BU Research Blog

September 28, 2022

Two little mishaps in a row

BU research, COVID-19, Featured academics, Global engagement, international, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Integritiy, Research news, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

All research has its costs, we spend a lot of time as academics planning for and budgeting our studies. This starts with considering how much time each academic spends on preparing the grant application and finished with cost of dissemination of findings after the data have been analysed. We do risk assessments the try to reduce risk and mitigate unforeseen circumstances. My last two trips to Nepal both suffered from such unexpected events.

In May I traveled to Nepal with Prof. Vanora Hundley from the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) as part of the ERASMUS+ exchange with Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) where we joined by Bournemouth University (BU) PhD student Sulochana Dhakal-Rai. Sulochana was in Nepal on the Turing Scheme, the UK government’s programme to provide funding for international opportunities in education and training across the world.

As part of this trip we had organised a one-day Systematic Review on Dementia Research Workshop on Sunday 29th May in at MMIHS in Kathmandu. This Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) funded workshop was highly successful, it attracted 75% more participants than budgeted for, namely 53 instead of 30. However, the extra cost this incurred in terms of workshop resources, refreshments and lunches was not a great issue compared to the fact that I had contracted COVID-19 a few days before the workshop and had tested positive on a PCR test two days before. Thanks to the hard work of our colleagues at MMIHS, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Green Tara Nepal, and especially, Prof. Vanora Hundley, the workshop run very well. I even managed to make a guest appearance online from my hotel room 200 meters away from the workshop venue, albeit on a poorer quality internet connection than I would have had half way across the globe (at BU or at home).

This positive COVID-19 test also meant I could not travel on the India in early June due to COVID-19 travel restriction for entering India. There I had planned to meet Dr. Shanti Shanker from BU’s Psychology Department as part of our GCRF-funded project ‘Promoting dementia research in Nepal and India’. Again due to the presence of well organised colleagues the India part of the trip ran smoothly. Dr. Gayatri Kotbagi, who has works for us through the charity Sheetale Astitva, and Dr. Shanti Shanker managed to run the internal trip very well without me.

In August I traveled to Nepal again with two BU academics: Dr. Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Lecturer in Criminology, Department of Sociology & Social Work, Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health (Department of Nursing Sciences) and a colleague from the University of Exeter Dr. Emma Pitchforth. The main purpose of this visit was to run two sets of three-day Academic Writing Workshop in two cities in Nepal, namely Kathmandu and Pokhara. These workshops were funded by the British Academy and supported by Dr. Rashmee Rajkarnikar from the Central Department of Economics at Tribhuvan University, Nepal’s oldest and largest university, the charity Green Tara Nepal and Social Science Baha. This time the trip itself went very well, both workshop were very well attended, and even made it into a newspaper in Nepal: The Rising Nepal.

The trouble started after we had left Nepal. Dr. Pitchforth and I helped both fell ill some five to eight days after returning to the UK. We both had flu-type symptoms, including sore joints, night sweats, feeling tired, coughing, etc., although these were not exactly the same, my symptoms were perhaps a bit more like COVID-19. Which is why I did three COVID-19 tests in one week (all negative). It was not until the blood test came back from the NHS lab last week that my family doctor could tell me that I had dengue fever. Dengue fever is on the rise in Nepal. The national English-language paper The Himalayan Times reported yesterday (27th Sept. 2022) that dengue fever “has afflicted almost 26,000 people in Nepal” In July in the capital Kathmandu “…35 people had contracted the mosquito-borne disease. The number increased to 727 in August and 8,132 in September.”

I’m looking forward to my next trip to Nepal, as we have loads of on-going project. I have been going there for nearly twenty years, and having two incidents in two decades is not a lot, pity these came in the same year and on subsequent trips.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

April 15, 2022

GRCF supported migration and health workshop in Nepal

BU research, Events, Featured academics, Global engagement, international, Research news, Research Training, Training, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Earlier this week Bournemouth University (BU) ran the ‘Migration and Health Research Capacity Building Workshop for Early Career Researchers’ in Kathmandu. The organisation of this two-day event was jointly with the University of Huddersfield, Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu and the charity Green Tara Nepal. The event was part of the BU-led Health Research Network for Migrant Workers in Asia whose formation was supported two years ago by GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund). The workshop plan was designed by BU’s Dr. Pramod Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Aryal. Our recently started FHSS PhD student Yagya Adhikari and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen also contributed to the workshop in Kathmandu. Yagya spoke about his PhD which focuses on ‘Parental migration and its impact on the health and well-being of left-behind adolescents in Nepal’.

Further contributions to the workshop were from former BU PhD student Dr. Pratik Adhikary (now working for PHASE Nepal) and two of our academic colleagues from the University of Huddersfield: Dr. Sharada Prasad Wasti and Prof. Padam Simkhada. Prof. Simkhada is also Visiting Professor in FHSS.

May 27, 2021

The GCRF Additional call is Now Open (to existing PIs only)

Funding opportunities, Research news Ainar

The GCRF panel has £3600 available to support GCRF eligible activities that can be completed by the end of July 2021. Considering the limited funds and the time constraint, we are opening a very quick call targeting GCRF PIs of current or recently finished projects.

Any requests must demonstrate that the activity is ODA compliant, feasible (no risk of non-spending) and that it will enhance project impact. If funds are to be sent to partners, agreements must be in place and valid until completion of submitted project. Applicants are responsible for assessing their eligibility before submission.

Please submit your application via email to GCRF@bournemouth.ac.uk by close of business 4th June 2021 with the following:

– Name of the GCRF project (funded through BU or UKRI) that will benefit from this extra funding
– Description of activity (what will be done, when and by whom) – all activities must be completed by end of July 2021
– Impact expected (how will this activity enhance project impact? How will this benefit people or the economy of the ODA recipient country?)
– Budget

Please be succinct but informative in your application and address any queries to GCRF@bournemouth.ac.uk

Putting the GCRF Fund into strategic context, under BU2025, the following funding panels operate to prioritise applications for funding and make recommendations to the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC).

There are eight funding panels:

HEIF Funding Panel
GCRF Funding Panel
Research Impact Funding Panel
Doctoral Studentship Funding Panel
ACORN Funding Panel
Research Fellowships Funding Panel
Charity Support Funding Panel
SIA Funding panel

April 19, 2021

GCRF Funding Panel

BU research Ainar

Research is a priority, it matters, and it is everyone’s responsibility here at BU. In April, we focus our stories on BU internal funding panels. This post shares the information about the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) funding panel and awarded projects.

GCRF funding enables BU academics to undertake research in partnership with organisations in developing countries. Projects are aimed to help build collaborations with researchers, policymakers and practitioners, ensuring that the research provides tangible outcomes and impacts for people in those countries.

The GCRF panel is led by the Chair, Professor Lee Miles, and Vice-Chair, Luciana Esteves.

Travel restrictions introduced due to the pandemic have sometimes been a challenge for academics, however, everyone has demonstrated flexibility in adjusting project plans to minimise their impact on project delivery. This has even delivered some benefits, for example, encouraging greater partnership working and ensuring that projects are efficiently implemented by in-country organisations.

Funded projects

There have been quite a few previous posts on BU Research Blog related to GCRF funded projects; you can read more about such projects as ‘Rohingya refugee crisis’ (Bangladesh), ‘Indigenous people’s voices’ (Costa Rica and Malaysia), ‘Child soldiers’ (Colombia) and ‘Driving African Capacity-Building in Disaster Management’ (Sierra Leone, Senegal and Cameroon). In total, 22 GCRF applications have received funding.

One of the internally funded GCRF projects – ‘Enhancing Livelihood Resilience of Protracted Internally Displaced Persons (ELIED)’ – is led by Dr Henry Bang. The PI kindly provided a brief overview of the project and the work done so far.

‘The project was conceived against the backdrop of Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis (AC). The AC is rooted in the country’s troubled colonial history that eventually gave birth to its dual bi-lingual heritage (French and English official languages). The ongoing conflict started in 2016 as peaceful street demonstrations by lawyers and teachers’ trade unions against the obligatory use of French language in the educational and legal systems in Cameroon’s two Anglophone Regions. The government’s harsh response eventually gave rise to secessionist groups in the Anglophone region that have led to armed confrontation with government security forces. The four-year conflict has led to more than 63,000 refugees and 679,000 internally displaced persons.

These persons are suffering several vulnerabilities associated with separation from the nurturing environments of their original/home communities. Notably, are deprivation from basic necessities like regular access to food and other essentials such as education and easy access to health care. This is mainly because they rely heavily on food aid and assistance from well-wishers and donors. Living such unsustainable lives requires targeted attention. Hence, this GCRF project aims to improve and enhance the welfare and build livelihood resilience for the internally displaced persons who are scattered around Cameroon’s 10 regions. A strategic objective is to shape the livelihood opportunities of the population to be non-aid dependent.

The project is moving at an endurable pace, adjusted in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions to achieve the project objectives by the deadline of July 31st, 2021. The PI, with in-country collaborators, have engaged multiple NGOs and research assistants to collect data from the internally displaced persons’ (pictures here are taken by in-country collaborators and illustrate data collection by NGOs).

This project involves many challenges, considering the constrained budget and the scope of work involved, especially in securing a representative sample from around the country. Data collection from the NGOs is in progress after initial meetings and focus group discussions that led to the identification of key themes for further investigation.

According to the PI, ‘The challenge, though, is getting insights from the government, which is invaluable considering government’s expected dominant role in safe guiding the lives/livelihoods of the internally displaced persons. Plans are in place to achieve this objective with the appropriate budget as initially planned. In-dept analysis based on triangulation of data from the four data sets would enhance the validity, credibility, and generalization of the research.’

‘There is optimism that ELIED will achieve its aims/objectives with desirable outcomes that would have a huge academic/research and practical impact on sustainable livelihoods/development in Cameroon’ Dr Bang concludes.

The panel Chair suggested that at least two more projects with a high impact have to be mentioned in this short blog post – ‘Aftershock Nepal’ project and the MAAR (Media Action Against Rape) project addressing rape prevention in India. Both projects are led by Professor Einar Thorsen and Dr Chindu Sreedharan. It’s important to mention that the latter led to follow-on joint initiatives.

Future of GCRF funding

UK universities have received formal notifications from UKRI and Research England that there will be no further QR GCRF funding after July 2021. So, for the remaining period we need to ensure that the projects are successfully completed by the end of this financial year. Another important task will be reporting back to Research England in autumn.

The next post, coming up tomorrow, will be about the ACORN internal funding panel.

Tagged / GCRF Internal Funding Panel

The GCRF Additional call is Now Open (to existing PIs only)

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