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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.

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.  The induction will also provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

The fourth induction will be held on 5th April 2016 on the 4th floor of Melbury House. The format of the day is as follows:

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 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

Alan Breen: 0.2 FTE Professor of Musculoskeletal Research in the Faculty of Science & Technology

I am delighted to have joined the Faculty in a part-time capacity in January of this year to help develop a new Impact Case Study related to spinal patient stratification based on biomechanics.   It is a privilege to now be a part of the team, some of whom I have already worked with as a PhD supervisor.

As some of you know, I come from the AECC, the College of Chiropractic, which is an Associate College of the University.  I have already participated in some unique collaborative studies with BU researchers over some years.   My new post will enable me to continue such collaborations, but now as an actual member of BU staff.

My particular research focus has been on a novel technology called ‘Quantitative Fluoroscopy’, which I invented in the 1990s and have worked to develop and use in research ever since.  This technology is becoming the gold standard for detecting strains between the vertebrae of the spine – and its use is expanding in the diagnosis of problematical spinal pain conditions.

With colleagues from BU, we have now begun to link these devices with other technologies and with modelling techniques to more thoroughly represent the integrated function of the spinal bones and tissues in a spectrum of disease conditions.

I look forward to meeting all of you and sharing these ideas and research activities.

Best wishes,

Alan

 

The Royal Society – Pairing Scheme

Funding opportunities

Each year 30 research scientists are paired with UK parliamentarians and civil servants. They learn about each other’s work by spending time together in Westminster and the researcher’s institutions.

Those taking part gain an insight into how research findings can help inform policy making, and come away with a better understanding of how they can get involved.

See who has taken part in previous years.

How does the scheme work?

The scheme takes place annually, beginning with a ‘Week in Westminster’ in which the pairs first meet. Over the week the scientists take part in workshops, hear from invited speakers and spend two days shadowing their pair.

Read 2015’s ‘Week in Westminster’ agenda (PDF). You can see how last year’s participants spent their week in Westminster by checking out this Storify.

After the ‘Week in Westminster’, it is the turn of the parliamentarians and civil servants to get an insight into the world of research, undertaking reciprocal visits with their pairs.

The scheme is now open for applications from scientists until Wednesday 9 March.  Find out how to apply. Email public.affairs@royalsociety.org for more information.

Who is the scheme for?

Parliamentarians

  • Learn about the science behind the issues raised by your constituents and meet experts who can provide evidence on the policy issues you are dealing with
  • Visit your local universities or research institutions and meet students and researchers living in your local area
  • Find out how your local schools are encouraging students to study science and maths subjects
  • Discover how scientific research underpins the UK’s innovative industries

Find out more

Civil servants

  • Find out more about the science behind the policy issues you work on
  • Learn how to analyse research findings and discover how they can be used to inform the policy decisions you make
  • Make long-lasting relationships with scientists working in your field during the Week in Westminster and by visiting your pair’s research facility
  • Network with other civil servants working in scientific fields

Find out more

Scientists

  • Learn how parliament and government work and how you can feed in to the policy making process
  • Find out how your research can inform policy decisions
  • Build lasting relationships with parliamentarians and civil servants
  • Network with fellow scientists

Find out more

Creative Digital & Design – Horizon 2020

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

Innovate UK have put together a very useful list of upcoming funding calls relating to Horizon 2020 funding. There are also links to other sources of information including events and their Guide to Horizon 2020 and Other InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]European Funding for the Creative Industries.

This information is provided freely to members of the _connect Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) Creative Digital  & Design. There are currently 16 KTNs plus many other groups. Whatever your discipline, there will be a group to which you can contribute and promote your research interests.

Why not take a look and register to receive updates direct to your inbox? 

Join RKEO and Fundraising and Alumni for coffee and cake (and fruit)

Coffee Morning, Guidance

cupcakeRKEO have teamed up with Fundraising and Alumni to hold a joint coffee morning which will be taking place on Thursday, 10th March. Members of the RKEO and Fundraising and Alumni will be in the Retreat, Talbot Campus from 9.30 to 10.30am.

Come along and find out what Fundraising and Alumni do and how they can help you, and/or discuss your research plans with the RKEO team and check out how they can support you through the whole research funding process from applying through to successful project management and delivery.  We can help with public engagement, knowledge transfer opportunities and much, much more…

Do pop in for a chat with us and see how we can help you, or just pop by and enjoy a coffee and a cake (and fruit).

We look forward to seeing you!

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 fuorth Tuesday of each month. You can register here for your preferred date:

22nd March 2016

26th April 2016

24th May 2016

28th June 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.

RKEO – Drop-in sessions

Guidance

flyingIn response to positive feedback from academics about how much you benefit from face-to-face meetings with staff from RKEO, we have set up drop-in sessions for 2016.

These sessions will be held on a monthly basis and anyone can attend with any queries for RKEO. RKEO staff will be available for two hours each session and so come along and have a chat. These are also great opportunities for us to gather feedback from you on the service that we deliver for you.

The planned sessions for this year are as follows:

Date Time Where
Wed. 23/03/2016 2-4pm Talbot – Atrium café
Wed. 20/04/2016 2-4pm Talbot – Atrium café
Tues. 17/05/2016 2-4pm Bournemouth House café
Wed. 15/06/2016 2-4pm Talbot – Atrium café
Thurs. 14/07/2016 2-4pm Bournemouth House café
Wed. 10/08/2016 2-4pm Talbot – Atrium café
Thurs. 08/09/2016 2-4pm Talbot – Atrium café
Wed. 05/10/2016 2-4pm Bournemouth House café
Thurs. 03/11/2016 2-4pm Talbot – Atrium café
Wed. 07/12/2016 2-4pm Talbot – Atrium café

Blog posts will be issued for each session, reminding you of the date, time and place and also informing you of who will be at the session from RKEO. If there is a specific member of RKEO that you would like to meet with at the sessions then please contact them in advance and see if they are available for a chat.

RKEO look forward to seeing you.

New BU multidisciplinary media & health paper out today!

international, open access, Publishing

media childbirth

Today saw the publication “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media, a paper which is truly interdisciplinary, both in terms of its authorship as well as its topics[1]. The lead-author, Dr. Ann Luce is based in the Faculty of Media & Communication, whilst her BU co-authors Dr. Catherine Angell, Prof. Vanora Hundley, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and Dr. Marylin Cash are all associated with the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. Prof. Helen Cheyne, the only non-BU co-author, is based at the University of Stirling.

The paper is a scoping review to assess the influence media have on pregnant women. Much of the academic literature discusses the influence of (reality) television, which often portrays birth as risky, dramatic and painful.  Although many claim that the portrayal of childbirth has a negative effect on society, there is little research evidence to support this claim. It has been suggested that women seek out such programmes to help understand what could happen during the birth because there is a cultural void through the increasing anticipation of negative outcomes. However the impact that has on normal birth has not been explored.  Our paper highlighted three key themes: (a) the medicalisation of childbirth; (b) women using media to learn about childbirth; and (c) birth as a missing everyday life event.  The key conclusions are the media appear to influence how women engage with childbirth. The dramatic television portrayal of birth may perpetuate the medicalisation of childbirth, and last, but not least, portrayals of normal birth are often missing in the popular media. Hence midwives need to engage with television producers to improve the representation of midwifery and maternity in the media.

BMC cover media

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is an Open Access journal so our paper is freely available to researchers, journalists, childbirth activists as well as pregnant women anywhere in the world.  This paper builds on a growing number of academic papers published by staff in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) on the role the media play in health and midwifery, both in the UK [2-3] and in Nepal [4-6].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

  1.  Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C., (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 40
  2. Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 24(4): 444-447.
  3. Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Do midwives need to be more media savvy? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 25(1):5-10.
  4. Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2012) Media use for Health Promotion: Communicating Childhood Immunisation Messages to Parents. Journal of Health Promotion 4(1): 1-9.
  5. Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2013) Childhood Immunisation in Nepal: Parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour & implications for Health Policy. Health Science Journal 7(4):370-383.
  6. Devkota, S., Maharjan, H.M., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Media and Health. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 169-184.

14:Live – Upwardly mobile: Why stair climbing helps us stay active

Hello !

14:live will be returning on the 17th of March 14:00-14:45 in the Poole House Refectory. This is open to all staff and students and I am pleased to welcome DR James Gavin.

Regardless of age, the benefits of climbing stairs are numerous. This month’s talk will explore the impact of stair climbing on people’s physical function and cardiovascular fitness. Across the lifespan vigorous physical activity can maintain one’s health, fitness and functional mobility. However, the importance of physical function is often overlooked, and becomes essential for mobility after injury and with ageing.

Stair climbing not only benefits cardiovascular health, but also: leg strength, postural stability, balance and sensory awareness. The relevance of physical functional performance in our lives will be discussed from both athletic and clinical perspectives.

It would be great to see you all there to listen to what’s going to be a very interesting talk with James Gavin, and just to give you that little bit more incentive to come along, there will be 30 x tokens for the first 30 audience members to be exchanged for a FREE individual Papa John’s Pizza at the end of the talk, plus lots of free tea & coffee, don’t miss out! If you have any questions about this event or would like to hear about any other upcoming student engagement with research events, contact me on ocooke@bournemouth.ac.uk

14Live new2015

FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 2 March 2016

The Faculty of Media and Communication at BU

Venue: CG17, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB

Wednesday 2 March 2016, 4pm, CG17

Promotional Cultures & Communication Centre ​(PCCC)

Guest Lecture

Professor Fleura Bhardi,

Conceptualizing Consumption in Late Modernity: Liquid Consumption
Professor Bhardi introduces the concept of liquid consumption, a style of consumption characterized by a lack of singularization, ephemerality, the dominance of use-value, and dematerialization. This concept helps unpack contemporary consumption phenomena emerging in the current context of liquid modernity, where social structures, and resulting consumer identities, are liquidifying. Liquid consumption is in contrast to a solid perspective of consumption, constituted in the former industrial modern society, when many of our seminal consumer behaviour constructs were developed. She outlines the implications of liquid consumption for four major consumer research domains: consumer attachment, consumer and brand relationships, social distinction, and consumer ethics. We observe a shift in what is valued under conditions of liquidity: flexibility, lightness and access. An agenda for future research focusing on these new sources of value is outlined.

Fleura Bardhi is a Professor of Marketing at Cass Business School, City University London, UK. Fleura has a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, a MSc in International Business from Norwegian School of Management, Norway, and a B.A. in Management from University of Tirana, Albania. Prior to joining Cass Business School, Fleura was an associate professor at Northeastern University, Boston, USA. Fleura’s research falls into consumer behavior, specifically consumer culture theory (CCT). Methodologically, Fleura is a qualitative researcher and utilizes qualitative interviews, ethnography, observations, and projective techniques in her research.

Her research interests are in three areas: 1) Global Brands and Global Consumers: Fleura’s research examines how the role of materiality and brands changes when we travel or in conditions of a global nomadic lifestyle. This work unpacks the ways globalization has shaped our identities, relationship to places, and consumption tastes.

2) Access Based Consumption and Sharing: This stream of research examines how we consume differently when we do not purchase or own things, but rather access them through the market (via traditional rental, peer-to-peer rental, or market mediated sharing) or outside the market (via public services or peer-to-peer sharing and borrowing). Her research has implications about the notions of collaborative consumption and the sharing economy.

3) Life transitions and Consumption: This research examines how we manage the challenges associated with life transitions including divorce, relocation, migration, and long-distant families, through consumption as well as the role of the marketplace in such life transitions. A current project is looking at how single mothers manage downward social mobility post-divorce or family separation. Fleura teaches at the undergraduate and graduate and postgraduate level programs. Her teaching interest includes modules in Consumer Behavior, Qualitative Market Research, Consumer Insights, and Consumer Culture Theory.

Fleura’s work has been published in Journal of Consumer Research, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, International Marketing Review, Consumption, Markets & Culture, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, etc. She has presented her work at numerous international and national conferences. Fleura is a member of the Editorial Review Board for Journal of Consumer Research, Consumption, Markets, & Culture journal, Mercati & Competitività, and a Board Member for the International Society for Markets and Development (ISMD) (2012-2014). She has co-chairs twice the Consumer Culture Theory PhD Workshop (2011, 2013) and has been invited as a faculty mentor at several methodology and theory related PhD Workshops. Her work has received attention and cited in the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Economist, The Guardian, Boston Globe, etc. She has also been a visiting professor at Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, Canada; University of Sydney, Australia; and California State University, Long Beach, US.​

About the series

This new seminar series showcases current research across different disciplines and approaches within the Faculty of Media and Communication at BU. The research seminars include invited speakers in the fields of journalism, politics, narrative studies, media, communication and marketing studies. The aim is to celebrate the diversity of research across departments in the faculty and also generate dialogue and discussion between those areas of research.

Contributions include speakers on behalf of

The Centre for Politics and Media Research

The Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community

Promotional Cultures & Communication Centre

Public Relations Research Centre

Narrative Research Group

Journalism Research Group

Advances in Media Management Research Group

Launch of ‘Meet the Entrepreneur’ Events

The EBC hosted the first in a series of ‘Meet the Entrepreneur’ events on Wednesday 24th February.

The series kicked off by profiling local entrepreneur, Arabella Lewis-Smith, founder of digital agency, Salad Creative.

Jointly founding Salad in 2001 – aged 26 and with a background in fashion – Bella is living proof that, starting with just passion and a creative spark, anything is possible. The classic entrepreneurial success story, Salad has grown from humble beginnings to the award-winning agency it is today, with a team of 13 and working with the likes of Hall & Woodhouse, Olives et Al, Salomon and the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Alongside Salad, Bella was instrumental in the launch in 2007 of another venture, Pasture Naturals – which has since shown significant growth and established itself in the luxury washroom product market.

The event attracted students from across a broad range of interests covering business, marketing and enterprise.

Organised by Mark Painter, Business Development Manager for The Business School, this series of events aim to provide students and staff the opportunity to hear about the personal journey of the profiled entrepreneur, learn about their experiences as a business owner and their approach to founding and growing a successful business.

Mark Painter commented, ‘this was an excellent way to launch this series of events. Our students clearly enjoyed hearing about Bella’s personal journey and Bella gave us all plenty to think about in terms of our own personal goals and ambitions’. Mark added, ‘I was particularly pleased to see students from the BU International College in the audience, and I hope to see them again at our future events’.

The next event in this series will be on Wednesday 2nd March and will profile Peter Czapp, founder of the The Wow Company. For more information and to book a place, students and staff should follow the link to www.bucfe.com/events

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CEMP News

Centre for Excellence in Learning, Funding opportunities, Research assessment

cemp_big_021c-BU ORANGE

A crop of CEMP news all in one post …

Here’s the March 2016 CEMP newsletter

Here’s the call for abstracts for our 2016 Media Education Summit, to be held in Rome.

And here’s the March 2016 CEMP / CEL funding bulletin. CEMP CEL bulletin March 16

Thanks to Marcellus Mbah and Richard Berger for putting this one together.

As always, to find out more about CEMP research or to follow up one of the ‘leads’ in the bulletin, please contact Richard Berger or Julian McDougall.

For more information about BU research for REF UoA25 (education) co-led by CEMP and CEL contact Julian McDougall (MC faculty) or Debbie Holley (non MC / cross BU).

 

 

 

 

The Leverhulme Trust – Project Grant Advice

Leverhulme-TrustThe Leverhulme Trust has released guidance to help support applicants in their project grant applications. The guidance pinpoints several areas that applicants often get wrong when submitting their proposals to The Leverhulme Trust. These are as follows:

  • Applicants should only use their institutional email address, personal addresses are not allowable.
  • Principal and co-applicants cannot claim for direct salary costs for themselves nor be a consultant, research assistant, local researcher or PhD student. (In other words, you can only claim for teaching replacement and the employment of Research Assistants).
  • There must be at least one research assistant, local researcher or PhD student working for at least 50% in each year of the grant.
  • Percentages must be based on the time spent on the project as a whole, not yearly. For example a research assistant working on a project for 100% would need to have 100% salary costs in every year, not just one.
  • Replacement teaching must not exceed 33% on any grant, this equals a third of the time of any project, e.g. 1 year on a 3 year grant.
  • Consultants must be named and be crucial to the project, they cannot claim a salary only a reasonable fee.
  • If you are requesting administration/secretarial/technician/technical assistance then this must be listed under associated costs.
  • We do not provide funding for setting up a conference, only to attend ones relevant to the research being undertaken.
  • Associated costs such as travel, subsistence and accommodation can only be provided for those listed on the application (e.g. principal applicant, co-applicant/s, research assistants, local researchers, PhD students and consultants).

Please also note that Outline applications have no deadlines.

Please contact your Funding Development Officer if you intend to submit an application to The Leverhulme Trust. You can find your Funding Development Officer here.

 

SURE BU Conference – join us on Wednesday 2 March to celebrate undergraduate research

Our annual undergraduate research conference – SURE BU – is returning for its second year on 2 March on Talbot Campus.  We’ve had some fantastic submissions, which show how our students are getting involved in research, improving their skills and developing new knowledge.

SURE BU is an excellent way to celebrate research being undertaken by our students, learn more about how their ideas could make a difference and how research is shaping their future careers.  The conference is open to students and staff to attend: you can drop into a session or stay all day.  Attending the conference is a great opportunity to meet with other students, find out about the research going on at BU and support our students as they take their first steps into the world of research.

We’re keen for staff to attend as next year, BU will be playing host to the British Undergraduate Research Conference, which we hope you’ll encourage your students to get involved in.

Students will be presenting throughout the day and prizes will be awarded to the best contributors at a drinks reception in the evening.

The conference will take place on Wednesday 2 March in Kimmeridge House, Talbot Campus.

Tickets can be booked via Eventbrite.

BU Civic Media Hub & the Omega Research Foundation publish report on the misuse of Tear Gas in Europe

Fusion

tear gas turkey flag

Peaceful demonstrators tear gassed in Turkey

Responding to a request for more data on tear gas misuse in Council of Europe member states, the BU Datalabs team hosted a daylong data hack day to aggregate information and produce a report for the Council of Europe. The report offers a brief summary analysis of Human Rights investigations into the misuse of tear gas on peaceful and civilian protesters. It covers member states of the Council of Europe that came under investigation in a sample of publicly available reports published between 2006 and 2016.

Our summary report shares a number of key findings regarding human rights concerns. These findings include data indicating that tear gas is frequently being used in confined and enclosed spaces, which can increase the likelihood of suffocation, stampeding and related injuries and deaths. Tear gas is also being used in places with uninvolved bystanders, and in places where there are vulnerable populations, such as near, or even inside, hospitals and schools.

The number of incidents that took place in contained areas compared to streets

The number of incidents that took place in contained areas compared to streets

Another major finding of the report reveals the lack of adequate and transparent record keeping on police use of force. No Council of Europe member state currently keeps publicly available statistics on police use of force with tear gas or other less lethal weapons. This means that there is no access to information on the amount of tear gas that is used, where it is used, or what injuries and deaths it causes.

We conclude our report with a list of 9 recommendations for change. Primary among these is a call for member states to comply with the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.

Our full report is available to read and download here:USE OF TEAR GAS ON PEACEFUL PROTESTERS BY COUNCIL OF EUROPE MEMBER STATES

 

Dr. Anna Feigenbaum, Laura McKenna, Ozlem Demirkol, Tim Sontheimer, Daniel Weissmann, Charlotte Souter-Phillips, Thomas Dence, and Wilfred Collins-Fierkens conducted research for this report. With thanks to Dr. Phillipa Gillingham and Dr. Einar Thorsen for guidance, and a special thanks to Laura McKenna who worked as the Research Assistant throughout this project.

The Omega Research Foundation is part funded by the European Instrument on Democracy and Human Rights.

Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 13.49.51

BU POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE 2016

conferences, PG research

Grad School Header 2 smallOnly a week away… BU POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE 9-10 MARCH 2016, hosted by the Graduate School on the 3rd Floor, Executive Business Centre, Lansdowne. With only a few tickets left, register to experience a jam packed programme of exciting postgraduate research, addresses from BU and external key academics, and share experiences with research and masters students from across the whole university…an opportunity not to be missed. For a copy of the programme and to register visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/graduateschool.