Tagged / HE

UK Success Rates In 2021 MSCA Staff Exchange Call

Awarded & submitted bids

The UK Research Office (UKRO) have shared information about UK success rates in 2021 MSCA Staff Exchange Call, which closed on 9 March 2022. The Research Executive Agency (REA) has confirmed the number of successful UK-led proposals.

This is especially interesting because BU has excellent news – Associate Professor Jeffery Bray has been successful with his submitted proposal FoodMAPP (Local Food supply communicated through a transactional searchable MAP based APPlication). This proposal was submitted to Economic Sciences Panel and was the only UK-led proposal awarded by this panel.

FoodMAPP involves 8 organisations from 7 countries. Congratulations Jeff!

A total of 209 proposals from 28 countries were submitted in response to this call.

UKRO understands that UK organisations submitted 29 applications, of which 9 applications were retained for funding. This corresponds to a success rate of 4.31%. The successful applications have been submitted to the following panels:

  • Information Science and Engineering (ENG): 6
  • Economic Sciences (ECO): 1
  • Physics (PHY): 1
  • Environment and Geosciences (ENV): 1

In addition, UK institutions participated in 141 evaluated proposals, out of which 52 were retained for funding.

REA is expected to sign the grant agreements with successful applicants by November 2022.

The Commissioning of Essay Mills: A Focus on BU

 

Essays Mill in UK HE

The use of essay mills in UK higher education has been a topic of concern for several years. It has been considered a sensitive subject within academia by students and staff alike, with institutions requiring that academics take preventative measures.

Since the increased marketisation of UK higher education in 2012, where tuition fees increased as a result of the Browne Review (2010), and the subsequent reduced cap in the number of students who can now attend university, institutions have seen an increase in students applying for a place to study.

Universities are seemingly weighted by a digital mindset coined as Generation Z (aka as iGen or Linksters), the newest age group to emerge since the Millennials, who in turn, were the largest group since the baby boom generation. The later two generations – Gen Z and Millenials – have had the advantage of technology providing instant responses and offering information 24/7, allegedly creating a generational digital need within the curriculum and delivery, processes and procedures in order to exploit engagement and feedback in ways that a knowledge institution, or its inhabitants, may not yet be fully – or seemingly desirably – aligned.

With students entering HE from a mixed economy of practical, academic, cultural and educational skill sets, alongside external issues and commitments, and hopes for secure employment, students may, at times, struggle to engage with courses, assessment, multiple deadlines, grades, and feedback.

In frustration, students may be tempted to turn to the phenomenon of essay mills, a paid-for external service that writes essays for students, and crosses intellectual boundaries that underpin plagiarism, a much-frowned-upon activity by those in academia and beyond.

It is not just the students who do not wish to admit to being tempted by an essay mill offer, it can be a complex conversation for the institution and society, too.

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to gather perceptions and experiences relating to the essay mill phenomena. It focuses on the academic, student, and professional staff voices, and seeks to understand experiences of students commissioning essay writers/essay mills, an external paid for service whereby essays are written to order.

This overall project was not designed to be pejorative or demonise any of the participants, but to find out what’s really going on. The data will be important for understanding the needs of the C21st student, as seen through multiple lenses.

If you would like to be interviewed informally over coffee or off campus, please contact Steph Allen: stephaniea@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Survey links can be found below. Please share the relevant link to academics or student cohorts.

Undergraduates: https://bournemouth.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/turning-to-the-churnthe-commissioning-of-essay-mills-in-u

Masters: https://bournemouth.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-commissioning-of-essay-mills-in-uk-higher-education-p-2

Doctoral Candidates: https://bournemouth.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-commissioning-of-essay-mills-in-uk-higher-education-p-3

Academics:  https://bournemouth.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/turning-to-the-churnthe-commissioning-of-essay-mills-in-u-2

Deciding to take part or not, will not impact on your (or others) employment or studies at BU, or elsewhere in the future. Ethics number: 21274