Tagged / collaborative research

BUCRU Events and Services

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (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 SW Grant Applications Workshop

The grant applications workshop is directed at researchers who are considering applying to peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research, and is intended to allow them to turn good applications into excellent ones.

The workshop does not provide detailed training in research methodology but rather 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 should have a plan for a project but, ideally, a worked up proposal, even one that has been previously rejected. All proposals will receive detailed written feedback from the RDS team.

The next workshop will be held at Taunton Racecourse, Somerset on the 7th November 2013. Unfortunately, the deadline for applying has now passed. The next workshop is scheduled for the spring. For more information please see http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/gaw.htm.

RDS SW Residential Research Retreat

The Residential Research Retreat 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.

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.

The next Retreat will be held at the Ammerdown Conference Centre, near Bath in Somerset from 1 June to 6 June 2014 inclusive. To win a place on the Retreat, applications should be submitted by 1pm on Friday 17th January 2014. For more information see http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/rrr.htm or our recent blog post http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2013/09/24/desperate-for-uninterrupted-quality-time-on-your-grant-application-come-to-the-residential-research-retreat/.

 RDS SW Project Review Committee

The RDS SW Project Review Committee provides an excellent opportunity for researchers 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.

Committee meetings take place approximately nine times per year. To submit a study for review at the meeting, paperwork must be provided to the Committee via BUCRU two weeks prior to the meeting date, and at least a couple of months before the intended funding deadline. For more information and a list of meeting dates see http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/project_review_committee.htm.

 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 Tenth Annual Symposium was held on 16th October 2013 at the Executive Business Centre (please see our recent blog post http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2013/10/22/copmre-tenth-annual-symposium-2/). These successful annual conferences have been running for the past ten years and have featured themes such as ‘Professionalism and Collaboration’, ’Research Innovation’, ‘Interprofessional Learning’, and ‘Social Media’. This year’s Symposium focused on medical devices and medical education.  The conference is open to all healthcare professionals and academics.  Information about the next Symposium will be posted on our website in due course and you will be able to register online nearer the time.

Contact us: For further information about the Grant Applications Workshop, the Residential Research Retreat and the Project Review Committee you can contact us by:

Or pop and see us on the 5th floor of Royal London House!

CoPMRE Tenth Annual Symposium

The Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) held its Tenth Annual Symposium on Wednesday 16th October in the Executive Business Centre. The Symposium, ‘Innovation in Medical Education and Research, Promoting Change…’ was attended by over 70 delegates from BU, local NHS Trusts and other areas of healthcare. Despite the wind and the pouring rain, it proved to be an interesting and informative day!

The morning session focused on medical devices and kicked off with a presentation from Professor Paul Thompson (Director of CoPMRE and Consultant Rheumatologist, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) who discussed the Department of Health’s ‘Innovation, Health and Wealth’ report and its implication for practice. Professor Siamak Noroozi (Chair in Advanced Technology, DEC) followed with a fascinating presentation on the key performance enhancement potentials of running with blades and the cutting edge research currently underway in DEC. Professor Ian Swain (Director of Clinical Science & Engineering, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Professor, BU) treated us to a live demonstration of functional electrical stimulation (FES) and an overview of the fantastic results he and his team have had using FES and other Assistive Technologies in neurological rehabilitation.

Mr Robert Middleton (Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow, BU) talked about medical device trials in Bournemouth, particularly the quality, quantity and expertise available with regards to hip and knee replacements. Chris Pomfrett, Technical Adviser from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) described the process for the evaluation of new medical devices and the production of NICE guidance for devices. Dr Mike McMillan (CEO, NHS Innovations South West) finished the morning session with a presentation on how to be an innovator and keep the day job.

After a fantastic lunch and a chance to network, the afternoon session focused on medical education. The first speaker was John Reidy, Careers Lead from Talbot Heath School who talked us through the University application process and support available to students applying to medical school. Dr Tristan Richardson (Consultant Endocrinologist, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow, BU) told us about the work experience course at Royal Bournemouth Hospital for local school children wishing to pursue a career in medicine. Dr Chris Stephens, Associate Dean from University of Southampton discussed its Medical School, what they look for in applicants, and what the future holds for the School. Dr Mike Masding (Head of Wessex Foundation School, Consultant Physician, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow, BU) presented on the ‘golden age’ of medical training and the evolving Foundation Programme for Junior Doctors. Paula Robblee from the General Medical Council (GMC) talked us through how the GMC regulate medical research and training, and Dr Peter Hockey concluded the Symposium with a presentation on the education and training available from Health Education Wessex.

All round an interesting day with many exciting speakers! A full report on the day will be available and distributed in due course. For more information contact us.

Who are BUCRU? Introducing members of the team and our expertise

In last week’s post we gave you a brief introduction to BUCRU and how we can help you.  This week we introduce you to the members of the team.

Front row (L-R): Lisa Gale, Louise Ward, Helen Allen, Sarah Thomas, Zoe Sheppard. Back row: Peter Thomas, Annabel Kenny-Jones, Paul Thompson, Audrey Dixon.

Professor Paul Thompson

Paul is Consultant Rheumatologist at Poole Hospital and 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.

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 focused on multiple sclerosis.

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.

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.

Professor 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.

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 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.

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.

Lisa Gale

Lisa joined the team in May 2013 as Clinical Research Co-ordinator.  She has a background in psychology and previously worked in the research department of a local NHS Trust.  The main focus of Lisa’s role is to create a seamless link between academics at BU and clinicians in the NHS who are interested in interprofessional, high quality research to construct bids for funding, develop project plans, and conduct research.

Annabel Kenny-Jones

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

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.

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 Master’s degrees were studied here at Bournemouth University.

Contact us:

You can contact us by:

Or pop and see us on the 5th floor of Royal London House!

What is BUCRU and what can we do for you?

What is BUCRU?

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) is a 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

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 supports Bournemouth University staff and researchers working locally in the NHS. There are no 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.

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:

You can contact us by:

Or pop and see us on the 5th floor of Royal London House!

Fusion: Sports Academic Group and School of Tourism to Advance Partnerships with US East Coast Universities

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion, REF Subjects, Research themes

As part of the overall internationalisation dynamics spreading through the School of Tourism – especially concerned with creating opportunities for students – Dr Tim Breitbarth, Senior Lecturer in Sports Management, will travel to South Carolina and Florida end of October.

The project is funded through the BU Fusion Investment Fund, based on the trips’ three impact-focused objectives of, firstly and mainly, advancing partnership development for the sports academic group as well as the School of Tourism and potentially other Schools as well; secondly, Tim will collect further sets of empirical data for an established and awarded international collaborative research project on CSR and sport; and thirdly, develop and foster industry and research contacts aiming towards strengthening BU’s golf/sport management programmes and editing a first book on global golf business.

Main contacts and places to go are the University of South Carolina, which has the largest undergraduate sports and entertainment management programme of its kind in the USA, with more than 1000 majors and minors (recently been listed in the Top25 in the 2013 SportBusiness Global Postgraduate Ranking), and the University of Central Florida, where a university partnership agreement covering many subject areas is already well underway.

“My experience with the Fusion fund and the way it is managed is that coherent applications focusing on wider impact and multiple outcomes are very welcome,” says Tim, who already was successful with staff mobility and networking applications in the past. Please feel free to contact Tim (tbreitbarth@bournemouth.ac.uk) if you like to learn more about his upcoming trip.

Desperate for uninterrupted quality time on your grant application? Come to the Residential Research Retreat!

The Research Design Service South West (RDS SW) is offering a unique opportunity to researchers in health and social care across the South West of England.

The Residential Research Retreat provides an opportunity for research teams to develop high quality 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. The Retreat is open to health professionals and academic partners working within the South West. 

At the Retreat you will be supported by a range of academic experts while developing your research proposal. Away from the workplace, you will work intensively on your proposal, while learning how to maximise its chances for successfully securing a grant. You will learn how to develop your idea into a viable and first class research proposal and experience research project planning at a professional level.

A delegate from this year’s Retreat said, “This has been an extremely valuable exercise and has really helped build an understanding of what is expected from NIHR funded projects. In order to ensure that new researchers are able to make feasible, rigorous, well-designed bids for funding, this week is essential.”

The Retreat will be held at the Ammerdown Conference Centre, near Bath in Somerset from 1 June to 6 June 2014 inclusive. To win a place on the Retreat, applications should be submitted by 1pm on Friday 17th January 2014.  Applications will be reviewed competitively and places awarded to the most promising team proposals. The application and further information is available at http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/rrr.htm.

Don’t forget, your local branch of the Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us or send us an email.

CEMP Fellows? A Proposal for Fostering Innovative Education Research at BU

BU Challenges, Fusion

Many media studies professionals engaged in learning innovation first get introduced to Bournemouth University through CEMP, the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice. From attending annual summits to publishing in the Media Education Research Journal, before joining BU I was already connected to this unique community characterised by creativity, sharing and mentorship. Once I started working at BU I quickly realised that educational researchers interested in media and technology were not just in CEMP. From the School of Tourism to DEC, inspiring educational research can be found across BU.

As the Fusion vision expands and EdD programme grows, the time seems ripe to further foster innovative education research at BU, to use CEMP to bring our educational researchers together. Yet, as any of us who’ve scampered around to meet a grant deadline knows all too well, network building and collaborative bidding requires workload time and institutional support. This got some of us thinking about ways we might be able to foster educational research through CEMP. Borrowing a best practice employed at many research centres around the world, we asked ourselves: What if CEMP had internal fellows?

These CEMP Fellows could be culled from BU’s existing educational research community. Provided dedicated time in their schedules to meet together, they could share their previous scholarship and develop new collaborative projects. CEMP could create annual or bi-annual themes to guide this knowledge exchange and facilitate initiatives, offering a programmed series of meetings and events. For example, CEMP might run a Fellow programme on a topic like ‘Games and Education,’ bringing together researchers exploring the use of educational gaming across all schools.  As evidence that these fellows already exist amongst us, just two weeks ago at the VS Games conference hosted at BU by Dr. Christos Gatzidis and Dr. Jian Zhang of DEC, we saw BU participants from Tourism, the Centre for Digital Entertainment, Animation, Corporate Communication and more. Together we shared innovations in educational gaming.  Could CEMP Fellows be a way forward for fostering fusion?

CoPMRE Tenth Annual Symposium

The Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) is pleased to announce its tenth annual symposium ‘Innovation in Medical Education and Research, promoting change’. The symposium is suitable for clinicians, academics, healthcare professionals and industry people (Pharma and Medical Device) with an interest in medical research and education.  

The research session will concentrate on design, assessment and implementation of novel medical devices and how to take technological innovations into practice.  The education session will explore changes in medical training from school to revalidation, now and in the future.

Date: Wednesday 16 October 2013
Venue: Bournemouth University, Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, BH8 8EB
Time: 9:00am – 4:30pm

Please ensure that you register for this event in advance.

Speakers include:

Siamak Noroozi
Chair in Advanced Technology, Bournemouth University
Key performance enhancement potentials of running with blades

Ian Swain
Director of Clinical Science & Engineering, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
The use of electrical stimulation in Neurological Rehabilitation

Robert Middleton
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow, Bournemouth University
Medical Device Trials – The Bournemouth Experience

Chris Pomfrett
Technical Adviser, Research Commissioning, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
NICE evaluation of devices and diagnostics

Mike McMillan
CEO of NHS Innovations South West (NISW)
How to make it happen and keep the day job

Chris Stephens
Associate Dean (Education & Student Experience) University of Southampton
Southampton Medical School, now and the future

Richard Marchant
Assistant Director, Regulations Policy, GMC
Regulating Medical Education and Training

Peter Hockey
Deputy Postgraduate Dean, Health Education Wessex
Higher Training and the LETB

For more details please visit our website or contact Audrey Dixon

Fusion Investment Fund: A Cooperative Journey in China

Fusion

In the early August 2013, I was supported to visit Universities in China by a  successful fusion SMN bid application. The first objective of this trip is to develop a collaboration with a famous China university in Chongqing, i.e.,  Chongqing University, the top 5% universities in China, located in Chongqing, the biggest city in China with a population of 38 million.The second aim is to visit and cooperate with some senior researchers in China, in the area of distributed systems and information fusion.

In Chongqing University (CQU), I provided a seminar on distributed systems, and also  showcased the research in DEC, as well as advertising our MSc programme (MSc in Applied Data Analytics), Research Master programme to attract students in CQU. Also, I met the associate Dean of the college of compute science in CQU, discussing about possible collaborations between DEC and this college, including staff/student exchange, joint PhD co-supervision, visiting scholarship, etc. We also discussed our concerns on undergraduate student degree programme. The associate Dean introduced the their advantage on big data storage and mining, which are useful for research in the DEC computing school.

During this journey, I’ve also visited senior researchers in other universities. I had discussed researches on uncertainty reasoning, event reasoning and their applications with researchers from Peking University and Renmin University (both are top universities in China, located in Beijing), and they had expressed their interest in collaborations for possible funding opportunities.

In Xi’Nan University (in the 211 list), which is also located in Chongqing, I visited a key laboratory and met the chief, Prof. Yong Deng and his colleagues and students. We talked about our research proposals and possible future collaborations. I had also recommended BU’s projects to the students and they had showed interest.

In the future, I will advance the collaborations with these universities /senior researchers for educational and academic involvements. For the educational part, I will work with BU’s international development team and the DEC school to promote BU’s UG and PG courses. For the academic part, I will work with these researchers, trying to work with possible funding applications and joint papers.

BU is open to international cooperation, and any staff in BU should have an international perspective.   And indeed, the world is full of chance, for whoever prepared. I really appreciate the FUSION schema that helps BU staff to go outside and attract international collaborations.

 

NIHR Research Design Service Grant Applications Workshop

The Research Design Service South West (RDS SW) is running a one-day grant applications workshop on 7th November 2013 at Taunton Racecourse, Somerset.

The grant applications workshop is directed at researchers who are considering applying to peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research, and is intended to allow them to turn good applications into excellent ones.

If you are interested in attending the workshop you will need to submit an application form and the latest draft of your research proposal by 1pm on Monday 14th October 2013.

For more information and to download an application form please go to http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/gaw.htm.

Flying through Mexico – a reconnaissance tour

Fusion

 

I visited Mexico for 2 weeks earlier this month (6-20 June) to assess the potential for future research collaboration and to establish links between Bournemouth University (BU) and Mexican organisations. As I have the role of School of Applied Sciences (ApSci) Academic Lead for Students Placements, one of my objectives was to find potential hosts for our students and also opportunities for staff and student exchange. The talks I gave (5 in total!) allowed me to disseminate some of the work I do, the wider teaching and research at ApSci and to promote BU overall. After the talks there was always a good interaction with students and staff and I think there is a good chance that this was the start of long-lasting partnerships between BU and at least some of the organisations I visited:

  • Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Ensenada – researchers from other departments and also from CICESE (Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education) also attended the talk, what was very good. Many thanks to Dr Amaia Ruiz de Alegria Arzaburu for organising everything. It was great to catch up with you and hopefully we will be doing something together soon.
  • Instituto de Ingenieria, Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City -attendance to the talk was very good and there was also an interview and material will be added to their website, so quite good dissemination. Dr Rodolfo Silva Casarin is a star, brilliant head of a very interesting group, it was great to have met him after so many emails we have exchanged in the recent past. Many thanks!
  • CINVESTAV (Center for Research and Advanced Studies), National Polytechnic Institute, Merida – here I had a closer contact with research conducted by staff and PhD students and also with coordinators of relevant programme, including some clear demonstration of will for visiting BU and start collaboration. Thanks to Dr Ismael Marino Tapia for the invitation and for being such a great host. Very interesting research are being conducted in CINVESTAV.
  • Laboratorio de Ingeniería y Procesos Costeros, Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, Sisal – this people are so lucky, they have brand new facilities right at the beach, beautiful settings and they are building new labs, which I’m sure will host great quality research. The talk was well attended and hopefully we will be able to keep in touch with colleagues that were very interested in staff and student exchange. Many thanks to Dr Ernesto Tonatiuh Mendoza Ponce and Dr Cecilia Enriquez for the opportunity to visit your facilities – I look forward to working with you.
  • Instituto EPOMEX (Instituto de Ecología, Pesquerías y Oceanografía del Golfo de México), Universidad Autonoma de Campeche – Thanks to Dr Gregorio Posada Vanegas for introducing the research conducted at EPOMEX and for facilitating the contact with students and other staff. The interactions  after the talk were very informative and hopefully we will continue our collaboration in the future.

This was my first time in Mexico and I had the opportunity to see a bit of very different parts of the country, talk to researchers and students and learn about their work, culture and life style. I call it a tour because in two weeks I visited Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico City and a number of locations in the Yucatan Peninsula, including Merida, Sisal, Campeche and also part of the coast of Quintana Roo. So every other day I was packing and unpacking, which was very tiring. But all worth it for the people I met and the things I learned.

Many thanks to BU’s EUADS (EU Academic Development Scheme) funds for allowing me to engage in this reconnaissance tour.

I will keep you posted of further developments from this initiative.

Hello from the new Clinical Research Co-ordinator!

My name is Lisa Gale and I am the new Clinical Research Co-ordinator in Bournemouth University’s Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU). I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and explain a little about my role.

This is me so please say hello if you see me around!

The main focus of my role is to create a seamless link between academics at BU and clinicians in the NHS who are interested in interprofessional, high quality research to construct bids for funding, develop project plans, and conduct research. I will work with researchers across all six Schools at BU and in the health service, with a view to identifying novel collaborations and supporting the development of projects into grant applications.

The role supports BU’s key concept of fusion through creating local, regional, national and international partnerships and academic networks, undertaking world-class research, and inspiring staff to realise their full potential and enrich the world.

My passion for research developed whilst studying psychology at Cardiff University. For the past several years, I have worked in the research department of a local NHS Trust that provides mental health and community services. I have experience in co-ordinating NHS grant applications, designing, costing and delivering research projects. My background is mainly in psychology and mental health, so I am excited at the opportunity to become involved in high quality research in other areas of healthcare.

The Clinical Research Co-ordinator role is new, and over the coming weeks and months I will be visiting many departments at BU and in local NHS Trusts to discuss how the role can best support academics and clinicians alike. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible in this time, but please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or queries, and especially if you have a novel and exciting research idea! You can contact me by email at lgale@bournemouth.ac.uk or by phone on 01202 962172.

More information about the support that BUCRU and CoPMRE can offer researchers is available through the following links:

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

http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/copmre/

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) Annual Report

At the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) we think it is important to review our activities on a regular basis, to document our achievements and to outline our plans for the future. We have decided that the best way to do this is to prepare an Annual Report. It was completed some months ago and now we would like to share it more widely with our colleagues in the University. It can be found on our microsite at http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/news/ we hope it is of interest.

The support and collaborations we offer are available to staff within the University, and to staff in the NHS. In the next year we will be particularly trying to develop new collaborations between University and health service staff that will lead to high quality grant applications.

If you would like further information please contact Louise Ward (wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk Tel: 01202 961939)

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

Presentation from Paula Kersten ‘Supporting strategies for self-management of rehabilitation in the home: a feasibility study’

You are cordially invited to a lunchtime presentation being delivered by Paula Kersten the Associate Professor of Rehabilitation at Auckland University of Technology and Visiting Professor with HSC. This is an hour long presentation entitled ‘Supporting strategies for self-management of rehabilitation in the home: a feasibility study’.  This talk would be of interest to health professionals working in health and rehabilitation.  We very much hope you will be able to attend this informative presentation.

For Paula Kersten’s Biography, please follow link below:

http://www.aut.ac.nz/profiles/paula-kersten

Thursday 16th May 2013

‘Supporting strategies for self-management of rehabilitation in the home: a feasibility study’

Presentation by Paula Kersten, Associate Professor Rehabilitation, Auckland University of Technology

12.00-1.00pm

BG11, Bournemouth House, Lansdowne Campus, BH1 3LH

 

Hosted by Clinical Research Unit

European Science Foundation and Global Changes in the Marine Environment

Funding opportunities, R & KE Operations

I was very proud to have been invited by the Institute of Marine Sciences – National Research Council (ISMAR-CNR) in Venice who developed on the European Science Foundation Platform, the Exploratory Workshop:  Marine woodborers: New Frontiers for European Waters. And I have to say that that was one of the most exciting research opportunities I have taken part of in the recent past.

The European Science Foundation (ESF) was established in 1974 to provide a common platform for its Member Organisations to advance European research collaboration and explore new directions for research. Currently it is an independent organisation, owned by 67 Member Organisations, which are research funding organisations, research performing organisations and academies from 29 countries.

The focus of the Exploratory Workshops scheme is on workshops aiming to explore an emerging and/or innovative field of research or research infrastructure, also of interdisciplinary character. Workshops are expected to open up new directions in research or new domains. It is expected that a workshop shall conclude with plans for follow-up research activities and/or collaborative actions or other specific outputs at international level.

The organisers, namely Davide Tagliapietra, Erica Keppel and Marco Sigovini – all from the ISMAR-CNR- did an amazing job in organising this much needed research group and by planning an excellent working programme.

The topic, centred on Marine woodborers is of utmost important as these organisms are a threat to maritime structure and archaeological heritage. Recently, an increase in attack and a northward spread has been reported. Despite the ecological, economical and cultural importance, research on this subject is carried out by few scientists scattered across Europe. An interdisciplinary approach is needed to reach a synthesis of knowledge and a deeper understanding of the causal factors. The main outcome of the workshop is the establishment of a research network aiming to coordinate scientists with an European perspective and a global view. Through the establishment of such a network, new theoretical and technical developments could be achieved.

The agenda of the workshop was to focus on:

1) bringing together experts in complementary fields that have hitherto not collaborated as a group;

2) identifying additional research competences that are not covered within the group of participants;

3) identifying, exchanging and sharing research interests for future joint leading research projects and developing an application strategies;

4) the establishment of an international network on marine woodborers.

Despite the subject ([wood-]‘boring’ organisms), there wasn’t a single dull moment. It was very exciting to spent a considerable amount of time with international peers coming from as far as Colombia and discussing the problems surrounding these particular organisms.

All sessions were extremely interesting and productive and I totally enjoyed chairing one of them in the Knowledge Café, with my hat of maritime archaeologist whose research interest based also based on marine organisms and global changes, but I am also one of few who combines degradation and protection of the cultural heritage and marine science. The Knowledge Café focussed on Systematics and biogeography, Marine woodborer-microorganism interactions, Protection of shipwrecks and maritime structures. Each group discussed weaknesses: Problems, constrains and bottlenecks, Strengths: Opportunities, synergies, and Perspectives: Solutions, actions and recommendations.

19 international peers attended, which was by invitation only, this amazing opportunity, some of which were old friends and some of which have become reference points for my current and future research on wood borers.

All with the amazing architectural beauties of a tiny Venetian island just in front of one of the world most famous squares: San Marco square!

Paola Palma 

BPS Wessex Student Conference

PG research

On Saturday, Bournemouth University hosted the Wessex Branch of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual Student Conference. This event provided an opportunity for students to showcase novel research and, in addition to BU, attracted Psychology students from a range of institutions (e.g. Universities of Surrey, Sussex, Winchester, and Southampton). The breadth of institution was matched by the breadth of student; with undergraduate research assistants through to doctoral students presenting their work to an audience of approximately 100 delegates.

In total, there were 28 oral presentations and 19 research posters. In addition, we were fortunate to have two thought-provoking keynote speakers. First, Dr. Richard Stephens (Keele University) spoke about the role of swearing on pain tolerance (in short, it helps, particularly if you are normally an infrequent user of coarse vocabulary) and, second, Prof. Clare Wood (Coventry University) delivered a presentation on the effects of text messaging on literacy (in sum, ‘textisms’ are not rotting the brains of our nation’s youth).

The conference sought to emphasise that, rather than a perfunctory assessment exercise, student research is an important part of knowledge creation within our universities. Whilst this was highlighted by the collaborative (student-academic) nature of the projects, it was also evident how the presenters had developed into independent researchers. This apprenticeship model is one employed by the Bournemouth Psychology Research Centre and it was pleasing to see a number of our Year 2 Psychology students presenting data that had arisen from their research assistant placements. There was a large contingent of first and second year BU Psychology students in the audience and helping with conference organisation as volunteers. We hope that they have been inspired to participate in more staff projects and will return next year to present their research.