Tagged / research

Research Facilitator focus change – 1st August 2022

BU research, Research news

Exciting changes are coming to you from August 2022 in terms of the support provided by RDS’ Research Facilitators.

As agreed at the December 2021 Research Performance and Management Committee, the focus of the Research Facilitators will change from Faculty-facing to funder specialisms, based on the major funders. The current post titles will change to ‘Research Facilitator for…’ and the contacts for each post are detailed below:

The focus of the Research Facilitator support will remain largely unchanged, which is:

  • to identify potential funding opportunities through horizon scanning and cascade these across BU via the weekly funder briefings
  • to provide support to researchers within the Research Facilitators funder specialisms, to develop their bids through building research teams (including external collaborators as well as inter/multi-disciplinary teams within BU)
  • to advise on bid content and structure to ensure a high-quality bid is submitted to external funders.

Support for all other types of bids/funders will be provided through Faculty Leadership and Research Mentors.

The change to funder specialisms will mean that we can provide support to a larger number of academics through funder focussed briefings, scramble events, STEAMLabs (to form interdisciplinary ideas linked with external collaborators), and training through the RKEDF. We have already started transitioning to funder-focussed training this academic year, and these opportunities will also be available next academic year.

In addition to Research Facilitators, there are several support options in place to support you through the pre-award process and finding funding opportunities tailored to you. BU have invested in Research Professional, which enables you to target opportunities specifically for your research area. If you are new to Research Professional, this link provides you with help guides and bi-monthly webinars to help you get started. In addition, weekly funder briefings will continue this academic year, and the programme for 2022/23 will ensure a greater focus on specific opportunities each week. We will also be trialling a user-friendly ‘funding opportunities’ newsletter shortly.

More information will be communicated in July to help you navigate the pre-award process. Further communications will outline the changes leading up to August 2022. Stay tuned!

Funding Development Briefing – Spotlight on…UKRI Future Leader Fellowships

BU research, Funding opportunities

The RDS Funding Development Briefings occur weekly, on a Wednesday at 12 noon.

Each session covers the latest major funding opportunities, followed by a brief Q&A session. Some sessions also include a spotlight on a particular funding opportunity of strategic importance to BU.

Next Wednesday 29th June, there will be a spotlight on the UKRI Future Leader Fellowships. 

We will cover:

  • Overview
  • Internal process
  • Q & A

For those unable to attend, the session will be recorded and shared on Brightspace here.

Please join the briefing by clicking the link below.

Click here to join the meeting

Trusted Research – information now live

BU research, Guidance, Research assessment, Research communication, Research Concordat, Research Ethics, research integrity, Research news

Within the Research Environment pages on the BU website, there is now a section on the Trusted Research agenda.

The Trusted Research Agenda is a government initiative to secure the integrity of the system of international research collaboration and innovation.

Please visit the page to find out more, including key details and guidance.

Another CMMPH COVID-19 publication on fathers

BU research, COVID-19, Featured academics, innovation, international, Knowledge Transfer, Publishing, Research Centres, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) Visiting Faculty members Prof. Minesh Khashu and Ms. Jillian Ireland on the acceptance of their paper “COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU (neonatal intensive care units)—an exploratory cross-sectional study” has been accepted by Acta Paediatrica [1]. Acta Paediatrica

These authors, both employed by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, are part of an international team of researchers studying the role of fathers in maternity care.  The first author on the paper, Dr. Esther Adama is Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Edith Cowan University in Australia. Previous papers produced by some members of this team were both published in the Journal of Neonatal Nursing [2-3].

Congratulations to my colleagues!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

References:

  1. Adama E.A., Koliouli F., Provenzi L., Feeley N., van Teijlingen E., Ireland J., Thomson-Salo F., Khashu M and FINESSE Group (2022) COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU—an exploratory cross-sectional study, Acta Paediatrica (accepted).
  2. Fisher, D., Khashu, M., Adama, E., Feeley, N., Garfield, C., Ireland, J., Koliouli F., Lindberg, B., Noergaard, B., Provenzi, L., Thomson-Salo, F., van Teijlingen, E. (2018) Fathers in neonatal units: Improving infant health by supporting the baby-father bond & mother-father co-parenting, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 24(6): 306-312 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2018.08.007
  3. Ireland, J., Khashu, M., Cescutti-Butler, L., van Teijlingen, E., Hewitt-Taylor, J. (2016) Experiences of fathers with babies admitted to neonatal care units: A review of literature, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 22(4): 171–176

RKEDF Clinical Research Governance Sessions

BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Guidance, nhs, NHS, Research communication, Research Ethics, research integrity, Research Training, RKE development framework

As you will be aware, RDS offers something called the RKEDF, or Research & Knowledge Exchange Development Framework – as part of this there are a number of sessions available surrounding clinical research governance. These sessions can be booked as a 1:2:1 or in bespoke group sessions with Suzy Wignall, BU’s Clinical Governance Advisor.

As always, general chats/specific discussions can also be booked in too – please just email!

The RKEDF sessions available are as follows:

Please get in touch if you are interested in any of these sessions.

For general guidance, documents and further information surrounding processes, take a look at the Clinical Governance website.

Another research league table

BU research, Featured academics, international, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized

This week Research.com, a prominent academic platform, published its 2022 Edition of the Ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the area of Social Sciences and Humanities.  Professor Edwin van Teijlingen, in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), is listed as number 234 in United Kingdom ranking as well as number 1238 in the Social Sciences and Humanities world ranking.

 

New research paper published by PhD student Hina Tariq

BU research, NHS, open access, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Publishing, Research communication, Research news, student research, Uncategorized, writing

PhD student Hina Tariq, currently undertaking the Clinical Academic Doctorate program at the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work (SSSW), published a new paper titled, “Factors associated with joint contractures in adults: a systematic review with narrative synthesis” Open Access in the journal of Disability and Rehabilitation. This paper is co-authored by her academic supervisors, Professor Sam Porter, Dr Desiree Tait and Dr Kathryn Collins, clinical supervisor, Joel Dunn (Dorset Healthcare University Foundation NHS Trust), and her formal colleague from Pakistan, Shafaq Altaf.

Summary: The review presents latest evidence on factors associated with joint contractures, which are essential to guide clinical practitioners and non-experts in identifying and managing the risk associated with joint contractures. Clinical interventions based on the timely identification of risks related to joint contractures in vulnerable adults can potentially prevent or ameliorate their development or progression.

The review has already crossed over 300 reads. The full text can be accessed by following this link: Full article: Factors associated with joint contractures in adults: a systematic review with narrative synthesis (tandfonline.com)

 

 

Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Arnold on her latest paper

BU research, COVID-19, Featured academics, nhs, NHS, open access, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Arnold in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) on the publication today of her  paper ‘Why use Appreciative Inquiry? Lessons learned during COVID-19 in a UK maternity service‘ [1].  This methodological paper is co-authored with Dr. Clare Gordon who holds a has joint clinical academic post at UCLan and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, with a focus on developing clinically focused stroke research, education and improvement. Clare is also a former BU Ph.D. student.  Further co-authors from CMMPH are Professors Sue Way and Edwin van Teijlingen.  The final co-author, Dr. Preeti Mahato, finished her post in CMMPH two days ago to start her Lectureship in Global Health at Royal Holloway (part of the University of London).

The paper highlights that selecting the most appropriate research method is an important decision in any study. It affects the type of study questions that can be answered. In addition, the research method will have an impact on the participants – how much of their time it takes, whether the questions seem important to them and whether there is any benefit in taking part. This is especially important when conducting research with staff in health services. This article is a reflection on the process of using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in a study that explored staff well-being in a UK maternity unit. The authors  discuss our experience of using AI,the strengths and limitations of this approach, and conclude with points to consider if you are thinking about using AI. Although a study team was actively involved in decisions, this paper is largely based on reflections by dr. Arnold, the researcher conducting the field work in the maternity services.

 

Reference:

Arnold, R., Gordon, C., van Teijlingen, E., Way, S., Mahato, P. (2022). Why use Appreciative Inquiry? Lessons learned during COVID-19 in a UK maternity service. European Journal of Midwifery, 6(May), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/147444

Two new academic papers on COVID-19 research

BU research, COVID-19, Featured academics, international, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

This month CMMPH has two new research papers focusing on COVID-19.   The first one published in World Medical & Health Policy reports on a quantitative study of the availability of hand-washing facilities in households across Nepal [1].  This study used secondary data from Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2016 to assess the association between households’ wealth status to handwashing stations. The findings reported a statistically significant association between age of the household head, residence place, ecological zone, province, wealth status, having of mosquito net, having a radio, and TV at respondents’ household to fixed hand-washing stations at their households.

The second paper published three days ago in Vaccines is a qualitative study of of interviews with Nepali immigrants living in the UK and their attitudes towards COVD-19 vaccination [2].  Vaccination saves lives and can be an effective strategy for preventing the spread of the COVID-19, but negative attitudes towards vaccines lead to vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Nepali community in the UK. This study found that attitudes towards COVID-19 are generally positive. Nine overlapping themes around barriers to COVID-19 vaccination were identified: (a) rumours and mis/disinformation; (b) prefer home remedies and yoga; (c) religion restriction; (d) concern towards vaccine eligibility; (e) difficulty with online vaccine booking system; (f) doubts of vaccine effectiveness after changing the second dose timeline; (g) lack of confidence in the vaccine; (h) past bad experience with the influenza vaccine; and (i) worried about side-effects. Understanding barriers to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine can help in the design of better targeted interventions. Public health messages including favourable policy should be tailored to address those barriers and make this vaccination programme more viable and acceptable to the ethnic minority communities in the UK.   This Vaccine paper includes two FHSS Visiting Faculty as co-authors: Prof. Padam Simkhada and Dr. Bibha Simkhada.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

 

 

 

References:

  1. Sharma, M., Adhikari, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Handwashing station in Nepal: Role of wealth status in establishing a handwashing station, World Medical & Health Policy Accepted
  2. Simkhada, P., Tamang, P., Timilsina, L., Simkhada, B., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E., Sah, S.K., Wasti, S.P. (2022) Factors Influencing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Nepali in the UK: A Qualitative Study, Vaccine 10(5), 780;https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10050780

RDS Funding Development Briefing – Wed. 11/05/22

BU research, Events, Funding opportunities

The next RDS Funding Development Briefing will be on Wednesday (11/05/22) at 12 noon.

There will be a spotlight presentation on the Royal Society Industry Fellowships call.

In case you are not sure where/how to join, please contact my colleague Alexandra Pekalski for further details.

Thank you to all of you who have engaged in the sessions to date, we are looking forward to meeting you again.

RDS Funding Development Briefing on Wednesday 27/04/22

BU research, Funding opportunities

RDS Funding Development Briefing will be on Wednesday (26/04/22) at 12 noon. There will be no spotlight presentation this week.

Please not that there will be no briefing next week (04/05/2022).

Hopefully, you will be joining NIHR Information Session organised by our BU colleagues on Wednesday 27th April at 10am. More information you may find on Research Blog.

Looking forward to meeting you soon.

Research study recruitment – adults aged 60 years or older

research opportunities, Uncategorized

NMES applied to the quadriceps muscles

We are looking for 12 healthy adults aged 60 years or over to take part in a PhD research study. The study is an evaluation of a six week intervention of home-based neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) that aims to strengthen the quadriceps muscles in the legs.

 

What is neuromuscular electrical stimulation? (NMES)

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation sends electrical impulses to nerves. This causes muscles to contract involuntarily. Doing so can increase muscle strength and offset the effects of muscle disuse. NMES is often use to improve muscle function and to build strength before or after surgery or following a period of disuse. We want to test how effective it is at improving quadriceps muscle endurance.

What would taking part involve?

  • A baseline assessment at the Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI), where we will collect data on your leg muscle strength.
  • Six weeks of home-based NMES training with biweekly telephone reviews.
  • A follow up assessment at ORI where your baseline measures will be repeated.

We are unable to pay participants, but can offer a £20 John Lewis voucher and a strength assessment report as a small thank you.

Primus equipment used to test leg muscle strength

How do I find out more information?

The participant information sheet for this study can be found here.

If you would like any further information, or are interested in taking part in the study, please contact the lead researcher Louise Burgess (lburgess@bournemouth.ac.uk, 01202 961651).