure up desire. Ultimately these configurations appear to create breaks in the experience of desire that weaken the hold previously binding consumers to objects of desire.

The relationship between ownership and possession: observations from the context of digital virtual goods

This theoretical article highlights limitations in the current trend towards dichotomising full ownership and access-based consumption by recognising a broader, more complex array of ‘fragmented’ ownership configurations in the context of digital virtual goods (DVGs). In challenging this dichotomy, we recognise that the relationship between ownership and possession becomes particularly significant. We therefore consider how prominent DVG ownership configurations may shape the way in which possession is assembled, potentially reducing consumers’ scope of action relative to DVGs and leaving possession susceptible to disruption. Conversely, we acknowledge ways in which consumers’ continued attempts at possession may impinge upon the agency of ownership mechanisms within the market. Our analysis ultimately builds upon existing understandings of both ownership and possession, theorising their often overlooked relation in consumption.

New THET project paper published

international, open access, Publishing, Training

thet-needs-assessmentToday saw the latest publication on our BU-led THET in Nepal.  The paper ‘Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey’ was published the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences [1].   This paper reports on a quantitative survey with nearly all Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi District in the southern part of Nepal. The findings illustrate the lack of training on mental health issues related to pregnancy and childbirth in this group of health workers. Thus the paper’s conclusions stress the need for dedicated training in this field.logo THET

This is the third publication linked to our mental health and maternity care project. In Nepal mental health is generally a difficult to topic to discuss. THET, a London-based organisation, funded Bournemouth University, and Liverpool John Moores University in the UK and Tribhuvan University in Nepal to train maternity workers on issues around mental health.  This latest paper and the previous two papers are all Open Access publications.  The previous two papers raised the issue of women and suicide [2] and outlined the THET project in detail [3].

np-thet-2916-jilly

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

  1. Simkhada, B., Sharma, G., Pradhan, S., van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B. & the THET team. (2016) Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 20-26. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15793/12738
  2. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Winter, R.C., Fanning, C., Dhungel, A., Marahatta S.B. (2015) Why are so many Nepali women killing themselves? A review of key issues Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 1(4): 43-49. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/12001
  3. van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B., Fanning, P., Ireland, J., Simkhada, B., Sherchan, L., Silwal, R.C., Pradhan, S., Maharjan, S.K., Maharjan, R.K. (2015) Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(3): 499-501. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/13607/11007

Fair Access Project Fund

Funding opportunities

BU’s Fair Access Agreement includes a project fund to support Fair Access and Widening Participation projects. Faculties and Professional Services are invited to bid for funding for targeted projects which focus on one or more of the below listed BU’s Fair Access priorities. Please note that projects are expected to commence in January 2017.

Priorities

Projects must address one or more of the below priorities to bid for funds.

  1. Intersectional issues relating to race, alongside other WP Indicator Groups and Protected Characteristics in respect to access, student success and attainment.
  2. Innovative initiatives which contribute to the engagement of disadvantaged students outside of BU’s traditional target outreach geographic areas.
  3. Initiatives leading to successful employment or progression to post graduate study of undergraduate WP students. This can include working directly with employers.
  4. Initiatives improving the access, success or progression of white working class boys.

Projects that do not directly address a listed priority will be unsuccessful.

How to apply? To apply for funding, please complete the Project Proposal Grant Application form and email it to Lukasz Naglik by Friday 18 November 2016.

Please also contact Lukasz if you would like to discuss this opportunity further or if you would like to find out about current Fair Access and Widening Participation projects.

 

BU researcher speaking at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw

On 19th September, 2016 Dr Paweł Surowiec from the Faculty of Media and Communication’s Corporate and Marketing Communication Group delivered a guest lecture to diplomats and public diplomats at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw.

Following the publication of his research monograph entitled ‘Nation branding, public relations and soft power: corporatizing Poland’, this lecture was an excellent opportunity to share academic insights to Poland’s soft power, analysis emerging for this study, and to engage this key audience in the research produced by the Centre for Politics and Media Research.

Soft power and its communicative resources such as public diplomacy or nation branding continue to be of interest to diplomatic networks world-wide. Its local characteristics, however, the utilized media strategies, levels of professionalization as well as forces in global and regional politics shaping soft power capabilities are themes of professional discussions among diplomats.

The lecture session delivered by Paweł opened up a debate about the impact corporate resources have on Poland’s soft power as well as addressed questions concerning limitations of nation branding as a media strategy and a means to the advancement of influence in international relations.

“What is the internet hiding from you?”

Our ESRC Festival of Social Science event proposal has been accepted! We will be running focus groups and an information session on the topic: “What is the internet hiding from you?” on November 8th, 2016. Event held at the Executive Business Centre. Afternoon session 2.30-5pm, OR Evening session 6-8:30pm (two slots of the same sort of session).

Most of us know that our personal data is being used to filter our Facebook `timeline’ or that Amazon personalises which items it shows to us. However, as users, we have not always agreed to that personalisation, and do not know how our personal data is being used. It’s not surprising that many of us are unsure whether we can trust the internet and how our information is shared.  This workshop gives members of the public a chance to find out more about the issues and share their views, potentially shaping the future of big data research.

More details and registration here:

Afternoon: https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/event/what-is-the-internet-hiding-from-you-afternoon-session1/

Evening: https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/event/what-is-the-internet-hiding-from-you-afternoon-session2/

Fusion Investment Fund – BU research collaboration with the University of Utah

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, international, PG research

mmexport1474801890386

This year, I was awarded the Fusion Investment Funding which sponsored me and my research team to establish the collaboration between National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA, BU) and Simulation & Electronic Animation Lab (SEALAB, the University of Utah). The purpose of this collaboration is to publish high quality papers, exchange innovative ideas and explore the potential of improvement and commercialization of our surgery simulator.

Throughout the year, the collaboration progressed smoothly and obtained significant results. We kept in touch regularly with our partners, shared various interesting and inspiring ideas on the topic of physically based soft tissue simulation, collision detection and the development of surgery simulator. Inspired by the insightful discussion with our partners, we have published two journal papers and two conference papers. My PhD student Kun Qian, as the main participant of this project, has benefited a lot from it. His work was awarded the winner of British Computer Society Animation and Games Development 2016 Competition. We have also exchanged ideas on funding application, teaching and research team management. The most impressing experience was the attending of their internal computer graphic research seminars which aims to promote the idea exchange and potential cooperation between different research groups. It is quite useful for us to improve the efficiency and quality of the similar seminar we held at BU. Besides SEALAB, we also visited the world leading medical visualization research group of the University of Utah: Scientific Centre of Visualization (SCI) and University of Utah Medical Centre. Those two organizations demonstrated the state of art of medical visualization and simulation, provided practical and valuable suggestion on the future direction of surgery simulator.

Although this fusion project finished, our collaboration has never stopped. We are continuing working on the topic of biomechanical based soft tissue simulation and exploring potential opportunities for joint research funding application. The following are selections of some pictures of the beautiful view of the state of Utah, main campus of University of Utah and the award we achieved.

Dr. Xiaosong Yang

National Centre for Computer Animation, Faculty of Media and Communication

bcsaward img_20160830_145313 img_20160816_085632 img_20160815_091353

EPSRC seeks strategic advisers

epsrcW86The EPSRC is re-opening its search for applications to join two of our Strategic Advisory Teams (SATs). The SATs seeking further applications are:

  • Manufacturing the Future
    • Automotive – Industry Member
    • Food – Sustainability/Processing
    • Digital Manufacturing
    • New Industrial Systems
    • Chemistry/Biochemistry with a focus on manufacturing research challenges
  • Research Infrastructure – Capital
    • Industrial Facilities user
    • Person experienced in Managing Institutional/Regional Facilities

Following the internal shortlisting process, they have judged that these vacancies would benefit from a wider pool of applicants. To apply, please fill in an application form by 21 October. If you have applied previously in this round, please do not re-apply.

For more information and contact details please see the vacancies page.

EPSRC is committed to a policy of equal opportunities. Appointments to the Strategic Advisory Teams are made on merit. However, they are keen to obtain greater diversity in SAT membership. Applications from women, those with a disability and members of minority ethnic groups, who are currently under-represented on the SATs, are therefore especially welcome.

Bournemouth University (BU) rises 20 places in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017

Fusion Building - ST league table Bournemouth University (BU) has leapt 20 places in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017.

BU is now 62nd in the league table, published today, which is based on performance in nine key indicators – including student satisfaction, research quality, graduate job prospects, service and facilities spend, and teaching and academic feedback.

The result underlines BU’s strong graduate employability – including 2016 Visual Effects Oscar and BAFTA winners – and placement opportunities for all honours degree students.

Other highlights include investments in academic appointments, increased student satisfaction, and BU’s results in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), where 62 per cent of research submitted was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent.

BU is also investing £250 million in its estates infrastructure and facilities by 2019, constructing new buildings and redesigning both Lansdowne and Talbot Campuses.

Professor John Vinney, Vice-Chancellor of Bournemouth University, said: “The 20 place rise in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide is a significant achievement, and recognises the great work taking place at Bournemouth University.

“We are delighted that our research, education and professional practice are all highlighted as areas of particular strength.  The fusion of these elements is key to creating a fantastic student experience at BU and making our graduates extremely employable.

“This result recognises the hard work and commitment of all of the BU community.  We will continue to build on this success with ongoing investment in our staff and students, as well as our facilities, to ensure BU keeps getting better.”

This is the latest of several league table successes for Bournemouth University this year.

BU was also recognised as one of the world’s best new universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) Top 150 Under 50 rankings of universities under 50 years old, and in the THE’s top 200 most international universities in the world.

Call for abstracts – Marine Protected Areas: Science, Policy & Management

conferences

Climate change, policy developments such as Brexit and progress in marine science all contribute to a fast changing context for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This conference aims to examine the current issues from a variety of perspectives at a time when questions on the future approaches to MPA’s are the subject of policy development. Contributions are welcome from individual practitioners, NGOs, statutory and governmental organisations as well as from academia.

Abstracts of papers and posters are invited ranging from original scientific research reports through reviews to policy analyses, critiques and management practice innovations. Both UK and comparative international perspectives are welcome on all forms of Marine Protected Area.

While abstracts may focus on specific MPAs, especially when the subject matter is of wider relevance, submissions which examine or exemplify general issues such as the relationship between scientific evidence, policy and management, or the balance between conservation and socio-economics are also encouraged. The conference will result in a published proceedings volume with the prospect also of themed journal publication for suitable peer reviewed papers.

The Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association and Poole Harbour Study Group are jointly organising the conference on ‘Marine Protected Areas: Science, Policy & Management’ from Monday 15th – Wednesday 17th May 2017 in Poole. This will also coincide with a week of European Maritime Port festivities and culminate in Poole Boat Show.

Full details about abstract submission can be found here.

Conference themes

  • The science of Marine Protected Areas
  • MPA’s and fisheries: Policy & practice
  • Climate change, non-indigenous species and marine conservation
  • Post Brexit UK policy and European Marine Sites
  • Recreational & commercial pressures: Impacts & solutions
  • Water quality, nutrients, and eutrophication

For more details, contact Dr Roger Herbert.