/ Full archive

Research Leadership Training Programme – Open for nominations

Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Training

Following on from the successful pre Covid Research Leadership programme, (consistently rated 4+ out of 5), we are running a similar face to face programme in 2023. This programme supports the development of all academics including Early Career Researchers, Mid-Career Academics, Senior Research Leaders and Associate Professors.

 

Participants will :

  • Be helped to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to lead teams to successfully deliver funded research projects, in line with stakeholder and funder requirements.
  • Gain an understanding of effective team leadership and team working within a research context in order to be able to devise strategies to get the best out of teams in the challenging environment of research.
  • Be equipped with an understanding of their strengths and limitations in order to be confident in developing their leadership skills in line with their career stage and future aspirations and be more confident to expand their funded research activities.

 

Quotes from previous cohort(s):

“Totally relevant to tasks we have to undertake and very enjoyable learning experience”, (Early Career);

“Excellent workshop, learned a lot of useful information I didn’t know”, (Mid-Career); and

“Fantastic tools were given for future leaders both in research and academic leadership”, (Senior Research Leader).

 

There is a MS Forms here. The deadline is the 9th December 2022.

Please be aware that is NOT a course on bid writing.

 

If you have any queries, please contact RKEDF@Bournemouth.ac.uk

CEMP student Vianna Renaud co-authors chapter in upcoming SAGE publication on Employability

PG research

It was with great honour that Stephanie Delaunay from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and I had our research included in the upcoming SAGE Handbook on Graduate Employability.

Entitled, ‘All On The Same Page: The Impact and Importance Of Professional Associations to Graduate Employability’, in our chapter we collected feedback from practitioners, academics, students, alumni, employers and senior administrators regarding the link between universities implementing Good Practice frameworks to graduate employability.

The book is separated into the following sections with inclusions from key experts across the sector and globe:

Part I: Facilitating and Achieving Graduate Employability

Part II: Segmenting Graduate Employability: Subject by Subject Considerations

Part III: Graduate Employability and Inclusion

Part IV: Country and Regional Differences

Part V: Policy Makers’ and Employers’ Perceptions on Graduate Employability

The online book launch will take place this Thursday and there are still places available so do have a look and sign up here.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-sage-handbook-of-graduate-employability-tickets-377406010537?utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=event_reminder&utm_term=eventname

 

Last Chance: Escapeline presents at this week’s Community Voices webinar

Join us this Wednesday 9th November from 12-1pm where local charity Escapeline will share their work on preventing child exploitation in rural areas.

The Community Voices webinar series is a collaboration between the BU Research Centre for Seldom Heard Voices and the BU PIER (Public Involvement in Education and Research) partnership. Our aim is to provide a platform to amplify the voices of community groups, organisations, activists and campaigners who are conducting incredible work to promote inclusion and advance social justice across our region and further afield. The webinars provide an opportunity to hear about this work and to engage in discussions and conversations on these topics.

Please book a free place www.bournemouth.ac.uk/cshv

Impact and Funding Bids workshop -Thursday 7th November

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Training

There are still places available for this online workshop, facilitated by Eva Papadapoulou, Research Facilitator and Amanda Lazar, Impact Advisor.

Writing about impact in a grant application can be challenging. However, a strong description of the benefits you hope your project will have on society and the economy, and the means you will take to get there, can make all the difference between getting funded or not.

The RKEDF online training session will help you understand what you need to include for the best chance of success and look at the different ways impact may be considered within each call.

Since the UKRI removed the Pathways to Impact sections of grant applications, they actually expect impact to be even more embedded within funding bids. So, how do you write about impact in grant applications? And what counts as impact?

This session is aimed at researchers at all stages of their careers but is likely to be especially useful for ECRs preparing their first funding bids.

Book your place

 

Financial Worries while at University

Fusion themes, international, REF Subjects, staff profile pages

Financial Worries of Young People 

In a recent survey conducted by one of the Big-4 accounting firms, 41% of millennials and 46% of Gen Z respondents said they were stressed all or most of the time. About two-thirds of each group identified day-to-day finances and job/career prospects as significant worries. While financial stress is nothing new, the economic impact of the cost-of-living crises, the pandemic and the growing generational wealth gap is exacerbating and complicating the picture in many countries. It’s best to hire a wealth manager who specializes in the type of planning you need, visit https://vigilantwm.com/managing-your-wealth/ to learn more.

Research

Dr Phyllis Alexander, Associate Professor in Accounting and Taxation in the Business School, is currently collecting data for cross-country research into university students’ financial anxiety, financial socialisation, financial literacy, financial behaviour, loss aversion and personality traits.

Survey

This is an open invitation to all BU students interested in participating in the study into financial management behaviour and anxiety of university students. The online survey should only take 5-7 minutes to complete. The data will be used only for statistical analysis and will be treated with strict confidentiality. Thanks to those for taking time to contribute to the research project.

 

BU and SUBU Financial Support Teams

If students would like to speak with someone about concerns, BU and SUBU offer free independent and confidential advice on housing, money and personal matters:

BU’s Student Money Advice Team can be contacted through AskBU by phone, by email or in person from Monday to Friday, between 9am – 5pm (4.30pm Fridays).

  • Call 01202 969696 – option 1
  • Email askbu@bournemouth.ac.uk​
  • Visit us at The Base in Poole House on Talbot Campus, or at the Helpzone in Bournemouth Gateway Building, on Lansdowne Campus.

SUBU – drop in sessions Monday to Friday from 2-4pm or you can email them to request an appointment at subuadvice@bournemouth.ac.uk

Keeping it clean… BU leads new insights into blood filtration

Whether its in you, a blue whale or a tiny insect, circulating fluids bathe and nourish organs, tissues and cells. To avoid compromising organ function, these ‘bloods’ are filtered and kept free of unwanted molecules. Studying these clearance mechanisms informs us about normal physiology, as well as disease across a vast array of organisms, from flies to humans.

In a new paper led by BU, it has been established that a mechanism common to flies and humans involving a protein called Amnionless, relies on a cell’s calcium level being controlled by genes known as Stim and Orai. Using powerful fruit fly genetics and dynamic cellular imaging techniques, the researchers found that as calcium levels change, Amnionless is turned-over at the cell surface where is helps to remove unwanted molecules. This new information is important because of its relevance to the human kidney’s role in blood filtration. Additionally, research is showing that the mechanism can be targeted by environmental toxins and this may explain why some insect species are struggling in the wild.

It is sobering to think that aspects of human cardiovascular disease and the ‘insect apocalypse’ may actually have common origins. Understanding these biological systems therefore has a dual purpose by informing medical, biomedical and ecological research fields.

(The image shows insect filtration cells in blue, adjacent to the heart, coloured magenta).

Best paper award

open access, writing

Lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for many people, but particularly so for people with an eating disorder.

Dr Laura Renshaw-Vuillier and her team (Dr Rachel Moseley, Dr Maddy Greville-Harris, and Dr Liz May, with the help of Rhiannon Surman) conducted a study on the effect of the lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic on over 200 people with a diagnosis of an eating disorder, during June-July 2020. Out of all the papers published in the journal of Eating Disorders in 2021, their paper has been selected for the Best COVID-19 2022 Research Paper award.

Their study found that over 80% of the people surveyed reported worsening of their eating disordered symptoms during the pandemic. Particularly, they found that difficulties managing unpleasant emotions, changes to routine due to lockdown, and unhelpful social messages were key triggering factors, and many of their surveyed participants reported using eating disordered behaviours to cope with the pandemic.

Other papers have now also reported on the devastating impact the pandemic had, and how this currently creates unprecedented pressure on already stretched eating disorder services. As such, people have to wait years before being assessed or receiving treatment, for this condition that has among the highest mortality rates of all psychiatric illnesses, with suicide a major cause of death.  This is a real crisis and Laura and her team are working hard trying to find workable solutions, such as developing an intervention to help people manage their emotions in a healthier way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | Supporting International PGRs: Key Factors

PG research

Hosted by the Doctoral College, these one hour online lunch bite sessions supplement the regular New and Established Supervisory Development Sessions and are aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in research degree supervision.

Each session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.

This session is focused on expanding individuals’ knowledge on the challenges of and best practice for supervising overseas PGRs. This discussion will be led by Dr Hanaa Osman, BUBS.

Staff attending will: 

  • have gained additional knowledge of the challenges of supervising overseas PGRs
  • have gained additional knowledge of the best practice for supervising overseas PGRs

Further details on the session as well as information on future lunchbite sessions can also be found on the staff intranet.

Date: Wednesday 9 November 2022

Time: 12:00 – 13:00, Teams

To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.

New Research Impact, Engagement and Communications Sharepoint Site!

Fusion, Knowledge Exchange, R & KE Operations, REF Subjects, Training

We are proud to launch our new Research Impact, Engagement and Communications Sharepoint site!  

This is your one stop shop for all things impact, public engagement and research communications within RDS. 

On the site, you will find resources for communicating your research, increasing its impact and engaging the public with your research. 

You’ll find links to RKEDF training sessions, guides to impact, public engagement and research communications along with information about useful contacts within RDS and news about the REF. 

The site is easily navigable and is divided into three sections: 

 Research Impact: 

This section outlines how we can help you to plan, accelerate and evidence the impact of your research and includes resources, contact details of our Impact Advisers and links to useful information on impact pathways, the REF and impact training. 

Public Engagement with Research: 

In this section, we explain how we can help when you want to engage with the public to share your research. The ways to do this are many and varied but ultimately, high quality public engagement has huge benefits for BU, for society and for you – the academic. Here you can find links to advice, training and funding along with the contact details of our Public Engagement team and details of how to join the thriving BU Public Engagement Network.  

Research Communications: 

Here, we offer you support and guidance on the different ways of sharing your research with different audiences. This includes working with the media (including our partnership with The Conversation), writing for the web and using social media. 

The site will be updated regularly and has been designed to be as user friendly as possible. Please make sure you bookmark and keep checking back regularly for updates and news. 

 

 

Register to attend The 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference | Keynote speaker announced

PG research, student research

Registration to attend the 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference is now open. All members of the BU community are welcome so please do spread the word.

The full oral presentation list will be released in due course.

This year we are delighted to announce our keynote speaker is Professor Anna Feigenbaum, with her talk ‘networking from below’.

Abstract:

As postgraduate research students and early career researchers you likely hear the word “networking” all the time. You must network at conferences, network for participant recruitment, network for jobs. You need to network for funding bids, network for sharing your research with the public and network for making an impact. But what is this elusive art of networking? In this talk Professor Anna Feigenbaum will introduce her career approach of “networking from below”. This includes building ‘survive and thrive’ networks with doctoral student colleagues, learning how to approach senior academics, identifying what you have to give and how to best ask for the support or collaboration you want to receive. Delivering this practical advice, Professor Feigenbaum will share her 4C principles for networking success: curiosity, clarity, coordination, and care.

We hope many of you can join us in supporting and promoting the postgraduate research culture and community at Bournemouth University.

Research Professional – all you need to know

Funding opportunities

Every 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 Research Professional. 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 Research Professional.

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 Research Professional. 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 Research Professional. They are holding two monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with Research Professional. 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 second Tuesday of every other month. You can register here for your preferred date:

8th November 2022

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. Previous recordings can be found here if you can’t attend a session.

Have you noticed the pink box on the BU Research Blog homepage?

By clicking on this box, on the left of the Research Blog home page just under the text ‘Funding Opportunities‘, you access a Research Professional real-time search of the calls announced by the Major UK Funders. Use this feature to stay up to date with funding calls. Please note that you will have to be on campus or connecting to your desktop via our VPN to fully access this service.

Horizon Europe Information Days – Save dates

Info Days

Cluster 6:  Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

According to UK Research Office (UKRO), the Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation will host Information Days for Horizon Europe Cluster 6 on 13-14 December 2022.

This event will present the research topics proposed under the yet-to-be published 2023 Work Programme of Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment). A separate brokerage session will take place on 19 December.

Information is not yet available on the registration method or format of the events; a detailed agenda has not been published either.

BU academics can refer to our UKRO’s dedicated Cluster 6 Factsheet for an overview of the main policies and topic areas involved (login details required).

Cluster 5: Climate, Energy & Mobility

The Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation will host hybrid Information Days for Horizon Europe Cluster 5 on 15-16 December 2022

The event will present the research topics proposed under the yet-to-be published 2023 Work Programme of Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy & Mobility) with focus on twin green and digital transitions to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050.

A separate physical pitching session and brokerage session organised by the Cluster 5 National Contact Points will take place in the afternoon on 15 December.

Limited physical registrations will be possible via the official Info Days registration page. Online participation will be possible without prior registration. The detailed agenda and practical details are available on the event website.

BU academics can refer to our UKRO’s dedicated Cluster 5 Factsheet for an overview of the main policies and topic areas involved (login details required).

Horizon Europe association

As you may know, Government’s policy is to encourage UK researchers to continue to apply for Horizon Europe grants despite uncertainty over association. This time I wanted to tell how other countries are progressing with the association.

According to Research Professional, New Zealand is ready to start formal talks on association to the Horizon Europe programme. On 18 October, New Zealand’s science minister, Ayesha Verrall, “expressed her willingness” to enter formal negotiations.

Earlier this year, New Zealand and Canada concluded exploratory talks on possible association to Horizon Europe, which would give their scientists similar access to the bloc’s member states to the parts of the programme covered by the agreement, in exchange for budget contributions.

Let’s wish New Zealand to have more luck than we have had so far.

In the meantime, Australian official claims EU put limits on Horizon access. An official from a second country has said it was the EU that limited the scope of talks on association to the bloc’s research and innovation programme.

So far, 16 countries have associated across Horizon Europe. Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities, warned that it “really is worrying” that research-intensive countries are being “excluded” from parts of Horizon Europe for “unknown reasons”.

Reminder about the BU Bridging Fund for researchers

In summer 2015, we launched the BU Bridging Fund Scheme which aims to provide additional stability to fixed-term researchers who are often employed on short term contacts linked to external funding. This situation may impact on continuity of employment due to breaks in employment, job security and can result in a costly loss of researcher talent for the institution.

The Scheme aims to mitigate these circumstances through early career planning, forward research project planning, redeployment where possible, or where feasible, by providing ‘bridging funding’ for the continuation of employment for a short-term (usually up to three months, but up to six months can be considered in exceptional situations) between research grants. BU’s Bridging Fund Scheme is intended to permit the temporary employment, in certain circumstances, of researchers between fixed-term contracts at BU, for whom no other source of funding is available, in order to:

(a) encourage the retention of experienced and skilled staff, and sustain research teams and expertise;

(b) avoid the break in employment and career which might otherwise be faced by such staff;

(c) maximise the opportunity for such staff to produce high-quality outputs and/or research impact at the end of funded contracts/grants.

 

To find out more about the scheme, including how to apply for bridging funding, see the scheme guidelines. 

 

The Bridging Fund Scheme is an action from our Athena Swan action plan (which aims to create a more gender inclusive culture at BU) and our HR Excellence in Research Award (which aims to increase BU’s alignment with the national Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers).