BU Research Blog

An academic delegation from Yanshan University in China visited Professor Hongnian Yu from the Department of Computing in the Faculty of Science & Technology at Bournemouth University last week. The Chinese delegation met a range of international research exchange partners and participants from Pakistan, Thailand, Bangladesh and their own country, China, as well as a guest partner Professor Qyyum, from Pakistan who as Erasmus Mundus project coordinator has just been on an exchange mobility to BU himself.

The Faculty of Science & Technology is involved in an academic exchange project framework of the EU’s Erasmus Mundus (EM) Initiative (Fusion, c-LINK and RABOT). This collaborative network coordinates reciprocal academic mobility at all levels of higher education and research exchange for a defined range of academic subjects via a network of hosting and sending Universities in South East Asia and the EU.

Over the course of three years, around 250 exchanges have been facilitated through a number of projects.  A number of people are currently studying and researching at continental and UK universities as a result.  Here at BU we are currently hosting 9 Erasmus Mundus grantees completing their postgraduate and PhD studies, while quite a few more have already completed their stay.  Meanwhile, the RABOT project has seen more than 20 people over the last couple of years coming study at BU, mainly from Yanshan University in China.

1. 1st Row (from left): Prof Yin Yao, (Yanshan University, China), Prof YU (EM Project Coordinator, BU), Prof Xiangdong Kong (Vice President of Yanshan University, China), Prof Amir Qayyum (Fusion and c-LINK partner, Pakistan), Dr Cang (Rabot and Fusion local host at BU)
2. 2nd row: Assistant Professors and students from the Chinese delegation, BU Erasmus Mundus PhD researchers

The visit from the Yanshan delegation has been a productive reflection of this collaborative work between different universities and has been beneficial for the involved academics. Visitors and partners have been exploring further collaboration, exchanging an overview of their research environments and current research topics.

The Bournemouth University team was led by Professor Hongnian Yu, and Dr Shuang Cang. Other participants from the Bournemouth University included the PhD researchers Yan Wang (Fusion, from Yanshan University), Pengcheng Liu (RABOT), Pree Thiengburanathum (PhD BU, Thailand), Sajjad Akbar (c-LINK, Pakistan), Ikram Asghar (c-LINK, Pakistan), Arif Reza Anwary (Fusion, Bangladesh) and XI WU (Fusion, China).

The two teams had a workshop at FB103 (Fusion Building) Bournemouth University on 9th September 2016 from 14:00 to 17:30. The participants from both teams presented their latest research works for exchanging ideas and knowledge, and discussed further collaboration.

The workshop environment in the excellent new Fusion Building was received as very friendly and informative. The participants from different countries and cultures shared their ideas, work ethics and expectations. This involved a discussion of the variances and differences of workload expectation, supervisory expectations and the levels of academic roles and functions during the graduation and research process for the respective degrees in each country present at the workshop.

There were also informal discussions amongst the participants regards their personal mobility experiences during the coffee break. The Vice President of Yanshan University invited PhD researchers to pay a visit to their University in China and offered his full support for subsequent visits and research activities.

For more information, contact Karin Ermert.

Researchers from the University of Toyo in Tokyo have visited Bournemouth University Lecturer, Dr Debbie Sadd, an expert in events management and community involvement in mega sporting events.

Debbie has been heavily involved in developing volunteer programmes including the setting up of Bournemouth’s Festival Maker programme and the Farnborough Flyers for the Farnborough Air Show.

The team from Japan travelled to Bournemouth to find out more about volunteering at London 2012 and how Tokyo can recruit and train its own volunteers in time for the Games in 2020.

“Volunteering was a really key part of London 2012.  Around 70,000 ‘Games Makers’ volunteered during the Olympics and Paralympics, including myself, and were arguably one of the highlights of London 2012 – you only need to read the headlines at the time to see how well received they were,” explains Dr Sadd.

“BU staff and students were involved in volunteering at the medal ceremonies for the sailing events at Weymouth and Portland as well as helping at other venues such as Eton Dorney Rowing Centre and even working as part of the Olympic Broadcasting Network.  Colleagues from BU went to great lengths to support our students to take part in the Games at Weymouth and Portland.  It was a great opportunity for them and inspired us to set up Bournemouth’s Festival Makers Programme.”

“Based on the highly successful Games Makers, the scheme aims to make local people ambassadors for Bournemouth and get them involved in events such as the Air Show and help visitors to get the most out of their trip,” says Dr Sadd, “Our Events Management students are very much involved in the scheme and get to see how an event is run and how we recruit, train and manage volunteers.”

In December 2015, Dr Sadd was invited by the British Council to travel to Tokyo to give a keynote speech at a conference focused on sharing experiences from London 2012.  It was here that Dr Sadd was able to share BU’s experiences with universities from all over Japan and with members of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee.

“This week’s visit is a chance to share our experiences of volunteering as part of London 2012 and beyond and begin to shape a volunteering programme for Tokyo 2020,” says Dr Sadd, “It was great to be involved in the 2012 Olympics and I’m really pleased to be able to use what we learned to help design a volunteering scheme for 2020.”