Tagged / research

New Look Research Application Development Timeline

New Look Timeline!

The Research Development & Support RKE Application timeline is your ultimate guide to applying for external research and knowledge-exchange funding, and it’s been given a brand new look.

The timeline guides you through all the necessary steps, procedures and processes involved, including navigating through all the requirements of the internal quality approvals, costing preparations, legal and finances approvals, faculty approvals, etc.

The timeline also provides helpful guidance in the time needed in preparing and finalising external funding applications, taking you through initial planning, the submission preparation processes, legal and finance approval processes and to the submission to funder process.

You can also find useful links and information, as well as your Funding Development Team contacts on this timeline document.

Please click on this link to access this useful guidance document in its jazzy new format.

If you have any queries, please contact RDS.

Peer-reviewing ten years on

Guidance, international, Publishing, writing

The process of peer review is widely recognised as the key element of quality control in academic publishing and the scientific community more generally.  Peer review is the critical appraisal of one’s work by fellow scholars, who read and comment on your manuscript and offered a verdict on its quality, rigour, originality, style, completeness, etc. etc.

Peer reviewers are typically experts in your field, if not your topic, or who have expertise in the methods you applied or the population or are you studied.  They are also academics often with busy day jobs, who act as unpaid peer reviewers, and as journal editors for that matter.  Peer reviewers are with full-time jobs who give up their free time to review for academic journals.  A recent article by Aczel and colleagues (2021) reported that reviewers across the globe spent over 100 million hours on peer reviewing for free in 2020, the estimated value of this equated to nearly £300 million in the UK alone.  This quantifies in some of my feelings I wrote about a decade ago now in a BU Research Blog with the title ‘Peer review and bust academics’.

However, with the ever-growing number of health and social science journals the requests for reviewing seem to grow relentlessly.  This month alone (November 2021) I received twenty or 21 requests to review.  I have reviewed three manuscripts for Birth, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, and The Journal of International Development, but I had to reject or ignore many more (see Table 1).  I usually do my reviews over the weekend.  One weekend this month I could not review because I had to prepare materials for the external auditor who came to visit Bournemouth University for a project recently completed, and this weekend I could not find the time because I’m proof-reading two PhD chapters (and writing this blog).

I leave you with some food for thought: academics spent time applying for research funding, then apply for the ethical approval, do the research, we write up the findings, and write blogs about the process!

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

Reference:

Aczel, B., Szaszi, B., Holcombe, A.O. (2021) A billion-dollar donation: estimating the cost of researchers’ time spent on peer review. Res Integr Peer Rev 6, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41073-021-00118-2.

Filling the gap: an ACORN funded project

Awarded & submitted bids, Post-award

Back in May 2021, Kimberley Davies (inset ) and Sarah Elliott submitted a bid to BU’s ACORN internal fund, which is focussed on supporting the career development for Early Career Researchers.

The bid was entitled

“Filling the Gap: Investigating past and present socio-ecological resilience to aid future sustainability in the Poole Harbour Catchment”.

Their ACORN project proposal was designed as a steppingstone towards a future UKRI grant application. Kim and Sarah’s project, which would bring together decades of archaeological and ecological research in the Poole Harbour Catchment area, to develop scenarios of future resilience in coastal regions in light of potential large-scale environmental change, is aimed at the AHRC ECR grant.

Broadly the project aimed to characterise key events from the last ~10,000 years in the Poole Harbour area, e.g. sea level rise or agricultural intensification, and evaluate their socio-ecological impacts using historical profiling and theoretical models. The pilot study would also investigate the applicability of using palaeoecological ‘proxies’ and geoarchaeological markers in the sediment horizons to understand the impact of large scale events. This is critical in order to develop a plausible framework for future research, including defining appropriate sampling locations and relevant environmental proxies to signify key changes.

Kim and Sarah had written an excellent application and had complied with all the requirements of the application process.

Sarah commented ‘The application process for the ACORN grant, whilst resembling a small UKRI grant, was straightforward to assemble and submit. The ACORN team provided support with to help those who are unsure about the grant application process. The grant is really beneficial for anyone who wants to test ideas or generate preliminary data as often proof of concept is critical to the success of larger grants but can be difficult to obtain.’

Kim and Sarah were awarded funding and the project was successfully delivered within the time frame for the grant. Like most projects, it wasn’t plain sailing, but all the key aims were achieved and they are now actively working towards the submission of the full UKRI grant.

Kim stated that ‘The provision of a small sum of money has allowed us to generate pilot data that we are using as part of our larger bid. As two ECRs the ACORN grant allowed us to work closely together to develop this project idea as project leads, which is often difficult to do as part of other grants. We are now working together on the larger UKRI bid which makes this part less daunting and more achievable within a specific timeframe.’

These photos were taken during the fieldwork in Poole Harbour:

BU colleague Harry Manley joined Sarah and Kim on fieldwork to learn more about the process of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Sediments were retrieved from as deep as 5m below the surface. Multiple locations are logged in order to establish the best location to take a sediment core from.

During the analysis of the samples back in the lab :

The lab analyses included looking at the geochemistry, organic content, pollen and silica phytolith microscopic plant remains, the magnetic susceptibility, particle size and insects. These analyses helped to understand what has been preserved and what can be looked at in detail in future projects.

The ACORN grant allowed the sediments to be dated and helped to establish that the deepest deposits sampled so far are approximately 5000 years old!

For more information about ACORN funding, see the ACORN intranet page or contact ACORN@bournemouth.ac.uk.

(Photo credits: Kim Davies and Sarah Elliott, Bournemouth University)

 

Raf Nicholson on the Early Career Researcher Network

Awarded & submitted bids

I started work at Bournemouth University in April 2018 as Postdoctoral Researcher in Sport, Leisure and Tourism. At BU I have been supported by peers through both the Research Staff Association and the ECR Network. It was at a meeting of the ECR Network on research funding where I learned about the Acorn Fund, a specific BU pot of funding designed for Early Career Researchers.

I applied for an Acorn award in April 2019 and was subsequently awarded £4,444. This gave me the chance to begin work on a new project focused on the underrepresentation of women within sports leadership in the UK, carrying out oral history interviews with women who were involved in sports governance in the 1980s and 1990s. As part of this award I was also able to host an event at BU in December 2019 focused on “Women in Sport Governance”. We had representatives from 15 different National Governing Bodies of Sport attend the event, and I was able to share my research findings and develop my network. I was fully supported in running the event by members of BU’s Research Development & Support team, who assisted with the logistics and with publicising the event.

As a result of all the above support I achieved promotion to Senior Lecturer in April 2020, and I shared my experiences and learning with the ECR network at that month’s meeting.

I would really recommend the ECR network to other researchers. The meetings are always valuable and informative, and everyone is friendly and supportive. Personally, I found it was a lifeline during the UK lockdowns to have a (virtual) space to chat with others at ECRN meetings.

For more information about the Early Career Researcher Network and to book onto any of the monthly sessions, see here.

Michelle Heward; reflections from an ACORN Awardee

Awarded & submitted bids, Post-award, Training

How BU ECR ACORN funding has helped my research career

I was awarded BU ECR Acorn funding in 2018 for a study titled ‘Minimising disorientation in care homes: Experiences of care home staff’. The funding enabled me to recruit and manage a student Research Assistant to undertake telephone interviews with care home managers, exploring how they address spatial disorientation and navigation of residents with dementia in such environments.

With guidance and support from my line manager Prof Jan Wiener and colleagues from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, I was able to gain experience of leading the study as Principal Investigator and contributing to the evidence base of current practice by publishing the findings in a journal article.

This experience has proven to be an essential element in building my research profile. It demonstrates my capability to build a multi-disciplinary team and lead a study through the research cycle, from idea to dissemination stage. As such, it has been a catalyst for me to obtain external research funding from the Alzheimer’s Research UK South Coast Network to continue developing my expertise and networks in this area. It has also given me the confidence to take forwards further research interests and ideas with my other line manager Prof Jane Murphy and various internal and external colleagues. I have since applied to funders such as NIHR, EPSRC, and Alzheimer’s Society – with some success and some still awaiting an outcome!

Personally, I feel that the support for ECRs at BU has improved recently with the development of initiatives such as the ECR network, ECR Acorn funding, and training and development courses specifically aiming at ECRS as part of the RKE Development Framework. I have benefited from career planning and development advice and resources from my line managers, those who run the ECR network, the BU MyCareerHub (particularly the networking and Linked in guidance) and having access to health and wellbeing resources such as a coach to discuss career trajectory.

I would encourage all ECRs at BU to take the time to look at what is available and make use of what is appropriate to them. If applying for ECR Acorn funding, start with a small, manageable project and involve more experienced colleagues to ensure you feel supported and able to complete the study.

Introducing the Early Career Researcher Network

Our established network of Early Career Researchers extends across the faculties. It provides support to Early Career Researchers from the experienced academic leaders of the network, Dr. Sam Goodman, and Prof. Ann Hemingway, as well as from peers, and highlights the support available from the Research Development and Support department and other BU teams. It also, as the name suggests, provides a forum for networking and making connections that can be of great benefit to an academic’s research career.

We have monthly networking events. We plan to continue holding them online for the time being, with a view to trialling at least a couple of hybrid events later in this academic year. We have a mix of themed discussions, (on topics like career planning, dealing with imposter syndrome, managing your profile as a researcher), plus open surgeries with more general Q&A.

For a more animated introduction, here is a short video of Sam and Ann talking about the network.

If you are not already a member of the network but would like to be, or if you have any queries, please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk. No restrictions apply, as long as you identify yourself as someone in the early stages of their research career.

To have a look at what sessions are on, and to book onto any of them, please see here.

This Sunday is a midwifery day

international, NHS

Today Sunday 21st November was a midwifery dominated day today.  This lunchtime a interdisciplinary team from CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health) at BU and the University of Exeter submitted a research proposal to the ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) on Midwife-Led Birthing Centres in Low- and Middle-Income  Countries.   As a personal observation: whoever thought that setting the submission deadline for a Sunday was a good idea has no respect for researchers’ work-life balance!

This afternoon many of us attended the  March with Midwives vigils which were held nationwide in the UK to highlight issues with midwifery staffing and working conditions.  The March with Midwives vigil took place in 50 towns and cities, as a vigil to make the general public and politicians aware about the maternity crisis.  In Poole Park it attracted over fifty people.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH

The future of mental health research in Wessex – online meeting

NHS

Date: 9 December 2021

Time: 12:30-14:00

Location: OnlineChaired by Professor Chris Kipps, in this meeting attendees will learn about the new mental health network in Wessex and explore opportunities to collaborate and discuss the mental health research landscape across Wessex. Register for a place here.

Free training sessions for dementia researchers

conferences, international, Knowledge Exchange, Training

Bournemouth University is involved in a wider collaboration which organises the Advanced Dementia Research Conference (ADRC 2021).  The conference is delivered online today and tomorrow (19th-20th November).  ADRC 2021 is led by Dr. Brijesh Sathian, BU Visiting Faculty, based in the Geriatric Medicine Department, Rumailah Hospital, in Doha, Qatar.  Saturday morning Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will be delivering a session on qualitative research, preceded by a session on mixed-methods research from Prof. Padam Simkhada, also BU Visiting Faculty, from the University of Huddersfield.

The programme shown is for Day 2 tomorrow.   All sessions today and tomorrow are free to attend!  You can register here! Please, note that advertised times a Qatar times which three hours ahead of the UK at the moment.  

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

 

Bournemouth research cited in The Sunday Times

international, Publishing, writing

Today Bournemouth University’s research on Nepali migrant workers and kidney problems was cited in The Sunday Times. In the preparation for the Qatar 2022 men’s football world cup The Sunday Times published an article under the title ‘Dying for the World Cup‘.

Dr. Pramod Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Aryal were awarded funding from GCRF (The Global Challenges Research Fund) and Bournemouth University’s QR fund.  This work resulted in an editorial highlighting that low-skilled migrant workers in the Middle Wast and Malaysia are at a disproportionately higher risk of kidney problems. The working conditions are often Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult (referred at as the 3Ds) include physically demanding work, exposure to a hot environment, dehydration, chemical exposures, excessive use of pain killers, and lifestyle factors (such as restricted water intake and a high intake of alcohol/sugary drinks) which may precipitate them to acute kidney injuries and subsequent chronic kidney disease [1].  And recently, a national survey of nephrologists (kidney specialists) on their perceptions of the size of the problem of kidney health in Nepali migrant workers [2].

 

 

References:

  1. Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., Sedhain, A., KC, R.K., Martinez Faller, E., Rijal, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2021). Kidney health risk of migrant workers: An issue we can no longer overlook. Health Prospect 21(1): 15-17.
  2. Aryal, N., Sedhain, A., Regmi, P., KC, R. K., van Teijlingen, E. (2021). Risk of kidney health among returnee Nepali migrant workers: A survey of nephrologists. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 12(12), 126–132.

 

Not going in!

international, Publishing, writing

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the online workshop ‘500 Years of Childbirth’ together with by CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health) colleges Dr. Juliet Wood and Dr. Laura Iannuzzi. The session ‘500 Years of Childbirth’ was part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities which runs 11–20 November 2021.  History has always been a passion of me, and the presenters, Julia Martins and Carly Lokrheim, linked early modern history with childbirth in the 21st century. 

This wonderful session reminded me of my draft chapter I wrote for my PhD thesis three decades ago.  My thesis A social or medical model of childbirth? : comparing the arguments in Grampian (Scotland) and the Netherlands at the University of Aberdeen was supervised by Dr. Peter McCaffery.  Peter wisely said to me: “You really needed to write this chapter to make sense of the history of midwifery in your head, but it does not really fit the thesis.”  He added: “You have too many words already.  You know that it is not going in?” The material of this history chapter was not lost as I used loads of text from it it in the introduction section for a textbook [1].  The section ‘History of Midwifery: Introduction’ became part of our edited volume Midwifery and the Medicalization of Childbirth: Comparative Perspectives (Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Huntington, New York, USA) [2].

It is a message I occasionally repeat to my own PhD students.  Under the circumstances I may fing myself saying things like “This is something you had to get of your chest, or you had to write it to make sense of it, but as it stands do you think it fits your argument?”  Or more subtly in a supervision meeting, tell us: “What does this section add to your overall story in the thesis?”

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, E. (2004) History of Midwifery: Introduction, In: van Teijlingen, E. Lowis, G., et al. (eds.), Midwifery & the Medicalization of Childbirth, NY: Nova Sci., pages: 43-52.
  2. van Teijlingen , E., Lowis, G., McCaffery, P. & Porter, M. (eds.) (2004) Midwifery and the Medicalization of Childbirth: Comparative Perspectives, New York: Nova Science. [Paperback ISBN: 1-59454-0314].

Paper published outlining good practice for receiving informed consent

NHS, Publishing, Research Ethics, Training

A paper has been published by Hugh Davies (Chair, Oxford A NHS Research Ethics Committee) and the members of Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (REC) which includes a model for what the REC considers to be good practice in terms of consent for research participation. The paper proposes that there are four simple steps which consent processes should be built around:

  • Step 1: Introducing the study and the choices: helping the potential participants get an overview of the proposal and introducing the key issues.
  • Step 2: Explaining all the details of the study using the detailed Participant Information Sheet.
  • Step 3: After a gap, if necessary, reviewing and checking understanding.
  • Step 4: Reaching agreement and recording consent.

The paper outlines common issues such as information provision to participants, inadequate public involvement, and lack of proportionality.

You can access the paper here.

Remember that RDS offers training in informed consent, as does the National Institute for Health Research. If you are interested in accessing this training, please email Research Ethics.

Template documents are also available via the Health Research Authority website.

IMSET Seminar: How archaeologists can contribute to a Green New Revolution

BU are delighted to welcome Erika Guttman-Bond tomorrow,  Thursday October 28th, at 4.30pm for a hybrid seminar, held in F306 and on line.

There has been a lot of interest in the failures of the past and the environmental disasters that have ensued because of poor land management practices. Erika will be arguing that the successes of the past are of equal importance. Her research focuses on pre-industrial techniques that have been rediscovered, either through archaeology or anthropology, and put back to work. Such systems often prove to be not only more sustainable than modern approaches, but more resilient in the face of environmental extremes.

Tickets are available from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/imset-seminar-how-archaeologists-can-contribute-to-a-new-green-revolution-tickets-186916160267?fbclid=IwAR14hzCKSgvIz0k8G6lRU1NcezC4mewjCzJV1M4fSQfclXhq-BXiW5BixFM