Tagged / Mike Silk

New funding available for doctoral training studentships as BU joins the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Partnership

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has announced new investment in 15 doctoral training partnerships (DTPs) spanning 89 institutions over the next five years, providing professional development and training opportunities to enhance the capabilities of doctoral candidates.

BU was part of a successful £15.3m bid which now enables colleagues to bid for prestigious ESRC-funded doctoral studentships.

We have partnered with the University of Bristol, University of Bath, Bath Spa University, University of Exeter, University of Plymouth, University of St Mark and St John (Marjon), and University of the West of England as part of the South West Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP).

Students sat chatting outside the Doctoral College

The partnership will cover the breadth of social sciences, as well as areas of interdisciplinary research. The ESRC awards cover five years of PhD studentships, with the first intake beginning in October 2024. The ESRC aims to support 500 students a year nationwide across the partnerships.

The DTPs will also develop tailored training programmes for students and staff and support a wide variety of collaborative activities, including events and placement opportunities. 

Professor Mike Silk, Institutional Lead for BU and a member of the SWDTP Management Board, said: “This is a prestigious award which will fund over 170 studentships across the consortium of SWDTP partners and provides us with an exciting opportunity to further elevate our postgraduate provision in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary pathways aligned with the ESRC.

“It allows BU staff and students to benefit from the leadership and research knowledge across all eight institutions and for BU to enhance and extend its research environment, promote and support excellent, innovative, diverse and interdisciplinary research, and foster transferable research skills and the career development of our postgraduate researchers.”

He added that the partnership will also bring additional benefits, with all registered postgraduate research students at BU now having access to opportunities for additional training across partner institutions, sharing best practice, resources and academic knowledge, placements, and funding for staff projects and events.

Fiona Knight, Head of The Doctoral College at BU, said: “The Doctoral College is excited to be collaborating with our partners in the SWDTP and the opportunity to share best practice, resources and academic knowledge.

“This partnership will strengthen our support for all of our social science postgraduate researchers and enable access to a network of social scientists across the DTP.”

The funding means that BU will now be able to bid for ESRC-funded doctoral studentships across several areas of excellence that align to the ESRC’s funding priorities – including Health, Wellbeing, and Society; Psychology; and Climate change, Sustainability, and Society.

Stian Westlake, ESRC Executive Chair, said: “Our vision for postgraduate training is that it will develop globally competitive social science researchers who can operate in interdisciplinary, collaborative, and challenge-led environments across a range of sectors and who have a diversity of backgrounds and experiences.

“This redesigned and expanded doctoral training opportunity will enhance the experience for PhD students and boost the UK’s capability.”

Find out more about BU studentships and opportunities through the SWDTP

Visit the South West Doctoral Training Partnership website

Postdoc Appreciation Week: Postdoc Appreciation meet-up

PG research

This week is UK Postdoc Appreciation Week and we are celebrating and showcasing the achievements of our postdoctoral researchers and their important contribution to research at BU. 

To mark the week, we hosted a Postdoc Appreciation meet-up event on Talbot Campus…

A photo through a window of people gathered in a room with a poster saying Postdoc Appreciation Week

The Postdoc Appreciation Week meet-up

The event offered the opportunity for postdoctoral researchers, their line managers, and research staff from across the university to come together and network, as well as find out more about current postdoctoral research taking place at BU.

The event was opened by Professor Mike Silk, Co-Chair of the Research Concordat Steering Group at BU.

Introducing the event as an opportunity to increase and enhance the visibility of postdoc researchers at BU, he said: “Postdoctoral researchers really are the ones who drive forward the research agenda at any institution.

“They are the lifeblood of my research and career – I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without the postdoctoral researchers that I have managed.”

As part of the event, postdoctoral researchers Sina Safari and Anastasia Vayona presented short summaries of their current research.

Sina Safari stood in front of a screen

Sina Safari presents his work as part of the ADDISONIC cluster

Sina, a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Structural Dynamics and Advanced Materials, shared his work as part of the ADDISONIC research cluster, which is looking at how ultrasonic fatigue testing can provide valuable data around how long materials will last.

The work has applications for industry in helping them develop more robust modelling around the lifespan of materials, as well as exploring ways of potentially using less material while extending their life.

Anastasia, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Social Science and Policy, spoke about her research exploring greenwashing, wish cycling and the circular economy.

Anastasia Vayona presenting her research

Anastasia Vayona presenting her research into the circular economy

She shared a brief history of the introduction of plastic packaging and the development of a ‘throwaway culture’, which peaked around the 1990s. She also spoke about some of the challenges around recycling – including the responsibility being largely left with consumers, and unclear messaging which leads to recycling becoming contaminated and ended up in landfill.

The event ended with the chance to chat over coffee and cake, and offered a great opportunity to learn more about postdoctoral research at BU and meet some of our current researchers, as well as say thank you for the contribution they make to research at BU. The hope is to hold similar events in future – watch this space!

If you’d like to write a blog post to share your appreciation for our postdoctoral researchers, please contact research@bournemouth.ac.uk. You can also get involved on social media during Postdoc Appreciation Week by using #LovePostdocs and #NPAW2023 on Twitter and Instagram and tagging us @BU_Research or @UK_NPAW.