November 20, 2014

NERC Innovation Projects

Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer jcodling

The Innovation Projects call supports projects that are likely to generate little or no commercial return, but which will deliver impact.

The call aims to increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research output by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users. The Follow-on Fund is for those projects that aim to be fully commercialised with a revenue stream derived from licensing, spinouts, consultancy etc.

A maximum of £125k (£100k at 80% FEC) may be requested. Projects are expected to start in May 2015 and to last for up to 12 months. Smaller, targeted activities of three to six months are also welcome and NERC anticipates seeing a range of requests within the £125k limit, reflecting a diverse range of potential projects and activities.

The closing date is 16.00 hrs on 18^th December, 2014

For further information go to the website

November 13, 2014

Reducing Avoidable Term Admissions’ eLearning project

Fusion, 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 13, 2014

Helping men to lose weight

Fusion, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement, Publishing, Research assessment Edwin van Teijlingen

High quality research from a collaboration of three UK universities has been turned into practical advice. The ROMEO project (Review Of Men and Obesity) by the University of Aberdeen, the University of Stirling and Bournemouth University found that men are more likely than women to benefit if physical activity is part of a weight-loss programme. Also although fewer men joined weight-loss programmes, once recruited they were less likely to drop out than women. The perception of having a health problem, the impact of weight loss on health problems, and the desire to improve personal appearance without looking too thin were motivators for weight loss amongst men. However, the type of reducing diet did not appear to affect long-term weight loss.

The charity Men’s Health Forum linked up with Public Health England and published a ‘How to’ guide based on the evidence of our ROMEO study. This ‘How to make weight-loss services work for men’ guide offers advice for local authorities, commissioners and weight management providers, who are trying to attract men to weight-loss programmes. The guide highlights, for example that:

Programmes that include exercise and behaviour change components as well as dieting are more successful in helping men to lose weight.
Men respond well to programmes that have a higher degree of personalisation, such as setting individual goals, as it increases their sense of control.
Weight-loss programmes based in the workplace or associated with professional sports clubs have been particularly successful.
Using humour and encouraging camaraderie makes programmes more attractive to men as does knowing that there will be other men there.

Furthermore, this ‘How to’ guide includes, amongst other advice, a list of Ten Top Tips.

This is an excellent example how research conducted between three different universities has been turned into easy to understand advice for man who are overweight. The past decade or so has seen an increasing interest in making academic research ‘useful’ to society. Creating and measuring the impact of research conducted at universities has been introduced as key element on the REF, the Research Excellence Framework. The REF assesses the quality of research in, and affects the amount of government money each university in the UK receives.

For a traditional academic publishing the HTA report would be a success in itself. Which, of course, it is to culmination of a large-scale and extensive review, well conducted, published through Open Access, which also attracted considerable media attention from across the globe when it came out. However, ROMEO did not stop there. Due to the involvement of the Men’s Health Fora right from the start of ROMEO, the Men’s Health Forum in England linked up with Public Health England to create and publish ‘How to make weight-loss services work for men’ guide is published today.

The ROMEO project, led by Prof. Alison Avenell (University of Aberdeen), examined the evidence for managing obesity in men and investigated how to engage men with obesity services. The evidence came from trials, interviews with men, reports of studies from the UK, and economic studies. ROMEO was funded by the National Institute for Health Research, Health Technology Assessment Programme (NIHR HTA Project 09/127/01). Our full report is Open Access and can be freely downloaded here.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

School of Health & Social Care

Bournemouth University

November 3, 2014

REF 2020 update

Research assessment Julie Northam

In approximately 7 weeks we will know the outcome of the REF 2014 exercise. It is hard to believe that it is almost a year since we submitted to the exercise and that the results are round the corner. Whilst the expert panels have been assessing the submissions this past year, HEFCE have been working hard to design and shape the post-2014 REF, currently being referred to as REF 2020. They are currently midway through a review of the role of metrics in research assessment to ascertain the extent to which metrics could be used in the assessment and management of research. They have commissioned RAND Europe to undertake an assessment of the impact element of REF 2014, part of which will include recommendations to the assessment of impact in future REF exercises. They are currently consulting on whether an international REF exercise, rather than a national one, is the way forward. And, arguably the most important announcement to date, they have confirmed their open access policy for the next REF which stipulates that in order to be eligible for submission to the next REF from April 2016 all journal papers and conference proceedings have to be made freely available in an institutional and/or subject repository at the time of acceptance. Outputs not made freely available in a repository at the time of acceptance after April 2016 will be exempt from inclusion.

The Research Blog’s REF pages have recently been updated and you can read more of what we know about REF 2020 here: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/ref/

As soon as we know more we will post it on the Blog. Until then we wait with anticipation for the REF 2014 results!

October 28, 2014

Festival of Learning – what could you do? Be part of something special this July…

Festival of Learning Becca Edwards

The Festival of Learning is back for the third year between 11^th-17th July.

This year will build of the fantastic success of the Festival in 2013 and 2014. Over the past two years the Festival of Learning has had circa 9,000 visits with an average event rating of 9 out of 10 and 96% of evaluated attendees stating that they would be very likely or likely to attend another event.

To further this success in 2015, we need you to host lectures, workshops and debates (or whatever type of engaging activity you can think of) showcasing the fantastic knowledge base of BU.

But why get involved?

It is a great opportunity to celebrate life at BU and share your passion with a different audience.
It can add fresh perspective to your research. Read this article about how public engagement can help you think about your research from a fresh perspective.
It can change people’s lives. Here in the Festival office we have been moved by members of the public telling us about how the Festival has helped reignite a passion for learning, helped support the growth of the charity and even helped people to walk for the first time in years.
It is a great networking opportunity. Colleagues involved in the Festival in previous years have developed partnerships which have, for example, led to collaborative PhD studentships.
It is fantastic for skills development. Especially for early career researchers, the Festival offers an unprecedented opportunity to develop communication techniques which engage members of the public and builds confidence in communicating complex ideas (essential for a future lecturing career!)
It helps to meet the expectation of funders and policy makers. The European Commission, HEFCE and our Research Councils (amongst others) expect researchers to demonstrate to the public the value of their research. The Festival provides of a great vehicle to do this as you will receive central support (e.g. for marketing) rather than going it alone.
It can support student recruitment. And not just undergraduates, but those looking for postgraduate courses and short courses who have never before considered BU as a potential place to study.

What you need to know

The call for proposals is now open and closes on 19^th December at 12noon.
You don’t have to run a long event. Many members of the public actually prefer to attend an event which only lasts an hour or so, rather than for a whole day.
The Festival runs from 11-17^th July 2015. Eager Festival followers will note that the Festival of Learning is being held slightly later this year. This is in order to ensure that our local schools and colleges are able to participate more fully in the Festival and to avoid clashes with examinations (both those being held by schools and Universities).

What to do next

Got an idea for an event? Great! Click for further details here on how to submit an event
Would like to get involved, but not sure how? Don’t worry, help is on hand! Contact Naomi Kay for guidance as to how to develop an event.
Looking for inspiration? Why not check out the Festival of Learning website to see what we ran last year, or check out some other public engagement Festival sites such as the British Science Festival, British Festival of Nature or Cambridge Festival of Ideas.

October 28, 2014

Impact, outcome and research methods – HSC PhD student on LSE Impact Blog

PG research, Research assessment aharding

With working at a university and the rise of the REF, you would have almost certainly come across the terms ‘impact’ and ‘outcomes’. Whilst there might be a great deal of similarity and overlap in the use of these terms, it is important to discuss the sometime subtle differences between ‘impact’ and ‘outcome’. What consequences might this have for the design of social research?

The health and social care literature uses these terms in a rather haphazard manner. The differences are rarely discussed and it can be suggested that many use the wrong terminology. In this blog post on the LSE Impact of Social Sciences Blog, relating to the field of information and advice on welfare issues, I briefly discuss and propose that there are fundamental differences between what an impact refers to and what an outcome refers to. Furthermore, I suggest that these differences are significant and profound enough to align each to opposing research methodologies.

These thoughts relate to the key areas of my PhD project with Elderly Accommodation Counsel (EAC) in London. EAC coordinates the FirstStop service which provides information and advice to older people (and other stakeholders) on housing and care issues. My research is focused on how older people use information and advice on housing and the wider impact that this has.

If anyone has an interest in this area, do get in touch!

October 15, 2014

ESRC impact prize 2015, celebrate your impact!

ssquelch

Impact helps to demonstrate that social science is important, that it is worth investing in and worth using.

In 2015 the ESRC is celebrating 50 years of supporting excellent social sciences. The 2015 impact prize is an opportunity to celebrate the outstanding economic and social impacts achieved by ESRC funded researchers over the last 50 years, this is one that cannot be missed.

This prize is now in its third year, growing ever more each year and brings together successes of impact from different aspects of ESRC research. This is an annual opportunity to recognise and reward the success of ESRC funded researchers who have achieved or are currently achieving, outstanding economic or societal impacts. The prize celebrates outstanding ESRC research and success in collaborative working, partnerships, engagement and knowledge exchange activities that have led to significant impact.

You are eligible for the prize regardless of how long ago you were funded, whether you were funded 50 years ago or very recently, it does not matter, as long as your research has helped change the world, provided deep insights into key social and economic questions, shaped society and made a difference, then this competition is for you, you must apply!

This competition is also looking for an impact champion, someone who has inspired, supported and encouraged others to achieve impact.

The prizes are very generous and are an added incentive to you applying for this competition. With £90,000 worth of prizes to be won, and six prize categories, what a great way to celebrate your amazing research impact. The closing date for applicants is 20^th November 2014 with the awards ceremony sponsored by SAGE being hosted in central London week beginning 22 June 2015.

To see the categories, gain inspiration from previous impact prize winners or if you’re interested in applying for this fantastic opportunity, click here.

October 6, 2014

When telling tales is good!

Funding opportunities apekalski

The RCUK Digital Economy Theme ‘Telling Tales of Engagement’ Competition 2014

The RCUK Digital Economy Theme is running a competition designed to help capture and promote the impact that your digital economy research is having. Three prizes of £10,000 are available to support researchers to further tell the story of your research impact in an interesting and engaging way to a wider audience.

Key Dates

Activity	Date
Call for EoIs launched	05 September 2014
Deadline for EoIs	19 November 2014
Panel and Funding decision	06 December 2014
Award duration	From January 2015

Summary
The RCUK Digital Economy Theme (DET) is running a competition designed to help capture and promote the impact that your digital economy research is having. Three prizes of £10,000 are available to support researchers to further tell the story of research impact in an interesting and engaging way to a wider audience. The competition, which has been co-developed with the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), is designed to produce very informative case study exemplars which can be used to help the wider research community develop understanding of the nature of a pathway to impact. It aims to encourage applicants to tell a story to describe the pathway to impact which actually occurred. This should be even more informative because understanding how impact arises is key to planning for future impact pathways. They want the stories to portray impact as including what capability has changed outside the institutions, and what benefits that exercising this capability change has then delivered. Each “Tale of Engagement” should show how the actual impact arises and the evidence of the impact itself and will thereby show clearly the link between the impact and the research. Choosing how to tell the story should reflect the nature of the story itself. The story should stimulate thinking on a more imaginative and illustrative ways to tell the tale of engagement and the resulting impact.

How to Apply
Please complete the form at the main call page (http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/tellingtales2014), addressing the questions raised in “Scope of Competition” section and taking into account the “Guidance on completing proforma” notes below. Please ensure you include a single PowerPoint slide which summarises your entry in an interesting and engaging way.

DEADLINE: 12:00 (noon) on Wednesday 19 November 2014.

You can find further information here: TellingTalesOfEngagementCall

If you have any questions, then please do contact:
EPSRC
Dr John Baird 01793 444 047
Mrs Ruth Slade 01793 444 261
tellingtalesofengagement@epsrc.ac.uk

September 18, 2014

Make Your Voice Heard – The next step

sgorman

Thank you to all those who got came along and got involved in the first Make Your Voice Heard event on 10 September 2014.

Important topics were highlighted, such as how academics can enrich the media and how to balance different stakeholder wants and needs. There was also an opportunity to acquire hands-on tips and techniques for dealing with TV and radio appearances.

But the conversation doesn’t end there.

We want to know what you think about the relationship between research, academics and the media. For example, how do you currently approach the media as a researcher? What approaches worked for you, and what didn’t work? Are there limits to what should be shared via the media? And does using the media enhance a reputation?

Over the next week we’ll be posting some of the slides from the Make Your Voice Heard event on the Research Blog and asking what you think of research in the media.

Join the discussion by commenting below or email newsdesk@bournemouth.ac.uk if you would like to contribute to the debate by writing a blog post.

September 17, 2014

Argyro Karanasiou at the OSCE’s experts meeting on open journalism.

unknown

Argyro Karanasiou (http://staffprofiles.bournemouth.ac.uk/display/akaranasiou), a member of CIPPM (http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/cippm/focus-areas/digital-rights/) and Lecturer in Law at BU has been invited by the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Representative on Freedom of the Media to join the expert meeting on open journalism. The high level meeting will focus on the human rights and legal implications of Open Journalism. Presentations and discussions will focus on new ways to protect media plurality and the rights of non-traditional voices online.

Argyro, who was awarded a PbD (Privacy by Design) Ambassadorship by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada this July, shall be discussing the concept of online free speech and open journalism by design.

The event will take place in Vienna, Austria on Sept 19th and will be will be webcast live on www.osce.org.The meeting and all information related to the event, including documents and information about the speakers is available at www.osce.org/event/open-journalism.

September 17, 2014

Sport Management Researcher and Students Create Impact on International Field

PG research, Publishing tbreitbarth

Last weekend, Dr Tim Breitbarth (Senior Lecturer in Sport Management) and MSc Sport Management students Lisa Kaisner, Manuel Perez Vehi, Chih-Heng Kwan and Junbeom Kim returned from their 8-day trip attending the 22^nd European Association for Sport Management (EASM) Conference, EASM Masters Seminar and EASM PhD Student Seminar. Following various successes at the 21^st EASM conference in Istanbul last year, the BU travel party again made strong contributions to this leading international sport management conference.

Together with 60 students from around the globe, the students worked in mixed groups on three different sport marketing cases and had to present their findings and plans in front of a critical jury over the period of 4 days before the main conference. Lisa and her team won the case competition on the Olympic legacy of the Coventry Ricoh Arena and, therefor, were invited to present at the main conference. Feedback from the students on the Masters Seminar in particular was largely positive – especially in terms of networking, making new friends, learn from one another and visiting sport venues/matches like the Rugby School and the season opening of the Leicester Tigers.

Invited Keynote and Conference Workshop Convener

Besides tutoring at the Masters Seminar, Dr Tim Breitbarth was invited to provide a keynote at the PhD Student Seminar titled “Book or articles? Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the form of your PhD thesis”. His contribution was very well received and awarded during the conference dinner. He also mentored three PhD researchers from Belgium, South Africa and Mexico at the Seminar and gave advise on their research.

At the main conference, Tim together with his small international team organized and convened a workshop on corporate social responsibility in and through sport. Again, the workshop was the second most popular in terms of submissions and all five sessions attracted a great audience. The academic workshop was spiced-up by inviting Nico Briskorn (Head of CSR at German professional football club VFL Wolfsburg) and Chris Grant (CEO, Sported Foundation – the London 2012 charity legacy) to contribute their expert insights into the application of CSR and sport.

Highly Cited Paper and Special Issue Editor

The relevance of the topic is also manifested by the fact that the paper “The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Football Business: Towards the Development of a Conceptual Model” by Tim Breitbarth and Phil Harris from 2008 published in European Sport Management Quarterly (second highest ranked sport management journal in the world) has been the journal’s most cited article over the past 3 years. Also, Tim is the lead editor of the Special Issue “Governance and CSR Management in Sport” in ‘Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society’ which will be published early/mid 2015.

In addition, Tim presented two research papers, one of which based on an awarded Bachelor dissertation by last year’s graduate David Thomas whom he supervised.

In general, despite being a rather small party at a 500+ delegates conference, the BU team created awareness for our sport programs in particular and Bournemouth in general. Travelling Masters students were somewhat lukewarm about the practical value of the main conference (e.g. as a means to find a job), but overall enjoyed the experience and talking to experts from various fields. Several visits from renown (inter-)national scholars, academics from partner universities and PhD students are already in planning for 2015.

Please contact Dr Tim Breitbarth at tbreitbarth@bournemouth.ac.uk

F.l.t.r.: Lisa Kaisner, Chih-Heng Kwan, Manuel Perez Vehi, Tim Breitbarth

F.l.t.r.: Nico Briskorn (VFL Wolfsburg), Christos Anagnostopoulus (Co-Convenor, University of Central Lancashire), Frank van Eekeren (Co-Convenor, Utrecht University), Tim Breitbarth (Lead-Convenor, Bournemouth University), Wojtek Kulczycki (Technische Universität München), Chris Grant (Sported Foundations), Stefan Walzel (Co-Convenor, German Sport University Cologne)

Group of Masters students at Rugby School

September 9, 2014

Oh for the love of impact! – What is it? And why do I need to ensure my research makes an impact?

PG research, Public engagement eloring

What is impact?

Is it as simple as it sounds? Research impact can be defined as “the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and economy”, as stated by Research Councils UK (RCUK).

Research impact embraces all the different ways in which research-related skills can benefit individuals, businesses and organisations, and nations. Including areas such as; developing global economic performance, more specifically the economic competitiveness of the UK; Grow and develop the effectiveness of public services and policy; and enhancing the quality of life, health and creative output.

There are two known types of impact; Academic impact – which is the visible and evident contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to scientific developments, across and within disciplines; and Economic and societal impact – which is the visible and evident contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to society and the economy, which has a great benefit to individuals, organisations and nations.

What category does your research fit under? Is it Instrumental – whereby your research influences the development of policy, practice or service provision? Or maybe it is Conceptual? – where your research contributes to the understanding of policy issues and reframing debates. Or perhaps it could be Capacity building impact? – which is through technical and personal skill development.

Research impact must also be demonstrable, it is important to provide evidence of the impact of your research, for example; that it has been used by policy makers, or has made improvements in businesses.

To find out more about what impact is, please visit here.

Why do I need to ensure my research makes an impact?

Over recent years, the government has placed a stronger emphasis on the need for evidence of returns from its investment in economic and social research.

Ensuring your research has impact has many benefits to, and for society. High quality and impactful research can help to;

Develop the value and sustainability of public, private and third sector organisations
Improve social welfare and cohesion
Increase economic wealth, wealth creation and regeneration
Enhance cultural enrichment and quality of life

Impact also has many benefits to the researcher. In order to maximise the impact of your research, you need to engage with your key audience and users – which can effectively provide benefits for the quality of our research, including;

Early feedback which can help to shape your research plan and improve methodologies currently being used
It helps to ensure that your research is relevant and meaningful
It helps to recruit participants, e.g. for focus groups or interviews
It also helps to develop new skills and raise your research profile

If you would like to find out more about why you should make an impact, please visit here.

If you would like to learn more about how to ensure your research has impact, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Rebecca Edwards in the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office – ext: 61538 or redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

September 8, 2014

Make Your Voice Heard: communications support for BU’s academic community

Training Julie Northam

There are so many important reasons for researchers to share their knowledge with the wider society. To name a few:

Communication of research findings is an important part of the research lifecycle and significant in achieving impact;
It’s important that our researchers share their knowledge and insights on wider societal issues so their informed opinions are heard and (we hope) listened to;
Having a recognisable voice on your subject matter, means you’re known by policy makers when the time comes to inform a change.

That’s why the Press Office, together with R&KEO, is hosting Make Your Voice Heard on Wednesday 10th September. At this event you’ll learn how to do this as effectively as possible, with practical communications tips and techniques, whilst joining in discussions on what academics bring to media discourse.

John Fletcher has some particularly interesting insights on the importance of communication. You can read his recent blog post online here.

Please book onto this event if you haven’t already done so via this Eventbrite link. There are a limited number of places still available.

September 2, 2014

Make Your Voice Heard event reminder – some spaces still available

News from the PVC, REF Subjects, Research themes, Training John Fletcher

It’s not enough just to do cutting edge research. We also know that we have to share it and pass on our findings or even our views about matters that are important to society. Such profile-raising can help attract future research funding, raise our standing and that of BU and, with an eye on REF2020, help achieve impact.

Talking to journalists, using social media and updating blogs or websites does not come naturally to all of us and can be seen as just another demand placed on people who are already struggling with a busy schedule.

The communications department at the University have offered to make it easier for us to get our voice heard. They are hosting an event entitled Make Your Voice Heard to explore how to do this with impact and effect.

Taking place next week on 10 September 2014, we will discuss important topics, such as how academics can enrich the media and how to balance different stakeholder wants and needs. There will also be opportunities to acquire some practical tools, tips and techniques.

Ultimately, it would be great to see more of our staff sharing their unique and valuable perspectives on matters important to society and raising the profile of BU in the local, regional and national scene. Whether that’s through informed comment or sharing research outcomes, the communications team can help us do it more effectively.

‘Make Your Voice Heard’ runs from 9:00 – 14:00 on Talbot Campus and lunch will be provided. It is open to all researchers, from PGRs to Professors.

You can see the full schedule and book your place by following this link to the Eventbrite page. If you would like to find out more before booking, please contact Sarah Gorman (Corporate Communications Assistant).

September 2, 2014

ESRC impact prize award winners – could you be the next?

PG research, Public engagement eloring

There were six impact awards offered by the Economic and Social Research Council, and you can find out more about the winners and their impact below. Each winner has made such a significant difference and impact with their research that has had a positive and effective impact on today’s society and some of the challenges that we face. If you would like to learn more about how to ensure your research has impact, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Rebecca Edwards in the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office – ext: 61538 or redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

Professor Neil Wrigley, University of Southampton won the impact award for ‘Outstanding Impact in Business’. The work of Professor Neil Wrigley and his colleagues has helped to transform thinking on food retail development, its role in sustaining viable town centres and the future of UK high streets. His research influenced national and international debates and UK competition policy. His research collaborations with Tesco and Sainsbury also helped to change the UK retailers’ appreciation of the value of evidence-based research and knowledge exchange with social science.

Professor Debra Myhill, University of Exeter won the ‘Outstanding Impact in Society’ award. Professor Debra Myhill led a decade of research into the development of writing in school children. Her research has shaped national and international policy, and has improved children’s writing abilities and changed classroom practice.

Dr Clifford Stott, University of Leeds won the ‘Outstanding Impact in Public Policy’ award. His research on ‘new approaches to crowd psychology’ is helping police manage the potential for conflict in crowds while allowing people’s rights to protest through dialogue and negotiation. Dr Stott assisted in the design and implementation of a policy use of force strategy for the UEFA European Football Championships (2004) and helped to design, develop, train and implement the UK’s first Police Liaison Teams (2011).

Dr Sabina Alkire, University of Oxford, won the ‘Outstanding International Impact’ award. Dr Alkire and colleagues had developed an innovative method for measuring multidimensional poverty. The method is used to help governments and organisations globally to design poverty-reduction programmes that are more effective.

Hannah Lambie-Mumford, University of Sheffield is an early career researcher who was won the award for ‘Outstanding Early Career Impact’. Hannah’s research on emergency food provision in the UK has provided policymakers, the charitable sector and media with thought-provoking evidence to inform the food poverty debate. Her findings shaped the terms of reference for the April 2014 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into hunger and food poverty, and she joined the advisory group of Oxfam, CPAG and Church of England for research into food poverty and food banks in early 2014.

Professor Sir David Hendry, University of Oxford won the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Throughout five decades Professor Hendry has developed macroeconomic models that capture how economies work. These are now embedded in software which is widely used by policymakers and decision-makers. Professor Hendry commented, “The impact has been the interaction between developing vastly more powerful methods than when I started, that have a much higher chance of finding the causal relationships that operate in the economy, and embedding these models in software that is very easy to use and is massively labour-saving.”

For further information you can visit here.

August 21, 2014

NERC Impact Awards 2015!

Public engagement eloring

What are the NERC Impact Awards?

To mark its 50th anniversary, NERC is pleased to announce its inaugural impact awards. The awards will recognise and reward NERC-funded researchers (as individuals or teams), whose work has had substantial impact on the economy, and on society. There are four award categories:

Economic Impact Award
Recognising research that has achieved exceptional economic benefit.
Societal Impact Award
Recognising research that has achieved exceptional social, cultural, public policy or service, health, environmental or quality of life benefits.
International Impact Award
Recognising research that has achieved exceptional economic and/or societal impact outside the UK.
Early Career Impact Award
Recognising an early career researcher who has achieved exceptional economic and/or societal impact within the UK or internationally.

A winner from one of the four categories will be selected to receive the Overall Impact Award, in recognition of the outstanding impact of their research and the winner of each category will receive £10,000 and the runner-up £5,000, to further the impacts of their research. The Overall Impact Award winner will receive an additional £30,000.

There will be a prize-giving ceremony held in London on the 27th January 2015, which will showcase the researchers, their work and the impact of the science that NERC funds.

How to apply:-

You are able to apply for an award yourself, or you can nominate someone else. However, applicants and nominees must meet a certain criteria, which you can find here.

The closing date for applications is 4pm, Wednesday 10th September 2014.

Good luck!!

August 14, 2014

Ever wanted to take your research on tour? Here’s your chance to be involved!

Festival of Learning, Public engagement bsquires

Continuing on from the success of the Festival of Learning this summer, the public engagement team at BU have been very busy planning several more public engagement initiatives for the Festival of Learning on Tour.

Towards the end of June, Dr Julia Best and PhD student Jacqueline Pitt ventured to Glastonbury festival in order to convey the research of the Chicken Project (Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions) to a large and varied audience. Armed with several skeletons, an assortment of archaeological finds and a large number of interactive timelines, maps and charts, the team set up a stand in the Science Tent within the Green Future’s field. The activities and information were very well received with around 800 visitor interactions taking place, usually lasting between 5-10 minutes. Read more at: http://www.sciculture.ac.uk/rise-with-the-crow-ahrc-public-engagement-at-glastonbury-festival/.

Julia commented on the weekend saying “Thank you for letting us be part of this experience. It was an amazing festival to be involved with and such a diverse audience to talk to! I’ve always enjoyed doing outreach work at festivals and Glastonbury is about as good as they get. It was great for us to be part of the Science Tent and to be able to show our research in a new light. If I had a pound for every time a visitor said to me something along the lines of “oh cool, I didn’t know you could do/tell/see/find that” I’d be rich”.

Last weekend in collaboration with the STEM Outreach team, the public engagement team attended the three-day family orientated Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle where they ran three hands on activities. The team engaged more than 3500 children and parents in the science tent. Several of the activities run included a partnership with the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site education team.

In September the team hope to take several engagement activities to Bestival and are now looking at planning further ‘on tour’ activities all the way up to Christmas – so if you know of any interesting events that the Festival of Learning on Tour could attend, or would like to contribute an activity, please get in touch with a member of the team who will happily discuss your ideas and support delivery further.

The Festival of Learning on Tour offers a unique way for academics and PGR’s at BU to engage the public with your research and develop lateral connections outside the classroom. A recently posted article in the Guardian discusses the increasing alignment between engaging with the public and research and how it’s no time to build up this presence in public debate: http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jul/21/10-ways-make-public-engagement-work-for-you

Develop your potential, tap into a community of wider peers, and build up a presence about your research this Autumn with the Festival of Learning on Tour!

Barry Squires – bquires@bournemouth.ac.uk

Naomi Kay – nkay@bournemouth.ac.uk

August 11, 2014

Make Your Voice Heard

News from the PVC, REF Subjects, Training John Fletcher

It’s not enough just to do cutting edge research. We also know that we have to share it and pass on our findings or even our views about matters that are important to society. Such profile-raising can help attract future research funding, raise our standing and that of BU and, with an eye on REF2020, help achieve impact.

Talking to journalists, using social media and updating blogs or websites does not come naturally to all of us and can be seen as just another demand placed on people who are already struggling with a busy schedule.

The communications department at the University have offered to make it easier for us to get our voice heard. They are hosting an event entitled Make Your Voice Heard to explore how to do this with impact and effect.

Taking place on 10 September 2014, we will discuss important topics, such as how academics can enrich the media and how to balance different stakeholder wants and needs. There will also be opportunities to acquire some practical tools, tips and techniques.

Ultimately, it would be great to see more of our staff sharing their unique and valuable perspectives on matters important to society and raising the profile of BU in the local, regional and national scene. Whether that’s through informed comment or sharing research outcomes, the communications team can help us do it more effectively.

‘Make Your Voice Heard’ runs from 9:00 – 14:00 on Talbot Campus and we will even be providing lunch. It is open to all researchers, from PGRs to Professors.

You can see the full schedule and book your place by following this link to the Eventbrite page. If you would like to find out more before booking, please contact Sarah Gorman (Corporate Communications Assistant).

I look forward to seeing you there…..

BU Research Blog

Tagged / impact

NERC Innovation Projects

Reducing Avoidable Term Admissions’ eLearning project

REF 2020 update