Tagged / collaboration

BBSRC – Flexible Interchange Programme

Funding opportunities

Application deadline: 20 September 2012, by 4pm 

BBSRC’s FLexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities.

FLIP awards provide flexible opportunities for individuals (“the interchangers”) moving between different organisations, disciplines and sectors at all stages in their career beyond the PhD (or equivalent).

Awards

In the region of 10 awards will be made in the first year, building to 20 per annum over subsequent years.

Awards will typically:

  • last up to 24 months
  • cost up to £150k in total at 80% fEC
  • be undertaken on a full-time, part-time or intermittent basis
  • cover a contribution to the salary of the interchangers, reasonable travel and subsistence and costs associated with the interchange

Applications outside these ranges will be considered with full justification.

Download FLIP flyer (PDF 1.27MB)

Scope

FLIP aims to:

  • enhance opportunities for the exchange of knowledge, technology and people between the research base and user communities and vice versa for economic and/or societal benefit
  • facilitate the development of partnerships to foster longer-term collaborations, thereby maximising the impact of previously-funded BBSRC research
  • allow for an expansion of the skill base of individuals, particularly in emerging, niche and vulnerable areas alongside our strategic priorities

Eligibility

Each FLIP proposal will only have one lead academic applicant.

Lead applicant must:

  • satisfy our standard eligibility criteria as described in BBSRC’s grants guide (see related links)
  • be a named investigator on the awarded BBSRC research grant connected to the proposed interchange

Interchanger must:

  • have a PhD (or for non-academics the equivalent professional experience)
  • upon commencement of the FLIP award, be employed by one of the organisations participating in the interchange, such as a research organisation, UK industry, policy making or charitable organisation

How to apply

View the call text for full information. Complete the application form and mandatory attachments and submit via email as one single PDF document to FLIP@bbsrc.ac.uk.

Some applicants may be invited to attend a discretionary interview subsequent to the assessment of applications.

Application downloads

Assessment

Applications will be assessed at BBSRC’s Research Committee E meeting on 13-14 December 2012.

Interviews (if required) will be held from early January 2013.

Funding decisions will be announced by late January 2013 (dates are for guidance only and may be subject to change).

Contact

For eligibility, application process, deadlines and outcomes of applications: FLIP@bbsrc.ac.uk

For programme details:
Phillip Tait, Innovation Manager
phillip.tait@bbsrc.ac.uk
tel: 01793 442124

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application.

BU submits an EOI to the AHRC’s Block Grant Partnership call!

Awarded & submitted bids

The AHRC called for expressions of interest in the Block Grant Partnership (BGP) awards for PhD studentships. Because I had managed to get one studentship in the previous phase 1 of the BGP I was encouraged to have a go. The level of scheming and alliance building for these very large pots of money was something to behold! Universities had to decide which of two awards to express an interest in, route A or route B, and the Centre for Broadcasting History opted for Route B, which meant finding some consortium partners. Because of limits imposed on who can bid for what there followed some impressive deal making in which universities, including Bournemouth, positioned themselves to get in the right team. I won’t reveal who our consortium partners are but all I can say is that I won’t miss the rushed mobile phone conversations in Pizza Express and on trains or the conversations including ‘what do you mean you haven’t got a Pro VC for research?’ All was well in the end and I like to think we put in a serious and well constructed EOI for the not unimpressive sum of £3 million.

UK-India Education & Research Initiative – funding opportunities

Funding opportunities

UKIERI (UK-India Education & Research Initiative) is now accepting proposals for the following strand activities:

Strand 2: Innovation Partnerships
a) UKIERI Thematic Partnerships:
The sub-strand will strengthen engagement and encourage future potential collaborations between the Indian and UK higher education institutions by facilitating collaborations along with promoting and assisting registered PhD students and post-docs in India and the UK to undertake short-term visits to work on research projects. All Indian HEIs which are recognised under the Section 2(f) and 12 B of the UGC Act) can apply.Click here to download the Application form, Guidelines, Financial Sheet and Work Plan.

Deadline: 15 March 2012
 b) DST-UKIERI Thematic Partnerships:
The sub-strand will strengthen engagement and encourage future potential collaborations between the Indian and UK higher education institutions by facilitating collaborations along with promoting and assisting registered PhD students and post-docs in India and the UK to undertake short-term visits to work on research projects. The partnerships will be for Science & Technology projects jointly funded by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and UKIERI under the 5 key subject areas of:

  1. Stem Cell Research and Animal Biotechnology
  2. Next Generation Networks in Telecommunication
  3. Advanced Materials including Nanotechnology
  4. Weather Science and Climate Change
  5. New Energy Technologies including Hydrogen

Click here to download the Application Form, Guidelines, Financial Sheet and Work Plan.
 
Deadline: 15 March 2012
 c) Trilateral Research In Partnership:
The sub-strand aims to support the development of mutually beneficial partnerships between higher education institutions in the UK, US and India. The funds will support the strengthening of PhD students and post-docs in all three countries in developing international team work, problem solving and innovation in research and increasing mobility of PhD students and post-docs between India, the UK and the US.Click here to download the Application Form, Guidelines and Financial Sheet.

Deadline: 13 April 2012

 

Strand 4: Enhancing Mobility
a) UKIERI India UK Staff Exchange Programme
The programme will promote staff exchanges between Higher Education Institutions /Schools/Further Education institutions across India and the UK. The exchanges are valid for up to 4 weeks and should aim to share and deliver best practices on curriculum and pedagogy and learn from each others systems.Click here to download the Application Form and Guidelines.

Deadline: 15 March 2012
 
b) UKIERI India UK Study Missions
This sub strand activity will enhance mobility of students in the two countries through collaborations between UK and Indian Higher Education/Further Education institutions. Joint partnerships will work towards developing, facilitating and managing study tours for students at undergraduate and post graduate level.Click here to download the Application Form, Guidelines, Financial Sheet and Work Plan.

Deadline: 15 March 2012
 
c) Study India Programme
The sub-strand aims to foster mobility of UK students to India to encourage them to undertake further study, work placements or pursue other opportunities in India. Through these student mobility programmes students would gain experience and a greater understanding of culture, education and economy of both countries. The strand also aims to strengthen cultural links between India and the UK by creating mutual opportunities for student mobility.The Study India Programme is supported by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The programme enables school leavers, students from UK universities and colleges to visit India for three / four weeks to gain experience of Indian culture, way of life, people, arts, politics, economy and language which sign post to and may open up opportunities for further study or work in India. The three / four week programme includes a one-week work placement or internship.

Click here to download the TORs

Deadline: 15 March 2012

 

For further details, see the UKIERI website – http://www.ukieri.com/call_for_bids.html

For support in submitting a proposal, contact the RKE Operations team – http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/contact/rke-operations/.

NEW IDEAS FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

New ideas on how universities can improve knowledge transfer have been proposed following a six months project undertaken by JISC as part of a business and community engagement project.

 The search to find a better model for knowledge transfer stems from one simple practical problem: knowledge transfer is simply too inefficient as a process. The under-exploitation of the intellectual assets arising from universities has been widely reported.

 The new ideas are based on current innovation theory, modern social media tools and current thinking on market behaviour or motivation, to provide a more effective model of Knowledge Transfer; a model that is capable of delivering more with less.

 Recommended is a less proprietorial approach to knowledge transfer, and a new, open, technology-enabled approach which has potentially wide applicability across the sector.

 For more details click here.

The authors highlighted a number structural inefficiencies in current methods of knowledge transfer that manifest themselves in three pinch points that need to be cracked to increase successful knowledge transfer and IP exploitation:

  • · The project selection pinch point
  • · The business development pinch point
  • · The early-stage proof of concept pinch point

Proposed is a new knowledge transfer model based on the feasibility of:

  1. Building a virtual KT organisation that moves beyond the university is more skilled, more scalable and better engaged than physically co-located employees
  2. Funding it on a combination of external and incentivised or intrinsically motivated, resource
  3. Reducing transaction costs via a combination of social media and automation in order to extend the number of opportunities that the university can handle.

For a summary of what is proposed, see presentation on link above. Start the presentation at 26 minutes.

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) Consultancy Service

What is the Consultancy Service?

BUCRU has developed a consultancy service aimed at organisations that have an interest in health and wellbeing. Members of the team have many years experience of providing consultation services to the NHS, public bodies, charities and businesses. In addition to research projects we can also advise on audit projects, clinical evaluations, service evaluations and other areas where the collection and analysis of good quality data is important.

How can it help?

The service is flexible and tailored to the client’s requirements. Typically an initial meeting will involve finding out about the client’s needs and discussing the ways in which we can help. Our involvement could range from a single meeting to discuss a particular issue, through to conducting a project on behalf of the client.

Some examples are:

¨                  Advising on or conducting clinical trials, surveys, epidemiological studies, pilot and feasibility studies

¨                  Study design

¨                  Advice on sample size

¨                  Questionnaire design and validation

¨                  Outcome measures

¨                  Data collection and management

¨                  Statistical analysis and interpretation

¨                  Qualitative and mixed methods approaches

¨                  Design and evaluation of complex interventions such as found in medicine, psychology, nursing, physiotherapy and so on.

¨                  Managing and running studies

¨                  Advice on ethics and governance approval processes.

¨                  Involving patients and the public in research

¨                  Troubleshooting

How do I find out more?

For further information about, and access to, our consultancy service please contact:

Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

Research within the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

Funding opportunities

In previous blogs we have described how BUCRU can help in developing grant applications. In this blog we describe some of the funded projects we are involved in.

BUCRU led research

Fatigue management in multiple sclerosis (MS):  We have just completed a multi-centre randomised trial of a cognitive behavioural approach to fatigue management in people with multiple sclerosis1. This project was funded by the MS Society (http://www.mssociety.org.uk).

Improving activity and wellbeing in people with MS: We are just starting a MS Society funded pilot study to look at the Nintendo Wii home gaming system as a method of helping people with MS increase their activity levels and wellbeing.

Systematic review of psychological interventions for people with MS: A small grant to update our existing Cochrane review2

BUCRU collaborative projects

IDvIP: A National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) (http://www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/RfPB/Pages/home.aspx) funded project. This is a multi-centre trial comparing 2 methods of pain relief for women in labour; diamorphine and pethidine3. The Chief Investigator is a Consultant in one of the local hospitals and a member of the Bournemouth University Visiting Faculty. BUCRU staff were involved in the design of the study, applying for the grant, data management, statistical analysis and interpretation, and advice on project management.*

WEIGHTED: A small grant from the College of Emergency Medicine held by a local Consultant/ member of the Visiting Faculty. This study is about to start and aims to develop a robust method of estimating the weight of patients attending a hospital emergency department. Many patients require a weight dependent dose of potentially life saving medication, but are too ill to be actually weighed.  BUCRU were involved in designing the study and securing funding, and will be involved in ongoing advice on project and data management, statistical analysis and interpretation.

PEARLS: A large multi-centre trial of training maternity staff in assessing and repairing tears to the perineum acquired during labour and delievery4. This project is funded by the Health Foundation (http://www.health.org.uk) and run under the auspices of the Royal College of Midwives. BUCRU has been involved in data management, statistical analysis and interpretation.

PREVIEW: A pilot randomised trial comparing two methods of looking after tears to the perineum. The Chief Investigator is based in Birmingham, and the study is funded by the NIHR RfPB funding scheme. This study has recently started, and BUCRU was involved in the design of the study and the funding application. Further involvement will be in advising on project management, data management and statistical analysis.

Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship: (http://www.nihrtcc.nhs.uk). Award held by BU and won by a radiographer based at the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic. The project involves tracking and measuring spinal motion. The research may have important implications in diagnosing people with chronic lower back pain. BUCRU were involved in the study design and funding application, and 2 members of staff are supervisors for her PhD.

Contact us:

In the first instance please contact

Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

 http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

1 Thomas, P.W., Thomas, S., Kersten, P., Jones, R., Nock, A., Slingsby, V., et al., 2010. Multi-centre parallel arm randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a group-based cognitive behavioural appoach to managing fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis. BMC Neurology, 10:43

2 Thomas, P.W., Thomas, S., Hillier, C., Galvin, K., and Baker, R. (2006). Psychological interventions for multiple sclerosis. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Vol. Issue 1, pp. Issue 1. Art. No.: CD004431. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004431.pub2): John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

3 Wee, M.Y.K., Tuckey, J.P., Thomas, P., Burnard, S. 2011. The IDvIP Trial: A two-centre randomized double-blind controlled trial comparing intramuscular diamorphine and intramuscular pethidine for labour analgesia. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 11: 51

4 Bick, D.E., Kettle, C., MacDonald, S., Thomas, P.W., Hill, R.K., Ismail, K.. 2010. PErineal Assessment and Repair Longitudinal Study (PEARLS): protocol for a matched pair cluster trial. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 10:10.

New round of the Research Development Fund – large grants scheme – now open!

Funding opportunities

This week BU is proud to launch a new round of the BU Research Development Fund (large collaborative grants scheme)!

The deadline for applications to have been received by the RDU is: Friday 17 February 2012

The Fund is open to BU academics and will provide selective support to research initiatives considered to be of strategic importance to BU. This call is for the Large Collaborative Grants Scheme (up to £25k per annum, must include two or more Schools). The Small Grants Scheme is also currently open with a closing date of 28 February – further details are available here:

The RDF – Large Collaborative Grants Scheme aims to provide funding for the development of large-scale, complex, inter/multi-disciplinary collaborative research activities leading to external funding. Applications must involve academic staff from at least two BU Schools. Priority will be given to applications that meet the following criteria:

  • In line with BU’s emerging Research Themes
  • Include external organizations (particularly SMEs and/or international organizations)
  • In line with the strategic priorities of major funding bodies (such as the UK research councils, European Commission, etc)
  • Clearly beneficial to BU’s submission to REF2014

Examples of research activities covered by the RDF include:

  • Pilot projects
  • Pump-priming
  • Meeting expenses
  • Travel to proposed collaborators
  • Attendance at external networking events with the aim of expanding the network
  • Preparation of specialist material or data
  • Short-term Research Assistant support or replacement teaching
  • Consumables and equipment (providing it is clear these would not normally be purchased by the School)
  • Fees for external proposal support and review

Awards will only cover direct costs (i.e. overheads and established staff costs will not be reimbursed). Applications need to include a precise breakdown of costs calculated using full economic costing (fEC) methodology – this will be calculated for you by the RKE Operations team.

For further information please read the Research Development Fund policy – Large Grant Round 2.

To apply for a Large Collaborative Research Grant, please complete the RDF Large Grant application form.

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) Events and Services

Funding opportunities

BUCRU incorporates the Dorset Office of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Design Service – South West (RDS-SW). This means that in addition to the support outlined in previous blogs, we can also provide access to the following:

RDS Grant application workshop.

This workshop is going to be held at Bournemouth University on the 29th February 2012 (http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/grant_workshop.htm). Although the official deadline for applying has recently passed, it is worth contacting us to see if there are any remaining places. The workshop will also be held in other locations in the South-West region in the near future.

This is a one-day workshop for researchers who are developing proposals with the intention of applying for a grant. The workshop does not provide detailed training in research methodology; rather it more generally covers the full range of issues inherent in developing a successful grant application. It will be of relevance to researchers applying to any of the major health research funders, but particularly the NIHR funding schemes.

Researchers will need to send in advance the latest draft of their research proposal. As a minimum they should have a plan for a project but, ideally, a worked up proposal, perhaps even one that has been previously rejected. All proposals will receive detailed written feedback from the RDS team.

Topics include

  • The application as a marketing document, selling the topic, selling the method, and selling the team;
  • The balanced team;
  • Clarity of description and explanation;
  • Feasibility issues;
  • Identifying and avoiding potential pitfalls

 

RDS Residential Research Retreat

The Residential Research Retreat (http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/rrr_home.htm) provides an opportunity for research teams to develop high quality health related research proposals suitable for submission to national peer-reviewed funding schemes. The aim of the Retreat is to provide the environment and support to promote rapid progress in developing proposals over a relatively short time period.

This Research Retreat is open to health professionals and academics working within the South West. Applications to attend the Retreat should be submitted by a team of three people with varied skills. Applications are reviewed competitively and places awarded to the most promising team proposals. The deadline for the next Research Retreat has passed, but it is anticipated that applications will be invited again later in the year.  

At the retreat participants are supported by a range of experts while developing their research proposal. They work intensively on their proposal, while learning how to maximise its chances for successfully securing a grant.

In addition, the Residential Research Retreat helps participants develop the key skills needed to conduct research in a clinical setting as well as nurturing presentation skills and giving them the confidence to tackle research problems. 

 

RDS Scientific Committee

The RDS Scientific Committee (http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/scientific_committee.htm) provides an excellent opportunity for researchers in the south-west to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before it is sent to a funding body. The Committee brings the benefit of seeing the proposal with “fresh eyes”, replicating as far as possible the way the real funding committee will consider the application. Committee members include senior research consultants who have considerable experience of obtaining research funding, resulting in comprehensive comments and advice fed back.

Committee meetings take place approximately 9 times per year. To submit a study for review at the meeting, study paperwork must be provided to the Committee via BUCRU two weeks prior to the meeting date, and preferably a couple of months before the intended funding deadline.

 

Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) Annual Symposium

In addition to events aimed at supporting the development of grant applications we also host an event geared towards dissemination. The CoPMRE Annual Symposium will be held on the 11th September 2012 at the Bournemouth University Talbot Campus. These successful annual conferences have been running for the past nine years and have featured themes such as ‘Professionalism and Collaboration’, ’Research Innovation’ and ‘Interprofessional Learning’. This year’s theme will be on using ‘Social media techniques in healthcare research and education’.  The conference is open to all healthcare professionals and academics.  More information will be posted on our website in due course and you will be able to register online nearer the time.  For further information on the symposium please contact Audrey Dixon, Conference Manager (adixon@bournemouth.ac.uk ).

Contact us: For further information about, and access to, the Grant applications workshop, the Residential Research Retreat and the Scientific Committee please contact:

Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

BUCRU – Supporting the development of grant applications

Awarded & submitted bids, Funding opportunities, Post-award, Publishing, Research assessment

In today’s post we give a case study of how Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) recently supported the development of a grant application.

Case study

We recently supported a Programme Development Grant (www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/PGfAR/PDG/Pages/default.aspx) application to the National Health Service (NHS) National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The Unit receives funding from the NIHR to be the Dorset Office of the NIHR Research Design Service (RDS), and thus can support local researchers in the University and the NHS to develop their funding applications. The topic of this grant application was early warning systems for use in an obstetric setting. Early warning systems are used by clinical staff in hospital to identify clinical problems before they get too serious, for example by regularly monitoring vital signs such as blood pressure. The purpose of Programme Development Grants is to fund preliminary work ahead of a larger Programme Grant for Applied Research (PGAR; www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/PGfAR/Pages/Home.aspx). 

This support involved:

  • Providing methodological input in systematic reviews, surveys, qualitative designs, quantitative designs notably a sample size calculation, and trial design.
  • Patient and public involvement (PPI) – the team has a designated person supporting PPI.
  • Team development – a strong team needed to be developed with the appropriate skill mix to deliver the programme of research.  Four members of BUCRU became co-applicants on the proposal bringing methodological expertise in systematic reviews, qualitative research, quantitative research, and PPI support.  Via our link with the RDS we also have access to health economist support.   Collaborations were initiated with the Wessex Health Innovation and Education Cluster (HIEC; www.wessexhiecpartnership.org.uk/) to gain support in the educational/ training aspects of the research.  
  • Liaison – we liaised with a number of different organisations, such as Research and Knowledge Exchange Operations for costing the Bournemouth University (BU) costs, the NHS host organisation that will be responsible for the research, and the Market Research Group (MRG; https://mrg.bournemouth.ac.uk/) who were involved to support the administration and data entry for the survey component of the project.
  • Identification of appropriate funding schemes.
  • Obtained peer review from RDS colleagues across the region to provide feedback on the suitability of the funding scheme and the ‘readiness’ for submission. This service is usually provided through regular Scientific Committee meetings that act as ‘mock’ funding committees (www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/scientific_committee.htm).

Quote from lead applicant: “Without the expertise and assistance of BUCRU staff it would not have been possible to even contemplate applying for a large and competitive grant such as the NIHR Programme Development Grant” .

Please contact us for support with health research:

Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

People at Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

Awarded & submitted bids, Post-award, Publishing, Research assessment

In yesterday’s posting we gave a brief introduction to BUCRU. Today we introduce you to the members of the team.

 

Louise Ward

Louise is one of the administrators for the unit and has been with the team since 2008.  She has worked in various NHS settings and has an interest in marketing.  Both her undergraduate and Masters degrees were studied here at Bournemouth University.

Professor Paul Thompson

Paul is Consultant Rheumatologist at Poole Hospitaland Visiting Professor at BU. He was appointed Director of the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) in 2007, where he has been leading developments between research and education active doctors in NHS Trusts and the academic community at the University. He is Co-director of BUCRU, Lead for the musculoskeletal local priority group for the Western Comprehensive Local Research Network (CLRN) and Fellow of the NHS Improvement Faculty. He is interested in clinical research and service development in the rheumatic diseases. He supervises PhD students and is an External Examiner at other Universities.

Dr Sarah Thomas

Sarah is Deputy Director (methodology). She has a background in psychology and since 2000 has worked in the NHS in Dorset.  As well as supporting other researchers in a Research Design Service capacity, she also conducts research. Her main research interests are in the field of multiple sclerosis (MS) and she is currently Chief Investigator for a pilot study funded by the UK MS Society exploring the use of the Nintendo Wii™ in people with MS.

Professor Peter Thomas

Peter is Co-Director and leads on research methodology. He has a background in epidemiology and statistics, and has been with Bournemouth University since 1996. He has a special research interest in psychosocial aspects of chronic disease and much of his recent work has focussed on multiple sclerosis.

Dr Zoe Sheppard

Zoe is a demographer with particular experience investigating socio-economic status.  She joined Bournemouth University in October 2009 as a Research Fellow in Research Methods.  She provides research methods support for people doing health research and support writing grant applications in her National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Design Service (RDS) capacity.

Suzanne Sheppard

Suzanne is a Clinical Researcher recently recruited from the pharmaceutical industry to help manage the unit’s clinical trials.  She has experience in setting-up and monitoring clinical trials across phases 1 to 3 in a variety of therapeutic areas. 

Annabel Kenny

Annabel is a Clinical Research Administrator who joined Bournemouth University in October 2009.  She provides support to Dr. Tamas Hickish, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Royal Bournemouth Hospital/Poole Hospital and the rest of the research team on various ongoing research projects within the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit.

Liz Griffiths

Liz works for the Royal Bournemouth Hospital as a research facilitator.  She has been working in research within the NHS since 2003 in a variety of roles.  Currently focusing on supporting researchers to develop proposals and prepare submissions to regulatory authorities.

Louise Fazakarley

Louise is a Physiotherapy lecturer with experience in neurological rehabilitation, the management of chronic disability and rehabilitation research. She joined Bournemouth University in 2006 to establish and teach on the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy course. Louise is currently working on the MS Society funded pilot study to look at the Nintendo Wii™ as a method of helping people with MS increase their physical activity.

Audrey Dixon

Audrey is the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) co-ordinator and co-administrator for BUCRU.  She has worked for the NHS since 1988.  She first joined Professor Paul Thompson in 2001 to assist him with his academic work, following his secondment to the university.  Audrey was seconded to BU in 2003.  She now looks after a growing Visiting Faculty of 41 members and the education arm of CoPMRE. She is very proud to see the little acorn grow into a Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education and BUCRU.

Roger Baker

Roger is Professor of Clinical Psychology and runs the MSc course Foundations in Clinical Psychology at BU. He is also a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust.  He has expertise in the design of assessments and questionnaires, research design and clinical evaluation of services and has worked in a dual role as researcher and clinical psychologist at Leeds, Aberdeen & Bournemouth Universities and in NHS Trusts specialising in Mental Health.

Helen Allen

Helen is a health psychologist with a nursing and midwifery background.  She has a qualitative background with a particular interest in the mind:body interface and chronic disease, including patient empowerment.  She is the Unit lead on Public Patient Involvement.

Contact us: In the first instance please contact:

 Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

Awarded & submitted bids, Post-award, Publishing, Research assessment

This week the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) will be posting daily blogs. In these blogs we will tell you a little about the Unit, what we do, who we are, and how we might be able to help in your research endeavours.

What is BUCRU?  

BUCRU is a new model for supporting and conducting health related research in Dorset. It supports researchers in improving the quality, quantity and efficiency of research across the University and local National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. It does this by:

  • helping researchers with developing high quality applications for external research funding (including small grants)
  • ongoing involvement in funded research projects
  • a “pay-as-you-go” consultation service for other work

How can BUCRU help?

BUCRU can provide help in the following areas:

  • Study design
  • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Statistics, data management and data analysis
  • Patient and public involvement in research
  • Trial management
  • Ethics, governance and other regulatory issues
  • Linking University and NHS researchers

BUCRU focuses on health research that has relevance to the NHS. The Unit is available to Bournemouth University staff and people working locally in the NHS. There are no general restrictions on topic area or professional background of the researcher. However we do have special interests in areas such as chronic disease and complex interventions (interventions in nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychology and so on).

How is it funded?  

BUCRU is partly funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and incorporates the Dorset office of the NIHR Research Design Service (http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk). Further funding comes from a variety of research grants and contracts.

Contact us: In the first instance please contact

Louise Ward (administrator):

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit

R505 Royal London House

Christchurch Road

Bournemouth BH1 3LT

BUCRU@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: 01202 961939

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

OK, I know China isn’t the EU but this is a great nursing opportunity!

 The British Council are hosting a unique meeting to support China-UK nursing collaboration. The Chinese Ministry of Health, Guanghua Nurse Fund (GNF) of China Guanghua Science & Technology Foundation is in the process of establishing arrangements for a specific initiative intended significantly to enhance the education and training of nurses in China.  The objectives of this scheme is to ensure standards that must be met by trainee nurses are equivalent to those that prevail internationally and appropriate to the needs of the Chinese Government’s 12th Five Year Plan as well as to ensure that post-qualification continuing professional development (CPD) standards for those who are currently qualified nurses or who will become so during the period covered by the Plan are appropriate, rigorous and internationally-benchmarked.

As part of the scheme, a pilot involving 20 Chinese universities and 5 pre selected UK universities will be implemented in 2012-13. The selected universities will take trainee nurses in the academic year 2012-13 such that they can gauge, and inform the review of, existing standards. Opportunities will shortly be available to apply for participation in these scheme in 2013.To learn more about the scheme and meet delegates from the 20 Chinese Universities involved, you can apply to attend a meeting to be held in Manchester 20-21st February. Places are extremely limited and on a first come first serve basis. A draft programme will be available towards the middle of January 2012; contact the British Council  if you are interested in attending

Congratulations to our first BU Research Development Fund winners!

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.

Share files easily with the new BU Transfer service!

Guidance

As part of the Collaborative Tools for Academics project, we have been looking at ways of enhancing the support available to academics to share information both internally and externally. Feedback from colleagues indicated that the University’s file transfer service was not adequate and required improvement. I am delighted today to launch the new file transfer service – BU Transfer.

BU Transfer will enable you to quickly and easily share large files with colleagues internally and externally via a web browser.

You can access BU Transfer from the Staff Portal, the Research Blog and MyBU via this icon.

We are very interested in your feedback regarding the service. Please could you forward all comments to Amina Uddin.

Best wishes

Matthew

How to find partners for EU Projects

EC projects usually require partners, with the number and geographical location varying for each call. A useful tip to remember when considering your partner options is that a consortium should include a good balance of sectors industry, academia, user groups etc) and that all partners should be well-matched to the activities in the proposal.

You can find partners through your existing contacts, by reviewing previously awarded FP6 and FP7 projects, by searching/ advertising on the UKRO website ,by seeking the assistance of the relevant UK National Contact Point and by attending EU conferences and project evaluations, by scanning the CORDIS website.

The best and most effective way to become involved in FP7 consortia however, is to join European Technology Platforms (ETPs). These are groups of industry-led stakeholder forums who explore Europe’s key challenges. ETPs define the EU Strategic research agenda and then bid for European Commission funds (through FP7 etc) to address these. The biggest players in the field across Europe belong to these groups and obviously as they set the research agenda, they are increduibly successful at winning FP7 funds for research. Joining these groups will not only open you to a plethora of partners but also will allow you to contribute in shaping the research agenda of Europe (which you can then address through funding). Some of the major ETPs are listed below with hyperlinks to their webpages:

Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies
Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe
Embedded Computing Systems
European Biofuels Technology Platform
European Construction Technology Platform
European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory Council
European Rail Research Advisory Council
European Road Transport Research Advisory Council
European Space Technology Platform
European Steel Technology Platform
European Technology Platform for the Electricity Networks of the Future
European Technology Platform for Wind Energy
European Technology Platform on Smart Systems Integration  
European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral Resources
Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction Technology Platform
Food for Life
Forest based sector Technology Platform
Future Manufacturing Technologies
Future Textiles and Clothing
Global Animal Health
Industrial Safety ETP
Integral Satcom Initiative
Mobile and Wireless Communications
Nanotechnologies for Medical Applications
Networked and Electronic Media
Networked European Software and Services Initiative
Photonics21
Photovoltaics
Plants for the Future
Robotics
Sustainable Nuclear Technology Platform
Sustainable Chemistry
Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform
Waterborne ETP
Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants

The Collaborative Researcher – Free Places at a Vitae training workshop

Vitae, the organisation which focuses on researcher development is offering up to 40 free places on this 2 day training workshop to help you develop your collaboration skills.  All you need to cover are your travel expenses to Nottingham.  Places will fill up fast so if you’re interested don’t delay!  The dates are 30th Jan – 1st Feb 2012.

This 2 day residential course looks at the building blocks of the collaborative style of research: ­ inclusive communication, cultural awareness, robust planning, negotiation and the ability to work effectively with others.  Whether your collaboration is with another academic in your department, or partners from different subjects, sectors and countries, it helps you to develop winning strategies for connecting and working with others.

What does it involve?

The course is attended by up to 40 researchers from across the country, from different disciplines and career stages.  It is led by a team of experienced facilitators who work with participants throughout the 2 days to support their learning.  They will be from a variety of backgrounds with experience in collaboration, academia and other sectors.

This course takes a ‘learning by doing’ approach. There will be presentations on collaboration theory, but for the most part, you will be actively participating in the sessions and activities. 

This is an intensive 2 day residential course which runs from dinner on the evening of Monday 30th January to 5pm on 1st February 2011

What’s in it for you?

This course offers you the opportunity to: 

  • explore collaboration both in theory and in practice
  • work with a team of experienced facilitators from a range of career backgrounds, who will ensure you get the most out of the 2 days
  • meet researchers from a variety of disciplines, backgrounds and career stages
  • develop your understanding of collaboration theory and how to apply it in practice
  • take a few days out from your research both physically and mentally, and have some space in which to consider yourself and your next steps

Eligibility/Entry

This event is open to all UK researchers – subject to availability. Book your place now.

Places on the event are free but participants will need to cover their own travel expenses.  Accommodation and meals are provided.

BU RDF – Small Grants Scheme closing date fast approaching!

Guidance

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.

Education focused EU programmes offering support for collaboration

 There are 7 main Programmes offering support for collaboration related to Higher Education; all which have calls attached to them. These are:
ALFA:To improve the quality, relevance and accessibility of Higher Education in Latin America and to contribute to the process of regional integration in Latin America, fostering progress towards the creation of a joint Higher Education area in the region and exploiting its synergies with the European Union.
EDULINK:Supports cooperation between HEIs in the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP countries). It represents a harmonised approach to the implementation of EU funded programmes in the ACP countries with a view to improving the effectiveness, management, visibility and impact of ACP-EU cooperation in the field of HE.
Erasmus Mundus: A cooperation and mobility programme that aims to enhance the quality of European Higher Education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with HEIs in third countries. It supports joint programmes, partnerships and the promotion of European HE.
EU – US Cooperation in HE (ATLANTIS): To promote understanding between the people of the EU and the USA and to improve the quality of human resource development. ATLANTIS supports innovative projects for cooperation in HE and VET which are designed to develop and implement double or joint transatlantic degrees for students in the EU and US and other forms or cooperation including mobility and policy oriented measures
ICI Education Cooperation: EU cooperation with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Republic of Korea includes bilateral cooperation projects in higher education and vocational training (ICI-ECP).
Lifelong Learning: To reinforce the contribution made by education and training to achieving the Lisbon goal of making the EU the most competitive knowledge based economy, with sustainable economic development, more and better jobs, and greater social cohesion.
Tempus: Supports the modernisation of higher education in the Partner Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region, mainly through university cooperation projects. It also aims to promote voluntary convergence of Partner Country higher education systems with EU developments in the field of higher education such as the Lisbon agenda and the Bologna process.