Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Thursday 24 November and we’ll be there for you from 11am-12pm at Naked Coffee Shop (next to RLH, Lansdowne).
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Wednesday 23 November and we’ll be there for you from 2pm-3pm at Poole House Atriume.
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
Would you like to be a part of the largest collaborative event in 2017 to improve the quality of life for those who have been affected by cancer? Living Well Active and the Student Project Bank are inviting students and staff from across BU to register their interest in helping shape the Thrivership UK 2017 Four Nations Convention: From Survivor to Thriver.
On 13th July 2017 Bournemouth University will bring together leading organisations from the four nations representing cancer related charities and survivorship projects, sport and physical activity, NHS and local governments to share best practice, research and innovative ideas to improve the services, experience and outcomes for people living with a cancer diagnosis. This event will also host a health and wellbeing clinic for 200 people living with cancer.
In order to make this event a success, Living Well needs support with:
Interested in taking part?
There will be a presentation and Q&A session with the founder of Living Well Agency on 6th December at 11:00 in the Lawrence Lecture Theatre, Talbot Campus. Register your attendance here. Refreshments will be provided.
Taking part in this event is a great way for students to enhance their CV, gain real-world project experience and contribute to people’s potential to live active and happy lives with and beyond cancer.
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Tuesday 15 November and we’ll be there for you from 4pm-5pm at Executive Business Centre Cafe.
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Monday 14 November and we’ll be there for you from 8:30am-10am at Fusion Building – coffee area.
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Friday 11 November and we’ll be there for you from 12:30pm-1:30pm at EB204, Executive Business Centre.
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
If you are still searching for some inspiration for Festival of Learning 2017, you can find our previous blog post here with some suggestions for engaging events. But most importantly, make sure you come along to one of our drop-in ‘Support for developing your idea sessions’ and talk to us! Additionally, we’re also offering a bookable training session for you to find out more about ‘Developing a public engagement event’. Please book your place via OD.
You may have already planned your event and now looking for ways of making it more appealing to members of the public. Regardless of the stage of event planning that you are at, we have a few extra ideas to give your event a boost!
The forefront of gene therapy
This event was a presentation from two experts Michael Linden and Nick Clarke, exploring how viruses can be used as tools to replace or repair faulty genes. To boost the interest of the audience and get them more engaged, the academics used an interactive voting system. Through the presentation they had some fun questions for the audience, related to genetics in general but not necessarily to the actual research. Examples of questions that captured audience’s attention were:
What percentage of genes do we share with a cabbage?
What percentage of genes do we share with bananas?
You may be surprised to know that humans share 50% of genes with bananas and 45% with cabbage.
Antarctic ice shelves
During this presentation Bernd Kulessa and Suzanne Bevan shared their tales from ten years of working in Antarctica. To give the audience a better idea of what life in the frozen wilderness looks like, the academics used not only photographs, but also 3D google maps. The maps show all of the stops they made on the journey to Antarctica, which not only added different dimension to the talk but also made it more personal.
The secret life of animals
How do you track whales diving deep underwater or birds flying high above us? Rory Wilson has developed pioneering electronic tags that allow researchers to monitor movement, behaviour, energy exposure, temperature and feeding patterns of hard-to-observe animals. Sounds interesting, but how do you translate these readings in simplified language to ensure your audience stays engaged? You simply organise for someone in penguin costume to copy the movement readings of actual penguin, while planking on a chair!
These events took place as part of the British Science Festival in Swansea, 2016.
With the call for proposals being open for Festival of Learning 2017, today we have for you another post to give you some inspiration for the type of the event that could be your own! Planning your event can be difficult and time consuming, especially if you have never done anything quite like that before and because of that we are here to help!Make sure to come to one of our drop-in ‘Support for developing your idea sessions’ and talk to us.
Next session is on Friday 11 November, 12:30pm-1:30pm at EB204, Executive Business Centre. Additionally we also offer bookable training session for you to learn all about ‘Developing a public engagement event’.
What you research often determines how you will engage with the public and who your work will impact, but there are ways to broaden your impact. This can be done by bringing different academics into one room. Anything can happen when two separate disciplines are being combined together and quite often this can be a simple recipe for an effective public engagement event too!
British Science Festival in Swansea featured many creative and fun events and one of them was an interactive drawing workshop Making Science Graphic. The event used graphic novels, which can capture the imagination with imaginative narrative and vivid drawings, as a useful vehicle for talking about science. Neuroscience is not the easiest discipline to be sharing with the public without having to use too many scientific terms but two neuroscientists Uta Frith and Chris Frith managed to do just that in a fun way. They first explained what the mirror neurons are and took their audience on fascinating journey through human brain to then let graphic novel enthusiast Adam Rutherford and artist Daniel Locke translate it into graphic novel. Spoiled for choice by a wide variety of drawing mediums, the audience was encouraged to put their skills into practice and design their own little graphic novel about mirror neurons. Both artists observed the process, talked to the attendees and offered some guidance. Probably the only reason why I still remember what mirror neurons are is because I got to draw them and this was actually a very first novel graphic I ever designed.
This event took place as part of the British Science Festival in Swansea, 2016.
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Thursday 27 October and we’ll be there for you from 11am – 12pm at Naked Coffee Shop (next to RLH, Lansdowne).
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
Don’t forget to book your place on our Developing a public engagement event, which is going to focus specifically on developing a public engagement event.The workshop is going to take place on Monday 31st October, from 1pm-4pm at Student Hall, Talbot House, Talbot campus
The workshop will explore:
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival! Find out more and book your place via Organisation Development here.
We’re hoping to see you there!
With the call for proposals now open for Festival of Learning 2017, we want you to get involved.Why? There are many benefits of taking part, as the festival is an excellent opportunity to showcase your research and gain valuable feedback from members of the public. In a previous post we shared the idea of an audience-led event, which you can find here. This time we want to show you that public engagement events can also be artistic and creative.
Come to one of our drop-in support sessions to talk to us about your event idea and book your place on ‘Developing a public engagement event’ training session via Organisation Development here.
At the British Science Festival 2016 in Swansea, Moonbrella was one of a number of interactive, drop-in sessions incorporated into an event called Creatures of the night. This took place in Plantasia – a tropical haven of exotic plants and animals. The location was unique in itself, but Moonbrella really stole the show.
Despite the fact that over 150 craters on the moon are named after real scientists, only 28 are named after women. Moonbrella showcases research through poetry, allowing participants to celebrate these inspirational women. At Creatures of the night, event attendees walked through the tropical garden, and as they began to climb towards the top of the dome they were given a ‘Moonbrella’ – a glowing umbrella. This owed its unusual properties to battery powered fairy lights attached inside. Additionally, there were some graphics of the scientists, and an mp3 player and headphones, which were carefully taped to the umbrella. The audience walked under the Moonbrellas, popped on their headphones and listened to poetry about a female scientist as they wandered through the tropical garden. Each Moonbrella celebrated a different scientist, and Moonbrellas could be swapped to hear about another scientist. Visually, this looked fantastic under the night sky, as the umbrellas lit up the paths between the tropical plants and for a minute it felt like you weren’t in Swansea anymore.
Moonbrella is just one of many creative ways to showcase your research through the arts! Now grab a few colouring pencils, scissors and some tape and get creative! We hope to hear more about your own amazing ideas at one of our drop-in sessions.
This event took place as part of the British Science Festival in Swansea, 2016.
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Wednesday 19 October and we’ll be there for you from 11am – 12pm at Fusion Building – coffee area
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
Don’t miss our drop-in sessions where we can offer you support in planning your event for Festival of Learning 2017.
Our next session is on Wednesday 12th October and we’ll be there for you from 11am – 12pm at Naked Coffee Shop (next to RLH, Lansdowne)
Come to see us and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share your research and expertise by being a part of the Festival!
We’re hoping to see you there!
Do you have a fantastic piece of research that you’d like to develop into a public engagement event but need help or ideas? Or perhaps you have an existing event that you’d like to make more engaging or take to a new audience?
Naomi Kay (Public Engagement Officer) and Genna West (Engagement and Impact Facilitator) are on-hand to provide support for planning your event, writing the proposal or just to talk through any ideas you might have. They will be based in the locations specified below, so please stop by!
If none of the slots suit you or if you would like to speak to either Genna or Naomi specifically, then please feel free to get in touch and set up a meeting to discuss your event plans.
In addition to these drop-in sessions, a dedicated training session will take place on Monday 31 October, focusing specifically on developing a public engagement event. The workshop will explore:
There will be dedicated time and support for individuals to create a new event to submit to the Festival of Learning. Find out more and book your place via Organisation Development here.
| Date | Time | Location |
| Wednesday 12 October | 11am-12pm | Naked Coffee Shop (next to RLH, Lansdowne) |
| Wednesday 19 October | 11am-12pm | Fusion Building – coffee area |
| Thursday 27 October | 11am-12pm | Naked Coffee Shop (next to RLH, Lansdowne) |
| Monday 31 October – Developing a public engagement event training session | 1pm-4pm | Student Hall, Talbot House, Talbot campus
Please book this session via OD. |
| Friday 11 November | 12:30pm-1:30pm | EB204, Executive Business Centre |
| Monday 14 November | 8:30am-10am | Fusion Building – coffee area |
| Tuesday 15 November | 4pm-5pm | Executive Business Centre Cafe |
| Wednesday 23 November | 2pm-3pm | Poole House Atrium |
| Thursday 24 November | 11am-12pm | Naked Coffee Shop (next to RLH, Lansdowne) |
| Monday 28 November | 9am-11am | Executive Business Centre Cafe |
| Thursday 1 December | 8:30am-5pm | Talbot Campus Drop In |
| Deadline for event submissions – 4pm on Friday 2 December | ||
The call for proposals for Festival of Learning 2017 is now live! This series of blog post aims to give you some inspiration for the type of events that would work well as part of the Festival.
There are many types of events, they come in all shapes and sizes and yes, we agree… planning your own public event can be a bit of a challenge and you may not know where to start. Alternatively, you might be on the other side of the spectrum and feel that there are not enough hours in the day for you to share all of the knowledge and wisdom that you’d like the public to benefit from. Regardless of your situation, we hope you’ll find this post helpful.
Have you ever thought about giving your audience the power to decide what the event is going to be about?
Audience-lead events can be a fantastic way of communicating your research and really enjoyable for the public.
Why?
Because people love to learn about what you do, but they also love to have the opportunity to ask you lots of burning questions!
Let me give you an example of something We consider to be a good audience-lead event…
Although this event did not have much to do with baking cakes, Dr Alan Gow from Heriot-Watt University likes to call himself a ‘head chef’, because he has a passion for finding a recipe for the perfect brain.
There are lots of ways in which this research topic can be approached, but in this event, the ‘head chef’ orders his audience to write down what they think is good and bad for the human brain. Little sticky notes are collected and this is when the show really begins. Dr Gow looks through each note, reads them out loud and asks people to raise their hands if they agree with the statement. Then he begins to teach. On one side of the table there are colourful rainbows which he likes to call the Brainbow. He takes a graphic that corresponds with the topic on the sticky note, for example alcohol. He then places the graphic on the Brainbow – the higher it goes, the bigger the influence it has on our brain.
In an interactive and fun way, our beliefs on what is healthy for our brain are being challenged and mapped on the Brainbow, helping the audience to better understand the needs of the human brain.
If you are interested in watching the actual event, you can find it Here
Come to one of our drop-in support sessions to talk to us about your event idea and book your place on ‘Developing a public engagement event’ training session via Organisation Development here.
This event took place as part of the British Science Festival in Swansea, 2016.
Representing a wonderful celebration of learning, the Festival showcases BU’s research and expertise to a wide and varied audience, including local communities, staff, students, employers and alumni around the world. Read on to find out how you can be involved in 2017!
After a hugely successful pilot in 2016, which saw BU’s established Festival of Learning go global in both China and Malaysia, we are delighted to announce that the global Festival of Learning will return for a second year. Three distinct weeks of exciting events will take place to showcase global Fusion in ASEAN, India and China from March – May 2017.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the Festival of Learning will run in Bournemouth from 8-12 July 2017, with a vibrant opening family weekend and a diverse selection of events throughout the week. The Festival will conclude with a global day on 12 July to celebrate the fantastic array of events and learning taking place around the world as part of the Festival of Learning.
Prior to putting forward an event proposal all applicants are advised to read the full details for both the UK Festival of Learning and the global Festival of Learning, which outline the scope and objectives of the festivals.
Once you are ready to submit your event proposal you will need to complete the online application form. Applications for both the global Festival of Learning and the UK Festival of Learning will be handled via one form. The form can be saved and edited up until the point you submit. To help make the process as easy as possible we have also provided a planning document that includes a list of questions and requested response lengths.
Find out more, download the planning document and take a look at dates for our drop-in sessions.
If you have any questions about the global Festival of Learning, please contact the Global Engagement Hub: 01202 965112 globalbu@bournemouth.ac.uk
If you have any questions about the UK Festival of Learning, or difficulties using the online application form, please contact the Festival of Learning Team: 01202 961342 FoL@bournemouth.ac.uk
I’m looking to have as many academics and students feed into how we support and grow public engagement at BU. We’re using the EDGE tool, a series of questions used nationally by different universities, to plot BU’s current position on a series of different aspects of public engagement support. Using the results of this survey we want to review how we’re doing and reevaluate the support we give to make it better for academics and students wanting to engage the public in their research. Take 5 minutes to fill in this short survey and have your say on the future of public engagement at BU. Enter your email at the end and you could win £50 worth of Amazon vouchers!
Many of you may be interested to see the Royal Society have just launched a series of public engagement training workshops over the next year.
These include
Introduction to public engagement
Monday 17 October 2016 and Tuesday 31 January 2017
A course is for those with little or no experience aiming to provide you with the tools to get started
Public engagement practice
Thursday 10 November 2016
A course for those with some experience that will demonstrate how to create research-led projects that meet engagement aims.
Engaging with schools
Thursday 2 March 2017
A course for those scientists with some experience that will enable researchers to create effective engagement projects in schools.
Click on any of the above links to find out more about the courses
BU staff can login below:
MSCA Staff Exchanges 2024 Call – internal deadline
Applications are now open for 2025 ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships!
BU Professor has been invited to a series of plenary and invited lectures.
An Interview of BU-lead EU H2020 FIRST project published in “Horizon”, the EU Research & Innovation Magazine
Update on Horizon Europe Guarantee Horizon Europe Update – January 2023
Research Information Network