Tagged / PhD

Alternative Career Pathways after your PhD – 8 June

Live online event on the 8th June 2017

The academic jobs market is becoming more challenging and competitive post-PhD. With the number of PhD holders increasing, there is enormous pressure on the academic job market and declining academic job prospects for doctoral graduates.

What can I do after my PhD? It is a difficult decision for any PhD student on whether to pursue a career in academia, or consider alternative careers. In our dedicated live Q&A we are bringing forth a panel of experts who have moved outside of academia, to share their top tips and advice on alternate career pathways following PhD studies.

To help all those who are considering options after doctoral studies, jobs.ac.uk is holding a FREE 60-minute live video event via a live YouTube Q&A called ‘Alternative Career Pathways After Your PhD’. Find out more and register today.

More details are at: http://bit.ly/altcareersevent

PhD student from Creative Technology got a paper accepted in a premium conference

Jing WANG, a PhD student in the department of Creative Technology, SciTech, just got a paper accepted by 26th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAi 2017). IJCAi (http://ijcai-17.org/), is a premier AI conference in the world. Jing’s paper, co-authored with Feng Tian (SciTech), Hongchuan Yu (FMC) and Changhong Liu (SciTech), “Multi-Component Nonnegative Matrix Factorization”, is one of the papers accepted, out of 2540 submissions, after going through an extremely selective review (acceptance rate: ~25%).

Congratulations to Jing, who is currently a 3rd year PhD student. Apart from this paper, she has also published several papers in the journals like IEEE Trans. on Cybernetics, Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation, etc. and the top conferences like IJCNN, ICONIP, etc.

Standing up for Science media workshops- applications now open!

Early career researchers- this is your chance to find out how your voice can be heard in the media!

Sense about Science will be running Standing up for Science media workshops for early career researchers to learn from scientists who have or are actively engaged with the media. You can also hear from respected science journalists who will teach you how the media works, how to respond and comment. As well as hearing what journalists want and expect of scientists. The first workshop of 2017 will be on Friday 7 April, at the University of Manchester. 

The workshop is open to early career researchers and scientists (PhD students, post-doctoral fellows or equivalent) in all sciences, engineering and medicine and is free to attend. The event will discuss science-related controversies in media reporting with practical guidance tips for working with the media.

Apply by 9am on Tuesday 21 March or click here for more information.

Faculty of Management: PhD students of the year 2016

Great news; two PhD students from the Faculty of Management, Department of Tourism and Hospitality have won PhD student of the year 2016.

SPyke

 

Sarah Pyke; Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) PhD Student of the Year 2016 was awarded her prize at the House of Commons on July 20, 2016. Her research ‘A Systems Theory Approach to the Well-being Effects of Tourism’ was supported by the National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA) and was part of the ESRC Destination FeelGood project. It extends the forefront of the tourism discipline and makes a unique contribution to knowledge by using Hagerty’s systems theory approach (a model extracted from the public health sector and for the first time applied in a tourism context) to quantitatively measure the well-being effects of tourism on the individual.

 

sprice

Sarah Price; EUROCHRIE, (the biggest Hospitality Conference in Europe) PhD Student of the Year 2016 was awarded her prize in Budapest, October 2016. Her research ‘Trust in Foodservice’ was supported by the EU project FoodSMART and identified key factors that consumers look for when selecting meals in workplace canteens. The project offered her the opportunity to be part of an International research team and take secondment periods in both France and Austria.

Many congratulations to you both – we are very proud of you

Fundraising for the Hearts Milk Bank at BU

On the 17th of November, The World Prematurity Day, there was a fundraising cake sale for the Hearts Milk Bank.

cake-saleThe amount raised will help to either

– feed 14 babies for a day

–  or feed 3 babies for 5 days, the average time they need donor milk

– or buy enough containers for 55 mums to start donating milk

– or buy almost 3  transportation bags.

The Hearts Milk Bank is therefore 1 step closer to provide donor milk for babies born too soon or too sick!

 

I would like to thank anyone who has made this cake sale possible, the bakers and the buyers, the great people who donated money, SUBU, and the people helping me on the day. You are awesome!

Gillian Weaver, co-founder of the bank contacted me to say “We are so grateful to you Isabell and to everyone who supported your cake sale on World Prematurity Day. You raised a fantastic amount and we will put it to very good use helping to ensure that all premature and sick babies get access to safe and assured supplies of donor milk irrespective of where they are born in the UK. We know that this not only helps to prevent tiny babies from life threatening illnesses but also supports their mothers whilst they build up their own breastmilk supply. The Hearts Milk Bank (the bank with a difference) will also be a biobank of breastmilk samples for much needed research into breast cancer so your support for us is doubly valuable!”

ukamb_logo2If you would like to learn more about donor milk visit the website of the UK Association for Milk Banking.

gkjo6pcssbgobqmecfa6If you would like to learn more about the Hearts Milk Bank or would like to donate, please click here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hearts-milk-bank-saving-tiny-babies-helping-mums-cancer

 

I learned about donor milk as part of my PhD thesis at BU, focusing on the effects of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the perinatal period. If you are interested in our research please contact me at inessel@bournemouth.ac.uk

Many thanks, Isabell

Winner of “The strength of young graduates contest”.

 

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-07-39-06

 

Last Friday a postman knocked at my parent’s house in Italy.

He carried a parchment, from The National Strength and Condition Association.

On it is written that my Master Degree Thesis won “The strength of young graduates contest” as second best Italian research in its field.

The study of 2015, is titled: “THE BIOMECHANICS EVALUATION IN STUDYING THE MOTION – COGNITION RELATIONSHIP” and can be summarised as follow:

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-07-37-15using a system of 8 QTM cameras and a force plate, I measured the effect of different tasks upon the static balance in 20 young volunteers.

To do so, I asked them to perform four tasks in a randomised order, while I was recording their centre of pressure (with force plate) and centre of mass (with 3D motion capture system).

Tasks were:

  • Open Eyes (OE). The participants were instructed to hold a steady position, standing up with their feet together, for 30s.
screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-07-37-59
  • Closed Eyes (CE). Same position as OE, but participants were instructed to keep their eyes closed for 30s.
  • Cognitive Dual Task (COGN-DT). Holding the same steady position, I asked them to countdown aloud, backwards in threes from a number that I randomly chose.
  • Motor Dual Task (MOT-DT). Same position, but for this task volunteers were instructed to move their fingers (of the right hand) and touch their thumb alternately, for 30s.

What the result told us was that the COGN-DT was causing more perturbation, followed by the CE task.

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-07-37-44Special thanks go to the people who helped me at the MotionLab in Naples (Giuseppe Sorrentino, Laura Mandolesi and Pasquale Varriale), and to my current supervisors (Alison McConnell, Tom Wainwright and James Gavin) who believed in me by giving me the opportunity to be here today.

Looking forward, with hope to collect more milestones.

Thanks.

World Prematurity Day – 17th November – Cake Sale

Would you donate a cake/cupcakes?

 

picture3Date:   17th November

Time:   11.30-13.30

  Venue: BoHo Lounge, Ground floor, Bournemouth House

Cake drop off on the morning of the 17th in R304 or B112a

 

picture1Preterm born babies are at high risk to develop a wide range of complications.

Some of these complications can be prevented by feeding babies with human breast milk.

Therefore, the WHO recommends human donor milk as best alternative if mother’s own milk is not available!

 

picture2The HEARTS MILK BANK is currently crowd funding to buy the needed equipment to start providing donor milk for babies born too soon or too sick, to improve their chance of survival and health!

All money from the cake sale will be directly donated to the Hearts Milk Bank!

 

 

If you want to donate a cake or receive  more information please contact

Isabell Nessel inessel@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

2017 BU PhD Studentship Competition!!!

Call for submission of up to 48 funded Postgraduate Research Projects now OPEN

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the launch of the 2017 BU PhD Studentship Competition, with up to 48 funded projects available.

At this stage, Academic Staff are invited to submit proposals for studentship projects which, if successful, will be advertised to recruit PhD candidates for a September 2017 start.

Full details can be found on the Graduate School Staff Intranet where the following information can be found:

Submission Deadline:

Applications should be submitted on the Studentship Proposal Form to the Graduate School via email to phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk no later than 9am on Monday 9 January 2017.

The Graduate School will manage the recruitment process along the following timetable:

Date Action
1 November 2016 Launch PhD Studentships Internal Competition – development of proposals
9 January 2017 Closing date for submission of proposals
23 January – 10 Feb 2017 Panel meetings
Before 28 Feb 2017 Feedback to supervisors and preparation of adverts
March – June 2017 Launch PhD Studentships External Competition – recruitment of candidates
September 2017 Successful Candidates start

BU’s PhD Isabell Nessel at the Human Milk Bank in Southampton, Princess Anne Hospital

human-milk-bank-southamptonMost of you have probably heard/read about human milk banking by now from me or my previous posts, if not read here more about it. This week, I had the opportunity to meet Anita Holloway-Moger, the Human Milk Bank Nursery Nurse at the Princess Anne Hospital Human Milk Bank in Southampton.

It was a great opportunity to finally visit and see a milk bank and speak to the person responsible to gain more practical insight into human milk banking in the UK, instead of only reading about it for my research.

human-donor-milk
Human donor milk comes from mothers who have had several blood tests and is collected from the mothers’ homes by the milk bank staff and/or the blood bikes. The frozen milk then gets processed in the milk bank, which means it is tested for microbiological contamination and pasteurised (heat treated) to make it save for the premature or sick babies to receive. This has been shown to increase their chance of survival and help their development.
Thank you Anita for taking all the time to answer my questions and for showing me around, as well as Bournemouth University for the funding which made my trip possible!

 

UKAMBIf you would like to find out more about human milk banking in the UK or want to become a human milk donor visit the UK Association for Milk Banking website at http://www.ukamb.org/.

 

If you would like to learn more about our research, please feel free to contact me at inessel@bournemouth.ac.uk

Isabell

RCUK Policy Internships Scheme

PhD students! An exciting internship opportunity has come up. RCUK Policy are looking for PhD students, funded by the UK Research Councils, to work for three months in one of a selected group of highly influential organisations relevant to UK policy. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work on one or more policy topics of interest. This will give you the chance to participate in a policy inquiry, organise a policy event and produce at least one briefing paper.

The internship is open to all Research Council-funded students. All applicants must be funded until 31 December 2017, to be eligible for the scheme.

Interested? All applications must be submitted by 4pm on Tuesday 1 September 2016. You’ll be notified by the end of September 2016 on the success of your application. If you’re successful, then you’ll be interviewed sometime in October or November.

Click here to find out more information and submit your application.

Final 3 Minute presentation (3MP) event for the 2015/16 academic year

Dear all,

3MP is back for the final time for this academic year. This event challenges postgraduate researchers to talk about their research in 3 minutes and is designed to expose the audience to a variety of ideas from different disciplines in a bitesize way. There will be plenty opportunities to meet like-minded individuals and to create new connections among staff and colleagues across the University.

Just to give you a small sample of what to expect we have talks about:

  • Midwifery
  • Diabetes & lifestyle
  • Hacking & Gaming Technology
  • Corporate governance
  • Nature Conservation
  • and much more!!

The event will commence on Thursday 19th May from 18:00 on Talbot Campus.

To attend – book your 3MP ticket here

We hope to see you there!

3MP May promo

Congratulations to Dr Jennifer Roddis

PhDRKEO were proud to watch Dr Jennifer Roddis, Research Facilitator, RKEO, graduate yesterday as Doctor of Philosophy.  Jenny has worked incredibly hard to achieve her PhD whilst working full-time at the same time.  Jenny’s PhD explored perspectives and understanding of living with a long-term condition, specifically asthma or thrombophilia, from the point of view of affected individuals. She identified some interesting findings from the study, including identifying some of the reasons that individuals stop taking their medication and how they learn about their condition.

Well done Jenny!

Research Around Ageing and Later Life.

 

Michele Board with Sheila Peace, President of the BSG, Associate Dean (Research) Professor of Social Gerontology Faculty of Health & Social Care The Open University

Michele Board with Professor Sheila Peace, President of the BSG, Associate Dean (Research) Professor of Social Gerontology Faculty of Health & Social Care The Open University

Michele Board (HSS), Laura Reynolds and Sophie Bushell (BUDI) recently attended the BSG annual conference in Newcastle, 1st to 3rd July 2015.
Michele presented two papers from her PhD thesis, on the ‘Five Senses of Home Framework’, and ‘A Qualitative Approach to explore the meaning of Home for Six Baby Boomers’. Given the current debate around housing the presentations were topical leading to a good discussion on the importance of home and participatory research.

Laura Reynolds (BUDI Research Assistant) hosting one oral presentation (‘The BUDI Orchestra: evaluation of a novel music initiative for people with dementia and their carers’), and BUDI PhD student, Sophie Bushell, disseminating her research ‘Promoting well-being for residents with dementia living in a purpose built care environment’ via poster presentation.
Laura says:
“I couldn’t have asked for a better conference to present at for the first time, and I’m grateful to have been given the opportunity to do so. It was insightful to see other institutions’ research and to share ideas with like-minded people from across the globe.”

The British Society of Gerontology was established in 1971. It provides a multidisciplinary forum for researchers and other individuals interested in the situations of older people, and in how knowledge about ageing and later life can be enhanced and improved. The annual conference is friendly and exciting and an excellent forum to disseminate current research about older people.

I think BU has a great deal to contribute to research about older people from across the University and I would recommend looking at the BSG website and consider becoming a member. http://www.britishgerontology.org/about-bsg.html

 

Next year’s BSG conference is in Stirling, if you’re interested in putting together an interdisciplinary symposium for the conference let Michele know it would be great to have a larger BU presence! Conference themes next year include, Health and Social Care, Quality of Life, Technology, Environment and Housing, Relationships and Intergenerational Work and Dementia.

It would be good to be able to host the BSG conference in a few years’ time!! If you are interested in research, practice, education about older people and would like to get together over a coffee do please get in contact with Michele Board, Senior Lecturer Nursing Older People, Joint programme lead BA/MA Care of the Older person, HSS. mboard@bournemouth.ac.uk