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Best paper award for CEL

Dr Debbie Holley and David Biggins presented a paper, co-authored with Dr Marketa Zezulkova and George Evangelinos, at the 3rd EAI International Conference on e-Learning e-Education and Online Training (eLEOT) in Dublin between 31st August and 2nd September 2016.  The paper was entitled Digital Competence and Capability Frameworks in the Context of Learning, Self-Development and HE Pedagogy.  The paper was possible through funding granted by the REF Committee as part of Unit of Assessment 25 (Education).

The paper was awarded the conference’s Best Paper Award.

The paper explores and compares the EU digital competence framework with the digital capabilities framework introduced within the UK higher and further education context in 2009 and updated in 2015.  The similarities and differences between the frameworks were explored.  Similarities include the focus on data in the context of privacy and overall literacy, as well as the inclusion in the latest release of both models of wellbeing into the key areas. The main difference between the digital competence and capabilities frameworks is in the former’s neglect of life-long learning and self-development. The paper concludes by arguing for a human-centered approach to digital competence and capability frameworks, in which learning, self-development and wellbeing should play a vital role.

BU’s TEL Toolkit was used as a case study example of how the frameworks can be used to underpin and inform physical implementations of digital solutions that benefit staff and students.   The team’s presentation at the conference acknowledged the creation of the Toolkit was a collaborative project for BU involving LLS, IT and academic staff.  The TEL Toolkit contains help, support and information to allow academic staff to use technology to develop their teaching, promote learning and enhance the student experience.  Since its launch in February 2016 it has been accessed 2,409 times, with 40% of the traffic coming from outside BU.  To access the TEL toolkit please click here.

The team were very pleased to receive this prestigious award.  Their research into frameworks and how TEL can be used to support teaching and learning is continuing.

For further information about the papers delivered at eLEOT 2016, the twitter feed is #eleot2016.

If you would like more information on using TEL in your teaching, please contact David Biggins, TEL Theme Leader.

**New** Intention to Bid Forms & Annexures for Quality Approval

Guidance

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The Faculties have requested, through the Deputy Deans of Research & Professional Practice (DDRPPs), that RKEO provide support targeted to achieve their research strategies. To aid in this, it has been agreed that, as part of the internal approvals process for bids involving external funding, the following shall become mandatory:

  1. An Intention to Bid (ITB) form must be lodged with RKEO; and
  2. At the time of lodgement, the PI must cc. his/her Head of Research with the ITB Form.

To implement the DDRPPs’ decision, RKEO has taken the opportunity to produce a more easy-to-use, streamlined ITB form to be used across all Faculties, with an Annexure for Quality Approval (A-QA) that is customised for each Faculty.

The ITB form and A-QAs will shortly be uploaded onto the Staff Intranet for download and use.

The RKE Bid Timeline and RKE Sample Costs documents on the same Staff Intranet page will also shortly be updated for reference.

RKEO’s Funding Development Team is available to provide pre-award support and their contact details can be found on the Research Blog. Should you have any difficulty in accessing the documents on the Staff Intranet, please request them from us and we will send you a copy.

Due to various staff movements and other exigencies of the workplace, the original team of Funding Development Officers which previously comprised 4.2 FTE to support the 4 Faculties is currently comprised of 2.4 FTE. For optimal support of your application and to aid in workload management, it is of particular importance that a completed ITB form and A-QA be lodged with RKEO at the earliest opportunity, ideally 3 weeks before the submission deadline.

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 team

RKEO

NERC Science Board nominations invited

NERCMembership vacancies

NERC is inviting applications from across the NERC science remit to join its key scientific advisory board, the Science Board (SB). NERC are seeking to recruit for up to four vacancies, to commence appointment in January 2017 for a period of two years, with a possible two year extension. SB is the key source of advice to NERC Council on science related issues.

For further information about SB and what is required to be a member, please see the document below.

Member profile and attributes (PDF, 73KB)

NERC is committed to the principle of providing equal opportunities for all. They are keen to obtain more diversity in our public appointments so would welcome applications from a range of candidates from all backgrounds and from across all sectors of our diverse communities.

To nominate yourself or someone else for membership, please complete the appropriate sections of the SB application form below.

Application form (Word, 160KB)

In addition to your completed form, you will also need to provide a CV listing significant accomplishments, and a list of recent publications, if appropriate. Both the form and the CV should be returned, preferably electronically, to . Alternatively, paper copies should be sent to:

Laura Gemoli
NERC
Polaris House
North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1EU

The closing date for applications is 16:00 on Friday 23 September 2016.

Interviews for a shortlist of candidates will be held in London on Tuesday 11 October 2016.

Contact

For further information please contact:

Lyndsey Jones
Secretariat officer to Science Board
01793 411609

Online event – Using population health models to deliver whole system preventative care

Wordle Feb 2014 Health, Well-Being & Society

Date : 20 September

Time: 4.00pm – 5.00pm

Event type: Online event

About the event:

The Personalised Health and Care 2020 agenda, and more recently the Local Digital Roadmaps, build on the commitment to exploit the information revolution outlined in NHS five year forward view.

With the development and implementation of these plans, alongside place-based sustainability and transformation plans (STPs), organisations must find new ways to collaborate to deliver more joined-up care for the populations they serve.

This live online event will explore how joining up data and information can bring about whole system transformation at a local level.

Click here for more information about the content of the event and the speakers.

CPD Forum Conference 2016

events

CPD Forum Conference 2016: Strategies for growing your university’s CPD offerings

Date: 29 September 2016
Location: Imperial College London SW7 2AZ
Time: 09:30am -04:30pm

This year’s conference, hosted by Imperial College London and supported by Knowledge London, will look at different ways of expanding CPD offerings in HEIs, for example through online learning, corporate/industry engagement and international customised programmes.  Keynotes speakers from Imperial College London and Oxford University will present and share with participants their successful experience in growing their university’s CPD offerings in executive education and online learning respectively.

Parallel themed afternoon workshops will provide an opportunity for participants to engage in interactive small group discussions to share best practices.

Click here for more information including the agenda.

(Subscription to Knowledge London is paid for meaning event attendance is at no cost. You will just need to fund your travel expenses.)

How can augmented reality and virtual reality transform the retail journey?

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange

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Startups, innovative retailers and experts with an understanding of the retail landscape to get involved with  the  Visa Retail Pit Stop  This takes place on 6  – 7 October.

Attendees will get the opportunity to investigate how virtual reality and augmented reality, ambient data capture, mobile and sensor technologies can improve the customer experience. Register your interest before 13 September.

Submit your interest for the Visa Retail Pit Stop

‘Coping with the new EU Landscape Workshop’ – 29th Sept 2016

Awarded & submitted bids, international

“Coping with the new EU Landscape” This workshop is taking place on Thursday the 29th of September in the Octagon on Talbot Campus at 10am – 11am.Euro_Flag

This introductory session 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. Please email Dianne Goodman at dgoodman@bournemouth.ac.uk to book in to this workshop.

Creative England Interactive Healthcare Fund

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

creativeengland1_0

The South West Interactive Healthcare Programme  is currently seeking applications from the creative sector in addition to healthcare.

This £500,000 competition is funded by Creative England’s regional growth fund and run by South West and West of England Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) in conjunction with SETsquared.

The priorities themes for this competition are:

  • Enabling the health and care workforce, patients, their carers and families to work more effectively in care settings
  • Enabling patients and citizens to manage their health and wellbeing independently
  • Influencing and incentivising behaviour to improve health outcomes.

The funding is available to small or medium sized enterprises based in England (outside of Greater London) via investments of between £25,000 and £50,000. Funding will be allocated to support the uptake and market traction of innovative digital technologies that will clearly improve patient care and health service provision.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis and the final deadline for submissions is 30 September 2016. For the full guidelines and an application form, please visit the Creative England website.

The Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Development Framework: Skills

dev_frameworkThe Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Development Framework,  ‘Skills‘ pathway targets academics, experienced or new to a wide range of skills which are needed to enhance your research activities at BU. Workshop titles include ‘Meet BRIAN’  (Bournemouth Research Information And Networking)- BU’s publication management system, ‘Searching for research funding using Research Professional’, ‘Developing an effective search strategy’, and ‘Managing your citations using Endnote Desktop and Online’.

 

More topics are to be added as awareness and demand grows.

We’ll be populating the the OD website with more information and the booking link over the coming weeks. We’ll also be providing a timetable of all events as soon as possible. In the meantime, updates will be posted on the BU Research Blog and the Faculty blogs.

HE Policy Update

TEF

The Times Higher discusses the reputational damage that could occur if leading institutions opt out of the TEF. The Times Higher argues that opting out would mean that teaching-focused institutions, who have the most to gain from the TEF, could once again find themselves losing out in an environment where research is king. Who suffers if leading universities opt out of the TEF? (THE).

The government has released an updated timetable for the TEF-

2016

September- TEF panel announcement and publication of DfE Technical Consultation response

October- Submission portal open (guidance published; metrics available)

Mid-November – Early December- Provider briefing events

2017

January- Deadline for submissions

February to May- Assessment period

May- TEF awards announced

 Switzerland

If Switzerland is formally kicked out of Horizon 2020 after February 2017, there is fear that the consequences will see severe damage on their ability to attract leading researchers and, thus, weaken a nation that relies on innovation to maintain standards of living. What lessons does Switzerland hold for the UK post-Brexit? (THE). However ETH Zurich president has said the whole European research system would suffer if it no longer includes the UK and Switzerland. European research system ‘cannot afford’ to lose Swiss and UK elite (THE).

Oxford University

Oxford University’s intake of new students this autumn will have the highest proportion of state school pupils for at least 40 years. The university has offered 59.2% of places to pupils from state schools, up from 55.6% of places taken last year. Oxford University to have ‘most state school students for decades’ (BBC News).

Graduate jobs

The Association of Graduate Recruiters’ annual survey reveals that the number of graduate jobs on offer shrunk by nearly 8 per cent this year as employers reacted to Brexit and shifted their focus to apprenticeships. Graduate jobs market shrinks 8% after Brexit vote, survey says (THE).

 Brexit inquiry

On 8 September the EU External Affairs and EU Internal Market Sub-Committees will hold a joint double evidence session launching their new inquiry “Brexit: future trade between the UK and the EU”.  You will be able to watch the session live here.

Disabled students

The number of disabled students studying at HE providers is increasing year-on-year. In 2014-15 over 6,000 UK first-degree entrants were reported as having a mental health problem – an increase of 160 per cent since 2010-11. However, there are concerns around support for disabled students, as those with a disability were typically two to four percentage points less likely to be awarded a first or 2:1. Dismantling barriers to success for disabled students (HEFCE).

 

Are Sustainability Policies Good Indicators of Universities Commitment to Sustainable Development?

international

I have been invited to present as keynote on that question, at the opening of the “3rd World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities” (WSSD-U-201) at MIT, in Boston, this month. I will also be presenting a paper.

Organised by the Office of Sustainability at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Manchester Metropolitan University, the Research and Transfer Centre ‘Applications of Life Sciences’ at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, and in cooperation with the United National University initiative ‘Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development’ (RCE), the 3rd World Symposium takes the theme ‘Designing Tomorrow‘s Campus: Resiliency, Vulnerability, and Adaptation’, with a view to contributing to further development in this fast-growing field.

More information about the event can be found at https://sustainability.mit.edu/wssd2016

The conference builds on work that I have contributed to for over a decade; getting to present at MIT, after a fairly unusual career, is something that I had never imagined.

It was exciting four years ago, to be involved in the “1st World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities” (WSSD-U-2012) in Rio (2012), as a member of the Scientific Committee and a presenter. That first conference was a parallel event to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as “Rio+20”. “The Future We Want” (an outcome of Rio+20), outlined many of the measures that countries across the world should pursue and implement to address unsustainable development. Universities have a critical role to play in bringing about change but are not always doing enough of the right things – something I have been banging the drum about, since 2005.

I also contributed to the “2nd World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities” (WSSD-U-2014), which was held in Manchester, UK in September 2014. Various publications have resulted from these conferences. The Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (which BU has signed up to) has also been established.

The third conference in Boston will result in a set of books published by Springer, as part of their award-winning “World Sustainability Series”. My role in blind-review papers, finding reviewers, editing and responding to authors etc. has been challenging. I am not a great fan of editorial work but I really have enjoyed communicating with academics across the world, about their research and sustainability projects. I am looking forward to meeting them in person when I get to Boston.

And the answer to the topic…. well, it depends!

But, at BU we are doing better than most – there is much further to go!!

 

CQR Kicks Off “In Conversation” Seminars this Wed 7 Sept

Knowledge Exchange, PG research

Centre for Qual ResearchThe Centre for Qualitative Research is kicking off its new seminar series on Wednesday 7 September at 1 pm in Royal London House RLH 201 Masterclass Suite.

New to BU and FHSS, Prof. Sam Porter (Head of Social Work & Social Sciences Dept. at FHSS) will join CQR’s Kip Jones and Caroline Ellis-Hill “in conversation” about “The Relationship between the Arts and Healthcare”.

Because CQR is keen to make information available to students and staff about qualitative METHODS, the seminars will be 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.

The “In Conversation with …” Seminar Series will be held on the FIRST WED of each month for nine months beginning in September. They will run from 1 pm until 1:50.

We are then hoping that many will join us for a CQR ‘KoffeeKlatch’ following at Naked Cafe next to RLH after the seminar.

We anticipate that by making the CQR Seminar Series really unique and exciting that they will inspire students and academics alike to investigate the wide range of qualitative methods and expertise available at CQR, and enrich their research projects by doing so.

See the list of all nine CQR Seminars over the Academic Year.

Congratulations to Prof. Brooks

Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

Ann Brooks 2016Congratulations to FHSS Prof. Ann Brooks on her latest academic article in the July issue of Cultural Politics. The article ‘The Cultural Production of Consumption as Achievement’ is co-authored with Lionel Wee.

Brooks, A. & Wee, L., The Cultural Production of Consumption as Achievement Cultural PoliticsCultural Politics (2016) 12 (2): 217-232

doi 10:10.1215/17432197-3592112

http://culturalpolitics.dukejournals.org/content/current

Research Professional – all you need to know

Funding opportunities

Research-Professional-logoEvery BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise. The Funding Development Team Officers can assist you with this, if required.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to ResearchProfessional. These can be downloaded here.

Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.

User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using ResearchProfessional.

Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.

In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of ResearchProfessional. To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional

Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on ResearchProfessional. They are holding monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with ResearchProfessional. The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat. Each session will cover:

  • Self registration and logging in
  • Building searches
  • Setting personalised alerts
  • Saving and bookmarking items
  • Subscribing to news alerts
  • Configuring your personal profile

Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the fourth Tuesday of each month. You can register here for your preferred date:

27th September 2016

25th October 2016

22nd November 2016

These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you.