Tagged / BU research

ESRC Social Science Festival

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

Professor Ruth Towse and Professor Martin Kretschmer have been awarded funding from the ESRC (RES-622-26-565) to organise an event as part of the Festival of Social Science 2012.

The symposium ‘What constitutes evidence for copyright policy?’ will be held on 8 November 2012 in the Executive Business Centre.

Professors Towse and Kretschmer write: “This interactive event offers the opportunity for discussion on evidence for copyright policy between social scientists, policy-makers and producers and users of copyright works. Copyright law is a topical and contentious area that affects a wide range of stakeholders with differing views on copyright policy. The need for evidence-based policy on copyright policy was emphasised in the Hargreaves Review and has led to several calls for evidence from stakeholders. The responses they provide to the Intellectual Policy Office are varied in nature and quality; the IPO has responded by issuing guidelines on what constitutes acceptable evidence (which itself is contested).

“Besides being a matter of pressing public concern, copyright also attracts the interest of a broad range of social science disciplines each with its own rules of evidence. The emphasis on economic growth as the objective of copyright policy has shifted the need for evidence in the direction of economics but economic evidence is not always easily available. Nor it is the case that only quantitative evidence is regarded as valid.”

The event will involve the following:

  1. Social scientists in a range of disciplines will explore their perceptions of evidence in non-technical terms and discuss their research findings on copyright. The aim is to develop a perspective on what evidence social scientists believe is relevant for copyright policy-making purposes.
  2. Representatives of stakeholder organisations that have responded with evidence to the IPO’s calls for evidence will explain what to them is relevant evidence.
  3. IPO staff responsible for assessing responses to calls for evidence have already committed to participate in this event. They will explain how they use the information they receive from stakeholder meetings and calls for evidence to develop policy measures.

If you are interested to participate, please contact Dr Rebecca Edwards (Research Development Officer, Public Engagement): redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

Global accounting rules – an unfeasible aim?

BU research

Stella Fearnley, Professor of Accounting at BU, and Shyam Sunder, James L. Frank Professor of Accounting, Economics, and Finance at Yale School of Management, recently published their views on global accounting rules in the Financial Times financial markets online edition. The article outlines the authors’ concerns that the application of uniform financial processes or rules in diverse societies, such as the introduction of the euro and the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), does not yield uniform outcomes. They urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to abandon any plans to proceed with IFRS in the US, and encourage other countries that already employ IFRS to insist on a much less complex system.

Ultimately, the authors suggest the G20 drop its support for global accounting standards and recommend a system of accounting based on professional judgments and sound, prudent principles. At the end of the day, Anglo-American based accounting standards are not necessarily appropriate for the whole world.

To access a copy of the full article, you can sign up for free to the FT website and download a copy here.

Hefce’s purse strings may be tied to the proposed Concordat to Support Research Integrity

BU research, Research Integritiy

Universities could be forced to sign up to the proposed Concordat to Support Research Integrity as a condition of public funding under proposals being considered by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce).  The Concordat–drafted by Universities UK, Research Councils UK, among others–sets out the standards required of researchers, funders and universities, but makes clear that primary responsibility for policing misconduct rests with institutions.  Please see a previous blog post from 4 April which provides more detail on the Concordat.  Fortunately, Bournemouth University is already on track to implement the standards set out in the Concordat. 

If Hefce decides to require universities to sign up to (and effectively implement) the Concordat as a condition of public funding, this will be a huge first step towards funding being tied to research integrity principles.  As BU’s research conduct officer, it brings me great joy to see Hefce helping to ensure research is done to the highest degree of integrity by requiring compliance with the concordat as part of the financial memorandum universities sign with Hefce.  A paper prepared for Hefce’s board members said the move would “provide assurance to the government and the…public that public funding for research is used with integrity and that appropriate mechanisms are in place to identify and respond to…misconduct,”adding that “the other major UK funders” are also considering making compliance a condition of their grants.  A final decision on this plan will be made once the final version of the Concordat is published next month.

Arts and Humanities Research Council – KTP Funding Criteria

BU research

KTP diagramThe AHRC has announced that it will support Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) projects in which knowledge, skills and/or technology/technologies arising from arts and humanities research are transferred to businesses and other sectors within the UK. These can range from commercial to, not for profit, charity, and publicly funded organisations.
Project subjects which qualify for funding consideration include law, archaeology, journalism, and media and communication studies, artistic design and media.
The funding is focussed on meeting the needs of small/medium sized organisations.
A KTP project can last from 26 weeks to 3 years. The funding pays for a full time post-graduate and 1/2 a day per week of an academic supervisor’s time. Projects need to be co-funded by an organisation from any of the sectors listed above. For small/medium sized organisations their contribution to the funding costs is approximately £308 per week.
If you require any further information on this post or KTPs in general please contact Peter Delgado, Commercialisation and KTP Officer, e-mail – pdelgado@bournemouth.ac.uk

Key Points from April University Research and Knowledge Exchange Forum

BU research

The latest meeting of the University Research and Knowledge Exchange Forum (URKEF) was held on 23 April.  A summary of the key points is given below.

Update on key EIS projects:

  • The Publications Management System aka BRIAN (Bournemouth Research, Information and Networking) will be fully launched on 22nd June.  More details of BRIAN will be published soon.
  • Collaboration Tools for Academics – blogs, wikis and web cloud to go live at the end of April.
  • PGR Monitoring System – contract negotiations are underway and an implementation approach to be agreed with the supplier, Aveda.
  • pFACT – interface testing taking place.

 

Erasmus Mundus – the scheme involves students and staff increasing their European mobility.  The paper sought approval for R&KEO to formally take over the management of Erasmus Mundus for BU, which was endorsed.  More information on the scheme can be found in the link above.

Internal process for calls with institutional quotas – the proposed process is for when external funders use quotas, have limited awards available, or require an institutional self-sift prior to submission for their calls.  The current process is adhoc and so a more formal process of academics registering their interest in a call and submitting an outline proposal, internal peer review, PVC decision, and then support provided by the RDO will lead to better management and resource of staff expectations and the best applications going forward. The process was endorsed.

Grants Academy – this was launched last month and the first training session will take place on 9-10th May with 15 BU staff taking part. The Media School will pilot strand two.  There was discussion around bespoke training sessions, which was encouraged.

Fusion Investment Fund – FIF was launched last week and there are three key strands available to staff: staff mobility and networking, co-production and co-creation, and study leave, all of which will stimulate student education, research and professional practice and have huge potential.  Individual grants will be awarded between £5-75k (depending on the strand), and £3M is available in total per annum for the first three years. The fund is merit based and underpins a competitive spirit in order to create upskilling and so excellent applications will need to be put forward. Where Schools have funds for pump priming research, the requests can be far greater than the School can afford. Paring budgets down means that more can be afforded and double-counting is avoided.

RKE Ops meetings with Schools – Major funders run Early Career Researcher schemes and often require a statement from the School outlining how a proposed project fits within the institutional/ School research, career development and knowledge transfer strategies.  RKE Ops have been raising awareness of this with the Schools as the letters indicating support are a really important part of the selection process, and require considerable thought and development.  Recent feedback from ESRC highlighted several areas where BU could improve on.  There are BU wide schemes that will feed into this such as the Vitae Researcher Development Framework and the Grants Academy, which will help to develop bid writing skills and provide mentoring for successful projects, which will be mentioned at future meetings.

HEIF-5 update – Funding had been agreed with HSC to support their dementia theme (BU Dementia Institute).  Also, the Media School theme (Soho on Sea) staff are going to LA soon to visit Pixar and other major animation companies.  It was emphasised that BU are always looking for investment strategies, innovation and themes and Schools were encouraged to come forward and discuss ideas and see what could be done for them.

ECOSAL-Atlantis: An ecotourism project

BU research, Research news

Bournemouth University (BU) hosted a visit from the national co-ordinators of ECOSAL-Atlantis last week; an EU ecotourism project recording and promoting the heritage of salt production around the Atlantic Coasts of the UK, France, Spain and Portugal.

The ECOSAL-Atlantis project goal is to create a traditional salt-working route to highlight the fascinating archaeological and ecologically characteristics of these historic landscapes, thereby encouraging economic success of small-scale salt production and tourism development.

BU is the sole UK partner in this project, providing invaluable archaeological and ecological expertise. Researchers are also helping to develop ‘Traditional Salt-working: The Atlantic Route’ and are working with heritage consultants A&A Fielding Ltd to encourage other organisations and sites to join in the creation of the Route.

Other partners have been busy completing the heritage inventory of salt working sites, as well as collecting environmental data from coastal lagoons. This last aspect includes work on the eco-system of these fragile landscapes, producing guidelines that will protect them.

UK national co-ordinator Mark Brisbane, Professor in the School of Applied Sciences at BU said: “This is a highly innovative and original project that brings together archaeology and heritage, ecology and biodiversity, tourism and economic development and forces them to work together in a novel way for the long-term good of these fragile and precious landscapes”.

During their stay the ECOSAL team visited Poole Museums and Poole Harbour, including Brownsea Island, where they witnessed work taking place in the lagoon, recorded bird species and analyzed factors encouraging breeding and length of stay.

Poole Harbour has been an area of salt production from the late Iron Age period (if not before) carrying on into the Roman period, with sites making salt excavated at Ower and Hamworthy. Salt production must have continued into the medieval period around the harbour area but by the 18th century the salt-works were at Lilliput, where they used peat-fired boiling houses crystallising salt from seawater drawn from ponds in what is now known as the Blue Lagoon.

The ECOSAL team also visited the salt marshes in the Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve, where Hampshire County Council and St Barbe Museum are creating the Lymington Salt Walk.

Now a tranquil wildlife haven, 200 years ago this area was the centre of the second most important site for salt production after Liverpool. The land would have been covered by salt pans where brine was concentrated, windmills would have pumped it into storage tanks and boiling houses which then used coal to bring the brine to a low boil in large iron or copper pans, producing salt as the water boiled away. There was also a network of inlets with docks for boats to deliver the coal and collect the salt. The success of this industry directly contributed to the wealth of the town of Lymington and helped to build many of its important 18th and early 19th century buildings.

There are 13 organizations involved in the ECOSAL project, from four countries (Spain, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom) as follows: Diputación Foral de Alava, Spain (project leader), Ecomuseé du Marais Salant, France, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, Communauté de comunes Océan – Marais de Monts, France, Communauté de comunes de l’ile d’Oléron, France, Cap Atlantique, France, Asociación Cultural Amigos de las Salinas de Interior, Spain, Fundación Espacios Naturales Protegidos de Andalucía (Andanatura), Spain, , Bournemouth University, UK, University of Aveiro, Portugal, Aveiro Municipality, Portugal, Rio Maior Municipality, Portugal and Municipality of Figueira da Foz, Portugal.

More information can be found on the Bournemouth University website.

Fran Biley’s research project featured in the Dorset Echo today

BU research

HSC’s Associate Professor Fran Biley’s recent research project has been recognised by the Dorset Echo today.

Working with Hannah Walker of the Dorset Mental Health Forum the project funded by a Big Lottery Fund, ‘Writing for Recovery’ aims to help mental health service users develop their creative writing skills. BU Occupational Therapist Lecturer Kirsty Stanley is also involved in the project which has 8 sessions over 8 weeks from May and is fully subsidised, so is completely free for the participants.

The project also has a branch in Eastbourne run by Dr Alec Grant of Brighton University and looks to make a real impact on participants lives as Fran is quoted “Creative writing has been shown to be very therapeutic and we are sure that this important initiative will be very enjoyable and it will also contribute to the health and wellbeing of course participants”.

This is your chance – comment on the draft Research Integrity Concordat

BU research, Research Integritiy

Calling all comments!!

If you’d like to comment on the draft Research Integrity Concordat (see previous post: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2012/04/04/draft-research-integrity-concordat-now-available-for-comment/), please send all comments to Julia Hastings Taylor by the end of the day on Tuesday, 24 April.

The concordat outlines five important commitments that those engaged in research can make to help ensure that the highest standards of rigour and integrity are maintained. It also makes a clear statement about the responsibilities of researchers, employers and funders of research in maintaining high standards in research.

Draft research integrity concordat now available for comment

BU research, Research Integritiy

Research Councils UK (RCUK) is working with Universities UK, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Wellcome Trust and government departments to develop a concordat to support research integrity. Comments are now being invited on the draft concordat which is available on the Universities UK website or go directly to the draft concordat.

The consultation phase is open for six weeks and will close on Friday, 11 May 2012.

The concordat outlines five important commitments that those engaged in research can make to help ensure that the highest standards of rigour and integrity are maintained. It also makes a clear statement about the responsibilities of researchers, employers and funders of research in maintaining high standards in research.

On behalf of BU, a coordinated response will be drafted and sent to Universities UK.  If you have any comments, please send them directly to Julia Hastings Taylor.

As part of the BU Ethics Review, it will be strongly recommended that the University fully adopts the concordat and implements its recommendations. Not only will this help to ensure that BU is maintaining a high degree of research integrity, but it will also confirm that BU is brought in line with industry standards.

How ‘ethical’ are you? Test your knowledge and win a prize!

BU research, Research Ethics

Research Ethics Quiz

Time to toss out the dunce cap and proudly adorn your thinking cap – if you get all of the answers correct, you will win a prize.  Good luck and happy ethics!

    ACROSS

    6. Outputs, impact, environment – we’re all looking forward to the submission date in 2013

    7. The main focus of this blog

    8. The team that is responsible for all operational aspects of the pre- and post-award administration of research and knowledge exchange bids and awards

    13. Stream of funding that exists to support a range of practical initiatives and pump prime activity around Fusion

    14. Describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of higher education and research can be shared with the public, involving interation and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit

    DOWN

    1. The moral principles guiding research including inception, aims, completion, publication or results and beyond

    2. Will replace EU's FP7

    3. This initiative forms part of the Fusion Investment Fund and by becoming a member this will provide staff with access to a range of support services and advice not available to non-members and is open to staff of all grades with a range of experiences, not just junior colleagues

    4. The new Publications Management System

    5. BU’s database that tracks all pre- and post-award bids and projects

    9. The best university in the UK!

    10. The creation of better or more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments, and society

    11. England's primary funding body

    12. The team that is responsible for all strategic, policy, process and quality aspects of research and knowledge exchange activity across BU, and particularly those which help to develop, enhance and stregthen our research culture

    Your Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    Your Office Number (so I know where to send the prize)

     

     

    The Grants Academy – Strand Two: Bespoke training

    Research news, Uncategorized

    Todays post will tell you all about Strand Two of the Grants Academy.  

    Strand Two: Bespoke training and development programme

    • In essence Strand Two of the Grants Academy will follow the same format as Strand One.  

     

    • Strand Two will be a bespoke programme tailored to a specific group of academics (Research Centres, research themes, etc).  For example, the BU-wide scheme would offer advice and training on general research funding bodies whereas the bespoke scheme would offer advice on funding bodies that fund research in that particular field.

     

    • More importantly it is directed towards groups of staff who would be working together on a bid and subsequently ‘hunting as a pack’.

     

    • The provision of Strand Two could be requested by senior academic managers (e.g. UOA Leaders, Heads of Academic Group, Deans, etc.) and could also be initiated by the Pro Vice Chancellor for example, where a Research Centre has had limited success in attracting external research funds. 

     

    • Completion of Strand Two will entitle the group to all of the resources listed for Strand One, and will also entitle the group to dedicated support from the Research Development Unit for a period of three months to prepare bids for external funding. This support will depend on the specific skills requirement of the group, but may include support with EU funding, collaborative grants support, or support with bids for fellowship / early career funds.

     

    •  Strand Two of the Grants Academy will run as and when required, and it is anticipated this will be twice during 2012-13. The number of attendees per session would be discussed with the academic lead as part of the bespoke design of each Strand Two programme. As with Strand One, all attendees  will be required to work on a proposal after the session and to submit this proposal for external funding within six months of completing the training programme. They may remain part of the Academy for a maximum of 18 months during which time they will be expected to have submitted a minimum of three external bids.

    Want to find out more?

    If you would like to find out more please contact Caroline O’Kane

    Tomorrow: learn about Strand Three (post-award training).

    The Grants Academy – Strand One: The Training Programme

    BU research, Research news, Uncategorized

    The second of our posts on the new Grants Academy is all about Strand One.  

    What is Strand One?

    This is the BU-wide development and training programme linked to grant writing support in the form of access to a pool of contracted external bid advisors. 

    Intensive training

    Strand One of the Grants Academy will be an intensive training programme run over two consecutive days, held off campus.  Academics must attend both full days in order to join the Grants Academy. The sessions will be delivered by an external facilitator with support from the Research Development Unit. 

    Attendees will be required to come to the session with a draft proposal that they consider to be ready to submit for external funding (including CV). Each attendee will swap his/her proposal with another attendee on day one and will be required to read their colleague’s proposal before the second day when there will be a mock peer review panel where attendees will be required to lead a discussion on the proposal they have reviewed, taking into account everything they have learned the day before.

    All participants of the Grants Academy will be required to work on a proposal after the session, using the resources and support listed below, and to submit this proposal for external funding within six months of completing the training programme.  They may remain part of the Academy for a maximum of 18 months during which time they will be expected to have submitted a minimum of three external bids. 

    Extra training and resources for Academy members

    Completion of Strand One will result in individuals becoming members of the Grants Academy; as members they would be able to access additional training and development resources including:

    • An internal grants mentor: This person will be assigned after the training programme and will be responsible for supporting the mentee with the writing and development of their proposal.  
    • Access to an external bid advisor: The University will contract the services of a number of sector renowned and successful bid advisors who will be available to support Grants Academy members with the development of their proposals.
    • Specific funder events: The Research Development Unit will arrange specific funder events for members of the Grants Academy to find out more about funding bodies, for example, specific schemes, priorities, bid writing hints and tips, etc.
    • Funding drop-in surgeries: These drop-in surgeries will be held fortnightly over lunch and will be facilitated by the Pro Vice Chancellor plus three experienced senior academics. They will offer members of the Grants Academy the opportunity to come along and to talk to experienced colleagues about their research, for example, getting advice on their ideas, how to strengthen their bids, etc.
    • Find a funder service: This service will be provided by the Research Development Unit and will help to match academics and their research ideas and strengths with external funding bodies and open calls. The service will also advise on how proposal ideas can be tweaked so they are more closely aligned to funder priorities, and will also support academics in identifying researchers at other institutions who are researching similar areas for future collaborations. 
    • Access to a library of successful bids: The Research Development Unit will provide access to Grants Academy members to a library of successful bids, and provide support to academics in accessing this resource.
    • Access to a small travel grant to support academic networking.  Each member of the academy will have access to up to £250 to support travel in order to talk to potential collaborators, establish/join networks, etc.

    The support listed above will only be available to those academics who have completed Strand One of the Grants Academy.

    Want to find out more?

    If you would like to find out more please contact Caroline O’Kane

    On the blog tomorrow, we’ll be telling you all about Strands Two and Three.

    The application process will be launched on Monday, 2nd April 2012.

    Coming soon….The BU Grants Academy

    BU research, Guidance, Research news

    On Monday, 2nd April we will be launching a brand new training programme – the BU Grants Academy – to sustain research and invest in early career researchers to boost BU’s collective research output. 

    Every day this week there will be blog posts focussing on different aspects of the Grants Academy.  Today its The Overview.  To find out more, please read on………

    What is the Grants Academy?

    It is a development programme for academic staff, with three distinct strands:

    • Strand One:    BU-wide development and training programme linked in 2012/13 to external grant writing support in the form of a contracted bid advisor.
    • Strand Two:    Bespoke intervention for key research groups and clusters (e.g., Research Centres, BU Research Themes, etc.) based on a bespoke version of Strand One.
    • Strand Three:  Post-Award support in the form of direct mentorship for new investigators with limited experience of research management and project delivery.

    How will the scheme benefit acadmic staff?

    Membership of the Grants Academy will enable academic staff to:

    1. improve their understanding of the research funding environment;
    2. increase the quality of their research funding proposals;
    3. unlock staff potential, confidence and motivation;
    4. enable staff to develop the skills required to design, write and structure a competitive, fundable research proposal; and
    5. to then manage awarded contracts, effectively leading to further funding.

    Want to find out more?

    If you would like to find out more please contact Caroline O’Kane

    On the blog tomorrow, we’ll be telling you all about Strand One.

    The RDU wants YOU!

    BU research, Research Ethics

    Calling all Supervisors and Staff – this is your opportunity to comment on BU’s ethics review process!

    Do you supervise students on their research projects (or do you conduct your own research)?  Are you happy with the current BU research ethics review process?  Do you have suggestions/comments/frustrations about the policies and procedures in place?

    If you find yourself gnawing at the bit with comments but not knowing how to express them, you’re in luck – I’m conducting a University-wide research ethics review, which will seek to validate implementation of a more streamlined ethics review process while also creating policies and procedures that are both robust and flexible…..and I want to hear from YOU!

    Over the past couple of weeks I have met with each School Representative to the University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) and over the coming weeks I will meet with the Deans and/or Deputy Deans to discuss the current ethics review policies and to propose changes to the process.  My aim for this review is to be as inclusive as possible, so I would like to open the opportunity to comment to all supervisors and staff involved in research here at BU.  If you’d like to meet with me as a group (School, framework, etc.), I’m happy to work out a day/time that works for everyone.  However, if you’d like to meet one-on-one, that suits me just fine as well.  Please send me an email at jhastingstaylor@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to get involved!

    Martin Kretschmer in the Financial Times

    BU research, REF Subjects, Research news

    Professor Kretschmer, Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management at Bournemouth University (BU) has commented in the Financial Times in a full page analysis article on rent-seeking.

    The article titled ‘Barriers to break through’ discusses economic rents arising from legal monopolies, such as a limited number of taxi licences, or extended periods of copyright protection. Rents allow some to grow rich at the expense of others, and create an incentive to devote resource to lobbying in pursuit of such rents. On copyright, the article says:

    “Martin Kretschmer, a law professor at Bournemouth University in England, helped to fight a losing battle against a colossal creation of rents in Europe last year: the extension of copyright on recorded music from 50 to 70 years. The new law transfers €1bn out of the pockets of European consumers and into those of music companies and ageing rock stars.”

    “The social argument for copyright is that it gives an incentive for artists to create work. But, as Mr Kretschmer says, ‘the fact that the extension was retrospective gives the game away really’. The Beatles have already recorded Rubber Soul; another 20 years of royalties will not make them record it again. The consensus among academics who study the term of copyright that would best balance the interests of consumers and creators, he adds, is that ’14 years is not an unreasonable starting point’.”

    ‘Barriers to break through’, by Robin Harding, US economics editor, 23 February, p. 11:

    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e316f80-5c80-11e1-911f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1nyOZZ3Fk

    View Keynote Speeches from the FSBI 2011 conference

    BU research

    The Fisheries Society of the British Isles (FSBI) 2011 Annual International Conference took place at BU in July last year.

    The week-long event organised by the FSBI and BU focused on the damage being done to aquatic ecosystems and fish communities, and discussed how scientific evidence could be used to benefit the world’s fisheries.

    The conference attracted many esteemed Scientists from a total of 22 countries who presented their research over five days.

    Four of the keynote speeches, as well as an overview of the conference, can be seen below.

    An overview of the Fish Diversity and Conservation: Current State of Knowledge

    Julian Olden (University of Washington) – Invasive Species and Alternative Global Futures for Freshwater Ecosystems

    Ya-hui Zhaoyh (Chinese Academy of Science) – Out of Sight Out of Mind: Current Knowledge on Chinese Cave Fish

    David Dudgeon – Asian River Fishes in the Anthropecene – Conservation Challenges in an era of Rapid Environmental Change

    Steve Railsback – Behaviour in Fish Conservation Models: Getting From “why” to “how”

    Paul Skelton – Walking the Tightrope: Trends in African Freshwater Systematic Ichthyology