BU Research Blog

Tagged / Fusion

March 10, 2015

Apply for the Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme now!

On 1st March we announced the launch of the next round of the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme and opened the call for applications for positions to run in summer 2015 (see Launch of the summer round of the BU URA programme). The deadline is fast approaching (20th March) so you will need to get your applications in soon (apply here).

Having a URA working with you has many benefits to both you and the student. These include:

Increased opportunity for co-creation between you and the student
Increased satisfaction for you and the student
Promotion of careers in academia and research to the student
Promotion of opportunities for postgraduate study to the student
The student will support you with your research

Picking up on this last point, this could include supporting you with undertaking a pilot study which could then be used to strengthen your application for external research funding. Typical duties of a URA include (but are not restricted to):

performing experiments and analysing the results
disseminating new knowledge orally or in written outputs
literature searches
presenting results at conferences
providing general research support to academics

You can apply for a URA position to run in summer 2015 by competing this short application form and submitting it by 20th March.

March 2, 2015

BU Undergraduate Research featured in Houses of Parliament

BU research, Featured academics, Fusion, Public engagement, student research mgouthro

BU was well represented at BCUR’s Posters in Parliament Event in February. Karolina Tamauskaite of the Faculty of Management and Susan Girvan of the Faculty of Science and Technology presented their undergraduate research.

Sponsored by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA), undergraduate students from 24 universities visited Westminster to unveil research findings from a wide range of fascinating subject areas. Among them uni’s included: London School of Economics, London Metropolitan University, Universities of: Aberdeen, Nottingham, Leeds, Reading, Sussex and Exeter. Research topics ranged from cyber-bullying, medicinal properties in wheatgrass juice, climate models, and deprivation in mixed communities, etc.

Susan Girvan is studying a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences said “… it was great to meet other undergraduate students from from universities across the country about their research and to see such a wide range of subject matter being represented. Everyone at the event was really approachable and friendly and feedback on my own research was always encouragingly positive”. Susan’s dissertation supervisor Kevin McGhee, Senior Lecturer in Health Sciences was also on hand. Kevin notes that Susan was quizzed by 3 of the Posters in Parliament eminent judges, chaired by Sir Anthony Cleaver, on her research that is funded in part by the BU alumni fund, working with NUI Galway and within a larger international Fusion Project. Her poster on one specific gene, showed the methods employed by geneticists to identify how genes work together to make someone susceptible to schizophrenia.

Susan Girvan and Dr Kevin McGhee take questions from judging panel

Presenting these results at Parliament definitely has an impact nationally, as many MPs also attended the event.

For final year International Hospitality Management student Karolina Tarnauskaite from the Faculty of Management, “Posters in Parliament was a perfect external platform and opportunity for me to present my research, to the public. It was a great and very successful event as I had an opportunity not only to present the hospitality sector issues that I have interest in, but I had an opportunity to have an informed discussion with people from a variety of different backgrounds and disciplines”.

Karolina Tarnauskaite from the Faculty of Management presents her research on the adoption of tapas concept in other cuisines in the hospitality sector

The judging panel was led by UCLan Honorary Fellow Sir Anthony Cleaver, Chairman of the Natural Environment Research Council, and Professor Mick Healey, a leading expert of undergraduate research, and Professor Philippa Levy, Deputy CEO of the Higher Education Academy.

Deputy Vice Chancellor, Tim McIntyre-Bhatty was equally pleased to have BU’s presence in Parliament “It’s great for the students and staff involved, and for BU. Excellent to see all involved in such a high profile event and in good company”.

The event gives BU and other UK universities a stage to present high quality work being produced by undergraduates and also demonstrated how research-informed teaching can enhance the overall student experience. It also is a platform to promote student and staff collaboration on research outputs and publications, with links to BU Fusion.

BU’s presence is precursor to its involvement in the national BCUR (British Conference in Undergraduate Research) taking place at the University of Winchester in April, but also for BU’s inaugural SURE (Showcasing Undergraduate Research) conference being held on March 4^th. SURE is the product of a successful fusion bid and first showcase of its kind at BU where undergrad research and coursework is profiled and promoted to internal and external audiences.

BCUR has made a significant contribution to the success of undergraduate research and continues its work to promote it in all disciplines by providing students with an opportunity to share their research through poster presentations, spoken papers, or through creative outputs such as performances and film.

UCLan’s Professor Stuart Hampton-Reeves, Chair of the BCUR Steering Group, said: “This is our third Posters in Parliament and the event is clearly going from strength to strength demonstrating the vitality and quality of undergraduate research. MPs and other policy-makers have today had the opportunity to see the next generation of academics performing at a level that is already of an international standard.

Posters in Parliament in Jubilee Room - February 2015

“It shows that UK higher education is in good health. ‎We need to continue to protect and nurture our undergraduate research base. By providing more opportunities for our young researchers to develop through inquiry, ‎we can help them grow as academics to confront some challenging topics. The range of issues discussed here today shows that this generation of students is already making a real and valuable contribution to understanding the world around us.”

March 1, 2015

Launch of the summer round of the BU Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme

BU research Julie Northam

I am delighted to announce today the launch of summer round of BU’s Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme. Funded by the Fusion Investment Fund, this programme offers paid employment opportunities for approximately 40 BU undergraduate students per year to work in clusters, centres and institutes, under the guidance of experienced academics, in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline. This enables the students to assist academic staff with their research whilst also gaining valuable research experience themselves.

Research shows there is a direct link between student satisfaction and research-based learning, particularly when the opportunity is in their field of study[1], and that the undergraduate student experience is improved by engaging them with research early and often.[2] URA programmes are common in North America and are offered in a significant number of universities, for example Harvard University, Northern Illinois University, Kent State University and Cornell University.

In 2015 BU is offering two modes of the URA programme:

semester-based programme (c. 20 part-time positions running for eight weeks in semester 2)
summer programme (c. 20 full-time positions running for six weeks in June/July 2015)

There are two stages to the application process: 1) Faculty application stage whereby BU academic staff can apply for URA positions, and 2) student selection stage whereby Faculty staff recruit to the positions.

We are now accepting applications from academic staff for URA positions for the summer-based programme. The deadline for applications is Friday 20th March 2015. All applications received will be reviewed by a panel comprising two Deputy Deans (Research and Professional Practice) and the Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange. Decisions on which positions to fund will be announced at the start of April.

Further details, including the application form, are available here: Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme

[1] For example: Healey and Jenkins (2011) Linking discipline-based research with teaching to benefit student learning, available from: http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Linking-RT-Handout-Website1.doc

[2] For example: Madan, C R & Braden, D T (2013) The Benefits of Undergraduate Research: The Student’s Perspective, available from: http://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2013/05/undergraduate-research-students-perspective/

January 26, 2015

New BU publication in British Food Journal

BU research, Publishing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to three BU researchers Ann Bevan, Heather Hartwell and Ann Hemingway for their 2015 paper ‘An exploration of the fruit and vegetable “foodscape” in a university setting for staff: A preliminary study’ in the British Food Journal [1]. Interesting, this timely paper is published in FOOD & NUTRITION WEEK, see more details at: http://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/news/thismonth/foodandnutritionweek.php

Reference:

Bevan A.L., Hartwell H, Hemingway, A, Rossana Pacheco da Costa Proença (2015) An exploration of the fruit and vegetable “foodscape” in a university setting for staff: A preliminary study British Food Journal, 117(1): 37-49.

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

December 15, 2014

Tired of Writing? Make a Map!

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Featured academics afeigenbaum

This spring semester, thanks to a Fusion CCCP grant, we’ll be turning our BU research into interactive media, designed for making an impact.

If you are like me, dishwashing, hanging laundry, answering emails and even updating your BRIAN profile are more fun than writing academic papers. Beyond the jargon, peer review terror and endless citations, there is something sad about paper writing. Like a farewell party for long-time friend, the paper is a bittersweet goodbye. It is when we send our research off, delivering its findings into the abyss of academic journals, hoping to eventually be discovered and read.

But increasingly, academic writing isn’t the only tool at our disposal for making our research heard. As the impact agenda expands, alongside it, interest in public engagement and social media grow. Unlike most academic journals, with strict limits on figures and black and white print, online platforms are hungry for colour and creativity. Online, image is king and curiosity brings clicks. If a picture was once worth 1,000 words, today a media interactive is worth 10,000.

With many online platforms freely available to visualise our data, making information beautiful has never been easier. So, why not make our own? That’s the question I asked myself last year. Rather than pulling out the drying rack or deleting the ‘pending’ neurological mice studies from BRIAN’s list, I decided to give google maps a go.

Mapping the Media

Bored of traditional content analysis in my field of Media Studies, and taken by the toys of Geographers, I began my very first research map. All it took was a google account, a google alert, and about five hours a month for data input. A year later, an interactive dataset was born.

With over 25,000 views and copied onto news articles and blogs around the world, this map tells a different story about my research and the world we live in, one that I could never capture in linear prose. It opens up new audiences to the data, and in an instant reveals insights into conflicts and communities–and the ways they are mediated. Click deeper and you’ve got a global sample of news coverage from around the world to explore as you wish, offering features no academic article alone could provide.

But, alas, it wasn’t very pretty. So I went in search of real map-makers. With the support of An AAG Enrichment Grant for interdisciplinary scholars, I presented my ragtag version at the American Association of Geographers in 2014, arriving with a plea for help. And as luck would have it, help sat in my audience. Matt Ellis, a geography student from Texas Christian University, came on board, teaching me about ‘coordinates’ and CVS files. Matt created a series of maps, designed and hosted for free at CartoDB. Making these media maps opened my eyes to the possibility of the ‘disciplinary mash-up.’ Digital technologies allow us take apart and reassemble our methodologies, sharing interdisciplinary work online to wide audiences.

From Google Maps to Fusion Grants

With a little imagination and a bit of collaboration, our research can be expressed in new and creative forms. What began as a temporary escape from the doldrums of peer review publishing, has turned into a new, cross-school research initiative here at BU. Supported by a Fusion CCCP Grant, between January and July 2015, myself, Nathan Farrell, Dan Jackson, Robert Munday, Shelley Thompson and Einar Thorsen from the Media School will be working with Hamid Bouchachia of the Data Science Institute, geographers Duncan Golicher and Phillipa Gillingham of the GIS lab, and Impact Manager Rebecca Edwards from RKEO to co-create a model for visualising research here at BU.

This project combines traditional approaches for understanding datasets in the social sciences and humanities with geospatial and artistic design practices. Working in co-production with our students, our project embraces digital techniques for orienting output toward public engagement. Bringing in international experts from the Tactical Technology Collective, the New Media Lab and Visualising Impact for a Masterclass in Visualising Data for Societal Impact, our Fusion project will connect up BU research with the growing fields of information design and data communications, putting BU’s innovations in digital humanities and digital social sciences on the academic map.

So next time you’re tired of writing, consider making a map. Or an infographic. A collage or a GIF. A comic strip or a meme. Don’t feel guilty for not writing that paper, take a break from typing and have a play.

November 17, 2014

Examination of the Newborn (EXON) Pilot Project for under-graduate student midwives: an update.

Fusion, Knowledge Transfer, student research, Training Luisa Cescutti-Butler

In November last year I published a blog on the first pilot project I undertook with five under-graduate pre-registration midwifery students which was designed to enable them to qualify with the skills and competencies around examination of the newborn (EXON). The students were required to access and study the module with post-graduate midwives. Four of the students successfully completed the course in September 2014 with one student leaving early on in the project due to unforeseen family circumstances. The journey to completion was not smooth. The first hurdle was a clash of assessments. The EXON assessment (a presentation) fell in the same week as Complex Care (CC), a third year unit assessment where students are required to undergo a VIVA and manage two obstetric emergencies. It is a stressful experience and therefore three of the students requested an extension to their EXON presentation with only one choosing to present with her post-registration colleagues. As the EXON assessment took place on the Monday of that particular week and Complex Care assessments were running over three days, the student managed to negotiate to undertake her CC assessment on the Friday. The three students were re-scheduled to present later in the year with a number of other midwives who were on extensions or resits. One of the advantages of choosing to present in January 2014 was that the student was able to choose a topic that she could use both for her learning around EXON and for her extended essay which was due to be completed somewhat later in the academic year. The student was successful in both endeavours as were all the others but at a later date.

Another hurdle students found themselves confronted with, was a lack of opportunity to undertake newborn examinations including a shortage of midwifery mentors who could support the training requirements of the project. Two of the students could not get any of the examinations done in their own trusts. Fortunately for them, the maternity unit and midwifery staff at Poole NHS Trust Hospital were extremely obliging and supported the students to work there which enabled them to complete the practical newborn checks. All four of the students have successfully qualified as midwives and have obtained midwifery posts in the local area. They remain committed EXON and have volunteered to be EXON ‘champions’ within their respective trusts. I am grateful to Jeanette Elliot, Luzie Schroter, Jenna Penhale and Bex Coleman-Moss for their hard work and dedication during the pilot and for their feedback and advice for the next intake.

Demand for places for the second pilot project remained high when the call was put out a short while ago. Unfortunately due to some of the barriers described above it was only feasible to recruit five students again and all of them based in the west. The students have commenced their studies and are enjoying the learning so far. The pilot projects are helping to inform what impact these barriers will have on the training needs for midwifery students within our local maternity units as this year we are introducing EXON theory to all midwifery students on our newly validated curriculum with the caveat that students will obtain the necessary theoretical knowledge but not all with qualify with the required skills. However by ‘fast-tracking’ students onto one of our twice yearly CPD EXON modules which has around 20+ midwives enrolled, by the time the students reach their third year there should be many more midwives qualified in EXON and in place to support our under-graduate students to gain the competencies around newborn examination. If you require any further information please contact Luisa Cescutti-Butler on lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk

November 13, 2014

Reducing Avoidable Term Admissions’ eLearning project

Fusion, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Public engagement, Training Luisa Cescutti-Butler

In the region covered by Health Education Wessex, over half of all admissions to neonatal units are babies who are considered term gestation. An audit of neonatal unit admissions undertaken by University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust uncovered three main reasons for term admissions:

(Mal) adaptation to neonatal life (27%)
Respiratory Distress Syndrome (18%)
Sepsis (13%)

The findings suggest that with better care in the immediate and subsequent postnatal period some of these admissions may have been avoided. It appears to be a national problem with NHS England recognizing an increase in term admissions as a key concern. Separating the woman from her baby can be emotionally upsetting and may impact on a woman’s ability to successfully breastfeed her baby. Babies when admitted onto neonatal units are subject to many interventions and may suffer short term morbidities. In addition to the impact on the woman and her baby there are implications for resources, it costs £500 a day to care for a baby receiving specialist neonatal care. Units who have reduced their term admission rates cite midwifery involvement as vital. Midwives work within multidisciplinary teams; therefore involvement of all healthcare professionals is crucial if term admissions are to be reduced. Standardization of protocols and guidelines appear difficult to achieve based on the various ways services are configured, therefore education on the basic principles of prevention is required.

Following an initial meeting with Kate Graham-Williams (Locum Consultant Neonatologist), Kim Edwards (Network Educator) and Teresa Griffin (Deputy Manager/Lead Nurse) to explore ideas of developing a learning package, a further meeting took place with Luisa Cescutti-Butler, Debbee Houghton and Carol Wilkins (Senior Midwifery Lecturers) to discuss educational outcomes.The meeting concluded with all parties agreeing to work collaboratively on an e-learning package and to explore possible sources of funding. Health Education Wessex has a responsibility to ensure that NHS employees are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to deliver excellent health and patient care, therefore they were approached and agreed to provide funding. Alison Potter (E-Learning Project Manager) joined the project and is managing all stages of the project. The project which involves Health Education Wessex, Thames Valley and Wessex Neonatal Network, Bournemouth University and selected supplier (LEO) have agreed to develop, implement and evaluate a multi-disciplinary eLearning module with an aim in reducing avoidable term admissions to neonatal units.

Luisa, Debbee and Carol are working with Kate on developing content (case scenarios) of the e-learning package and a workshop with all parties including supplier LEO will be taking place in December at Bournemouth University. A number of key professionals from the Wessex region have agreed to be reviewers including a set of parents who would have experienced their baby being admitted to a neonatal unit for medical input. The project aims to be ‘live’ in March 2015.

If you require any further information please contact Luisa Cescutti-Butler, Debbee Houghton or Carol Wilkins on the following email addresses: lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk, dhoughton@bournemouth.ac.uk , cwilkins@bournemouth.ac.uk

November 10, 2014

Apply for the Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme now!

BU research Julie Northam

Last week we announced the launch of the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme and opened the call for applications for positions to run in semester 2 (see Launch of the BU URA programme). The deadline is fast approaching (14th November) so you will need to get your applications in soon (apply here).

Having a URA working with you has many benefits to both you and the student. These include:

Increased opportunity for co-creation between you and the student
Increased satisfaction for you and the student
Promotion of careers in academia and research to the student
Promotion of opportunities for postgraduate study to the student
The student will support you with your research

performing experiments and analysing the results
disseminating new knowledge orally or in written outputs
literature searches
presenting results at conferences
providing general research support to academics

You can apply for a URA position to run in semester 2 by competing this short application form and submitting it by 14th November.

November 5, 2014

What costs £15 and smells of spent fireworks?

Awarded & submitted bids, Featured academics, Fusion, Public engagement, R & KE Operations afeigenbaum

Tear gas is used around the world nearly everyday, yet major international organisations, including the World Medical Association and NATO, state that not enough is understood about the real-life impact and health effects of these technologies. Responding to this lack of accessible information, in 2013 Dr. Anna Feigenbaum won a Fusion Fund grant to form the Tear Gas Research Connection — a group of researchers, NGOs, investigative journalists and tactical technicians keen to get to the ‘truth behind the tears’.

Over the past year, Dr. Feigenbaum and John Horne have been collating data from humanitarian reports, medical journals, corporate correspondences, shipping documents, media reports and Freedom of Information requests in efforts to contribute to public debate and policymaking on this issue. With a year of research and networking behind us, this Tuesday we held our first stakeholder meeting at Birmingham City University. With support from BU Fusion and the Wellcome Trust, fifteen of our partners and advisors came together to strengthen the connections between our work and plan future projects.

As tear gas use has tripled since 2011, there is a pressing need to find new ways to understand and communicate information on its physical and mental health effects. However, data on sensitive topics like tear gas is often kept hidden, deemed too confidential to be made open. This makes it difficult to gather health and human rights information, particularly on vulnerable populations (prisoners, detainees, those living in conflict zones). Likewise, detailed health and medical information, beyond basic safety instructions, is not often available in accessible formats. This leaves many people who suffer tear gas exposure unable to get the treatment they need.

In response to these difficulties in data collection, two initiatives emerged at the Tear Gas Research Connection meeting. Plans are now underway to establish a medical team as part of the connection, bringing together toxicologists, GPs, Emergency responders, military medics and others with the newly formed tear gas task force of the European Respiratory Society. Coming together, this group will work to evaluate and re-issue an up-to-date field guide for dealing with the medical effects of tear gas. There were also discussions of how data mining and new archival methods might be used to help aggregate dispersed information, bringing global information together in one searchable place.

In addition to the significant gap in the communication of scientific knowledg, populations facing tear gas are often marginalised communities that have limited means of expressing their experiences in legitimated forums. To share these stories and raise awareness on tear gas deaths and injuries, our stakeholder group sketched out ideas for documentary projects, including an online memorial that told ‘3 layer stories’ providing the data, humanising those hurt or killed, and detailing the perpetrator that caused the harm. The aim of this project would be to create ‘grieve-able spaces’ and transnational connections around this under-documented and under-reported, global issue. To this effect, our team is currently putting together an AHRC Digital Transformations bid on ‘telling data stories.’

Any truly multidisciplinary issue like tear gas, demands a collaborative, multidisciplinary response. We saw this disciplinary diversity emerge across the other projects that came from our interactive workshop ‘idea stations’. Some of these fascinating proposals included:

Charting the advertising and PR history of tear gas sales
An A to Z critical guide to tear gas
Engaging citizen science and wearable technologies
Using GIS software to map export data

Central to all of our project ideas is an attention to the relationship between data and design. In this information age, it is crucial that we consider not just what the data shows us, but how we communicate those findings and insights to a variety of audiences. That is why our group is committed to holding face-to-face meetings with policymakers and making appearances in international media outlets. To date, our research has featured in newspapers, websites, broadcast radio and television including The Financial Times, The Guardian, Vice.com, Australian Broadcast Company radio, RT, SES Turkey and BBC Mundo, to name just a few.

Over the year we will be building up a number of these projects and we’re always on the look out for new collaborators. From advertising to animation to atmospheric chemistry — if you are interested in this research area and have skills or knowledge to share, please be in touch: afeigenbaum@bournemouth.ac.uk

Meet Our Partners & Advisors

Dima Saber (Birmingham City University); Graeme Hayes (Aston University); Marijin Nieuwenhuis (University of Warwick); Ion Maleas (Goldsmiths); Tara O’Grady (Human Rights Defender); Damian McCormack (Medical Doctor Dublin); Dan McQuillan (Goldsmiths); Noha Atef (Birmingham City University); Lucie Ryzova (University of Birmingham); Michael Crowley (Bradford)

November 4, 2014

Launch of the BU Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme

BU research Julie Northam

I am delighted to announce today the launch of BU’s Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme. Funded by the Fusion Investment Fund, this programme will offer paid employment opportunities for approximately 40 BU undergraduate students to work in clusters, centres and institutes, under the guidance of experienced academics, in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline. This will enable the students to assist academic staff with their research whilst also gaining valuable research experience.

Research shows there is a direct link between student satisfaction and research-based learning, particularly when the opportunity is in their field of study[1], and that the undergraduate student experience is improved by engaging them with research early and often.[2] URAs are common in North America and are offered in a significant number of universities, for example Harvard University, Northern Illinois University, Kent State University and Cornell University.

In 2014-15 BU is offering two modes of the URA programme:

semester-based programme (c. 20 part-time positions running for eight weeks in semester 2)
summer programme (c. 20 full-time positions running for six weeks in June/July 2015)

There are two stages to the application process: 1) School/Faculty application stage whereby BU academic staff can apply for URA positions, and 2) student selection stage whereby School/Faculty staff recruit to the positions.

We are now accepting applications from academic staff for URA positions for the semester-based programme. The deadline for applications is 14th November 2014. All applications received will be reviewed by representatives from the University Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee, with decisions on which positions to fund announced at the start of December. There will be a second round next year for the summer programme.

Further details, including the application form, are available here: Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme

October 3, 2014

Successful application for Fusion Investment Funding for study leave

BU research, Fusion srawnson

After a nervous wait, I was so excited when the anticipated email from the Fusion Investment Fund Committee popped into my in-box on the 7th August. With shaky fingers I clicked on the email, was this good news or not? Had I been successful in my bid for Fusion Investment funding? I was surprised and overjoyed to find the answer was yes!
I co-lead and coordinate the undergraduate student midwife caseloading initiative, a dynamic experiential practice-based learning strategy developed and pioneered by Bournemouth University (BU) in 1996. Caseloading practice requires students (supervised by a qualified midwife) to provide continuity of care for a small group of women throughout pregnancy, birth and the early days of parenting.
Given that it is now national policy that midwifery undergraduate students engage in caseloading it’s important to have an evidence-base on which to base best practice. Whilst there is robust evidence of women’s experiences of continuity from qualified midwives, there is a paucity of information regarding students. No formal research into women’s experiences of this approach to student involvement in care appears to have been undertaken in the UK.
My doctoral study aims to hear women’s personal stories to develop an understanding of how being part of a student midwife’s caseload may have impacted on their childbearing experience. Utilising qualitative methods, the study follows women’s experiences of continuity of care provision from a student midwife to identify themes of significance to the individual women in the study, and the women as a group. I am interested to hear women’s stories of how they develop and maintain relationships with the student, how they report the care provided in relation to their holistic needs and aspects of significance as identified by the women.
Six women have been recruited to the study. Participant stories are sought on three occasions; twice during pregnancy and once in the postnatal period. Data gathered is analysed using interpretive approaches within a narrative inquiry framework to identify themes of significance to the individual women within the study, and the women as a group.
It is imperative that midwifery education prepares students for employment within the ‘real world’ of midwifery practice. My study is embedded within the industry of midwifery; practice. Service user experience is central to quality practice provision and at the heart of student education. Through the fusion of research co-constructed with service users, practice and education, timely completion of my doctoral work has the potential to benefit students, women as service users, and professional practice.
My success in securing funding for study leave to write-up my doctoral thesis, will enable early dissemination of study findings to inform a currently limited evidence-base for best practice in student midwife caseloading. Dissemination of this knowledge will build on BUs footprint of scholarly work in this field. It will also enable me to be part of REF 2020 and help build critical mass in our next REF and reputation for midwifery/health at BU. Given the currently limited body of knowledge and growing interest surrounding student midwife caseloading practice, timely completion of my PhD also provides a platform for bidding the research councils. Little is known for example, of the emotional work of caseloading for students and midwifery mentors, or how best to prepare and support practitioners for this experience. Further work around service user perspectives is also required. These strands afford opportunity for co-working and c-constructing research projects with students, practitioners and service users. There is also the potential for collaborative work across HEIs in the UK, and countries offering similar educational schemes.
Thank you Fusion Investment Fund!

September 17, 2014

PR practitioners on campus for training

Fusion, Public engagement, Uncategorized Tom Watson

In a contribution to the international PR Measurement Week, regional practitioners attended an evening training session in The Media School on September 16.
The public engagement event was organised by Professor Tom Watson and Wessex Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) chair Natasha Tobin, who lectures part-time on the BA Public Relations programme. It was attended by 14 CIPR members, who also gained CPD points for their annual professional training quota.
The practitioners were shown basic media measurement techniques using an Excel utility which Professor Watson has developed. It features in the third edition of ‘Evaluating Public Relations’ (Kogan Page 2014) co-written with former BU lecturer Paul Noble.
“Measurement and evaluation is one of the top PR practice issues and we were pleased to organise hands-on training for regional PR people as part of the international week,” said Professor Watson. “BU has had a long relationship with CIPR since BAPR was started in the late 1980s and so they were natural partners for this initiative.”
Measurement Week has been organised around the world by the Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and has the support in the UK of CIPR and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA, which both recognise BU’s public relations courses.

Delegates and Professor Tom Watson (c) at the training session

September 16, 2014

Public Engagement, Bournemouth University & Fusion

Festival of Learning, Fusion, Public engagement gibsonh

Public engagement is a term that you may recognise, but do you really understand what public engagement is and what makes it so important?

What is public engagement?

Public engagement is a term which is associated and used in a variety of sectors- from arts and heritage to science policy and local government. Although the term is spread across these sectors, there is a common aspiration shared between them. To better connect the work of universities and research institutes with society. As the NCCPE tells us the key thing to remember is to make sure engagement is a two way process of give and take between academia and society.

Understanding Fusion: making the connection between public engagement & Bournemouth University

“Fusion is the combination of inspirational teaching, world-class research and the latest thinking in the professions which creates a continuous and fruitful exchange of knowledge that stimulates new ideas, learning and thought leadership”

This is at the heart of all we do here at BU and a key focus of our 2018 strategic plan. The NCCPE also give us three fantastic reasons why we should support public engagement.

It brings significant benefits to universities and to the public-

The universities that commit and dedicate to public engagement activities can create long-term relationships with the community, businesses and general public. By creating Public engagement activities it is possible to help our academics and researchers to understand, recognise and then learn from what the public expect and in addition, what are their concerns are. This may help solve real world problems in the long term. By involving members of the general public in academic research, this can enable our researchers to make their decisions and research more responsive to our society.

Funders and policy makers expect universities to do it

In Order for our universities projects and research to be funded, the funding providers look to see the level of impact and overall benefit to the public. The next summers Festival of Learning will provide academics with an incredible opportunity to demonstrate both of these, whilst inspiring these public stakeholders along the way.

It helps universities adapt to a changing world

Public engagement allows our university to adapt to the changing world. This is done by understanding changes to the community and world culminating in us readapting ourselves to meet the needs of the community.

Why you should get involved in public engagement!

Research from our eight societally driven themes is the content which is broadcast through our public engagement, using the strategies stated above. Therefore, it is of upmost importance that this is communicated effectively, with our public stakeholders understanding the latest research that is undertaken at the university. By creating stand out and memorable public engagement events, our public stakeholders understanding levels of the research that is undertaken by many in the university will increase. This in turn, will provide various positive externalities as a result.

Getting involved

Why not present and display your research to INSPIRE our local community?

Publically engaging will not only inform the public of your research, but it allows them to engage with it. BU2018 aims to see BU share our expertise and knowledge. By getting involved in activities such as the Festival of Learning, you now have the opportunity to showcase your dedicated hard-work. Become #BUProud !!

You may even be able to improve and update your research through public engagement. Through interacting with the public you will benefit from individuals who can constructively influence your research.

You will be able to access a forum where the public raise issues within your area of expertise. By helping these individuals you will be able to build a long term relationship with them.

A key benefit for you will be the enhancement of your research! By sharing your findings you will be more visible to the public eye, the media and the research community as a whole. Why let your hard work not get noticed/the acclaim it deserves?

If you have ideas for public engagement events, or want to get involved with initiatives like Café Scientifique then let us know. We’ll soon be looking for event ideas for the Festival of Learning 2015, so please do get your creative hats on or drop me an email if you’d like to meet up for a brainstorm session.

June 30, 2014

Maternity, Midwifery & Baby Conference

BU research, Fusion, Research themes, Training, Uncategorized Luisa Cescutti-Butler

A recent free Maternity, Midwifery & Baby Conference held in London offered an ideal opportunity for Bournemouth University to showcase two innovative projects. The first, co-presented by Dr. Sue Way and Sian Ridden, a 2nd year midwifery student, focused on a joint chiropractic and midwifery newborn clinic which was set up with Fusion principles in mind. There are a number of aims of the clinic, of which the main is to optimise women’s opportunities to breastfeed successfully by providing chiropractic care for babies and breastfeeding support and advice to mothers. There are two further important aims, one of which, is to enhance student (undergraduate midwifery students & chiropractic students) learning opportunities and secondly, to provide networking and collaborative opportunities for students and staff in relation to research and dissemination of findings around these particular topics. When it was Sian’s turn to present, she was confident and articulate. She discussed a case study and how her knowledge was enhanced by being part of the clinic. Sian found attending the clinics provided her with a great learning experience and it was empowering that she was able to provide breastfeeding support under the guidance of the experts in the respective fields (Alison Taylor and Dr. Joyce Miller). Preliminary breastfeeding results from the clinic are promising. More details to follow in due course. Finally the seminar concluded by discussing the re-launch of the clinic in September, and to raise awareness of the re-launch, a free local conference (funded by Fusion Funding) for the community will be taking place on the 12^th July 2014. For further information on the above clinic or the conference please contact Alison Taylor on ataylor@bournemouth.ac.uk or Dr. Sue Way on sway@bournemouth.ac.uk .

The second seminar presentation took place after lunch and it focused on a study which is currently taking place involving five 3^rd year midwifery students and the feasibility of incorporating newborn infant physical examination (NIPE) competencies into the pre-registration midwifery programme. Traditionally these competencies are usually achieved post qualification when midwives have a number of years’ experience under their belt. However BU midwifery students felt differently and Luisa Cescutti-Butler discussed how the study was initiated by Luzie who asked the question: “why couldn’t they learn all the necessary skills in the third year of their programme”? Luzie took to the podium and presented her section like a duck to water. She didn’t shy away from the difficulties from taking this extra study on, but was quite clear that the benefits for women in her care were worth the extra work. The presentation generated quite a lot of heated discussion with some midwives in the audience quite adamant that students should not be taking on this ‘extended’ skill. However Luzie was able to stand her ground and confidently counter ague as to why students should gain these skills during the undergraduate programme. She received a resounding clap and cheers from the audience.

It takes some courage to stand up in a room full of people and present, and Sian and Luzie were brilliant. Both students did Bournemouth University and in particular the midwifery team proud. For further information on the above study please contact Luisa Cescutti-Butler on lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk

June 9, 2014

Delphi comes to Leipzig via BU

Fusion, Uncategorized Tom Watson

Delphi method is an unsung qualitative research technique used for investigating complex issues. It was the subject of one of The Media School’s Prof Tom Watson’s teaching actions during his Erasmus visit to Leipzig University in Germany last week.

He was hosted by Prof Gunter Bentele and Prof Ansgar Zerfass of the university’s Communication Management Research Institute (Instituts KMW), who are also co-researchers with him.

“Delphi method has been little used in PR and Communication Management research. So this was an opportunity to present it to a group of Early Career Researchers and PhD students,” said Prof Watson who used it for an international study of PR research priorities in 2007/08.

He is hopeful that Delphi method, which draws its name from the oracle of Delphi as it is used for forecasting and policy creation, will be more widely used at both universities. “It gets very rich results amongst practitioners and from international experts.”

Other actions during Prof Watson’s Erasmus visit, supported by the British Council and a FIF SMN selection, were two seminars to Masters students on PR history and PR measurement as well as mentoring meetings with PhD students.

Leipzig University has been an Erasmus partner of BU for the past four years. It has one of Europe’s leading communication management and PR research teams, with an international reputation. Professors Bentele and Zerfass have both visited BU under the Erasmus banner. Students have also come from Leipzig to BU for six months’ study on the MA Public Relations.

“As well as being where J.S. Bach composed his music in the Thomaskirche (St Thomas’s Church) in the 18th century, the venue of the annual World Goth Festival and a charming city centre , Leipzig is a top university which started in 1409”, said Prof Watson. “There is great potential to further develop our relationship with it and its very welcoming staff.”

Thomaskirche, Leipzig, where J.S. Bach composed most of his music

May 30, 2014

Valuing People! Giving life meaning to people in Malaysia with diverse abilities

BU research, Fusion, Women's Academic Network Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

The end of our study leave in Malaysia is beginning to come into view and if anything the pace of work seems to be accelerating as time evaporates. During our remarkable time in Southeast Asia we have been asked to give numerous research seminars, deliver many guest lectures and been warmly invited to attend and contribute to Higher Education planning meetings. One research project done and dusted, we have moved seamlessly on to the next, in-between time spent trying to keep up with an invisibly multiplying list of writing commitments, while steaming none so genteelly under the busy, overhead fans.

Today we took a break from it all. Instead we went on visits to local social welfare agencies in Penang, to see for ourselves some of the NGOs where our BU social work students were placed, and where they are still fondly remembered.

Under the wing of Ai-Na Khor, the brisk and friendly CEO of Asia Community Service, we were first taken to see the Children’s Early Intervention Centre, where Jenna and Chloe, our Level I students had been placed under the British Council PMI 2 mobility grant we secured from 2009-12 to study student learning processes in unfamiliar international placement contexts. We admired the dedication of this innovative, small NGO, which is entirely non-government funded, but which provides services for children from infancy to school-age years in a small ‘heritage’ house, donated rent free by a local philanthropist.

From there Ai-Na took us by 4-wheel drive high up into the verdant Penang hills to see a remarkable supported employment centre for adults with learning disabilities established in an unremarkable kampung (village). Here the ‘members’ of the Stepping Stones Work Centre work effectively as a co-operative with the same NGO and have developed a flourishing and diverse cottage industry of hand-made goods collected from local recycled materials. The atmosphere of the Centre was bright and lively, and the members confident, friendly and eloquent, even when speech was a challenge in any language.

Here we saw a small paper-making industry, where recycled paper was reformed, strengthened with banana fibres produced through laborious grinding with pestle and mortars. The finished colourful, textured product of chalk pink, orange, yellow, lime and leaf green paper would be used for robust items like book bindings.

Here they also produce hand-loom weaving, the cotton spun and dyed on the premises. A strangely metallic, highly robust weaving was examined with raised eyebrows. Guess what it is made of? We were asked. Recycled cassette tape of which the members had collected boxes of discarded tapes over time.

More textiles, this time traditional batik cloth using the tricky, not to mention risky, hot wax method. The designs, stamped or the more unique, free-hand style, were vibrant and impressionistic. Delighted by them we bought many examples to use as…umm! Well something! Who could resist them after all?

In the spotless kitchens run by the members bread was being baked and packaged to sell to the local ‘coffee-shops’ in Penang. It smelled good. A hand-made bar of mint soap made apparently of recycled, halal cooking oil and a beautiful little pottery, leaf-shaped dish completed our shopping. Everything was cheerfully packed up in dainty origami bags with handles, made entirely of cleverly folded newspaper and magazines. We treasured our purchases and marvelled at how little they cost and the incredible skill that went into every stage of the production by people otherwise written off by society in most countries.

This trip meant so much to us. Sara reminisced about her practitioner days employed as a social worker with people learning disabilities. Jonathan, also, rehearsed his experiences in a similar role, resurrecting images of proud attendees at an Adult Training Centre in the UK closed long ago as attendees were ‘mainstreamed’ whether they liked it or not, but whose identity-affirming work at that centre had made their lives meaningful. Where are those disadvantaged people today? It is unlikely that many have independent and creative jobs to go to, unlike these active, Penang citizens, who are, regardless of disabilities, able to make and spend a hard-earned and proudly won wage.

Seeing work like this reminded us both of why we went into social work in the first place. It also made us question once again where so much has gone wrong. Perhaps in the UK our homage to politically correct approaches has failed to take into account the nuanced twists and turns by which people of diverse abilities live their lives and display their humanity.

Sara Ashencaen Crabtree & Jonathan Parker

April 24, 2014

School of Tourism Undergraduates Highlight Research at National BCUR Gathering

BU research, Fusion, Public engagement, Research news mgouthro

School of Tourism had an impressive presence at last week’s BCUR (British Conference of Undergraduate Research) gathering held at University of Nottingham www.bcur.org. Now in its fourth year, the 2014 conference was the biggest yet with 350 undergraduate students coming from university’s all over the UK and beyond. The students were joined by other undergraduates from a wide cross section of disciplines including: London School of Economics, University(s) of Cambridge, Aberdeen, Leeds, Exeter and Reading, Roehampton & Newcastle, Trinity Dublin and Tennessee. Topics ranged from genetic engineering; Preparing youth for the UK labour market; to advances in water purification, archaeology and recent controversies in the meat industry affect buying behaviour. Katie Azulay, is studying a BSc (Hons) Sports Development and Coaching Sciences and said “BCUR is an experience I will never forget. Seeing other students research from all around the world was extremely interesting, as well as presenting my own research to them – a proud moment representing BU”. Katie presented her research on ‘Investigating the impact of motivational interviewing on exercise adherence among Exercise Referral Scheme patients with a BMI <35’.

BU’s wider presence at BCUR ties nicely into raising the profile of undergraduate research in future from a successful Fusion Bid led by Luciana Esteves to host SURE@BU (Showcasing Undergraduate Research Excellence) in March 2015. The SURE@BU gathering is meant to give students the opportunity to gain key experience and skills, but also make their work visible to potential employers or placement hosts. There will be awards and prizes for the best posters and oral presentations. It is hoped that the successful hosting of SURE@BU places BU in a position to also host the national BCUR gathering in 2017.

The School of Tourism final year undergraduate students saw the true benefit of participating at BCUR in Nottingham last week. Adam Doherty, who studying BSc (Hons) Sport Psychology and Coaching Science said “I thoroughly enjoyed it and was amazed at the wide variety of research that was being conducted at this level (Undergraduate). I learnt a vast amount about subjects in which I had little or no prior knowledge of and I was glad to be able to showcase my work to others who were equally interested”.
Adam’s research is entitled “Is there a science behind saving penalties? A study looking into the psychological approach in a goalkeepers positioning and movement from 12 yards”.

ST Staff and Students at BCUR

ST student presents at BCUR

Other ST students also took part earlier in the year in BCUR’s led up event called Posters in Parliament, held in the Jubilee Room at Houses of Parliament. Amber Madkour studying BSc (Hons) Sports Development and Coaching Sciences presented her research on ‘Exploring Feminity in fitness: Crossfit as a site for empowering embodiment for Women’ and Rachel Luff presented hers on ‘An Investigation into volunteer management techniques used to achieve expected volunteer experience at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity’. A number of MP’s were also on hand during the day to meet and chat with students on their research. This included among others David Blunkett, Angela Smith, Simon Hart, and Mark Williams. There was a judging panel made up of Ben Wallace MP; Sean Coughlan, Education Correspondent at the BBC; Professor Julio Rivera, President of the US Council of Undergraduate Research; and Katherine Harrington of the Higher Education Academy.

Amber had the following comments about profiling her research in Parliament “Partaking in this event allowed me to share what I have learnt by discussing the focus of my dissertation with other students and academics. Being able to present my research in Parliament is a day I will remember looking back at my University career, and I am very proud to have such an opportunity”. Rachel Luff, who also took part said “The feedback I gained was very positive, people saying how interesting and relevant my topic is, this reaffirmed my interest in the research and took away from the ‘dread’ of the dissertation journey. The benefits from this opportunity has outnumbered the extra work I initially put in”.

Amber Madkour presents in Parliament

Rachel Luff presents in Parliament

Students and academics involved in BCUR activity are encouraged to seek platforms to share their research, including Reinvention – International Journal of Undergraduate Research. Reinvention is an online, peer-reviewed journal, dedicated to the publication of high-quality undergraduate student research, and only houses papers written by undergraduate students or papers written collaboratively by undergraduate students and academics.

April 1, 2014

Deadline! Panic. Click Submit: Grants Academy Diary Part 3

BU research, Grants Academy, R & KE Operations, Training afeigenbaum

Email flurries. Cut-and-paste frenzies. Forgetting if draft v3.1.5 is most recent despite diligent attempts to effectively dropbox. Sound familiar? Grant deadline time demands we are at our sharpest, but more often finds us high on caffeine and flung headlong into chaos. Whether one clicks submit with confidence, hesitation or blind faith, when the closing hour comes, we breathe a sigh of relief. It’s out of our hands and into the 1 in 12 success rate abyss.

Like many colleagues, I’ve been on grant teams where ‘click submit’ was done with varying shades of satisfaction. But this time, something felt different. This wasn’t any ordinary bid. This was my Grants Academy bid. A bid that had gone through three days of extensive surgery via R&KE OP’s staff development programme on bid writing run by expert consultant Dr. Martin Pickard. It benefited from Martin’s expertise, as well as the critical eyes of five interdisciplinary BU colleagues also attending the workshop. Further developed by two CI collaborators, two external peer reviewers, BU Quality Approver Richard Berger and the devoted attention of my research officer Pengpeng Ooi, never before had I been on a grant handled with so much personalised and professional care. This time when I clicked submit, there wasn’t a sentence worth changing.

In two earlier diary posts I discussed the daunting task of getting started with bid writing and my (somewhat unfounded) fears of impact agendas. After the first two workshops we each went off, brains buzzing with new tips and tricks, to independently work on our bid drafts. But rather than spend hours crafting confident cases for support, those two weeks during the start of spring semester saw little time to devote to redrafting. Like the students we sometimes bemoan, most of us ended up in a last minute ‘meet the deadline’ whirlwind, turning in work we were only half proud of.

Building on session one’s tips about project formulation and session two’s insights on expressing the wider value of our research, session three provided a simulated peer review process to help us better understand how bids are evaluated and scored. This final stage of the Grants Academy began with a discussion of review criteria, followed by a tally of the scores we gave fellow academy members, and then individual rounds of feedback on each of our six draft bid submissions. While none of us broke most research funder’s thresholds of 70% approval, few of us felt we deserved to, at least not yet.

Offering a supportive environment to watch our work get torn apart — a necessary if uncomfortable part of the bid enhancement process — day three of Grants Academy proved as beneficial as the first two. Rather than disheartening, the patterns and repetition of criticism shared across our cross-disciplinary colleagues’ reviews helped us to hone in on what desperately needed fixing. This peer review process was topped off with one-to-one feedback from Martin on where to go next with our bid’s development.

After the session a few of us stayed behind, manically typing away, not wanting to forget any of our colleagues’ sage advice. I knew my deadline was only a few weeks away and I wanted that 60 up to a 90, to fill the gap of the 1 in 12 success rate with sure-fire reasons why we deserved funding. Over the next two weeks my CIs and I racked up 57 emails, 3 hours of skype meetings and 5 budget drafts — all for just a £10,000 bid. In the words of our Grants Academy Guru, “To compete, we train.”

My biggest takeaway tip for colleagues registered in an upcoming Grants Academy session, or those thinking about enrolling, would be to come with a bid in the early to mid-stages of development. (NOT something either brand new or nearly finished.) This will allow you to get the most out of the developmental process of the workshops. Attending the sessions forces you to make time for drafting by providing structured deadlines and feedback to carry forward. I chose to develop a small Fusion Funded pilot project.

Anna Feigenbaum is a Lecturer in CMC group at the Media School. As part of her CEMP Fellowship she created this diary of her time at the Grants Academy. You can read her Day One Diary post here and Day Two here.

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Deadline! Panic. Click Submit: Grants Academy Diary Part 3

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