
Places are going fast for our conference next month. See full programme here. If you would like to secure a place please register here.
See you there.
Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Places are going fast for our conference next month. See full programme here. If you would like to secure a place please register here.
See you there.
Parliament is now in recess until 4 September. But it has been a busy week nonetheless
2020 Funding Guarantee – This week the Treasury confirmed that funding through EU programmes will be guaranteed by the UK Government until the end of 2020, even if Brexit results in No Deal. Previously the Government had made the guarantee until March 2019, it has now been extended. It also means that funding secured before the end of 2020 will be guaranteed for its full duration – continuing to be paid until the project runs to its scheduled completion. The Government is keen that applicants continue to bid for funding during the turbulent negotiation period and that UK organisation continue to benefit from funding post-Exit. It provides security for funding secured through the European Regional Development Funding and Horizon 2020 projects.
Elizabeth Truss, The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said:
Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
For those with a keen interest the official statistics detailed the UK’s participation in Horizon 2020 are available here. Commenting on the statistics Layla Moran (Lib Dem Education Spokesperson) said:
The draft guidance and criteria detailing the arrangements for REF 2021 have been released for consultation with the sector. The consultation can be viewed here. The press release on the consultation states:
BU will be responding to the consultation.
Refreshed research relationship with India – Sam Gyimah co-chaired the Science and Innovation Council meeting in India which resulted in new funding and closer working for nuclear and health, and renewed an agreement on environmental challenges, arts and humanities. The Council was originally formed to strengthen Britain and India’s science, technology and innovation relationship. This year’s meeting focussed on the rapid growth of the UK and India’s joint research portfolio and recognised the strength of the bilateral relationship – India as the fastest growing research power and the UK as a major, high-quality research power. The bilateral research collaboration has seen exponential growth from £1 million in 2008 to £400 million by 2021.
Indian Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan said: Technology Cooperation is the key to the future. India and the UK should work on sustainable, affordable, and low energy consumption technologies.
Sam Gyimah said:
The Brexit White Paper Legislating for the Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union was published. The White Paper confirms that the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will:
There are specific mentions to trialling immigration for staff and students, recognising professional qualifications, and Horizon Europe.
2A: Rights related to residence (p 12)
2C: Mutual recognition of professional qualifications (p 13)
4A: The scope of the financial settlement (p 29)
Participation in the European Union annual budgets in 2019 and 2020 (pp. 31)
With exam results looming unconditional offers hit the press, leading to an inevitable link to standards – and hence to grade inflation. There is a lot to think about, moreover will this year’s admissions cycle bring the whole system into question?
Mary Curnock Cook has written a blog on HEPI suggesting that VCs should agree not to use them (is that an anti-competitive arrangement, which the CMA might have something to say about?)
And Nick Hillman has written a blog pointing out a number of things that commentators often miss when discussing this. highlights below
Our personal view @policyBU, for what it is worth, is that this is a bit of a storm in a teacup.
The UCAS report on unconditional offers says:
Of the 58,385 students receiving at least one unconditional offer, the UCAS report says that “42,100 unconditional offers selected as firm in 2018, with a further 9,185 selected as insurance” – so assuming that students will only accept one unconditional offer, that means that 88% of students who receive at least one unconditional offer accept an unconditional offer as either firm or insurance – around 20% of all applicants. That suggests that it is working for universities – and that there is unlikely to be reduction in the number of such offers. Interestingly, it was also noted at ULT last week that there is a rise across the sector in the number of first applicants through clearing – so students who don’t apply in the usual cycle but wait until they have their grades. There were also reports last year of an increase in the number of students trading up in clearing when they did better than expected. So looking at all these factors together, there may be some truth in the suggestion that the current system is showing cracks and may not be sustainable in the long term.
The unconditional offers story is often linked to perceptions of falling standards, as you’ll see below: “bums on seats”, “sacrificing standards in a bid to attract students” and so on. Reform have retweeted their recent report “A degree of uncertainty” today. We wrote about this in a policy update on 22nd June.
The BBC has the story:
The BBC story goes on
This last one is the problem – seen by many – including the Minister, it seems – as a sinister way of eroding choice and protecting university finances to the detriment of students. But of course, as pointed out in the Wonkhe blog – that’s how a market works:
The argument takes several forms all highlighted above:
The Daily Mail says: “Experts have previously said the rise is due to oversupply of university places following the lifting of the numbers cap. It means universities are in strong competition with each other, leading admissions tutors to use unconditional offers to snap up as many students as possible.”
Also the Sutton Trust have reposted their report from last year on admissions and access (Rules of the Game). The Sutton Trust report doesn’t mention unconditional offers, but summary says:
Apart from A level results, could it have an impact on longer term student outcomes (such as employment)? Does it in fact affect WP students disproportionately – either because they are predicted lower grades and so don’t get unconditional offers, or because they take a “safe” unconditional option rather than the one that is best for them (I’m trying to avoid the implication that a lower tariff university is a less good one, because that’s another minefield, as we’ve already explored elsewhere, but it is what we think the minister probably means when he talks about wrong decisions). For more context on this see our policy update on 6th July, on part-time and mature students.
Alistair Jarvis, Chief Executive of Universities UK, responded to the criticism of unconditional offer making by stating:
From DODS. The Office for Students have published the National Student Survey 2018 results finding that overall satisfaction is 83 per cent in comparison with 84 per cent last year. Eight per cent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their higher education experience and the remaining eight per cent were dissatisfied. The Survey captures the views of over 320,000 students and is conducted by the OfS and UK higher education funding bodies.
70 per cent of eligible students from 413 universities and colleges across the UK took time to give their feedback on their experience. The results will also be published on the Unistats website in August 2018, providing valuable evidence to inform potential students’ choices about where and what to study.
Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of the Office for Students, said:
Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said:
National Student Survey results 2018 (Web)
Q – Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2018 to Question 158740, on Students: Occupational Therapy, what plans he has to include occupational therapists in the (a) development and (b) introduction of a University Mental Health Charter.
A – Sam Gyimah: The University Mental Health Charter announced on 28 June 2018 will encourage universities to demonstrate a level of excellence in supporting students’ mental health. This will be an important feature of an institution’s offer to prospective students and their families.
The Charter is being driven by Student Minds and will start to go live in 2019/20. Development, led by the sector, will begin this year and will include consultation with institutional leaders and staff from across their organisations, mental health practitioners (including occupational therapists), students’ unions and students.
The House of Commons Library published a briefing overviewing the sale of the student loan book. It gives background to the sale and discusses the impact of the sale on borrowers and whether value for money was achieved by the sale. Some excerpts from the briefing:
Lords Debates
The House of Lords also debated fees this week when the Government’s HE spokesperson, Viscount Younger of Leckie, made a motion to approve the Fee Limit regulations. That the “maximum fees for students undertaking undergraduate courses in the 2019-20 academic year would remain at 2018-19 levels for the second year running, saving students up to £255.” The regulations would ensure the Office for Students had the powers to set maximum fee limits for home students studying at providers in England that are subject to a fee limit condition in 2019-20; while also allowing the Government to implement the new regulatory framework under HERA in full.
Viscount Younger also explained the regulations also amended the Fee Limit Condition Regulations so students already holding an equivalent or higher-level qualification undertaking pre-registration, nursing, midwifery and other healthcare courses will be defined as qualifying persons and benefit from maximum fee limits.
The Opposition’s Education spokesperson, Lord Watson of Invergowrie, called for separate regulations to be brought in. He said the system was “unfair and inefficient” and highlighted the Public Accounts Committee’s criticism that the student loan system was “economically unsustainable and damaging to social mobility”. Lord Watson also questioned whether a Government initiative could reversal of the decline in part-time and distance learning.
In response Viscount Younger raised the Tertiary Fees and Funding Review, assuring “an overarching principle, that the system gives everyone a genuine choice between high-quality technical, vocational and academic routes“. He said there was a need to ensure value for taxpayers and students and a focus on student experience. He noted the review would conclude early in 2019 and the Government’s response to the review would follow.
The full text of the fees debate is available here.
The Lords also debated the Transparency Duty. The Duty requires HEIs to publish data on application, offer, acceptance, completion and attainment rates of students broken down by ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic background. Viscount Younger announced that the Office for Students would be launching a formal consultation and holding events in August and September in respect of additional data it might request on applicants and students with additional protected characteristics, such as disability and age. These findings would be published in early 2019.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (Lib Dem) questioned the minister how much resource it would take universities to supply the information required as there had been no impact assessment conducted. On widening participation she asked if the Government would use “UCAS’s multiple equality measure, which records the multifaceted nature of educational disadvantage.”
Lord Lucas (Con) expressed his dissatisfaction with current WP practice describing a “decade of bad practice” in how universities spent money. In full he said:
Lord Adonis (Lab) said the publication of data would not improve assess itself but was a tool to that end, he raised concern on the role of the OfS in facilitating the establishment of procedures to publish data and not concentrate on changing the culture at universities.
Viscount Younger of Leckie responded to points raised in the debate and stressed that there needed to be transparency at vice-chancellor and senior leadership level and universities should offer value for money to students.
As Parliament is in recess until 4 September your policy update may change frequency. We’ll bring you a summary of the news once it reaches a critical mass.
Click here to view the updated consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.
New consultations and inquiries this week:
To subscribe to the weekly policy update simply email policy@bournemouth.ac.uk
JANE FORSTER | SARAH CARTER
Policy Advisor Policy & Public Affairs Officer
66724 65070
Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter | policy@bournemouth.ac.uk
A busy week for publications this week, while the government have been busy with Brexit votes and there is a positive story about immigration rules.
Commons Public Accounts Committee – The Commons public accounts committee published its report on the higher education market on Friday. After some interesting evidence sessions, Research Professional report that the outcome is disappointing:
The conclusions and recommendations are here. No new news – please define the market, set up an evaluation framework for careers (a CEF?), evidence of success in WP and put pressure on providers, guidance to help students to change institution and a performance framework for the OfS (OfSEF?).
Recommendation: The Department should write to the committee by October 2018 to explain what it expects a successful higher education market to look like.
Recommendation: The Department should write to the Committee by October 2018 with details of progress it has made with its careers strategy and the impact it is having. It should set up an evaluation framework to enable it to assess progress.
Recommendation: The Department should provide us with evidence of how it is widening participation and opening higher education to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Department should demonstrate how they will maintain pressure on providers to measure success.
Recommendation: In developing the new regulatory framework, the Department and OfS must ensure students’ interests are protected. The OfS should include clear guidelines to enable students to shift courses or institutions more easily.
Recommendation: The Office for Students should report back in six months to set out in detail how it will measure and report on its performance in regulating for students, and be clear about what its priorities are in protecting student interests.
The summary of the summary is this bit: “We spoke to the Office for Students at its inception and hope that it will set a clear marker that it really is acting in the interests of students from day one. It is still unclear how it will gauge the real concerns of students and ensure that institutions are delivering and sanctioned when they let students down.”
House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee – The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the Economics of higher, further and technical education inquiry has reported. They find that the system of post-school education in England is unbalanced with too much emphasis on full time university degrees, and as a result offers poor value for money to individuals, taxpayers and the economy – and they stress the need for immediate reform. As an official Committee the Government are expected to take note of, and respond to, the report – although it’s not binding on the Government. The current HE Review will certainly include these findings within its deliberations. There is a short summary pamphlet issued by the Committee here.
The report notes that undergraduate HE studies dominate post-school choices. They attribute this to the HE Finance system making it an easy option, alongside the lack of alternative viable, consistent and quality alternatives. The report notes this is not in the country’s best interest.
The key recommendations are:
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, Chair of the Economic Affairs Committee, said:
The report also noted:
With this in mind, there was a parliamentary question on TEF this week:
Q – Gordon Marsden: T what external organisations he plans to consult to take forward his Department’s commitment to appoint an independent reviewer of the teaching excellence framework and its criteria of operation.
A – Sam Gyimah: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will appoint a suitable independent person for the purpose of preparing a report on the operation of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), in accordance with the Higher Education and Reform Act 2017. In taking decisions about the TEF, he will take account of advice from partners in the higher education sector. That includes the department’s TEF Delivery Group, which is comprised of representative organisations from the sector plus the Office for Students and the devolved administrations, and gives advice on the design and development of the TEF.
Wonkhe have an analysis of TEF year 3 grade inflation data:
And the BBC has cut last week’s IFS data and has an interactive tool – adding “But remember, there’s more to life than money…” and the all-important qualifier: “Earnings for different professions may vary over time. The figures are based on students graduating between 2008 and 2012.” Read last week’s policy update for some critical perspectives on the relevance of this data for current applicants. Past performance is not really a guide to future performance – and some graduates may end up doing a different job to the rest of the cohort….
There were two Parliamentary questions about research funding, one in the context of Brexit
Q – Kemi Badenoch: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the maintenance of funding for (a) universities and (b) research projects after the UK ceases to receive European Research Council funding.
A – Sam Gyimah:
Q – Rebecca Long Bailey: When the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy plans to publish a roadmap for meeting his target of increasing investment in R&D to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027.
A – Sam Gyimah: Since the publication of the Industrial Strategy, we have been speaking to businesses, academics and other stakeholders to develop the roadmap. Through this engagement we are exploring the barriers to increased R&D investment by business, the greatest opportunities for R&D growth over the next decade, and the key policies Government should prioritise to reach the 2.4% goal and deliver economic and societal impact.
EU Students – This week both Layla Moran (Lb Dem Education Spokesperson) and Universities UK have been pressurising the Government to clarify the fee status of EU students for the 2019/20 academic year, warning of a further drop in EU numbers. The Scottish Government confirmed the fee status for EU students in February this year.
Alistair Jarvis, Chief Executive of Universities UK, said: “Students from across the EU, who bring great economic and academic value, are already enquiring about 2019 study, but face uncertainty on the expected financial costs of doing so. We know from research that the majority of international students start their research about studying abroad more than 12 months in advance of actual enrolment…there is now an urgent need for clarification to be provided across all parts of the UK. It is critical that action is taken to prevent a drop in EU applications next year.”
Non-EU Doctors and Nurses – Immigration Relaxation – The Government have announced a relaxation on the Tier 2 visa cap which currently limits immigration of non-EU skilled workers to 20,700 per year (see Politics Home) to ensure that non-EU doctors and nurses will be outside of the cap.
The Telegraph reported that a much wider review is expected: “businesses and employers will be able to recruit an extra 8,000 skilled migrants a year from other professions including IT experts, engineers and teachers, effectively increasing the cap by 40 per cent.”
Changes to the immigration rules were announced on Friday that come into force on 6th July that do not seem to go that far:
Opposition to Theresa May’s immigration policies, including whether international students should be included in the overall net immigration target, has been widely reported in the press over the last couple of years, including a lack of support for the current approach from Cabinet members. The change in relation to the NHS may be the start of something bigger. The promised Immigration White Paper was postponed due to the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) investigations into workers within the UK labour market and the impact of international/EU students (due to report in September). Meanwhile there have been pressing calls from the sector (notably from HEPI following the publication of their research into benefits of international students) for the MAC Committee to report ahead of September.
The Immigration White Paper is now rumoured to be scheduled for release in July, to allow for consultation prior to the European Council leaders’ summit on the 18 and 19 October (the target date to agree a withdrawal treaty). The Immigration Bill is expected to be presented to Parliament before 2019.
‘Start up’ Visas – The Home Secretary has announced that people who want to start a business in the UK will be able to apply for a new “start-up” visa from Spring 2019. This is aimed to widen the applicant pool of talented entrepreneurs and make the visa process faster and smoother for entrepreneurs coming to the UK. It will replace the previous visa for graduates, opening it up to a wider pool of talented business founders. It will require applicants to have acquired an endorsement from a university or approved business sponsor, including accelerators.
The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, said:
International Students – During an American Senate hearing the US confirmed they will limit the study visa of Chinese students studying in ‘sensitive’ fields (robotics, aviation, high-tech manufacturing) to a one year duration with an option to renew and extend study into subsequent years after consideration. The hearing, Student Visa Integrity: Protecting Educational Opportunity and National Security, (originally titled ‘A Thousand Talents: China’s Campaign to Infiltrate and Exploit US Academia’). A spokesperson from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated the policy decision was not driven by race or ethnicity but by the need to safeguard American Intellectual Property in the face of “the fact that China has a publicly-stated policy goal of acquiring sensitive information in technology around the world …that they seek access and recruit global experts regardless of their nationality to meet their science and technology aims.” In opposition to the visa limitations testimony was given on the value of international students at the hearing. What is most interesting is the difference in attitude between the US and UK in the consideration of the benefits of an international student population that the hearing revealed.
In the UK international students are welcomed for the diversity they bring, the further invigoration and internationalisation of the curriculum, the income boost through tuition fees, the levels of postgraduate students, and the significant economic ‘side effects’ benefiting the geographical community (see HEPI). There is also an assumption that (due to the visa system) most international students will return home, having originally chosen to study here to enhance their own international career standing or bring fresh skills back to their own community (a personal motivation).
Yet the opinion expressed in the American Senate hearing was that the international students should be contributing to American society (and paying for the privilege of doing so): “Most students and visiting scholars come to US for legitimate reasons. They are here to… contribute their talents to [the US].” Senator Cornyn (Chair of the hearing). Most likely American academia would have alternative viewpoints to Senator Cornyn on the valuing of international students. Also this appears to be a niche policy decision to infuse intellectual property security concerns into the visa approval process rather than a blanket policy.
Britain and America are two of the major world players in attracting international students and both now have elements of unwelcome emanating through policy decision. It’s notable that Chinese student numbers are the biggest international group to access UK universities; in 2015/16 1 in 4 international originated from China..
There were several parliamentary questions within the widening participation sphere this week.
Part Time Students – Q – Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to higher education funding on student numbers at the Open University in each year since 2011.
A – Sam Gyimah:
Effective Deployment of WP – Q – David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the widening participation funding is deployed effectively. And Q – David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds attending university.
The following response covered both questions: A – Sam Gyimah:
Targeted Outreach – Q – Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with (a) the Director for Fair Access and Participation and (b) the Office for Students on strengthening university programmes aimed at potential applicants between the ages of 11 and 16 from disadvantaged black, working-class white and other communities. And Q – Gordon Marsden: what discussions he has had with universities and their representative bodies on extending their outreach activities for disadvantaged groups of young people between the ages of 11 and 16.
A – Sam Gyimah:
Disabled Applicants – Q – Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Office for Students on encouraging university applications from potential applicants with disabilities.
A – Sam Gyimah:
HEPI released Policy Note 7 – Change is coming: how universities can navigate through turbulent political times. It focussed on three key drivers for Universities: internationalisation, the impact of disruptive technologies, and changes to education delivery – the power not only to change the way we teach and learn, but also how we manage information and collect data.
“Rebooting learning for the digital age? As shown by HEPI report 93, improvements across the world in technology have already led to improved retention rates and lower costs:
“Demand for higher education to 2030 As HEPI report 105 uncovers, universities in England should be preparing themselves to take on at least 300,000 additional full-time undergraduate places by the end of the next decade. This is good news in the long-term but the scale of the transformation that is required now – in terms of increasing capacity – is substantial.
Many universities are already concentrating on the long-term picture. This is best shown by the improvements to university estates. Yet, with a smaller pool of prospective students being relied upon to fill these resources in the short-term, we can expect competition between institutions to increase sharply over the coming years – particularly if it becomes more common for students to switch providers of higher education mid-course under the new regularly landscape of the Office for Students (OfS).”
To steer effectively through the troubled waters the policy note suggests:
“On the one hand, this involves coming together to:
On the other hand, this also involves enhancing the distinctiveness of higher education institutions to:
Coming together in unity to learn from one another and develop appropriate strategies, while still maintaining the diversity that is unique to UK higher education, is what will help universities to overcome some of the biggest emerging policy challenges of our time – posed by the pressures of internationalisation, advancements in technology and domestic political developments. Universities today ultimately have two obligations on their hands – the first, to ensure their own individual successes and, the second, to preserve their part in a healthy, wider higher education sector, complete with variety and choice, for generations to come.”
BU hosted Dr Diana Beech from the Higher Education Policy Institute on Wednesday morning for a policy breakfast, part of this year’s CELebrate symposium. In a packed room and despite the early start, we had a great discussion about student perceptions, value (and value for money). You can read about it and find links to the survey, her slides and other HEPI reports referred to elsewhere on the research blog here.
The Student Loans Company have published their statistics for England for the financial year 2017-18.
The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and University of Buckingham have released a YouthSight survey on attitudes towards drug use based on the responses of 1,059 full-time undergraduate (UG) students. On the number of students who have never (71%) or regularly (11%) use drugs the findings contrast slightly from the April 2018 NUS report which noted higher usage. HEPI explain that the NUS sample was targeted and believe this report is more representative of full-time UG students.
Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI said:
The survey explains student drug use as attributable to:
When considering if their HE institution has a drug problem the respondents split with 39% identifying a problem, and 44% stating there wasn’t. The students were concerned about the impact of drug use personally and in society. 88% were concerned drugs negatively impacted mental health; 68% felt it contributed to crime; and 62% were concerned about the cost of the health care burden caused by drug users. Many students recognised excessive alcohol consumption as a serious threat (87% considered alcohol overuse as very serious or quite serious compared to 64% on drug use). The report stated 62% of students want their university to ‘take a stronger line’ on drug dealers and ‘students who repeatedly use drugs’.
Click here to view the updated consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.
There is still time to contribute to the industrial strategy topical blogs because they’ve extended the deadline until 21 July – yippee! Get your thinking caps on and get in touch with Sarah!
Local MPs: Richard Drax (South Dorset) used his prime minster question this week to call for her to support a grant for Weymouth’s harbour wall. The PM responded that there were various options that grant funding had to look at carefully, but said that this project was on a list of potential recipients. She anticipated a decision by the summer.
The House of Commons library have let an AI programme loose in Hansard looking at Brexit.
To subscribe to the weekly policy update simply email policy@bournemouth.ac.uk
JANE FORSTER | SARAH CARTER
Policy Advisor Policy & Public Affairs Officer
Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter | policy@bournemouth.ac.uk
Last chance to book for this with the deadline just over a week away…
Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?
We are holding a one-day event in Bournemouth that is aimed at helping you to improve your chances of success.
The morning seminar session is open to anyone to come and hear Simon Goodwin, RfPB Programme Manager for the South West, and RDS advisers give presentations on what makes a good grant proposal. Topics covered will include:
The afternoon support session of one-to-one appointments is for those who would like to discuss their own proposal with an RDS adviser.
This event is FREE and refreshments and lunch will be provided. Places are limited and will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. In order to secure your place please register using our online form by 1pm, 18 June 2018. Find out more.
And don’t forget, your local branch of the NIHR Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.
We are pleased to announce that the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has awarded us a further five years of funding to continue our work as the RDS South West.
Proposals were invited from NHS organisations and Higher Education Institutions in England with proven expertise in research methodology and design. Ten organisations were successful and the combined Research Design Services will form a national network, liaising with each other to develop a consistent service to the research community across England.
The NIHR funding will allow RDS advisers in the South West to continue offering free and confidential advice, drawing on a unique breadth of experience and established track record in improving funding applications.
We have been funded for the ten years prior to this round of funding and the advice offered by us to researchers represents a key contribution to the NIHR’s commitment to delivery of high quality health and social care research.
Professor Gordon Taylor, Director of NIHR RDS SW, said: “I am delighted that the RDS has received a further five years of funding. We look forward to continuing to support researchers, working in applied health, across the South West of England and to strengthen our engagement with partners in social care.”
Find out more about how we could help you by visiting our website or contacting the RDS South West Bournemouth Office hosted within BUCRU (Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit):
Bournemouth University
Room R505, Royal London House
Christchurch Road
Bournemouth
Dorset, BH1 3LT
Tel: 01202 961939
Email: wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk
Do you have a great idea for research in health, social care or public health?
Would you or your team benefit from protected time and expert support to develop your idea into a competitive funding application?
Research Design Service South West (RDS SW) are offering a unique opportunity for health, social care and public health professionals across England to attend a three-day residential Grant Development & Writing Retreat – 10-12 September 2018, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury.
Applications are invited from individuals or teams of two or three people, at least one of whom must be a health, social care or public health professional working in England. Successful applicants will be offered a free place at the retreat which will include food and accommodation*.The purpose of the Retreat is to give busy professionals dedicated time to rapidly progress their research proposal.
If you think your research team would benefit from protected time and expert support, you can apply to attend the Retreat by submitting a standard form which is available from your local RDS office, hosted by BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.
If in doubt, please contact the coordinating centre at rds.sw@nihr.ac.uk
Delegates are encouraged to work on their projects with local RDS staff before applying to attend the Retreat. The views of the RDS will play an important part in deciding which teams will be invited to attend. It is crucial, therefore, that teams work closely with their local RDS advisers when preparing their applications. It is advisable for teams considering attending the Retreat to contact their local RDS office as early as possible.
The deadline for submission of this form is 12noon, Wednesday 6 June 2018.
* excludes travel to/from Canterbury.
Find out more about the Retreat. |
Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?
We are holding a one-day event in Bournemouth that is aimed at helping you to improve your chances of success.
The morning seminar session is open to anyone to come and hear Simon Goodwin, RfPB Programme Manager for the South West, and RDS advisers give presentations on what makes a good grant proposal. Topics covered will include:
The afternoon support session of one-to-one appointments is for those who would like to discuss their own proposal with an RDS adviser.
This event is FREE and refreshments and lunch will be provided. Places are limited and will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. In order to secure your place please register using our online form by 1pm, 18 June 2018. Find out more.
And don’t forget, your local branch of the NIHR Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.
Or read the summary below without the charts.
Ahead of the Autumn 2017 Budget the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has published How much is too much? Cross-subsidies from teaching to research in British Universities written by Russell Group PG Economics student Vicky Olive. The paper concludes that research within universities is reliant on subsidy by tuition fee funding. As international students pay higher fees more of their fees go towards research than home and EU students. The paper concludes that on average international students contribute £8,000 from their total fees towards research. While the figures vary between universities, in 2014/15 teaching income funded 14% of English university research (approx. £1 in every £7 spent).
The paper argues that although the UK has a leading global research performance (see diagram below) R&D expenditure is well below competitor nations and unsustainable in the long term.
The paper argues that In 2014/15 the UK HE sector had a sustainability gap of £1 billion. This is described as a looming crisis because of a number of factors:
The Conservative Government’s has a target to increase R&D spend to 3% of GDP. The paper suggests that to realise this target the following would need to occur:
Current R&D expenditure is 1.7% of GDP (25% of which spend by HEIs, 66% of spend by industry). The Government has announced additional investment of £4.7 billion by 2020/21 for R&D, however, the paper argues this isn’t enough and that other sectors must also increase their investment. The paper summarises recent Government policy related to R&D budgets.
The paper considers, and discards, the notion of only providing QR funding for 4* research.
In addition to her calls to increase research investment the author states her aim is to bring together UKRI and OfS to facilitate a sensible research funding model which neither underfunds or jeopardises research sustainability nor exploits students. The paper also urges universities to push back and recover a greater proportion of full economic cost from industry funders, particularly when the research is not directly for the public good.
Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, commented : ”Anyone who wants to end cross-subsidies must say how they would fund universities’ various roles properly. There are three pressing issues. First, those who fund university research – public and private funders as well as charities – do not cover anything like the full costs. Secondly, the cross-subsidy from tuition fees to research is probably not sustainable at current levels. Thirdly, the Government wants a near doubling in research and development spending as a share of GDP, yet recent funding injections are only enough to stand still.
Our conclusion is that the Chancellor needs to find another £1 billion for research in this year’s Budget, with some set aside for the work universities do with charities. But even this level of additional funding would mean stagnation relative to other countries. So we also need a strategy for increasing research spending to OECD levels over the next few years and German levels thereafter – as promised in the 2017 Conservative manifesto.
The Times covered the report in University research subsidised with £281m from tuition fees.
Separately but relevant to this debate:
HEFCE have opened sub-panel nominations for roles related to IDR within REF 2021 aiming to support and promote the fair and equitable assessment of IDR outputs and environment through:
In September HEFCE blogged on the importance of academics within interdisciplinary research culture in What creates a culture of interdisciplinary research? HEFCE described what the new IDR role may look like in Wednesday’s blog REF 2021: Where are we on interdisciplinary research?
OFFA has commissioned a new evidence based research study: Understanding and overcoming the challenges of targeting students from under-represented and disadvantaged ethnic backgrounds.
HEA and Runnymede Trust will analyse existing practice across the sector and ‘produce a suite of practical guidance to support staff in a variety of different roles within universities and colleges in overcoming the challenges associated with this work’. The project is part of OFFA’s long-term aim to challenge and support universities and colleges to do more to address the differences in higher education participation, attainment and progression to further study or employment that persist between students from different ethnic groups.
Les Ebdon: “Black and minority ethnic (BME) students have been a key target group for OFFA for a number of years. But our research suggests that universities and colleges are struggling to target the activities they deliver through their access agreements where they are most needed…This project will help us understand how activities can be targeted appropriately and effectively towards students from disadvantaged and under-represented ethnic backgrounds, enabling OFFA to better support universities and colleges to accelerate progress in this crucial area.”
Principal Investigator, Jacqueline Stevenson, stated: “Our intention is not just to indicate the barriers institutions are facing, but also what they are able to do to address these entrenched and long-standing inequalities.”
Scope call for inclusive workplaces: Scope has called on the Dept for Work and Pensions to develop universal, industry-standard information and best practice guidance for all businesses to support their employment and management of disabled people. Scope’s new research Let’s Talk found many disabled people struggle to share information about their impairment or condition in the workplace making it hard for them to access the support and adjustments they need to carry out their job.
Question to the Dept for Education: Office for Students
Andrew Percy (Con): Whether the remit of the Office for Students will include anti-discrimination on campus.
Jo Johnson (Con, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research & Innovation): The government has published a consultation on behalf of the new Office for Students (OfS) regarding the regulation of the higher education sector. It proposes that, in its regulatory approach, the OfS will look to ensure that all students, from all backgrounds can access, succeed in, and progress from higher education.
Higher Education (HE) providers are autonomous organisations, independent from Government, and they already have responsibilities to ensure that they provide a safe, inclusive environment, including legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act) to ensure that students do not face discrimination.
The OfS, like some HE providers, will also have obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty in part 11 of the Act. This includes a requirement that the OfS, when exercising its functions, has due regard to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other unlawful conduct in the Act, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations in relation to protected characteristics.
In addition, in September 2015 the government asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a Harassment Taskforce, composed of university leaders, student representatives and academic experts, to consider what more can be done to address harassment and hate crime on campus. The taskforce published its report, ‘Changing the Culture’, in October 2016, which sets out that universities should embed a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment and hate crime. This includes hate crime or harassment on the basis of religion or belief, such as antisemitism and Islamophobia. The Higher Education Funding Council for England is currently working with UUK to test the sector’s response to the Taskforce’s recommendations and the results of this will be published early in 2018.
House of Lord Questions – Disabled Student Allowance
Lord Addington (Lib Dem) has asked three parliamentary questions regarding the disabled students allowance.
Q1: Whether the evaluation of Disabled Students’ Allowances will include consideration of the need for third party advisers to have clarity of information about the respective responsibilities of higher education providers and claimants of those allowances.
Q2: Whether the evaluation of Disabled Students’ Allowances will include consideration of the benefits of issuing a guide to higher education providers about their responsibilities in relation to students claiming those allowances who fall into bands 1 and 2.
Q3: Whether the evaluation of Disabled Students’ Allowances will include consideration of the levels of information provided by higher education providers to students claiming those allowances about the respective responsibilities of those institutions and students.
The Earl of Courtown provided the same (non-)response to all three questions:
A: The evaluation of Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) will address a range of factors relating to the efficacy of support for disabled students, including the effect of recent changes to DSA policy.
Question to the Home Office – Visas: Overseas Students
Q -Jo Stevens (Labour): How much was accrued to the public purse from charging international students applying for Tier 4 student visas in each year since 2010.
A – Brandon Lewis (Con, Minister of State for Immigration): Visa income is not differentiated between the various categories in which they are received. Visa volumes by broad category (study, work etc) are published in the data section of this webpage: LINK Fees and unit costs are also published, for example, for 2017/18: LINK
Private Providers
Lord Storey (Lib Dem) has tabled two questions about the quality of private providers:
Q1 – On how many occasions in the last three years the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has (1) raised concerns, and (2) taken action, regarding private colleges and providers of degrees
Q2 – What measures they are taking to provide quality assurance for students studying degree courses at a private college whose degrees are validated by a university
These are due for answer on Tuesday 21 November.
Click here to view the updated consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.
New consultations and inquiries this week:
Student Engagement: Guild HE have written for Wonkhe censuring the limited nature of student consultation and engagement proposed through the new Quality Code and critiquing both the TEF and the Office for Students in Engaging students as partners: two steps forward, one step back.
Awareness of policy is integral to many roles at BU and with HE constantly in the news it can be hard to sort the wood from the trees to keep current. We’re running two short and sharp HE Policy Briefings during November and December; all are welcome so come along to learn more!
The briefings will:
Email organisational development to attend on: Wed 22 November 12-13:00 at Lansdowne or Thurs 7 December 12-13:00 at Talbot (mince pies included!)
To subscribe to the weekly policy update simply email policy@bournemouth.ac.uk
JANE FORSTER | SARAH CARTER
Policy Advisor Policy & Public Affairs Officer
65111 65070
Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter | policy@bournemouth.ac.uk
Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?
Research Design Service South West (RDS-SW) are holding a one day event on 9 November 2017 at Plymouth Science Park, Devon.
Last few days to book!
The events consists of:
Registration is FREE and lunch will be provided. Places are limited and will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. In order to secure a place at one of these events, delegates will need to complete the online registration form by 1pm 30 October 2017. One-to-one appointments need to be booked in advance by selecting the appropriate option on the registration form.
You can find out more here
Don’t forget your local branch of the NIHR Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.
Are you interested in applying for an NIHR Fellowship? Do you have questions? Need more info?
Information Event – 24 November 2017 – University of Exeter
There are many types of NIHR Fellowship award on offer, so how do you know which one is the best for you? When and how do you apply? What makes a good application? If you want to know more about NIHR Fellowships – and other NIHR training and career development awards – then this event is for you.
The morning session is open to anyone to come and hear from a number of speakers – from NIHR as well as existing panel members and award holders.
The afternoon support session of one-to-one appointments is for those who would like to discuss their own proposal with an RDS adviser.
See here for more information.
This event is FREE and refreshments and lunch will be provided. Places are limited and will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. In order to secure your place please register using the online form by 1pm, 10 November 2017.
Your local branch of the NIHR Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.
Following our Industrial Strategy update last week, as expected Sir John Bell has published his report for the government on Life Sciences and the Industrial Strategy. There are 7 main recommendations under 4 themes, which are summarised below.
Some interesting comments:
Health Advanced Research Programme (HARP) proposal – with the goal to create 2-3 entirely new industries over the next 10 years.
Reinforcing the UK science offer
Growth and infrastructure – the goal is to create four UK companies valued at >£20 billion market cap in the next ten years.
NHS collaboration – the Accelerated Access Review should be adopted with national routes to market streamlined and clarified, including for digital products. There are two stated goals:
The recommended actions are
Data – Establish two to five Digital Innovation Hubs providing data across regions of three to five million people.
Skills
Do you have a great idea for research in health or social care?
Would your team benefit from protected time and expert support to develop your idea into a competitive funding application?
The Research Design Services South West (RDS SW) and South Central (RDS SC) are delighted to offer a unique opportunity to researchers in health and social care across their regions. to attend a week-long residential Grant Writing Retreat at Dillington House, near Ilminster in Somerset from Monday 4 September to Friday 8 September 2017 inclusive. The purpose of the Retreat is to give busy professionals dedicated time to rapidly progress their research idea into fundable proposals. The Retreat will provide a supportive environment for research teams to develop high quality research proposals prior to application to national peer-reviewed funding streams. Participating teams will enjoy protected time dedicated to the development of their research proposals away from the distractions of their workplace, expert help and support from RDS adviser staff and the experience of working as part of a professional research team.
I urge you and your colleagues to have a look at the website to find out more details, the process for applying for a place on the retreat, and examples of success stories: http://rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/rgwr.htm
The cost of the retreat is £2,850 per team of three researchers (see website for details). The opportunity to apply is open to everyone across our region.
HOWEVER, for teams that successfully apply for a place on the retreat, and that consist of at least one member of staff from the Department of Nursing and Clinical Sciences here at BU, the University can offer a limited number of places funded by the Department (2 but might be able to stretch to more). If you don’t have anybody in mind within the department but still interested in collaborating and applying for a free space offered by the university please contact us and we can facilitate this and try to find people with shared interests and ideas.
Applications for the retreat must be submitted to RDS by 1pm 26th April 2017, and it is important that you discuss your application with someone from the BUCRU/RDS team at an early stage (Sarah Thomas, Helen Allen, Sharon Docherty, Andy Powell, Peter Thomas).
Your local branch of the NIHR Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.
The latest newsletter from the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) is available to download here. Take a look at the successful grant applications we were involved in last year, and what else we got up to in 2016. There is also an update from our colleagues in the Centre of Post Graduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE).
Don’t forget, BUCRU can provide FREE methodological advice and support in designing your research project. We’re based on the 5th floor of Royal London House so feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.
In his Autumn Statement on Wednesday the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, outlined a new National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) that will add an extra £2 billion a year for research and development by the end of this Parliament.
Through the NPIF the government will fund:
There are several sector statements issued and you can read them here:
The Research Funders Guide (find it in the Research Toolkit along the blog menu bar) has been updated. As well as updating the call deadlines in the ‘standard calls for major funders’ pages, each of the pages within the guide have been updated to include a link to the relevant pathway available in the RKE Development Framework. This links up the opportunities available to support you in applying for the external funding explained in the guide pages.
For those of you who haven’t yet heard about the Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Development Framework, it offers a range of opportunities for academics at all career stages to develop their skills, knowledge and capabilities in relation to research and knowledge exchange. It has been implemented in response to the changing external environment, and developed in consultation with academic colleagues to ensure a strategic fit between the training and development opportunities on offer, and the needs and wishes of academic colleagues.
If you’re interested in applying for external research funding then please contact the RKEO’s Funding Development Team.
The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
The BBSRC has made funds of £5k for BBSRC grant holders as part of the International Scientific Interchange Scheme to establish new contacts with international counterparts. Closing Date Open
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Applications are welcomed for access to super-computing time (>100,000 kAU or 6666667 core-hours on ARCHER) up to 24 months as part of the ARCHER Leadership Project or as part of the Resource Allocation Panel (>1,000kAUs or >66,667 ARCHER core hours) for 12 months for research that falls within the remit of the EPSRC or NERC. Closing Date 13/6/16
Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance
The Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance is accepting applications for a maximum of €50k, for projects lasting 6-12 months for the creation of Transnational Networks/Working Groups in the following areas:
Each working group must include at least three partners from the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Canada. Closing Date 6/6/16
Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust have made available the Small Arts Awards (small- to medium-sized projects – up to and including £40k) to support new project ideas or ways of working, investigate and experiment with new methods of engagement through the arts or the final production costs of new work. Closing Date 1/6/16
As part of the Development Awards, up to £10k is available for ideas for TV, radio, games or film projects in collaboration with scientists and researchers. Closing Date 27/7/16
If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline.
Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer.
You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.
If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.
I recently received 45 45’s (7” singles or if you’re still too young, small records) for my birthday (guess how old I was?). I thought I would make a shameless attempt to cram some of the records into a research focussed blog post. Here goes!
I fall to pieces (by Patsy Cline) – most funder success rates are lower than 20% and so don’t be disheartened when that rejection email pops in your in-box. Statistically, you only have a one in five chance of being successful and so do ‘try and try’ again. RKEO are here to support you and our Facilitators can review your unsuccessful applications and funder feedback to see how your next application can be stronger and successful.
You don’t miss your water (till your well runs dry) (originally by The Byrds but I have it by The Triffids) – don’t wait until your last grant has finished to apply for your next; start planning your next applications a year before your grant ends. Have a chat about your research plans with RKEO and submit your next intention to bid form to your Funding Development Officer.
Monotony (by Sauna Youth) – it can sometimes seem like you’re on a research funding treadmill but remember why your research excites you and why it should excite others. Think about the impact your research can have to society and find inspiration with the KEIT team.
Dancing in the dark (by Bruce Springsteen) – sometimes it can feel like that as an academic in the competitive world of research funding, but as Bruce said in the song – ‘you can’t start a fire without a spark’ and so make sure you are a ‘gun for hire even if you’re just dancing in the dark’. We have lots of opportunities to interact with other academics and RKEO can help you make those connections and collaborations. We also hold ‘sandpit’ events where you can form interdisciplinary teams to submit new and exciting research ideas for external funding. Check out our research blog for the next sandpit.
Here comes the summer (by The Undertones) – well, it’s almost here and a good time to really think about those research plans as you set your objectives for the next academic year. Have a chat with the RKEO team about how we can support your plans and what development opportunities we have available to you, particularly to support your application writing.
Complete control (by Clash) – you do have control over your research career and RKEO are here to help. Get in touch and see what we can do for you.
Hey ho, let’s go (by Ramones) – as Joey said ‘they’re all revved up and ready to go’. I hope you are feeling this way by now and that this will lead to Success – (by Iggy Pop).
COST Actions are a flexible, fast, effective and efficient networking instrument for researchers, engineers and scholars to cooperate and coordinate nationally funded research activities. COST Actions allow European researchers to jointly develop their own ideas in any science and technology field. COST Actions are bottom-up science and technology networks, open to researchers and stakeholders with a duration of four years. They are active through a range of networking tools , such as workshops, conferences, training schools, short-term scientific missions (STSMs), and dissemination activities. COST does not fund research itself.
COST prides in its support for high-risk, innovative and emerging research themes. Importantly, COST does not set any research priorities.
Currently on the COST website is a report on Collecting research data to counter femicide worldwide
Femicide across Europe is the first pan-European research network investigating the causes and risk factors of a phenomenon killing thousands of women every year, worldwide.
Femicide refers to the killing of women and girls because of their gender. European researchers studying the cultural, societal and psychological causes and risks factors behind femicide set up the network to fight the phenomenon through advocacy and research. One idea is to create a European Femicide Observatory gathering and comparing data from each of the 30 countries involved, of which half are Inclusiveness Target Countries . The goal is to come up with new guidelines and shape new EU public policies countering killings.
Specialists have been studying quantitative and qualitative data and ways to reduce discrepancies in country records. Such discrepancies are often due to the different definitions of femicide, which is sometimes seen as gender-based violence.
“When our COST Action was first proposed, the term femicide was not widely used. Everyone knew of homicide, but few had given thought to the fact that some women, particularly those involved in intimate relationships, were murdered simply because they were women. Today, two years within the COST Action, ‘femicide’ has become a buzzword, Action Chair Dr Shalva Weil explains.“
Network members have also been advocating for a more straightforward approach to lowering femicide rates in Europe. They have already addressed the Portuguese Parliament and the Parliament of Aragon in Spain. The network also took part in two United Nations sessions in Bangkok (November 2014) and New York (October 2015).
By participating in the network’s training schools and scientific exchanges, young researchers are also given the chance to better understand the phenomenon EU-wide. One outstanding result of the Action’s work is a comparison of national statistics from 10 European countries .
The Action’s next annual meeting will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in May 2016.
Why not take a look at the COST Action database to see if there is a current Action relating to your research? You can then consider joining an existing Action or submitting your own proposal.
Click on the tag COST Action (below) to see other BU posts on this topic, including Edwin van Teijlingen’s report on his recent publication and his experience of attending a COST Action Training School.
If you are interested in applying for COST, please contact Emily Cieciura, Research Facilitator: EU & International of you Faculty’s Funding Development Officer.