Tagged / survey

BU researchers: We need your help!

Please help to develop BU policies and initiatives relating to research at BU by completing the  BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023 (Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research survey)*.

This is an important survey as it benchmarks BU against the rest of the sector. It will, therefore, help us to identify where we are excelling and where there is room for improvement.

Participating in this study will also influencepolicy. Your input will help us to understand where to focus our efforts and resources – it will give us the data to make the argument for you. (The results of the previous PIRLS and CROS surveys that CEDARS has replaced were used to develop new policies and initiatives, as well as training and development opportunities).

Please complete the CEDARS survey if you are research-active (whether on a full-time, part-time or part-time hourly paid contract). This includes researchers at all stages in your career, those who manage researchers, or are Principal Investigators, or contribute to research by providing professional services for researchers, (i.e. researcher developers, research officers or technical staff).

The survey is running from 20th March to 21st April. Your responses will be anonymous; you will not be identified or identifiable in any published results. It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey. BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please email Rachel Arnold: rarnold@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Thank you, the Research Development and Support Team

*CEDARS is a national survey that explores the views and experiences of researchers and those supporting researchers across the UK. It is based on the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, which aims to create the best culture for researchers to thrive. This survey replaces the previous CROS and PIRLS surveys.

Please find more information here on the ‘Concordat to Support the Careers of Researchers’ and what BU is doing to support researchers.

BU researchers: We need your help!

Please help to develop BU policies and initiatives relating to research at BU by completing the  BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023 (Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research survey)*.

This is an important survey as it benchmarks BU against the rest of the sector. It will, therefore, help us to identify where we are excelling and where there is room for improvement.

Participating in this study will also influencepolicy. Your input will help us to understand where to focus our efforts and resources – it will give us the data to make the argument for you. (The results of the previous PIRLS and CROS surveys that CEDARS has replaced were used to develop new policies and initiatives, as well as training and development opportunities).

Please complete the CEDARS survey if you are research-active (whether on a full-time, part-time or part-time hourly paid contract). This includes researchers at all stages in your career, those who manage researchers, or are Principal Investigators, or contribute to research by providing professional services for researchers, (i.e. researcher developers, research officers or technical staff).

The survey is running from 20th March to 21st April. Your responses will be anonymous; you will not be identified or identifiable in any published results. It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey. BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please email Rachel Arnold: rarnold@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Thank you, the Research Development and Support Team

*CEDARS is a national survey that explores the views and experiences of researchers and those supporting researchers across the UK. It is based on the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, which aims to create the best culture for researchers to thrive. This survey replaces the previous CROS and PIRLS surveys.

Please find more information here on the ‘Concordat to Support the Careers of Researchers’ and what BU is doing to support researchers.

Athena SWAN – tell us your views by this Friday

At BU, we are proud of our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and to improving the staff experience for all colleagues. We would like your feedback to help us progress our work in this area. 

The Athena SWAN charter is an initiative run by AdvanceHE. It is a framework to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. We are proud to have an institutional Athena SWAN bronze award and of our five departments, who hold departmental bronze SWAN awards.  

To inform our ongoing programme of gender equality work and future submissions for Athena SWAN awards, we want to hear your views on the inclusiveness of our culture. Your responses will help us to identify good practice, as well as areas for development. Please complete our survey by 23.59 on Friday 31 March.  

The survey will take 10 minutes to complete. It is open to all BU colleagues and we want to encourage everyone to take the time to share your feedback with us. This will help us get the best understanding possible of what is working well and what we need to address to continue to support all genders of our community equally. The survey refers to gender in broad and inclusive terms, encompassing those who identify as women, men or non-binary. All responses will be anonymous and no data will be used to identify individuals.  

If you are a line manager, please encourage your team to complete the survey, so that we get as many responses as possible. Thank you.

BU CEDARS SURVEY 2023

BU CEDARS SURVEY 2023

Culture, Employment and Development in
Academic Research Survey

BU CEDARS survey 2023

We are delighted to inform you that BU is launching the Bournemouth University Culture, Employment, and Development in Academic Research survey (CEDARS). It runs from today Monday 20th March 2023 to Friday 21st April 2023 and is open to all staff who are research active.

What is it? – a UK survey that explores the views and experiences of researchers and those supporting them across UK higher education institutes.

Who can complete it? Anyone who is research active at BU (especially researchers/principal investigators).

Why is it important? Because this is an opportunity to share your experiences and idea- and to influence the research culture, BU policies, and initiatives.

When it is running? March 20th – April 21st 2023

Learn more on how BU supports the careers of researchers

 

Please, help us to get a realistic picture, and fill out our survey here: BU CEDARS survey 2023

 

Reflections on Fieldwork in Nigeria: Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day, 21 March 2022

international, writing

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I travelled to Nigeria on 13 September 2021 for my data collection on adults (aged 18 years and above) with Down syndrome and their family members and caregivers. I had the opportunity to interact and build a long-lasting relationship with adults with Down syndrome as they are the main participants of my research. My trip was both exciting and challenging!

My research was meant to focus on South-West, Nigeria. Fortunately, I was able to cover the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria namely: South-West, South-East, South-South, North-East, North-West and North Central. I would say it was a blessing in disguise. 🙂

Interactions with adults with Down syndrome

On 28 September 2021, I visited my first recruitment centre – Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria (DSFN), an organisation for people with Down syndrome located in Lagos State. During my visit, I was introduced to people with Down syndrome. The organisation followed global public health guidelines on COVID-19 such as wearing of face masks, washing of hands and use of hand sanitiser. There was no handshaking, they greeted me with their elbows. A male teenager aged 17 years and his classmates with Down syndrome prayed for me. It was a fascinating experience. I felt accepted by everyone and had fun all day.

Some adults with Down syndrome were friendly and willing to engage while some were shy. I observed them whilst they were learning in their classes and how they interact in the organisation. Many of them had smiles all over their faces confirming they were happy in their environment. On the same day, the DSFN President’s daughter, an adult with Down syndrome said she likes me and asked about my birthdate. I told her and she gifted me with a diary for my birthday. She was the first person to give me a gift for my birthday in 2021 which I truly cherish. She also offered me a canned drink and some cookies. She is very lovely and friendly. I went back the next day to start my data collection.

My first birthday gift in 2021 by a female adult with Down syndrome

Reports from adults with Down syndrome

My data collection was a combination of adults with Down syndrome in special schools, care homes and those living at home with their parents. For those in special schools, they go back home during the mid-term break (boarders and day students), while those living with parents did not go to school due to lack of funds. For boarders, most of them do not want to go home during mid-term break, they prefer to interact with their friends in school. The special schools and care homes have a better understanding of how to care for them. Most adults with Down syndrome reported they want to be independent, get married and have children, and have paid jobs. They reported they love singing and dancing.

Interactions with family members and caregivers

I had brief interviews with some family members and caregivers. The President & Founder of DSFN, Mrs Rose Mordi, was delighted that I am researching in this area. She added that there is low awareness of people with Down syndrome in Nigeria and some parents tend to hide their children/adults with Down syndrome as they feel ashamed, unaware of how to properly care for and support them.

I made three visits to Lady Atinuke Oyindamola Memorial Home in Badagry, Lagos State. I met with the Founder, Mrs Elsie Akerele, she welcomed me very well and was interested in my research. She pointed out that people with Down syndrome need to be respected for who they are. She added that the rights of people with Down syndrome need to be fought for, as she recalled how babies with Down syndrome can be killed by being thrown into the rivers to sacrifice to deities in Badagry and around the country. She reported she has requested the provision of a healthcare facility closer to the organisation from the Lagos State Government. The memorial home lost a child who was convulsing whilst travelling far to another location to get treatment. She indicated they urgently need an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine to check the brain conditions of people with Down syndrome in their care. She added that great attention should be placed on the dietary requirements of people with Down syndrome. Family members and caregivers reported that people with Down syndrome in Nigeria are often neglected, stigmatised and receive no financial support from the Nigerian government. Some raised concerns about who would take care of their adults with Down syndrome when they are dead as they are ageing.

Data collection and sample size

Over 90% of the data collection was done onsite and less than 10% was done online mainly for the Northern parts of Nigeria due to security issues.

It has been very difficult to collect data from adults with Down syndrome during the last year. As of 16 February 2022, I obtained self-reports from 166 adults with Down syndrome and proxy reports from 52 family members and caregivers covering the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Based on my visits to the recruitment centres, some caregivers (staff) informed me that COVID-19 impacted the finance of parents and were unable to provide resources for their adults with Down syndrome while some adults are locked at home. There was also confusion at times as to what I was trying to achieve, as many of the family members and caregivers are not well informed about the relevance of the survey. Despite providing information sheets and liaising with the organisations, a mother declined to participate in the survey as she said: “my child is not for an experiment.”

Engagement in my fieldwork

I was invited several times to participate in some events regarding people with Down syndrome in Nigeria such as seminars on Down syndrome awareness, a music session, and a birthday party.

I took a photo of myself during one of my visits to DSFN. As a Statistician, I am dedicated to applying robust statistical methods in advancing the quality of life of adults with Down syndrome and setting up databases on the demographics of people with Down syndrome to aid future research in Nigeria.

At DSFN, Lagos State during my data collection

Research progress

Researching adults with Down syndrome has provided me with valuable insights in several ways. First, it has made me understand who they are and how they feel. Second, they require early intervention in helping them to develop their skills particularly interpersonal and communication skills. Third, they love to learn, especially with the aid of visuals and music. Finally, they can achieve anything they want to.

I sincerely appreciate the adults with Down syndrome, family members and caregivers in Nigeria who participated in my research. Many thanks for their time, efforts, and valuable responses in ensuring this work was successful. I am grateful to my supervisors, Dr. Philip Davies, Dr. Emili Balaguer-Ballester and Dr. Jane Healy, for their guidance, consistent support and patience in my research progress. A special thanks to Dr. Vanessa Heaslip for her positive contributions to my work.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my journey in researching adults with Down syndrome has “just commenced.” I am glad I travelled to my country, Nigeria, for my research work. Based on the gaps identified in the literature and my research outcome, I am diving deeper into addressing them to improve the quality of life of adults with Down syndrome in Nigeria.

Congratulations to Sara Stride

NHS, Publishing, student research, Training, writing

Congratulations to Sara Stride and her PhD supervisors on the publication of ‘Identifying the factors that influence midwives’ perineal practice at the time of birth in the United Kingdom’ in the international journal Midwifery [1].  The Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries (OASI) Care Bundle is designed to reduce the incidence of obstetric anal sphincter injuries. However, introducing behavioural change requires an understanding of current practice. This national study aims to establish midwives practice at the time of birth, and the factors that influence this.  The paper concludes that there has been a growth in the number of midwives using “hands on” at the time of birth but midwives feel that they require additional training in regards to identifying an OASI. The study should be repeated following the roll out of the OASI care bundle, to identify its impact on midwives’ perineal practice.  This nation-wide study identified the need for improvements in the recognition of OASI by midwives, and in future repeating the study would identify whether the OASI care bundle has influenced midwives’ practice.

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference

  1. Stride, S.L., Hundley, V.A., Way, S., Sheppard, Z.A. (2021) Identifying the factors that influence midwives’ perineal practice at the time of birth in the United Kingdom, Midwifery, 103077

Survey – researcher engagement with Parliament

The UK-wide Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN), which BU is a member of, would like to find out what you think about engaging with Parliament as an academic researcher.  

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve ever engaged with Parliament previously.

UPEN wants to know

  • how academics perceive Parliament,
  • what are some of the key barriers to engaging with it, and
  • what measures could be put in place to encourage more academics and researchers to ensure their research informs the work of Parliament.

If you take part, you could potentially win a £100 Amazon voucher and it should take just 5 minutes to complete the survey.

You can complete the survey at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/OpeningUpParliament 

The survey is open to all academic and research staff, and PhD students, based at any UK university.

The deadline for responses is 31st May.

External Survey – Research Integrity

Research Integritiy

Would you like to contribute to a research study of research integrity in the UK?

Research England, on behalf of UKRI, have commissioned Vitae in partnership with the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) to conduct a study exploring what motivates researchers to maintain high standards of research integrity.

Steven Hill, Director of Research at Research England said: “Research integrity, broadly the conducting of research in a way that ensures that it is trustworthy, ethical and abides by professional standards, is vital to ensure the accuracy of the results and conclusions of research.”

Researchers experience many pressures, incentives, disciplinary norms, and personal motivations that may affect the way research is carried out. The study aims to understand these factors and how they may relate (positively or negatively) to research integrity.
You are invited to share your thoughts and experiences through this survey.

Click for more information and to access the survey.

The survey is open until 6 November 2019.

N.B. this blog post is promoting an external survey. BU is not responsible for this external content.

External Survey – Research-active academic staff

Training

We have received notification of an external survey:

Vitae are hosting a survey that is open to research-active academic staff, regardless of career stage or level of engagement, across the UK’s Higher Education Institutions. Results will provide an evidence-based outline of the current position across the UK to help improve training, support and professional development in higher education.

The survey will help identify examples of good practice that can be shared and mainstreamed and will also identify whether there are important gaps in researcher development and training provisions at key stages of a research-active member’s career that should be filled.

By taking part in the survey, you will help make a contribution to achieving a good and healthy research environment, and helping further embed the reputation of UK Higher Education in an increasingly competitive world research environment.

It is different from the consultation to Support the Career Development of Researchers, which ran last year, and in addition to the Principal Investigators and Research Leaders Survey (PIRLS), as the current survey focuses specifically on the training aspect of researcher development.

Complete survey here (deadline Friday 29 November 2019)  

or at https://www.vitae.ac.uk/impact-and-evaluation/review-of-staff-development-and-support-provision-for-academic-research-across-uk-higher-education-institutions

The survey is being hosted and the data processed by Vitae on behalf of the University of the Highlands and Islands and Oxford Brookes University.

This is an external survey with Bournemouth University not responsible for any third party links. This post is to raise awareness of this initiative only.

NIHR Research Participant Experience Survey 2018/19 – final report

Knowledge Exchange, NHS

You may have seen the blog post back in April regarding the results from a recent patient research experience survey, conducted by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) Wessex.

The survey results showed that across the 10 NHS organisations in Wessex, from the 400 responses received, 96% of participants had a good experience of taking part in research. It also showed that 98% of research participants surveyed had all the information that they needed in relation to the study.

The NIHR have released a recent report that shares the results of the Research Participant Experience Survey 2018-19, which was also conducted across the other 14 Clinical Research Network areas in England. You can take a look at the report here.

Wessex patients report positive experience of research for a second year

Knowledge Exchange, NHS

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) Wessex has recently conducted a survey, distributed amongst the 10 NHS organisations in the Wessex region. This is the second time the CRN Wessex patient research experience survey (PRES) has been conducted, and ran throughout October 2018.

400 responses were received anonymously, and showed that 96% of participants had a good experience of taking part in research. It also showed that 98% of research participants surveyed had all the information that they needed in relation to the study.

Copied from the original article –

‘Many of those surveyed reported that the research staff supporting them were friendly and helpful and that they had a considerable amount of time to spend with them in order to explain the study and answer any questions.

The survey also highlighted that one of the key motivators for taking part in research was a desire to help others, with one participant commenting: “It’s good to know that this research could help future generations of patients.”’

 

The survey will be conducted again in October of this year.

National Research Landscape Survey

Research England is interested in understanding how researchers think the research landscape (i.e. research outputs, impacts and the research environment) might change over the next 5 to 10 years, in order to inform their planning for future research assessment (post 2021). This survey is intended to collect information on these issues and is part of a wider study being conducted by RAND Europe on behalf of Research England.

This survey is for researchers within English Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

It should take 8-12 minutes to complete and can be accessed here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/nationalresearchsurvey/

If you have any questions about the survey please contact the RAND Europe project team at research_landscape_survey@rand.org.

RKEO Calendar survey – extended to 4 February

R & KE Operations

Thank you to those who have responded to date. We would still like to hear from more of you on your thoughts on the RKEO calendar and so have extended the closing date for the survey.

It’s been four months since the 2017-18 RKEO calendar landed on your desk.  The calendar contains all of the events that RKEO arrange, major funder call closing dates, information on various research schemes, and other activities that will be of interest to academics.

The Research & Knowledge Exchange Office would like your feedback on the calendar before deciding on whether to create next year’s.

Tell us what you think by completing our short survey . All entrants names will be entered into a draw and one lucky person will receive an RKEO goodie bag. For the six who have already entered, please can you contact Jo Garrad if you wish to be entered into the prize draw?  I have now added the option to include your name on the survey for any new entrants (survey Bobby basics).  If there are any academics out there who didn’t get a calendar and would like one, we still have a handful left and so do get in touch.

The extended deadline date is 4 February.

RKEO Calendar survey – last day

It’s been four months since the 2017-18 RKEO calendar landed on your desk.  The calendar contains all of the events that RKEO arrange, major funder call closing dates, information on various research schemes, and other activities that will be of interest to academics.

The Research & Knowledge Exchange Office would like your feedback on the calendar before deciding on whether to create next year’s.

Tell us what you think by completing our short survey . All entrants names will be entered into a draw and one lucky person will receive an RKEO goodie bag.  The deadline date is TODAY – Friday, 26 January.

RKEO Calendar survey reminder

It’s been four months since the 2017-18 RKEO calendar landed on your desk.  The calendar contains all of the events that RKEO arrange, major funder call closing dates, information on various research schemes, and other activities that will be of interest to academics.

The Research & Knowledge Exchange Office would like your feedback on the calendar before deciding on whether to create next year’s.

Tell us what you think by completing our short survey . All entrants names will be entered into a draw and one lucky person will receive an RKEO goodie bag.  The deadline date is Friday 26 January.

RKEO Calendar survey

It’s been four months since the 2017-18 RKEO calendar landed on your desk.  The calendar contains all of the events that RKEO arrange, major funder call closing dates, information on various research schemes, and other activities that will be of interest to academics.

The Research & Knowledge Exchange Office would like your feedback on the calendar before deciding on whether to create next year’s.

Tell us what you think by completing our short survey . All entrants names will be entered into a draw and one lucky person will receive an RKEO goodie bag.  The deadline date is Friday 26 January.

NERC Early Career Researcher evaluation survey

PG research

NERC is undertaking an evaluation of its support for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to be completed in 2017. This evaluation is the first of its kind to be undertaken by NERC to gain a better understanding of the challenges and issues facing ECRs during this crucial period for their career development.

The outcomes of this evaluation will determine whether current NERC strategy and activities are effective at maintaining a healthy research base for the environmental sciences, and ensuring the training and opportunities available for NERC ECRs are appropriate for facilitating success in the broad range of careers they enter.

The evidence to inform this evaluation will be collected through an online survey developed by market research specialists, DJS Research, NERC, and its advisory boards. The audience for this survey is primarily ECRs within NERC’s remit but it also provides the opportunity for employers of ECRs and other key stakeholders to provide feedback. This survey will be complemented by case study interviews to provide further information concerning the insights arising from the survey and explore in greater depth the challenges facing ECRs.

The online survey will run from 3 August to 2 October 2017 and NERC intends to publish the findings of this evaluation in December 2017.

If you have any queries concerning the ECR Evaluation, please contact researchcareers@nerc.ac.uk

UK Parliament survey – supporting diversity in academic engagement

Are you an academic researcher?

Could you help the UK Parliament understand the barriers for academics in working with them, particularly those academics from more diverse backgrounds?

NERC have created a survey – please complete the short survey now and help NERC to support as many academics as possible to engage with Parliament.

The UK Parliament is committed to working with as diverse a range of people as possible.  NERC have been working for a few years to inform and engage academic researchers in the work of Parliament through training and other activities.  NERC are aware that some groups of academics engage with Parliament more than others, and would like to find out why.

NERC have just launched an online survey about the barriers to engaging with Parliament for academics. The survey is 14 questions long and should take around 5 minutes to complete. NERC would welcome contributions from anyone with something to tell them, although they are particularly interested in hearing from academics from groups who engage less with Parliament; women, academics from BAME backgrounds and academic with disabilities.

The survey closes on Friday 18th August 2017.  The results from this survey will lead to activities focused on meeting some of the barriers identified and supporting a wider range of academics to engage with the business of Parliament.