Tagged / BU research

Colleague supervision – and maximising research opportunities

BU research

This blog post considers two aspects of research – supervision and publication. The two came together in article of mine recently been published online by the Journal of Further & Higher Education (JFHE) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2011.644774.

In 2008/09, I undertook the PGCert Research Degree Supervision to further develop supervision skills. For the second assignment, I made a study of colleague supervision – the supervision of staff doctoral students by their colleagues and, sometimes, managers. From it, an academic paper was developed and later submitted to JFHE. The article was an opportunity to maximise the outcomes of my study of research supervision and to create insights (possibly “new knowledge”) into a sometimes contentious and little researched area.

The starting point was a claim by Pam Denicolo (2004) that colleague supervision was “a role relationship that has been largely ignored or undervalued by [university] administration” (p. 693) and colleague students and supervisors “felt more vulnerable” than other students/supervisors (p. 706). At the time, I was Deputy Dean (Education) in the Media School and had, at BU and a previous university, observed colleague students often struggling to manage the roles of teacher, researcher, colleague and administrator. So the aim of my qualitative study amongst students and supervisors was to gain greater insight into the colleague students’ research journey and to consider how their working lives could be better structured.

Broadly, the indications from this small-scale study were:

  • The students and supervisors did not feel they were “ignored”, “undervalued” or “vulnerable.” There were some advantages of easy access to supervisors that other PGRs don’t have;
  • More effort is needed on the research training of colleague students. Those coming into doctoral studies from professional backgrounds said that they often learnt “on the hoof”;
  • Some students, in 2009 interviews, feared for their jobs without achievement of a doctoral qualification. Others saw it as an essential part of their development of academic research and professional skills;
  • Although Denicolo posited “vulnerability” as a power imbalance between supervisors and staff, the general attitude was that their supervisor was a “friendly facilitator” and supportive;
  • Confidentiality of performance on doctoral studies was expected by students as part of their relationship with the colleague supervision;
  • The use of group supervision by HSC to support students was seen as very beneficial in aiding cohort progress and reducing the loneliness of the doctoral student’s research journey.

This was a small-scale study (six students and five supervisors) and thus there are limitations of its generalisability, but it indicates that colleague supervision needs to be considered as a special case and not just part of the academic “day job”.

Prof Tom Watson, The Media School

Article:  Watson, T., 2011. Colleague supervision – ‘ignored and undervalued’? The views of students and supervisors in a new university. Journal of Further & Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2011.644774.

Reference: Denicolo, P., 2004. Doctoral supervision of colleagues: Peeling off the veneer of satisfaction and competence. Studies in Higher Education, 29 (6), 693-707.

Congratulations to our first BU Research Development Fund winners!

BU research

Congratulations to the winners of the first round of the new BU Research Development Fund – Small Grants Scheme!

We received 14 applications in total of which only 5 were funded so this is an excellent achievement for all of the BU staff listed below 🙂

Dr Joanne Mayoh, School of Tourism – Jo is an early career researcher and is currently developing her research career through targeted networking, publishing journal papers and presenting at conferences. The funding will support her to present a paper at an international conference in 2012.

 

Dr Richard Shipway, School of Tourism – The School has already established strong links with the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management at the University of South Carolina (USC). The funding will enable Richard to visit USC to further this collaboration with a view to establishing a strategic international partnership between BU and USC. This will have two main benefits: 1) the development of a research network for joint funding and publications; 2) to set up a programme of placements and staff/student exchanges.

Dr Heather Hartwell and Dr Ann Hemingway, School of Tourism and School of Health and Social Care – Through a cross-School collaboration, Heather and Ann will use the funds to develop a theoretical framework for the synergistic alliance of tourism and public health. It is hoped this will lead to published outputs, local and national collaborations, and to support the new Health, Wellbeing and Ageing BU research theme.

 Dr Sarah Bate and Dr Ben Parris, School of Design, Engineering and Computing – Sarah (an early career researcher) and Ben will be using the funds to conduct a psychological experiment to see whether the inhalation of the hormone oxytocin can improve the identification of perpetrators in a video identification parade, after prior exposure to a crime.

 

Dr Lorraine Brown and Prof Barry Richards, School of Tourism and Media School – Lorraine and Barry will work collaboratively across Schools to investigate the impact of media representations on Muslims and of Islam on the lived experiences of international Muslim students. They aim to publishthe results in journal papers and present at international conferences during 2012.

We will be featuring updates on these internally funded projects in future on the blog!

The next round of the Research Development Fund – Small Grants Scheme closes on 28 February 2012. You can find out more about the fund and details of how to submit a proposal here: BU Research Development Fund

For details of all internal funding opportunities visit the BU Internal Funding Opportunities page on the blog.

BU Santander Scholarships 2011-12 round 2 – apply now!

Funding opportunities

Santander is offering four x £5,000 research and travel grants to BU staff and research students

After the success of the Santander Scholarship competition a couple of months ago, Santander have offered BU staff and research students the opportunity to apply for further scholarships in a second round of funding.

The funds must be used for a specific project to build on or develop links with at least one university from the Santander overseas network. Awards will be announced in January 2012, and funds must be spent before the end of July 2012. Preference will be given to applications received from postgraduate research students and early career researchers.

Funds can only be used to cover direct costs (i.e. not salary costs or overheads).

To apply complete the Santander application form and submit it by email to Susan Dowdle: sdowdle@bournemouth.ac.uk

Successful applicants will be expected to participate in general PR activities about their research. This may involve attending events and promoting the benefits of the funding.

The closing date for applications is Friday 9 December 2011.

Unsuccessful submissions from the last round of the Santander Scholarship funding cannot be resubmitted to this round.

Good luck 🙂

Research by Prof Keith Brown featured in The Guardian

BU research

Congratulations to BU’s Professor Keith Brown from the Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work. Keith co-authored a report with Learn to Care that contains details of a leadership development scheme for social workers currently underway in Hampshire. The scheme aims to give managers the confidence to lead through change and hold staff to account, and is already being viewed as a model for other local authorities.

Details of the scheme are contained in a new report that outlines a strategy of guiding principles on leadership development and a proposed “pathway of leadership progression”. Aimed at giving managers the confidence to lead through change and hold staff to account, it is being seen as a model for other local authorities.

You can access the online story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/19/model-for-social-care-management?newsfeed=true

Mental Health Week: The Rainforest Asylum

BU research

As part of Mental Health Week here at BU Dr Sara Ashencaen Crabtree from HSC has highlighted the research that underpins her forthcoming book on psychiatric care in Malaysia.

The annual commemoration that is Mental Health Day this year promotes the theme: ‘The great push: investing in mental health’. As a theme it serves to underline both the enormous, global burden of mental illnesses that nations grapple with and the commensurate need for effective psychiatric services to keep pace with these needs. Another very important aspect of Mental Health Day is to highlight the hidden and stigmatised voices of the sufferers of mental illness. This was the inspiration behind my research into service user perspectives in Malaysia. The culmination of many years of research into this highly neglected issue has seen the completion of my book:  A Rainforest Asylum: The influences of colonial psychiatry in Malaysia, which will be published later this autumn under Whiting & Birch publishers.

This study first started out as the basis of my doctoral research, but has since been revised to incorporate data that extends the scope of the topic both internationally and historically.  To this end, the study used an intensive and extensive ethnographic methodology in the penetration and analysis of institutional care in the region, where the majority of psychiatric patients were long-stay residents. Within the walls of one particular psychiatric institution, where fieldwork was carried out close relationships with the residents, as well as the staff, enabled me to gather invaluable and hitherto untold narratives. These provided rich seams of information of sequestered lives and diachronic, as well as often anachronistic, institutional practices, which overturned many of my previously held assumptions. These stories, combined with triangulation data-gathering strategies, yielded unique insights into, not only contemporary institutional care in Malaysia, but even into its more distant colonial roots.  The aim and relevance of The Rainforest Asylum, therefore, is that it captures the fascinating and otherwise lost voices of Malaysian service users, in a cultural context where a scientific, positivistic discourse prevails. However, its aims are more far reaching in that while providing an account that straddles the fault lines of both medical sociology and medical anthropology, it also critically engages with intriguing historiographic accounts of imperial psychiatry in the British Empire, as well as that of colonial France and the Netherlands. These serve to illuminate the ideologies and practices underpinning the colonial psychiatric mission across the nineteenth century in Asia and Africa, and which today hold identifiable influences, both for good and ill, in contemporary psychiatric services in post-colonial nations.

For details of Sara’s previous publications, see her profile on BURO.

Mental Health Research and Community Programmes

BU research

As part of Mental Health Week here at BU Dr Andrew Mayers from DEC has highlighted some of the work he is undertaking with local groups.

FirstPoint (Winton)

Run by Bournemouth Borough Council, FirstPoint work with community residents who have a range of mental health problems. Many of these individuals are not cared for by health services, often by choice. Using the ‘recovery model’ for mental health, the trained staff work to re-engage individuals and help them rebuild their lives. In the recovery model, individuals are shown how to regain enough self-confidence to find the coping skills and resources to return to better mental health. I am working with FirstPoint on a number of projects. We are evaluating outcomes in one-year longitudinal study, with BU students collecting and analysing the data. We aim to publish the outcomes in 2012/13. We also are working on arranging a series of work-experience placements for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Over the last months, FirstPoint have been working on a DVD that illustrates the benefits of the recovery model for mental health. The DVD will be used to inform mental health workers; I have made a contribution to that DVD. We will be launching the DVD for FirstPoint at BU in November.

Bournemouth and District Samaritans

The work undertaken by the Samaritans across the UK and Ireland is well known. The central focus of their work is to be a ‘listening ear’ to anyone experiencing despair, loneliness, or feeling suicidal. They are available 24-hours a day, every day of the year, via telephone, text, e-mail, letter, or face-to-face. I work very closely with the Bournemouth and District branch, acting as their Patron and I organise their publicity. We are working on a number of local projects, not least looking to establish closer ties between BU and the Samaritans. A number of our students volunteer to work at the Branch. The Samaritans have a presence at several BU events. We are currently working with several people at BU to establish a crisis nightline, and training (any) staff who have contact with students who may need emergency help (we have already had some crises with the current BU student intake). We are also looking to work closely with other agencies and charities locally. Some of this may lead to research opportunities, exploring ways in which mental illness, stress and despair can be reduced in our community. I am planning a number of projects focusing on suicide and mental health (including the particular problems faced in rural communities).

Barnardo’s (and Bournemouth Borough Council)

I am working with Barnardo’s Family Centres, in conjunction with Bournemouth Borough’s education services, to investigate the impact of maternal mental illness on young children. We are particularly interested in exploring attachment and mother-child interactions. We will be evaluating current programmes and working together on new ones. We have established a working party, with a view to design several research studies, and to explore sources of grant funding.

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust

I am supervising a PhD project (Research student – Lauren Kita), working with the perinatal team within Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust. We are exploring the extent that poor sleep may pose a risk factor for postnatal depression. We will be examining sleep objectively, using state-of-the-art EEG equipment, and subjectively, using sleep diaries. Women with a history of depression will compared to women without such a history, during pregnancy and at weeks 4 and 12 after the baby is born. The mother’s mood and other mental indicators will also be measured.

International Cultic Studies Association /New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling

I am working with a Chartered Counselling Psychologist to explore mental health of individuals who were born into exclusive cults (i.e. they did not decide to join that cult). Through this contact, and the International Cultic Studies Association (ISCA) we have access to several hundred former members. We will be using a series of questionnaires that measure key factors such as current mental illness, trauma, self-efficacy, coping skills, and general life function. We will present the findings at the Annual ISCA Conference in Montreal next summer. Several papers will be published soon afterwards.

If you would like to find out more about this work please contact Andrew Mayers.

BU RDF – Small Grants Scheme closing date fast approaching!

Guidance, Research news

The first closing date for the BU Research Development Fund – Small Grants Scheme (RDF-SGS) is 31 October 2011.

The scheme is open to all BU academics and will provide selective support to research initiatives considered to be of strategic importance to BU. Funding of up to £2k per award is available and priority will be given to applications involving staff from two or more Schools. 

Examples of research activities covered by the RDF-SGS include:

  • Pilot projects
  • Pump-priming
  • Interview transcription
  • Fieldwork
  • Visiting major libraries, museums, other research institutions, etc.
  • Organisation of an academic conference at BU with external participants
  • Attendance at external networking events leading to collaborative research proposals
  • Meetings with external organisations to establish collaborations
  • Preparation of specialist material or data
  • Short-term Research Assistant support or replacement teaching
  • Research consumables and equipment (providing it is clear these would not normally be purchased by the School)

To apply for a Small Grant, please complete the RDF-SGS application form and submit it to Susan Dowdle before 31 October 2011.

For further information on the BU Research Development Fund see our previous blog post (Launch of the BU Research Development Fund). You can also read the Research Development Fund Policy.

BU staff making an impact with their publications

BU research, Publishing

I am sure that you would wish to join with me in congratulating both Richard Shipway and Philippa Hudson from the School of Tourism on their papers being in the top 10 most downloaded papers in Perspectives in Public Health.

Together they have achieved 1,337 people who have looked at their work.

Richard’s paper is titled Sustainable legacies for the 2012 Olympic Games and is second in the table and Philippa’s Food safety issues and children’s lunchboxes is fourth in the table.

Well done to them! I was very proud in the meeting with Sage last week.

Dr Heather Hartwell  Honorary Editor

 

Reminder of the Open Access event on 26 October

BU research

open access logo, Public Library of ScienceCome and find out all about open access publishing!

To celebrate the launch of BU’s new Open Access Publication Fund we’re holding an open access (OA) publishing event on 26 October between 10am-12:30pm in the EBC (7th floor).

The aim of the event is to dispell some of the myths surrounding OA publishing and alleviate concerns about publishing through this route, whilst discussing the benefits and opportunities of making your work freely available.

The event will open with a keynote presentation from one of the world’s leading OA experts Dr Alma Swan, followed by a presentation from Willow Fuchs from the Centre for Research and Communications at Nottingham University who will be speaking about the SHERPA open access projects. The event will also feature talks from two BU academics: Prof Edwin van Teijlingen who has published via OA journals and is an OA journal editor, and Prof Peter Thomas who has also published via OA outlets. There will also be the opportunity to find out more information about the new BU Open Access Publication Fund, and how you can access funds for OA publication costs.

Dr Alma Swan is one of the leading figures in the field of OA publishing. She is the co-founder and director of Key Perspectives Ltd, a consultancy firm specialising in scholarly communication, and holds honorary positions with the University of Southampton and the University of Warwick. Alma is Convenor for Enabling Open Scholarship, the global organisation of universities promoting the principles of open scholarship in the academic community. It is a great honour to welcome her to BU!

The event will take place on Wednesday 26 October between 10:00-12:30. It is free for BU staff and students to attend. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

To reserve a place at the event please contact Anita Somner by email.

We look forward to seeing you there! 😀

World Premier of Rufus Stone the movie

BU research

Back in May the BU Research Blog bought you the news about the impending Rufus Stone movie, directed by Josh Appignanesi, and based on research undertaken by Dr Kip Jones (see the previous post here: BU research based film to be directed by Josh Appignanesi).

The World Premier of the film will be held at BU:

16 November 2 pm at the Kimmeridge Theatre, Talbot Campus

Red carpet, Celebs, Glitz and Glamour all guaranteed!

Places are limited.  The Eventbrite mechanism will be live shortly for registration.

More information on the background research and the making of the film at: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/rufus-stone/

Santander Scholarships Announced

BU research

The results of the Santander Scholarships have been announced.  The University received 14 applications and 5 were successful.  Each successful applicant has been awarded up to £5,000 to travel to a university in the Santander Overseas Network to build or develop relationships.  The successful applicants are a mixture of PhD students and early career researchers.

Dr Cheryl Martens, a lecturer in the Media School, is planning on travelling to 3 universities in Argentina to explore the government response to media monopolies in South America.

Ivis Chan, a PhD student in Applied Sciences, will be visiting Yale University (USA) and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain) to explore the possibility of developing a model which could identify areas of high species turnover to assist in the targeting of conservation efforts.

Sheetal Sharma is aiming to build relationships between research institutes in Buenos Aires, Barcelona and BU alongside gaining valuable experience in evaluating health promotion for the PhD she is undertaking in HSC.

Dr Simon Thompson from the Psychology Group in DEC will be spending time with researchers in the psychology and physiology labs at New York University (USA)  to explore the link between cortisol and yawning as a potential diagnostic tool for neurological disorders.

Rami Mhanna will be travelling to Russia, Brazil and visiting London universities.  As a PhD student in the School of Tourism Rami is interested in the planning requirements of major sporting events such as the London Olympics 2012, the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 and the FIFA World Cup.

What do funders look for in a research application?

BU research, Funding opportunities, Guidance, Research news

  • Funders look for a research application that is novel and that addresses an important research question pertinent to their strategic aims.  Check funder’s websites and research their current priorities.
  • They need to be convinced of the Principal Investigator’s ability to deliver and are thus keen to see clearly described aims and a well thought through project plan.
  • Funders are also increasingly looking for a clear indication of what the likely impact of the research will be.

How does the funding decision process work?

  • On receipt of a grant proposal, funders will identify UK and/or international academics with appropriate expertise to provide written assessment of it.
  • On the day of decision-making, there is rarely enough money to fund every grant considered to be fundable and so often a ranking/scoring system is adopted such that only those ranked in the top grouping get funded.
  • How far the bar comes down depends on the committee’s budget – you just have to present the best case you can to catch the eye of the funding committee.

What are the typical reasons for proposal rejection?

  • Applicant is not eligible to apply/exceeding the page limits/missing documentation
  • Uninvited/undeclared resubmissions which fail to meet the criteria after revision
  • Lack of clearly stated hypothesis/research question
  • Research question not considered to be novel
  • Insufficient reference to previously published research
  • Importance of research question not well argued
  • Project too vague in its objectives
  • Not clear how the methodologies/work plan will provide the answer to the question posed
  • Unconvincing track record of applicant
  • Proposal is over-ambitious
  • Lack of sound methodology
  • Not value for money (i.e. a quicker/cheaper way to answer question exists)
  • Outcome unlikely to have much impact on the field or impact of outcomes not explained
  • Proposed research would be run in isolation/in an unsupported environment

Who can I ask for further help?

Contact Caroline O’Kane in the Research Development Unit for advice on what makes a good proposal.  

Caroline also runs the University’s Research Proposal Review Service (RPRS), and can advise on funding criteria, funders and eligibility issues.   For the best results please get in touch with Caroline as soon as you start developing a funding proposal – the RPRS can support your bid in more ways than you think.

Find out more:

British Academy announce Mid-Career Fellowship Scheme

Funding opportunities, Research news

 

The British Academy have published details of their next round of Mid-Career Fellowships, with a  2nd November 2011 closing date for applications to the Outline Stage.

These fellowships are aimed at allowing successful applicants to obtain time freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments. The time bought by the scheme should be devoted to the completion of a major piece of research.

Who is eligible?

  • scholars who have already published works of intellectual distinction
  • or have established a significant track record as an excellent communicator and ‘champion’ in their field,
  • and who are normally within no more than 15 years from the award of their doctorate.
  • the Academy will make due allowance for applicants who have had career breaks, and for established scholars who do not have doctorates.

Full Economic Costing

These Fellowships are covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) regime, but the Academy’s contribution to the salary of the Mid-Career Fellow will be capped at an upper limit of £80,000. It is not expected that the total value of an award will exceed £160,000 (BA contribution to FEC). Awards can be held over a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months, beginning in the autumn of 2012.

Thinking of applying? Talk to the British Academy

If you have any questions about your eligibility please have a chat with the BA they are happy to help and actively encourage researchers to get in touch when thinking about submitting a bid.   

Phone: 020 7969 5200  5200   

Contact RPRS!

If you are thinking about submitting a proposal please contact Caroline O’Kane at the RPRS at the earliest stage.  The RPRS will not only organise peer review of your proposal, but can also ensure that your bid is fully compliant with funder guidelines and eligibilty. 

Key deadlines:

The BA closing date is 2nd November 2011.  Please remember the BU internal deadline of five working days for submission of British Academy bids, and build this into your planning.

Tourism Week – Helping charities use social media

BU research

The eTourism Lab, ICTHR , in the School of Tourism at Bournemouth University is supporting Just a Drop– a water charity to spread its word through Social Media and the Internet.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and Georgina Sekadakis a Masters student at Bournemouth University work closely with Fiona Jeffery Chairman of World Travel Market & Just a Drop and Ana Sustelo of Just a Drop to demonstrate how charities can use Social Media to benefit their great causes. Just a Drop is a registered water charity raising money to build wells, install boreholes and hand pumps as well as carry out sanitation and health education programmes in some of the poorest parts of the developing world. The mission they are trying to accomplish is to reduce child mortality. Currently a child dies every 20 seconds as a result of water-borne diseases and this must stop. Their main donors are from the Travel and Tourism industry however they are now trying to attract donors from all industries and individuals.

While there is agreement that charities nowadays have a greater need for marketing, there is little agreement on how they should be approaching marketing and especially when it comes to the adoption of Social Media; research has shown that they are lagging behind as they are waiting to see how others use this new technology.  Today, charities of any size can take advantage of Social Media tools to showcase their organisation to the world without relying on huge budgets.  Money is no longer the decision factor, creativity is. Getting a head start and expanding your Instagram presence buy choosing to buy Threads shares might be a game-changer in this fast-paced digital environment.

Little research has actually been carried out on marketing from a non-profitable organisation’s point of view.  Bournemouth University is experimenting with Internet and Social Media to try and classify a best practice for charities to help them engage and create awareness about the problem and how people can help make a change.  Facebook and Twitter are primarily used to raise awareness and create story telling.  As relationships are the foundation for Social Media sites they are key for charities in order to engage further with their stakeholders.  So far our attempts have been successful and we have found that followers are engaging with us through Social Media and we are now looking into ways of raising money through the various platforms to help fund new projects around the world. Using social media strategically will be critical for organisations of the future and the expertise of the eTourism Lab will be widely used for all organisations engaging.

Bidding success

BU research, Guidance, Research news

On Friday last week the RDU organised two bidding workshops with John Wakeford of the Missenden Centre.

John left the groups with some important points to remember when writing funding applications.

Here are John’s top tips for bid writing success……

Top ten rules for readability:

  • think about your audience
  • think how they will read it
  • only use words they will understand
  • plan
  • engaging title and first sentence
  • every word counts
  • avoid -ve words, difficulties, conditionals
  • face problems, but replace with challenges/opportunities
  • short sentences
  • eliminate jargon, and minimise acronyms

 Key features of a good proposal:

  • investigate funders’ current priorities
  • contact CRE Ops, RPRS, identify potential reviewers and book them in
  • read carefully the precise rules for submissions
  • check agreement among your collaborators
  • allow time for multiple drafts

Strategies for success:

  • network, network, network
  • hitch your wagon to a star
  • be in contact with funders
  • why should they want to fund you?
  • ensure you are the world expert
  • guarantee impact
  • clear your diary
  • re-use ideas on different context and try again
  • deliver on title
  • re-read and consider:
  • why should it be funded?
  • how would the world be different if it wasn’t?

If you are thinking about writing a funding proposal please contact Caroline O’Kane and find out about how the RPRS can support your bid.

To find out more about John Wakeford’s sessions please contact Susan Dowdle or Caroline O’Kane.

Tourism comes of age…

BU research

Although a major contributor to life at BU, the study of Tourism is often wrongly maligned as being a niche subject on the periphery of more established areas of study such as Business & Management and Geography. Well, in the UK alone over 100 institutions offer HE courses at undergraduate level including “top tier” universities such as Exeter, Surrey, Strathclyde and Stirling with many more competing for students and staff across Europe and beyond with major concentrations of activity in North America, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia and New Zealand where tourism is not only a significant area of academic interest but also of valuable income, foreign exchange earnings and employment.

Returning to the UK one of the most significant “coming of age” moments has been the explicit inclusion of Tourism for the very first time in a Unit of Assessment in the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework. Unit 26, Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism is one of only a few new units in the REF, a fact which clearly reflects its growing maturity as an area of academic investigation and the widespread positive recognition with which it is now held across the sector. This recognition really took hold 2 to 3 years ago when the ESRC awarded colleagues at the University of Exeter £1.5 million to set up its research cluster in Sport, Leisure and Tourism, an award which would have been unthinkable only a few years before. Since then, staff from the School of Tourism at BU have been attracting funds from the ESRC, the European Union and the United Nations World Tourism Organization and others while the significant award recently won by colleagues from the School from the EPSRC on sustainable patterns of travel demonstrates the collaborative and inter-disciplinary opportunities offered by Tourism. This latter point was again highlighted recently with the inclusion in the RCUK publication Big Ideas for the Future of a project looking at the fusion between public health and tourism policies at the local level. This was BU’s only entry in this prestigious publication, testament if it were ever needed that the industry that is widely acclaimed as the world’s largest has now also come of age in the academic arena!

BU internal peer-review scheme for your research proposal

BU research, Featured, Funding opportunities, Guidance

Why is the internal peer review of research proposals important?

  • The competition for research funds is high and is likely to increase.  Research Council funding presents a particular challenge – with the ESRC having one of the lowest success rates.
  • In recent years funders have expressed their growing concern over the number of poor quality research proposals they receive, with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) taking the action to implement a ban on submissions from unsuccessful candidates who fail repeatedly and requesting evidence on steps institutions take to improve academic skills in producing research proposals.
  • Internal peer review has been credited with producing higher quality research proposals and increased success rates and is a process encouraged by the Research Councils.

Who reviews the applications?

  • The Peer Reviewers are a selection of BU academics who have a considerable track record in successfully gaining research funding, who sit on funding panels and who review research proposals for funders.
  • We select two reviewers to review your proposal.

Who can apply to the RPRS?

  • The service is open to anyone at BU and for any type of research funding.

What kind of feedback can I expect?

  • Peer reviewers will provide feedback on the proposed research in terms of topic selection, novel value, clarity of ideas proposed and advise on how the proposal can be further strengthened. They may also provide the names of potential collaborators where applicable.
  • Feedback will be delivered within 3 weeks of submission – often before.

Will the RPRS help with unsuccessful applications?

  • Yes, if you have a unsuccesful proposal, the RPRS will provide feedback on your submission on how you could potentially improve the style of the proposal, advise on other possible funders and provide other useful information.   The system works as for as yet unsubmitted drafts.

How do I submit an application?

  • Contact RKEO Funding Development Team to obtain a rough costing for your proposal. RKEO FDT will guide you through the process
  • Send in a Word or PDF version of your electronic submission draft (such as Je-S) and submit to Jo Garrad and Dianne Goodman/Giles Ashton.
  • The RKEO FDT will undertake review of the proposal and forward to 2 experts
  • You will receive feedback within 2-3 weeks

Remember

  • Please allow sufficient time in your proposal development to allow for the  mandatory internal deadline of five working days for the submission of Research Council bids via the Je-S system. This internal deadline also applies to applications made via the E-Gap2 and Leverhulme Online e-submissions systems (affecting applications made to the British Academy, the Royal Society and the Leverhulme Trust).

Who can I ask for further help?

  • Jo Garrad and Dianne Goodman/Giles Ashton  in the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development team look after the RPRS and will answer any questions you have.

New speaker confirmed for the BU Open Access Fund Launch Event

Research news

Following on from the previous blog post about the launch of BU’s Open Access Publishing Fund, we’re now pleased to confirm that Willow Fuchs from the Centre for Research and Communications at Nottingham University is coming to speak about the SHERPA open access projects as part of the FREE launch event for BU staff on 26 October 2011.

The two projects of most relevance for open access publishing are SHERPA RoMEO, which covers publishers’ copyright & archiving policies, and SHERPA JULIET, which includes research funders archiving mandates and guidelines. So book your place now by sending an email to Anita Somner in the Research Development Unit.

In a slight change to the previously published line-up, Professor Peter Thomas, Director of the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit, will share his experiences of publishing in open access journals. Dr Alma Swan will give a keynote speech on the benefits of open access publishing, how it can make research findings more visible both inside and outside of academia, and dispel some of the common myths that surround it.

The event will be held on 7th floor of the Executive Business Centre on Lansdowne Campus between 10.00-12.30. Refreshments and lunch will be provided. We look forward to seeing you on the day!