BU Research Blog

Tagged / ESRC

August 10, 2015

Media training for ESRC-funded researchers

Media training is changing at the ESRC.

Having taken on board extensive feedback from their delegates they are moving their media training forward to focus on the practical elements of working with the media.

They now offer a one day-long media training session that provides the opportunity to develop practical media skills in a safe environment.

They believe by concentrating their resources this way they will be able to give maximum opportunity for researchers, no matter what stage of their career, to develop their skills and feel comfortable handling media interviews. Whether a PhD student, postdoctoral researcher or senior fellow, the new practical media training session provides the guidance needed to engage the media with confidence – and plenty of opportunity to practice.

For more information, please see the article here.

The course will be taking place in different locations throughout the year. The forthcoming course dates are:

17 September 2015 – London
15 October 2015 – Cambridge
30 October 2015 – London
12 November 2015 – London

Book a place on a media training course.

For further information on any aspect of ESRC media training days please contact esrcmediatraining@esrc.ac.uk

July 16, 2015

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities, Global engagement, Public engagement emilner

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.

Arts and Humanities Research Council

PaCCS Conflict Theme (2 calls). The call for Interdisciplinary Innovation Awards (up to 18 months and up to £100,000 fEC) aims to support the development of innovative, adventurous, higher risk, interdisciplinary research, including projects at an earlier stage of interdisciplinary evolution and/or led by early career researchers. The call for Interdisciplinary Research Grants (up to 48 months and between £400,000 and £800,000 fEC) aims to support innovative interdisciplinary research proposals related to specific conflict themes. Closing Date: 22/10/15

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Highlight notice in novel tools and technologies for vaccinology. The BBSRC, MRC and EPSRC are working together on a scheme which aims to fund cutting edge technology across the Councils’ portfolios into vaccine development and early-stage manufacturing research, and foster research that may be applicable across different diseases.Expression of Interest Closing Date: 17/9/15 at 16:00

Economic and Social Research Council

Future Research Leaders 2016. The Future Research Leaders scheme aims to enable outstanding early-career social scientists, in partnership with their host organisation, to acquire the skills set to become the future world leaders in their field. Grants will be for a maximum of two years, with a pro-rata duration option for those employed part-time on a contract of 0.5 FTE or above. There is an overall limit of £230,000 (at 100 per cent full economic cost) although the actual amount you can apply for will vary depending on when you submitted your PhD and your level of academic experience. Closing Date: 29/9/15 at 16:00

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Healthcare Impact Partnerships 2015/2016. This call is open to eligible UK academics who have held an EPSRC grant or portfolio of grants relevant to the capabilities of Disruptive Sensing and Analysis or Medical Device Design and Innovation. An overall budget of £5m is available. Intention to submit a proposal Closing Date: 27/8/15 at 16:00

The Health Foundation

Behavioural Insights Research Programme will make up to £1 million available to support a number of multidisciplinary research teams, consisting of psychology and behavioural economists, health care professionals, support-staff and managers, patients and those with design expertise. Awards will be between £200,000 and £350,000 for research completed over two to three years. Closing Date: 30/9/15 at Noon.

Innovate UK

Developing regenerative medicines and cell therapies. Innovate are to invest up to £8 million in collaborative R&D projects to stimulate the development of regenerative medicines and cell therapies in the UK. Proposals must be collaborative and led by a business and projects are expected to range in size from total costs of £500,000 to £2.5 million. Registration closes: 26/8/15 at Noon. Expression of Interest Closing Date: 2/9/15 at Noon.

Natural Environment Research Council

Green Infrastructure Innovation Projects. Proposals are invited that address the issues and opportunities around green infrastructure (GI) in the planning and investment decisions that are made by local policymakers, local planners and organisations responsible for developing the built environment. A maximum of £125k may be requested for projects lasting up to two years. Closing Date: 22/10/15 at 16:00

Independent Research Fellowship (IRF) Scheme is designed to develop scientific leadership among the most promising early-career environmental scientists, by giving all fellows five years’ support. Closing Date: 1/10/15

Science for Humanitarian Emergencies & Resilience (SHEAR) research programme Research Consortia Grants 2015. Outline proposals are invited for world-leading research into hydrological controls on landslide hazard in South Asia or flood and drought risk assessment, modelling and forecasting in Sub-Saharan Africa. Funding of up to £2m full economic cost (FEC) will be available per consortium with a total available budget of £8m. Closing Date: 1/9/15 at 16:00

Understanding the Value of the Natural Environment for Improving Human Health & Wellbeing. A funding pot of up to £3·96m (80% FEC) from NERC, AHRC and ESRC is available, which is expected to support between three and six interdisciplinary proposals of up to three years duration. This will provide an opportunity for natural and social scientists, arts and humanities researchers to form substantial interdisciplinary research collaborations. Closing Date: 22/9/15

Royal Society

Newton International Fellowship. The scheme provides the opportunity for the best early stage post-doctoral researchers from all over the world to work at UK research institutions. Newton Fellowships last for two years. Funding consists of £24,000 per annum for subsistence costs, and up to £8,000 per annum research expenses, as well as a one-off payment of up to £2,000 for relocation expenses and may also be eligible to receive up to £6,000 annually following the tenure of their Fellowship to support networking activities with UK-based researchers. Closing Date: 9/9/15

Wellcome Trust

Seed Awards in Science. Grants of of up to £100,000 for up to two years will be made available to help researchers develop original and innovative ideas which propose to carry out interdisciplinary research across our Science, Medical Humanities, Society and Ethics and Innovations funding. Closing Date: 22/10/15

Sustaining Excellence Awards. The fund is targeted towards organisations which have an excellent track record with the Wellcome Trust (at least 3 awards drawn from any of the Engaging Science schemes) and a desire to maintain best practice in public engagement. Sustaining Excellence awards will typically be in the range of £90,000 to £1,000,000, spread across three to five years. Expression of Interest Closing Date: 25/9/15

World Health Organisation, EDCTP and the UK Medical Research Council

Research and capacity development in support of the EVD response. Proposals is to build and strengthen regional, national, institutional and individual capacities to conduct high quality health research (e.g. clinical trials, operational and/or implementation research) during infectious disease outbreaks resulting in health emergencies. Up to €250k is available per proposal. Closing Date: 6/8/15

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

July 8, 2015

ESRC annual report shows that success rates have dropped

Funding opportunities, Guidance Jo Garrad

The ESRC have released their annual report for 2014-15. As well as highlighting research that they have funded, it also sets out their strategy. This includes ‘Big Data’, building capability, impact, and international partnerships.

There are interesting sections on demand management (p.21-22) and Research Professional have written an article following up on this and success rates.

April 16, 2015

How to become an integral part of ESRC’s strategy and peer review

Guidance, Research news Jo Garrad

The ESRC are looking to appoint new members to its committees and grant assessment panels. Find out below how you can get involved.

ESRC committee appointments 2015

ESRC have recently undertaken a review of their current structure of committees to ensure that they are well placed to deliver the commitments outlined in their Strategic Plan 2015.

As a result of these changes they are inviting applications from suitably experienced persons to be members of their renewed and modified Research Committee and their Capability Committee.

The new committees will enable them to deliver:

enhanced horizon scanning to identify their focused priorities and opportunities for innovation – within social science and boundaries of other science areas
more integrated thinking and advice about priorities, across all areas of activity
better use of evidence in decision making
improved administrative efficiency.

For further information on the vacancies, please see the vacancy specification. For questions or queries that are not covered in the vacancy specification, please email: committeerecruitment@esrc.ac.uk

Application forms, with a short curriculum vitae (no longer than two A4 pages) and a supporting statement from a suitable referee, should be submitted to committeerecruitment@esrc.ac.uk no later than 17.00 on 24 April 2015.

An induction day for new members is planned for 9 July 2015, and applicants are requested to hold this date in their diaries pending the outcome of the recruitment process.

Grants Assessment Panel (GAP) recruitment

ESRC are currently recruiting for GAP members, as well as a chair for Panel A.

Closing date for all applications is 17.00 on 8 May 2015.

March 30, 2015

ESRC Changes to Research Grants funding thresholds

Funding opportunities, Guidance Jo Garrad

ESRC are introducing changes to the funding thresholds for their Research Grants scheme. They currently accept applications between £200,000 and £2 million. Under the new arrangements the lower threshold will rise to £350,000 and the upper threshold will be reduced to £1 million at Full Economic Costs. These changes will come into effect from 1 July 2015. Current thresholds will continue to operate for any application submitted up to 30 June 2015.

To find out more about why these changes have been introduced, click here.

The ESRC has not withdrawn from the funding of projects under £350,000. They remain committed to schemes with projects below this threshold, such as the Secondary Data Analysis Initiative, the Transformative Research scheme, and – for Early Career Researchers – their Future Research Leaders scheme, where there is no lower limit on funding. All these schemes are essentially responsive mode, like the Research Grants Scheme.

They also remain committed to the funding of longer, larger responsive grants. They intend to introduce an annual open competition for grants between £1 million and £2.5 million and are currently considering how this will operate alongside our existing Centres and the Large Grants Competition.

They anticipate that these changes will reduce the volume of applications they receive through the Research Grants scheme. This will increase overall success rates for those who do apply as well as reducing the peer review requirements they need to place on the social science community.

If you are thinking of applying to the ESRC then please contact the Funding Development Team.

March 26, 2015

ESRC have updated their Research Data policy

Funding opportunities, Guidance Jo Garrad

The ESRC has updated its research data policy .

The key points are:

it is the grant holder’s responsibility to incorporate data management as an integral part of the research project, and
data must be made available for re-use or archiving with the ESRC data service providers within three months of the end of the grant.

Please click on the link above for further information.

March 9, 2015

Changes to ESRC Standard Grants

BU research, Funding opportunities, Guidance Jo Garrad

ESRC are introducing changes to the funding thresholds for their Standard Grants scheme. They currently accept applications between £200,000 and £2 million. Under the new arrangements the lower threshold will rise to £350,000 and the upper threshold will be reduced to £1 million at Full Economic Costs. These changes will come into effect from 1 July 2015. Current thresholds will continue to operate for any application submitted up to 30 June 2015.

The changes are a response to the pattern of demand that is being placed on the standard grants scheme by the social science community. The average value of a standard grant application has steadily increased and is now close to £500,000, so they have adjusted the centre of gravity of the scheme to reflect applicant behaviour.

The changes are also a response to feedback from their Grant Assessment Panels who have found it increasingly difficult to assess and compare the value of applications ranging from £200,000 to £2 million, where there is variable level of detail on project design, costs and deliverables. This issue has become more acute as the number of grant applications over £1 million has steadily increased over the last two years. Narrowing the funding range of the scheme will help to maintain the robustness of the assessment process, ensuring all applications get a fair hearing.

They anticipate that these changes will reduce the volume of applications they receive through the Standard Grants scheme and will increase overall success rates for those who do apply as well as reducing the peer review requirements they need to place on the social science community.

In making these changes they remain committed to the funding of longer, larger responsive grants. They intend to introduce an annual open competition for grants between £1 million and £2.5 million and are currently considering how this will operate alongside their existing Centres and Large Grants Competition.

If you are intending to apply to the ESRC standard grant scheme then please contact the RKEO Funding Development Team in the first instance.

January 22, 2015

CIPPM Members present research co-funded by the UKIPO and ESRC on Copyright and the Public Domain

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Featured, Featured academics, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research news cippm

The Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management’s Co-Director, Dr. Dinusha Mendis and CIPPM Member, Dr. Fabian Homberg presented their research on ‘Valuing the Public Domain’ – a collaboration with CREATe, University of Glasgow – on 5th December 2014, at Digital Catapult, London.

‘Valuing the Public Domain’ is a major research and knowledge exchange project carried out in collaboration with CREATe, University of Glasgow and is co-funded by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The purpose of the project is 1) to map the size of the public domain and frequency of its use; 2) analyse the role of public domain works in value creation for UK firms; and 3) assist UK media companies to identify business models that benefit from the public domain.

The half-day event brought together project researchers and transmedia businesses to explore and discuss the results of the study. During the discussions, a number of significant questions were addressed including (a) what does the availability and use of the rich tradition of public domain materials in this country mean for UK creative industries?; (b) how can SMEs and other businesses leverage the public domain effectively to generate value?; and (c) what are the emerging market trends and practices that will hinder or enable access to public domain materials in the future?

Following the event in December, the final report authored by Dr. Kris Erickson, Professor Paul Heald, Dr. Fabian Homberg, Professor Martin Kretschmer and Dr. Dinusha Mendis was published in March 2015 and can be accessed here..

December 22, 2014

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

EU, Funding opportunities emilner

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Applications are being can be made to the International Placement Scheme for short term fellowships to the Yale Center for British Art, The Huntington Library, The Smithsonian Institution, The Harry Ransom Center, National Institutes for the Humanities Japan, The Library of Congress and the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Scholars receive a contribution of up to towards their travel, their visa costs paid, plus a monthly allowance. Closing Date: 15/01/15 at 16:00

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

BBSRC/EMBRAPA joint wheat call – pump-priming awards. Together with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation ( Embrapa) a joint call for collaborative research proposals in wheat research. Up to £75k over a maximum duration of 12 months will be provided to the UK partners. Closing Date: 24/2/15

Economic and Social Research Council

There will be up to six fellowships available as part of the UK in a Changing Europe Senior Fellowships. The aim of the Fellowship programme is to provide evidence and analysis across the broad range of issues and policy areas affected by the UK’s position in a changing European Union (EU). The maximum amount available for each Fellowship is £200,000. Closing Date: 22/1/15

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

The SUPERGEN WIND CHALLENGE 2015 invites proposals for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research that will underpin the development of Wind Energy technologies. Up to £3m will be available and anyone intending to submit a proposal must register their intent by e-mail. Registration of intent: 20/1/15 at 16:00; Closing Date: 26/2/15 at 16:00

European Union

Transnational SOLAR-ERA.NET. The objective of the SEII is to boost the development of the PV and CSP sector beyond “business-as-usual” in the areas of Research and Development, Demonstration and Deployment with €12M available between 17 countries. Closing Date: 27/3/15 at 17:00 CET

Innovate UK

Agri-Tech Catalyst – round 4. The Agri-Tech Catalyst, run by Innovate UK and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, offers funding to innovative businesses and researchers to develop solutions to global agricultural challenges. Early and Late Stage Projects will have a typical project size between £150K and £500K. Closing Date: 17/6/15

The Industrial research awards for the Agri-Tech Catalyst fund can have a duration up to three years and a budget up to £3M. Closing Date: 1/4/15

Building whole-life performance. There are funds of £4M for collaborative R&D projects that can lead to better whole-life performance of buildings. Closing Date 1/4/15

Integrated supply chains for energy systems. Investment up to £9.5m in innovations that will address the need for a diverse mix of energy sources and systems over the next three decades and beyond. Closing Date: 11/2/15

Natural Environment Research Council

Sustaining Water Resources for Food, Energy & Ecosystem Services in India- Scoping workshop. NERC is inviting applications from UK scientists to attend a jointly organised workshop with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), in India on 11-12 March 2015. Applications from researchers working in the fields of water security, ecosystem services, hydrological processes, hydrogeology, freshwater ecology, water quality and related disciplines are welcome. Closing Date: 12/1/15 at 16:00

Royal Society

International Exchanges Scheme. This scheme is for scientists in the UK who want to stimulate new collaborations with leading scientists overseas through either a one-off visit or bilateral travel with up to £12000 available. Closing Dates: 10/2/15 (cost-share round with Russia/RFBR) or 17/2/15 (standard round).

Wellcome Trust

Principal Research Fellowships are available for seven years in the first instance, and provide both a personal salary and research programme funding in full. Closing Date: Open

Research Resources grant,s forming part of the Medical Humanities grants portfolio, are available between £10 000 and £100 000. Small grants of up to £10 000 may be awarded to assess the content, condition and research potential of collections in preparation for a full application. Closing Date: 15/4/15

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

October 30, 2014

ESRC Transformative Research Call: internal competition

Funding opportunities apekalski

The ESRC expects universities to exercise demand management for the ESRC Transformative Research Call and therefore a special panel has been convened.Therefore, colleagues wishing to submit an application to this call should adhere to the following time scale:

You can find further information here: ESRC Transformative Research Call

The aim of this call is to provide a stimulus for genuinely transformative research ideas at the frontiers of the social sciences, enabling research which challenges current thinking to be supported and developed. Transformative research is an involving pioneering theoretical and methodological innovation. The expectation is that the transformative research call will encourage novel developments of social science enquiry, and support research activity that entails an element of risk.

If you have a queries please contact Alexandra Pekalski

October 20, 2014

What Works Wellbeing – workshop and call

Uncategorized Jennifer Roddis

ESRC, AHRC and Public Health England, together with other partners, are investing in a new three-year programme to progress the understanding and application of wellbeing evidence. Four evidence-based programmes relating to wellbeing will be commissioned, these being:

community
work and learning
culture and sport
cross-cutting capabilities

Guidance for the call will be released on 29th October 2014, the deadline will be 2nd December, and a workshop for potential applicants will be held on 5th November in Birmingham.

Further information is available at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/32283/what-works-wellbeing.aspx

October 15, 2014

ESRC impact prize 2015, celebrate your impact!

Uncategorized ssquelch

Impact helps to demonstrate that social science is important, that it is worth investing in and worth using.

In 2015 the ESRC is celebrating 50 years of supporting excellent social sciences. The 2015 impact prize is an opportunity to celebrate the outstanding economic and social impacts achieved by ESRC funded researchers over the last 50 years, this is one that cannot be missed.

This prize is now in its third year, growing ever more each year and brings together successes of impact from different aspects of ESRC research. This is an annual opportunity to recognise and reward the success of ESRC funded researchers who have achieved or are currently achieving, outstanding economic or societal impacts. The prize celebrates outstanding ESRC research and success in collaborative working, partnerships, engagement and knowledge exchange activities that have led to significant impact.

You are eligible for the prize regardless of how long ago you were funded, whether you were funded 50 years ago or very recently, it does not matter, as long as your research has helped change the world, provided deep insights into key social and economic questions, shaped society and made a difference, then this competition is for you, you must apply!

This competition is also looking for an impact champion, someone who has inspired, supported and encouraged others to achieve impact.

The prizes are very generous and are an added incentive to you applying for this competition. With £90,000 worth of prizes to be won, and six prize categories, what a great way to celebrate your amazing research impact. The closing date for applicants is 20^th November 2014 with the awards ceremony sponsored by SAGE being hosted in central London week beginning 22 June 2015.

To see the categories, gain inspiration from previous impact prize winners or if you’re interested in applying for this fantastic opportunity, click here.

September 9, 2014

Oh for the love of impact! – What is it? And why do I need to ensure my research makes an impact?

BU research, PG research, Public engagement eloring

What is impact?

Is it as simple as it sounds? Research impact can be defined as “the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and economy”, as stated by Research Councils UK (RCUK).

Research impact embraces all the different ways in which research-related skills can benefit individuals, businesses and organisations, and nations. Including areas such as; developing global economic performance, more specifically the economic competitiveness of the UK; Grow and develop the effectiveness of public services and policy; and enhancing the quality of life, health and creative output.

There are two known types of impact; Academic impact – which is the visible and evident contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to scientific developments, across and within disciplines; and Economic and societal impact – which is the visible and evident contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to society and the economy, which has a great benefit to individuals, organisations and nations.

What category does your research fit under? Is it Instrumental – whereby your research influences the development of policy, practice or service provision? Or maybe it is Conceptual? – where your research contributes to the understanding of policy issues and reframing debates. Or perhaps it could be Capacity building impact? – which is through technical and personal skill development.

Research impact must also be demonstrable, it is important to provide evidence of the impact of your research, for example; that it has been used by policy makers, or has made improvements in businesses.

To find out more about what impact is, please visit here.

Why do I need to ensure my research makes an impact?

Over recent years, the government has placed a stronger emphasis on the need for evidence of returns from its investment in economic and social research.

Ensuring your research has impact has many benefits to, and for society. High quality and impactful research can help to;

Develop the value and sustainability of public, private and third sector organisations
Improve social welfare and cohesion
Increase economic wealth, wealth creation and regeneration
Enhance cultural enrichment and quality of life

Impact also has many benefits to the researcher. In order to maximise the impact of your research, you need to engage with your key audience and users – which can effectively provide benefits for the quality of our research, including;

Early feedback which can help to shape your research plan and improve methodologies currently being used
It helps to ensure that your research is relevant and meaningful
It helps to recruit participants, e.g. for focus groups or interviews
It also helps to develop new skills and raise your research profile

If you would like to find out more about why you should make an impact, please visit here.

If you would like to learn more about how to ensure your research has impact, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Rebecca Edwards in the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office – ext: 61538 or redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

September 2, 2014

ESRC impact prize award winners – could you be the next?

BU research, PG research, Public engagement eloring

There were six impact awards offered by the Economic and Social Research Council, and you can find out more about the winners and their impact below. Each winner has made such a significant difference and impact with their research that has had a positive and effective impact on today’s society and some of the challenges that we face. If you would like to learn more about how to ensure your research has impact, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Rebecca Edwards in the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office – ext: 61538 or redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

Professor Neil Wrigley, University of Southampton won the impact award for ‘Outstanding Impact in Business’. The work of Professor Neil Wrigley and his colleagues has helped to transform thinking on food retail development, its role in sustaining viable town centres and the future of UK high streets. His research influenced national and international debates and UK competition policy. His research collaborations with Tesco and Sainsbury also helped to change the UK retailers’ appreciation of the value of evidence-based research and knowledge exchange with social science.

Professor Debra Myhill, University of Exeter won the ‘Outstanding Impact in Society’ award. Professor Debra Myhill led a decade of research into the development of writing in school children. Her research has shaped national and international policy, and has improved children’s writing abilities and changed classroom practice.

Dr Clifford Stott, University of Leeds won the ‘Outstanding Impact in Public Policy’ award. His research on ‘new approaches to crowd psychology’ is helping police manage the potential for conflict in crowds while allowing people’s rights to protest through dialogue and negotiation. Dr Stott assisted in the design and implementation of a policy use of force strategy for the UEFA European Football Championships (2004) and helped to design, develop, train and implement the UK’s first Police Liaison Teams (2011).

Dr Sabina Alkire, University of Oxford, won the ‘Outstanding International Impact’ award. Dr Alkire and colleagues had developed an innovative method for measuring multidimensional poverty. The method is used to help governments and organisations globally to design poverty-reduction programmes that are more effective.

Hannah Lambie-Mumford, University of Sheffield is an early career researcher who was won the award for ‘Outstanding Early Career Impact’. Hannah’s research on emergency food provision in the UK has provided policymakers, the charitable sector and media with thought-provoking evidence to inform the food poverty debate. Her findings shaped the terms of reference for the April 2014 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into hunger and food poverty, and she joined the advisory group of Oxfam, CPAG and Church of England for research into food poverty and food banks in early 2014.

Professor Sir David Hendry, University of Oxford won the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Throughout five decades Professor Hendry has developed macroeconomic models that capture how economies work. These are now embedded in software which is widely used by policymakers and decision-makers. Professor Hendry commented, “The impact has been the interaction between developing vastly more powerful methods than when I started, that have a much higher chance of finding the causal relationships that operate in the economy, and embedding these models in software that is very easy to use and is massively labour-saving.”

For further information you can visit here.

April 7, 2014

ESRC: Grant Assessment Panel Recruitment

Research news Jo Garrad

The ESRC is inviting applications from suitably experienced persons to act as members of the Grant Assessment Panels (GAP). Panel membership is drawn from all areas of the social sciences, representing a broad range of expertise, skills and approaches. However, following the retirement of some current GAP members they are currently looking for applications in the following disciplinary areas:

. Demography

. Macro-economics

. Economic and Social History

. Environmental Planning

. Human Geography

. Linguistics

. Political and International Relations

. Psychology

. Social Policy

. Social Work

. Socio-Legal Studies

. Political Sociology

Further details about the role of GAP members can be found on the ESRC website along with a link to the vacancy notice and application form.

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/about-esrc/governance/committees/responsive-mode.aspx

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Vicky.Dunstan@esrc.ac.uk.

November 25, 2013

Finance for SMEs: The role of assessing credit risk – A successful event from the Business School, funded by the ESRC Festival of Social Science!

Public engagement, Research news eloring

The conference ‘Finance for SMEs: The role of assessing credit risk’ took place on Wednesday 6 November 2013 at the Executive Business Centre and was convened by Professor Jens Hölscher. The organisers, guest speakers and members of the public spoke highly of its success.

Around forty participants from both academic and business community backgrounds were in attendance. During the conference, there was lively debate and exchange between those that attended and those presenting. Turning Point was used to find out the participants’ opinions on whether ‘the future of SME finance lies with (1) Public banks, (2) 4 Fs (family, friends, fools & fans) or (3) High street banks’. This question was asked at the beginning and at the end of the conference. As you can see below, the change in results represents the change in opinions throughout the course of the conference.

First round Second round

The conference was opened by Professor Roger Palmer, Dean of the Business School. Professor Palmer felt personally attached to the scheme of the conference as he was once running his own SME business. Marc Cowling from the University of Exeter then gave his presentation on ‘How does firm risk affect the supply and demand for bank loans in a financial crisis?’ setting the scene for the day. This was then followed by a paper presented by Andy Farmer, Senior International Commercial Manager of HSBC Bank PLC, Bournemouth on ‘Is my business a sound credit risk? The Bankers View’.

An international comparative perspective was introduced by Jacob Kleinow, Freiberg University, Germany, who gave a talk on ‘SME bonds as alternative finance: The example of Germany’. The second session of the conference consisted of three breakout meetings on; The banks’ views, The SME’s views and The public’s view. The latter one was facilitated by Liz Wilkinson, Finance Director of Bournemouth Borough Council.

At the end of the conference, Dr Richard Roberts, SME Market Analysis Director at Barclays Bank PLC addressed the theme ‘Will the SME debt market ever work again?’.

November 3, 2013

Free family fun day to show case living with dementia can be fun

Featured Sarah Hambidge

Saturday 9^th November (1:30pm-4:30pm) Littledown Centre Bournemouth, Studio 1

Dementia in Dorset – what does this mean for you?

Free event for all the family

Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) are hosting a community engagement day as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science to showcase a range of their innovative projects which will bring dementia awareness to life through technology, maritime archaeology, exercise and tai chi, an art exhibition and many more fun hands-on-activities. There will be a free bouncy castle, face painting, balloons and treats, for children of all ages!

Visitors will have the chance to understand what it’s like to live with dementia through a talk by someone living with dementia and postcard stories, getting the chance to use technology which has the aim of improving the quality of life of those living with dementia, planting seeds to learn about dementia friendly environments, learning how to make healthy food more appetising to improve the mind and body, and experiencing how massage can reduce anxiety and enhance relaxation for both people living with dementia and their carers.

The BUDI team will be on-hand for a chat or to answer questions, and information from local organisations people living with dementia and carers will be available.

There is no need to register for this event, so just come along!

October 7, 2013

University to host five events as part of the prestigious ESRC Festival of Social Science!

Public engagement eloring

Major congratulations are in order for our BU academics who have done us #BUproud yet again as we are awarded funding for five different events as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science this year.

About the Festival:

The Festival of Social Science is a national Festival facilitated by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and runs from 2-9^th November 2013. It supports researchers to engage with a new audience, including individuals from business, charities, policy makers, teenagers, pensioners, parents and the general public. Sponsorship to include an event as part of the Festival is competitive, and this year, Bournemouth University has five events included – which is BU’s strongest ever presence as part of the Festival.

This year the Festival has over 170 creative and exciting events aimed at encouraging businesses, charities, government agencies, and schools and college students to discuss, discover and debate topical social science issues. The Festival celebrates some of the country’s leading social science research, giving an exciting opportunity to showcase the valuable work of the UK’s social scientists and demonstrate how their work has an impact on all our lives.

What BU has got planned?

Promoting dignity through understanding narratives of care

2^nd November (10am-4pm) Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth– Convened by Andrew Harding and Lee Ann Fenge

The event will use arts and social science methodologies to explore participants’ experiences of and reflections on dignity and compassion in health and social care. Participants may include users of services and their carers, practitioners and educators. Narrative methods provide a powerful means of engagement and construction for making meaning from experiences.

The participants will be encouraged to review experiences and reflections about the presence or absence of dignity and compassion in health and social care, and to consider if views about dignity and compassion change over time and place. Creative spaces, stimulated by ‘cafe conversations’ and supported activities, will enable participants to create collaborative and individual narratives and stories in a range of formats (e.g. poems, art and performance).

To register for your FREE place, please visit: http://esrc2013.eventbrite.co.uk/

Seen but Seldom Heard. Young people working to change perceptions of disability through poetry and performance.

Sunday 3^rd November (7pm-9pm) Lighthouse, Poole – Convened by Carrie Hodges and Wendy Cutts

‘Seen but Seldom Heard’ is a collaboration between Bournemouth University and Victoria Education Centre and Sports College in Poole. The project uses performance poetry as a way to provide a group of young physically disabled people (14-19 years) with a voice to challenge dominant stereotypes of disability that often serve to marginalise and exclude disabled people in society, by sharing their own personal stories.

The performance is a culmination of work that has been produced from a series of poetry workshops that have taken place over the last 18 months, facilitated by professional performance poets, Jonny Fluffypunk and Liv Torc. The group began by using both the achievements and media portrayals of Paralympic athletes as a focus for individually-written and collectively-authored poetry confronting negative perceptions of disability. As the work progressed, poetry was used as a way for the young people to engage in conversation about issues, policies and practices which affect them and others like them.

The ‘multi-media’ performance will challenge members of the public to think critically about their own perceptions of disability, engaging the audience via ‘warm-up’ poems from the professional poets, a series of short live and pre-recorded individual and group poetry performances from the young people, and a film screening of the ‘Seen but Seldom Heard’ documentary.

More information on the project and examples of the poetry can be found at: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/seen-but-seldom-heard/

To register for the FREE event, please visit: https://seenbutseldomheard.eventbrite.co.uk/

Finance for SME’S: The role of assessing credit risk

Wednesday 6^th November (12:30-5:30pm) Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth – Convened by Jens Holscher

This unique one-day event, brings together practitioners and academics in order to discuss the most pertinent issues of SMEs’ finance and credit risk with a view to setting a research agenda relevant to lenders and regulators.

Following the recent and continuing credit squeeze, lending to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) remains at the top of the agenda for governments around the world. With various political and economic incentives introduced to support SMEs, it is important not to overlook the practicalities of credit risk assessment, as access to credit is contingent on meeting the risk standards of credit providers, especially in the environment of prudent lending.

Participants will engage in debate and keynote speakers from academia, government agencies and industry will be invited. Social sciences and social science research will be promoted by drawing on leading researchers and through interaction of speakers and attendees, which will include breakout sessions related to sub-schemes such as micro finance, the role of regional funds and development agencies.

For further information please visit here. To register for this event please visit: financeforsmes.eventbrite.co.uk

Social Media: Make or break your online reputation

Friday 8^th November (11am-5pm) Talbot Campus – Convened by Dimitrios Buhalis

This interactive seminar will engage tourism, hospitality, marketing and technology professionals in a dialogue and will encourage them to consider how they can manage their reputation online. The discussion will focus on monitoring online conversations about brands and executing online strategies to manage the online reputation of organizations. It will include short presentations from research results undertaken at Bournemouth University and digital marketing agencies. An open discussion will be encouraged between researchers and professionals. This event has been chosen as there is a growing research agenda on the impact of social media on organisational reputation for tourism destinations and organisations. Thus researchers recognise the need to engage researchers, marketing and tourism industry professionals in discussion.

Please register for this FREE event, here: http://esrc-tourism-socialmedia.eventbrite.co.uk/

Dementia in Dorset – what does this mean for you?

Saturday 9^th November (1pm-5pm) Littledown Centre Bournemouth, Studio 2 – Convened by Anthea Innes and Sarah Hambidge

BUDI will host a one day community engagement event to showcase a range of their innovative projects which will bring dementia awareness to life through music, movement, interior design, technology, food, stories and marine archaeology. Storytelling, hands-on-activities, food tasting and art will be used to engage visitors to the exhibit with the impacts of dementia identified by social science research.

Dementia affects us all in some way and is currently a very relevant societal issue. The government are focusing on improving the areas that matter most to dementia: awareness, quality care and research. These themes will be brought to life by; exploring dementia through an interactive marine archaeology session, learning the benefits that healthy eating can have for everyone in the fight against dementia through taste, understanding what it’s like to live with dementia through postcard stories, getting the chance to use technology which has the aim of improving the quality of life of those living with dementia and planting seeds to learn about dementia friendly environments, amongst other fun activities.

To find out more about BUDI and the projects they are working on, please visit: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/

Please note that there is no need to register for this event, so just come along!

Why not come to some of these events? I can assure you, it’s worth it!

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