BU Research Blog

February 8, 2023

Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network: Wednesday 22 February 10-11am

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Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network

Find out how you can use public engagement activities to carry out new research with your public participants.

We’ll look at how to seamlessly integrate research into your activity, how to navigate ethics requirements and what this process can do for your work.

Professor Debbie Holley and Dr Holly Henderson will share their experience of doing research with children and adults as part of a fun family activity day for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022.

This meeting will take place on Wednesday 22 February 10-11am at BG217.

You can join the network and find out about future meetings, join our BU Public Engagement with Research Network. Check under ‘Meetings’ for upcoming sessions.

If you have any questions, please email the team.

February 8, 2023

Take part in a national festival of public engagement with research

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ESRC Festival of Social Science 2023 – call for applications will open on Monday 27 March

What is the ESRC Festival of Social Science?

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences, usually taking place during November. BU have been involved in the festival for over a decade, running our own internal selection process and delivering up to ten activities per year. The festival aims to encourage, support and create opportunities for social science researchers to engage with non-academic audiences.

Why should I take part?

The festival is a prestigious initiative by a major research funder, and BU’s continued involvement is justified by the quality of our events and activities. Being part of this festival is an achievement worth citing and celebrating.

It is an excellent opportunity to engage people outside of academia with your research and with the benefit of co-ordinated support and promotion from RDS and the ESRC.

You can apply for up to £1,000 to deliver your project.

What if I’ve never done any public engagement before?

Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is the ideal place. You’ll have access to comprehensive support, advice and training throughout. If you’re unsure, seek out a more experienced colleague to collaborate with.

Can I apply if I’m not a social scientist?

The ESRC says that events must “feature social science (ideally with a social scientist involved in the event)”. If this doesn’t clearly apply to you, consider these options;

Does your research have clear implications for society that could be explored from a social science perspective?
Could you collaborate with a social scientist, combining your resources and creativity to explore the impact of your research? If you’re looking for a collaborator, the Research Blog or BU website are great places to start or contact us for help.

What will I be expected to do?

You’ll be expected to;

Familiarise yourself with best practice for public engagement with research. Whether you’re new to this or experienced, there’s always room to improve.
Apply to our internal panel
If successful, attend an initial training session to start out right
Plan, deliver and evaluate your activity or event, working with the public engagement team to shape your project into an impactful, professional and fascinating experience.

What support will I get?

Being part of this festival means a higher level of support and reach than we are normally able to provide.

Before applying, you’ll have access to:

A dedicated session of the Public Engagement with Research (PER) Network, featuring previous event holders.
Bookable one-on-one advice slots with BU’s Engagement Officer.
Detailed applicant guidance to help you apply.

When your application is successful, you’ll get:

Continuing advice and support from BU’s public engagement team on all areas of planning, promoting delivering, evaluating your activity.
The promotional boost from being part of a huge national festival.

What next?

If you’re interested in applying, here’s what to do next;

The PER Network session is taking place on Wednesday 29 March. More details can be found here on the blog, or you can join the PER Network to stay up to date.
Explore previous events from BU and examples from around the country.
Start brushing up on how to make public engagement work for you. A great place to start is BU’s own video guide to getting started in public engagement with research (Brightspace). You can also browse guidance and case studies from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE).
Book an advice slot – once available.

We’ll provide more information on applying to the ESRC Festival of Social Science on this blog and the PER Network over the coming weeks. If you have a question in the meantime, please email the team.

January 16, 2023

Have you been involved with an event for the external community?

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BU is compiling data for the annual Higher Education–Business & Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey.

Please tell us about the social, cultural and community events that you have been involved with.

What is HE-BCI?

The Higher Education – Business & Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey is a mandatory annual return that the University makes to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Table 5 of the HE-BCI return captures activity in terms of social, community and cultural events intended for the external community. This data is part of the information used to determine the allocation of Higher Education and Innovation Funding (HEIF) for BU.

What activities can be included?

Please include details of any relevant events that you have been involved in which took place between 1 August 2022 – 31 July 2023. Events must have been open to the public or intended for an external (non-academic) group and have included an exchange of knowledge.

Events may take place in the UK or overseas.

Eligible events

Public lectures or talk
Performance arts
Exhibitions
Museum education
Festival activity
Events for school / youth group
Events for other external (non-academic) groups
Media engagement

All events that were part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022, Online Public Lecture Series and Café Scientifique have been collated on your behalf centrally, so there is no need to add these.

Click here to add your events

Deadline: Friday 29 September 2023

We would encourage you to add your new data regularly throughout the year, while the details are easily recalled.

Further information

The SharePoint site provides details about what data is collected, including calculating attendee numbers, staff time, reporting online activities and multiple related events.

If you have any further questions about the HE-BCI return, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.

December 19, 2022

Do you have an idea to engage public audiences with science and research? – British Science Festival 2023: Open Call for proposals

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The next British Science Festival 2023 will be hosted by the University of Exeter from 7-10 September 2023.

Proposals are welcomed from individuals, researchers, industry professionals, artists, writers, organisations, charities, academic institutions, and more. Festival proposals should be aimed at non-specialist adults (16+) with a broad interest in science.

Festival organisers are looking for events that showcase cutting-edge science, celebrate the latest developments in science and technology and engage their audience in open discussion about relevant issues that affect culture and society. They aim to programme a range of formats from talks to drop-in activities and creative content that challenges perceptions of what science is and can be.

More information, including how to submit a proposal, can be found here: British Science Festival 2023 Open Call

Before developing and submitting your proposal, please read the FAQs

To submit a proposal for an event please complete the proposal form

Deadline for proposals: 9am, Monday 20 February 2023

If you have any questions, or if you would like to discuss your proposal, please email festival@britishscienceassociation.org

Alternatively, should you wish to discuss your application with the Public Engagement with Research team, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.

December 14, 2022

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

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At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with our research.

The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support can help promote your event to relevant audiences. Through regular newsletters and via social media channels.

Share your upcoming public event or activity

If you have any questions, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

December 14, 2022

Café Sci – Tuesday 7 February 2023: Challenging news negativity

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At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.

We’ll be joined by Dr Antje Glück on Tuesday 7 February from 6:30 – 8:00pm

Challenging news negativity

Why can the news feel so overwhelmingly negative, and what can we do about it?

There’s no doubt that serious news needs to be handled appropriately, but can the widespread doom and gloom cause us to switch off?

Join Dr Antje Glück to discover why the news is biased towards negativity, and how alternative models of journalism can create better news for all of us.

This event will be held at The Black Cherry in Boscombe, Bournemouth. Although the talk starts at 6:30pm, the café will be open early, so we encourage you to arrive early for a drink and a bite to eat before the talk starts.

Attendance is free but booking is required

Should you have any questions about this event, or if you would like to get involved with a future Café Sci talk, please contact the Public Engagement Team; publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

December 9, 2022

Early career STEM communicators: The Little Event online conference 2023

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The Little Event is a training session for people who are new to STEM communication.

Whether you work in a science centre or museum, volunteer for a festival, are involved in university outreach, or do anything else to engage people with science, technology, engineering and maths.

The introductory sessions will focus on developing the different skills that are useful in STEM communication, and they are delivered by experienced science communicators.

The 2023 Little Event will be held online over two days and are designed to work together to be booked as a package.

The programme includes sessions on Evaluation, Managing Projects, Presenting, Science Capital, and Careers and will include plenty of networking time.

Session 1: Thursday 19 January, 3- 6:30pm

Session 2: Saturday 21 January, 9:00am – 1:15pm

BIG members: cost £50. Non-members: cost is £85 and includes BIG Membership for 1 year. Book here: https://www.big.uk.com/event-5023798

If you would like to come to the Little Event for free, BIG offers bursaries to attend which will cover your fees as well as some expenses.

Applications close on Sunday 11 December 2022. See https://www.big.uk.com/event-5030137 to apply or https://www.big.uk.com/bursary for more information.

November 29, 2022

Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network: Wednesday 14 December 4-5pm

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The next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network will be a bit different. Instead of our usual meetings we’re holding a social networking gathering to provide the opportunity to meet and connect with other network members.

The PER Network has so far been a great way of sharing experience and best practice with you, its members, but the real strength of a network is in how its members work together.

There is a wealth of experience, skills, and possibilities for collaboration amongst our members, but we know it’s difficult to keep up with the work happening in your own department, let alone across faculties, especially when opportunities to meet other academics are rarer than they used to be.

This will be a networking mixer, held on Wednesday 14 December, 4-5pm at Dylan’s Bar, Talbot Campus.

To join this meeting and find out about future ones, join our BU Public Engagement with Research Network. Check under ‘Meetings’ for upcoming sessions.

If you have any questions, please email the team.

November 25, 2022

Digital healthcare for LGBTQ+ communities in Africa – Looking back at Café Scientifique October 2022

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Dr Festus Adeboyin shares his experience of presenting at a BU Café Scientifique event on 4 October 2022

My Café Scientifique experience

It was a pleasure to present once again at BU’s Café Scientifique. These sessions present such an interesting opportunity to discuss academic research with a diverse and extraordinary audience. In this presentation, we explored digital interventions for managing medication and healthcare service delivery to Key Populations (KPs) in underserved communities in Africa. KPs are defined by our project as males who have sex with other males (MSM); drug users that inject themselves; sex workers; and transgender people living with HIV/AIDS for whom expert recommend using CBD Oil UK natural supplements.

The project is looking to co-create a digital solution that can boost access to treatments and counselling by KPs. The user behaviour and impact of the intervention are also being examined. Unfortunately, the LGBTQ+ community has the highest occurrence of HIV/AIDS and faces a higher rate of hostility within the Nigerian context. In July 2022, I held an interactive management workshop at The Initiative for Equal Rights involving participants from various fields, including NGOs that work directly with KPs, Clinical Psychologists, Health Counsellors, Medical Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Psychologists, Lab scientists, and social workers.

Due to the nature of these communities, HIV/AIDS+ status, and other health concerns, a digital solution that creates a supportive environment, enhances confidentiality, encourages the use of prescribed medication/therapy, and can be easily accessed at a reasonable cost is highly desirable. This digital intervention will also ease the difficulties stakeholders encounter in providing healthcare services for underserved communities in a developing country like Nigeria.

I agreed to participate in this public engagement activity for my personal development, and because I love to receive feedback, new directions, and insights on the why, what, and how of my research.

The event went well. There was a great turnout and lots of fantastic questions at the end. I gained new perspectives from the session, and it was important to see the reaction of people to this area of research and subject matter.

Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology.

We’ve been holding these talks in Bournemouth for over ten years and we’re very pleased to have returned to in-person events at The Black Cherry, a fantastic new venue in Boscombe, Bournemouth.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to get involved with our Café Sci events, please get in touch publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

November 22, 2022

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

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At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with our research.

The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support can help promote your event to relevant audiences. Through regular newsletters and via social media channels.

Share your upcoming public event or activity

If you have any questions, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

November 14, 2022

Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

The next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network will be a bit different.

Instead of our usual structured meetings we’re holding a social networking gathering to provide the opportunity to meet and connect with other network members.

The PER Network has so far been a great way of sharing experience and best practice with you, its members, but the real strength of a network is in how its members work together.

There is a wealth of experience, skills, and possibilities for collaboration amongst our members, but we know it’s difficult to keep up with the work happening in your own department, let alone across faculties, especially when opportunities to meet other academics are rarer than they used to be.

This will be a networking mixer, held on Wednesday 14 December, 4-5pm at Dylan’s Bar, Talbot Campus.

To join this meeting and find out about future ones, join our BU Public Engagement with Research Network. Check under ‘Meetings’ for upcoming sessions.

If you have any questions, please email the team.

November 14, 2022

Introduction to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) for Researchers – free event

Guidance, NHS Suzy Wignall

Introduction to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) for Researchers

Date: Tuesday 10 January 2023
Time: 10:30 – 12:30

This event is aimed at people who are new to PPI or setting up their first PPI project, and is free for students and staff from the NIHR, NHS, UK universities, public sector institutions and registered charities based in the UK.

It will help them to discover the support available to plan, deliver and build PPI into their research, and highlight how PPI improves research for patients, services users and carers.

November 10, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 – Medical monsters: reducing medical anxiety through play and gamification. Saturday 12 November

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ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

Using gamification and play to reduce anxiety related to patient medical appointments and hospital admissions

What’s on offer?

A playful workshop aimed at children aged 7-11 and their guardians, to explore strategies to reduce patient (children) anxiety around medical appointments and admissions. Featuring specially designed sessions of Jenga, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and virtual reality experiences to explore and address personal anxieties around medical appointments.

What is it about?

Anxiety around medical appointments and admissions can affect children in different ways, from preventing them from seeking the medical attention they need to causing distress and worry. It can be difficult to know how to help these anxieties.

Evidence shows that structured play can empower people to discuss and examine their feelings, to help understand and address them. Virtual reality can help ease anxiety through providing an immersive distraction, or by creating a virtual ‘practice run’ for appointments. In this session, you and your child/ren will try out these fun techniques, led by expert facilitators and hopefully leave with a few new tricks and strategies.

Participants will receive a bag of LEGO® to take away with them, along with a google cardboard headset.

Please note, this is an opportunity to explore new techniques for managing mild anxiety, this is not a medical or psychiatric intervention or treatment.

Who is leading the event?

Dr Holly Henderson, Lecturer and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator
Dr Heidi Singleton, Lecturer in Children and Young Peoples Nursing
Professor Debbie Holley, Professor of Learning Innovation

Who is this event open to?

Children aged 7-11 years to be accompanied by an adult (parent or carer) at all times.

Event details

Saturday 12 November, 10am

Bournemouth University Gateway Building

Book your free place here

For enquiries about the activities and ‘medical monsters’ project please contact: medicalmonsters@bournemouth.ac.uk

If you have any questions about the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 series, please contact the Public Engagement with Research Team: email the public engagement team.

November 8, 2022

Environmental Engagement in Practice: Evaluation, sustainability and making a case

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Join this free online, day-long, practical workshop on evaluation, developing sustainable engagement practice, and evidencing the value of engagement.

‘Evaluation, sustainability and making a case’ is the second event in the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s online Environmental Engagement in Practice programme and will take place on Thursday 12 January 2023 at 10am – 4pm

During this workshop you will be supported to develop a strong evaluation plan and ethical evaluation practice, hear from experienced speakers on the tools they have found most useful, and explore how to advocate for the value of engagement. This will include sessions on how to write engagement into funding applications, and evidencing impact through case studies.

The day will include talks, interactive workshops, and networking, with opportunities for you to join breakout discussions with fellow practitioners and reflect on your own practice. It is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Is this event for me?

This event is intended for anyone working with environmental research with an interest in engagement and knowledge exchange, particularly those who are keen to develop or enhance their public engagement practices.

This includes:

Environmental researchers (PhD and above; project staff)
Policy makers working with environmental research/researchers
Creative and community practitioners working with environmental research
Others who can demonstrate a connection with environmental research to their work

This event is for those working in the UK or with projects linked to UK funding or collaborators.

Find out more and apply

Follow this link to find out more and register for this event.

Registration will close on Thursday 5 January or when the maximum capacity is reached. It is recommended to book early to secure your place.

If you have any questions, please contact Alyssa Chafee at alyssa.chafee@uwe.ac.uk.

November 3, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022: Demystifying NFTs: Understanding the law and technology

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ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

What is an NFT, what does it mean to ‘own’ one? Join this online talk as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 to learn about technology, law of ownership & how they’re being used

NFTs or non-fungible tokens have captured the public imagination over the past year. But what are they and what does it mean to ‘own’ one?

Join this online talk to learn more about this new frontier from experts on their underlying technology, the law of ownership and how they’re being used. We’ll also explain how a limited edition NFT collection was created, that you’ll have the chance to win and own.

Who is leading the event?

Professor Dinusha Mendis, Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law

Book your free place here

If you have any questions about this event, or any of the other events in the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 series, please contact the Public Engagement with Research Team: email the public engagement team.

November 1, 2022

Café Sci: Tuesday 6 December – Understanding emotional wellbeing

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At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.

We’ll be joined by Dr Laura Renshaw-Vuillier on Tuesday 6 December from 6:30 – 8:00pm.

Understanding emotional wellbeing

Society tells us that we should always try to be happy. But life isn’t perfect and expecting constant happiness can actually be unhealthy.

Negative emotions, like sadness or anger, are a normal part of life – we all experience these. The problem arises when we try to suppress them in order to only feel ‘happy’ emotions. In doing so, negative emotions paradoxically become more overwhelming, and we might turn to harmful behaviours to make us feel better.

In this talk we’ll explore practical tips, based on research, to help us better understand, accept and manage our emotions. This talk will also briefly touch on eating disorders and the role of emotions on these conditions.

Please note: this talk will explore research in the area of emotions, but it is not an intervention or treatment. You should seek advice elsewhere if you think you need help.

This event will be held at The Black Cherry in Boscombe, Bournemouth. Although the talk starts at 6:30pm, the café will be open early, so we encourage you to arrive early for a drink and a bite to eat before the talk starts.

Attendance is free but booking is required

Should you have any questions about this event, or if you would like to get involved with a future Café Sci talk, please contact the Public Engagement Team; publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

November 1, 2022

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with our research.

The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support can help promote your event to relevant audiences. Through regular newsletters and via social media channels.

Share your upcoming public event or activity

If you have any questions, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk

October 20, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022: How to become a young entrepreneur 25-27 October

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ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, but entrepreneurial skills can not only help young people to start their own businesses, they can also help boost their employability. This exhibition and set of activities look at how a new project can help young people to build an entrepreneurial mindset to open up diverse career opportunities.

This event is an audio-visual exhibition to showcase a project to develop entrepreneurial skills in young people. It will share the work and voices of young people who have taken part in the project in communities similar to Boscombe across 4 countries. It will also share the experiences of people in business or local organisations who set up the project.

The exhibition is on for 3 days, you can drop in to look around the exhibition at any time while it’s open or join activities such as talks, tours and workshops held each day. Please register even if you just want to pop in for 5 minutes, or you will be asked to do so on arrival.

Activities

Tuesday 25 October – young people can join us for a taster workshop session of the entrepreneurship skills project.

Wednesday 26 October – we’ll welcome local organisations and business to discover the potential of the scheme for their future.

Thursday 27 October – we will invite local policymakers and education representatives to learn how the project might be supported more widely.

Book your free place here

If you have any questions about this event, or any of the other events in the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 series, please contact the Public Engagement with Research Team: email the public engagement team.

Tagged / event

Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network: Wednesday 22 February 10-11am

Have you been involved with an event for the external community?

What is HE-BCI?

What activities can be included?

Eligible events

Click here to add your events

Deadline: Friday 29 September 2023

Further information

Do you have an idea to engage public audiences with science and research? – British Science Festival 2023: Open Call for proposals

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Café Sci – Tuesday 7 February 2023: Challenging news negativity

Early career STEM communicators: The Little Event online conference 2023

Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network: Wednesday 14 December 4-5pm

Digital healthcare for LGBTQ+ communities in Africa – Looking back at Café Scientifique October 2022

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network

Introduction to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) for Researchers – free event

Environmental Engagement in Practice: Evaluation, sustainability and making a case

Café Sci: Tuesday 6 December – Understanding emotional wellbeing

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

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Tagged / event

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2023 – call for applications will open on Monday 27 March

What is the ESRC Festival of Social Science?

Why should I take part?

What if I’ve never done any public engagement before?

Can I apply if I’m not a social scientist?

What will I be expected to do?

What support will I get?

What next?

What is HE-BCI?

What activities can be included?

Eligible events

Deadline: Friday 29 September 2023

Further information

Other services

Don’t miss a post!

Recent posts

Search by Category

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