Tagged / training

Quality Papers: how to write papers that can be published in your target journals workshop

You enjoy research, but writing papers is either scary or just takes too long. You are under pressure to ‘get published’ in high ranking journals, but daily commitments mean you haven’t got patches of undisturbed hours in your diary.

Quality Papers provides a process that can help you write with greater speed and confidence, at the same time as increasing your chance of getting published in your target journal. The course gives strategies for getting the best from your co-authors and streamlining thinking, writing and editing.

We have hired the services of an external facilitator to offer support in this for academic staff as part of the BRAD programme. Dr Nicola Cotton holds a First class honours degree in French and German from Wadham College, Oxford and has gained an MA and PhD at UCL. Nicola is a fully qualified teacher and has been lecturing at university level since 1992. She has worked as a research assistant at UCL for the Vice-Provost and also as Editor for Asian Advertising and Marketing Magazine in Hong Kong. In her role as associate trainer Nicola combines her knowledge of research and language to deliver excellent training in writing for publication using the Think-Write approach

The session is on Friday 17th April 2015 08:45 – 16:30 on Talbot campus. There are limited spaces so please do ensure you get one by booking on the Organisational Development webpages.

NVivo – Advanced

Day 2

Assumes these decisions have been made and focuses on analysing your data. And whereas day 1 is largely conceptual, day 2 is mainly practical and is quite technical. Most people understand that setting up your database correctly is paramount to getting a return on the time and energy expended in learning the software tool. Given that manual interpretive coding in NVivo is not really any faster than using a manual system as you still have to code line by line, the benefit of using NVivo is in the retrieval and reporting on codes. Day 2 therefore focuses on interrogating (querying in database terminology) and reporting on results so that findings can be supported with high quality outputs or appendices. Also, the ability to support your coding processes with coding tables for example, means that you can also demonstrate rigour in your methodology chapter which helps to establish your credibility as a researcher and make your findings trustworthy and plausible.

We have hired the services of an external facilitator to offer support in this for academic staff as part of the BRAD programme. Ben Meehan worked in industry for twenty six years. For the past thirteen years he has worked as an independent consultant in support of computer aided qualitative data analysis projects (CAQDAS). He is a QSR approved trainer and consultant. He has worked in all of the major universities and Institutes of Technology in Ireland and Northern Ireland. His work outside of the educational sector includes major global companies such as Intel where he consults in support of their on-going ethnographic research and the Centre for Global Health where he has recently worked in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique (2009) and in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Tanzania with the University of Heidelberg (2010) and Ethiopia for the Ethiopian Public Health Association (2011) and the Population Council, Zambia (2012). Apart from Africa, Ben regularly conducts workshops in Germany, France, UK, Northern Ireland, the US (Maryland, 2011, Yale, 2012) and Australia.

The session is on Tues 16th April 2015 09:00 – 17:00 on Talbot campus. There are limited spaces so please do ensure you get one by booking on the Organisational and Staff Development webpages.

NVivo – Introduction

Day 1

Offers a rounded introduction to NVivo and focuses on the requisite management decisions one should make at the beginning of one’s project such as what is my data?

Should I code audio or transcripts and what are the advantages and limitations of either approach? How does the software work?

Why should I integrate my background information or demographics and what is auto-coding and how might it help to better understand my data and prepare it for the cycles of manual interpretive coding to follow?

How do I integrate my chosen methodological approach in using NVivo and reconcile it with the philosophical underpinnings to apply such methods as Grounded Theory, Discourse Analysis, Content Analysis, Thematic Analysis or Narrative Interpretive Methods as just some examples.

Day 1 has an emphasis on the conceptual although the afternoon session is more rooted in the practical. By the end of day 1, participants should be able to set-up an NVivo database, back it up, import their data, setup a coding structure and code their data to it and set up and integrate their demographics.

We have hired the services of an external facilitator to offer support in this for academic staff as part of the BRAD programme. Ben Meehan worked in industry for twenty six years. For the past thirteen years he has worked as an independent consultant in support of computer aided qualitative data analysis projects (CAQDAS). He is a QSR approved trainer and consultant. He has worked in all of the major universities and Institutes of Technology in Ireland and Northern Ireland. His work outside of the educational sector includes major global companies such as Intel where he consults in support of their on-going ethnographic research and the Centre for Global Health where he has recently worked in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique (2009) and in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Tanzania with the University of Heidelberg (2010) and Ethiopia for the Ethiopian Public Health Association (2011) and the Population Council, Zambia (2012). Apart from Africa, Ben regularly conducts workshops in Germany, France, UK, Northern Ireland, the US (Maryland, 2011, Yale, 2012) and Australia.

The session is on Tues 14th April 2015 09:00 – 17:00 on Talbot campus. There are limited spaces so please do ensure you get one by booking on the Organisational and Staff Development webpages.

Developing Professional Researcher Networks Workshop – 15th April 2015

The aim of this workshop is to give for Early Career Researchers or PhD students (particularly final year students) skills to conduct effective professional networking conversations and to use networking as a tool for developing their professional networks.

Networking is recognised by established researchers and Academics as an essential tool for career development and professional advancement.

In contrast, research reveals that many Early Career Researchers feel very uncertain about networking, in respect to both the practical “how to do it” issues and the underlying, often values-based questions “Why it is important ?” and “Should I be doing this?”.

We will address various aspects of networking and develop the appropriate physical and mental skills necessary to improve our skill set in confident networking techniques.

Progress will be made through discussions and group exercises to develop essential skills, build confidence and overcome anxiety or blocks to performance.

As a result of this workshop participants will :

  • Increase their understanding of the professional importance of networking
  • Improve their ability to communicate confidently in networking conversations
  • Understand the importance of body language in effective communication
  • Have tools to deal with stress or anxiety related to networking
  • Have strategies to develop collaborations or increase visibility.

We have hired the services of an external facilitator to offer support in this for academic staff as part of the BRAD programme. Dr Margaret Collins has a 20+ year academic career background and uses her experience and subsequent training in theories such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming to deliver advice on how to increase personal effectiveness in these areas.

You sometimes have to invest a little time to free up more later on – the session on Weds 15th April 2015 09:30 – 12:30 on Talbot campus is a worthwhile investment. There are limited spaces so please do ensure you get one by booking on the Organisational and Staff Development webpages.

Time Management for Researchers – 15th April 2015

‘I just don’t have time’ This is a phrase I hear most often at work – we all have increasing pressures and often struggle to be as effective as possible in a shorter period of time to ensure we have a healthy work-life balance.

Everybody has just 24 hours in every day. Why do some people seem to achieve much more than others with their allotted time?

During this half day workshop we will identify the major drains on your time or energies and explore different tools to structure your use of time and resources.

Particularly in a research environment it is likely that there will never be enough time to do everything. This workshop will give you the tools to help you to choose the most important things when all things seem important.

We will consider different ways to assess priorities, to deal with timewasters and with deadlines. The course will also allow participants to develop their own work-life balance and to reflect on how they choose to spend their time.

As a result of this workshop participants will have tools to

  • Prioritise what they choose to do
  • Streamline their use of time
  • Define their own work-life balance
  • Understand the difference between important and urgent

We have hired the services of an external facilitator to offer support in this for academic staff as part of the BRAD programme. Dr Margaret Collins has a 20+ year academic career background and uses her experience and subsequent training in theories such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming to deliver advice on how to increase personal effectiveness in these areas.

You sometimes have to invest a little time to free up more later on – the session on Weds 15th April 2015 13:00 – 16:30 on Talbot campus is a worthwhile investment. There are limited spaces so please do ensure you get one by booking on the Organisational and Staff Development webpages.

 

You wouldn’t go skydiving without a parachute!

So, why wouldn’t you asses your training needs before going on training?

Take charge of your career development and increase your employability, by focusing your training efforts where it’s needed. All you need to do is undertake the ’My Academic Development Needs: Self-Assessment’ (MADNSA), it will allow you to see your strengths an any gaps in your skills which you need to address in order to get where you want to be in your career (you can also use Vitae’s version which is more detailed). 

You can read case studies of real academics to see how using the planner based on this assessment has helped transform their careers.

Take some time for yourself and complete the MADNSA and sign up for some facilitated sessions, through the Staff Development webpages and log into myBU  BRAD community to view the online sessions?

Student-midwife-run postnatal clinic: FUSION example

FHSS staff and students published their latest article ‘Would a student midwife run postnatal clinic make a valuable addition to midwifery education in the UK? — A systematic review’ now out on line in Nurse Education Today 35 : 480-486.   The paper is written by Wendy Marsh, Dana M. Colbourne, Susan Way & Vanora Hundley.

We are pleased to inform you that the final version of your article with full bibliographic details is now available online.  The publishers are providing the following personal article link, which will provide free access to this article, and is valid for 50 days, until April 17, 2015:  http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QcG5xHa50bEa

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Introductory Session: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2015

Introductory Session: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2015 – European (EF) and Global (GF)

WHAT: Two brief overview sessions (1 hour) introducing the fellowships,  the support being offered to staff applying and a mapping of the processes both internal and external.

 WHERE: Lansdowne (B407) : Tuesday 27th January 10.30am-11.30am , Talbot (P335): Wednesday 28th January 3.30pm-4.30pm (it’s the same session – one for each campus).

The 2015 call for these very popular fellowships is launching 12/03/15.  The scheme involves a Researcher, potentially from anywhere in the world, coming to BU for 1 or 2 years with generous funding for salary and other costs.

Come along and find out more!

UKRO Reminder – RISE workshop 22 January 2015

Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE): Information Event

In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the UK Research Office is holding an information event for researchers who are interested in applying for the 2015 MSCA Research and Innovation Staff Exchange call, which opens on 6 January 2015, with a closing date of 28 April 2015.

Aim of the Research and Innovation Staff Exchange funding
The RISE scheme supports projects which promote international and/or inter-sectoral collaboration through staff exchanges and the sharing of knowledge and best practice. The scheme involves organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors, organisations based in Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries) and outside of Europe (third countries).

Date and venue
Thursday, 22 January 2015
London South Bank University
Room 806, Keyworth Centre
Keyworth Street
London  SE1 6NG

Aim of Information Event
The event will provide participants with an in-depth overview of the RISE scheme. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals.

Who should attend?
The event is aimed at staff at UK academic and non-academic organisations, including industry, who are planning to submit a proposal to the RISE call.

Registration

Attendance is free of charge, but capacity at the venue is limited and places will therefore be allocated on a first come first served basis. Register via the UKRO workshop announcement.

The event will only take place if a minimum number of participants is reached. All interested participants will be notified by Friday 16 January 2015 at the very latest.

Agenda
The event will cover key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals. A successful RISE 2014 project case study will be presented by the Principal Investigator.

EUADS: Deadline tomorrow!

The EU Academic Development Scheme (EUADS) is a unique scheme developed to kick start your career in EU research, and is open to all BU academic staff.  The scheme will help you work towards making a submission by providing unlimited 1-2-1 support from an expert EU bid writer, group mentoring and unlimited assistance in actually writing your application over a 12 month period.  In addition to the training, the EUADS scheme also includes an individual fund. Each successful participant will have access to grants up to £3ooo to spend on activities supporting bid development, such as:
• Travel with the intent of networking
• Conference attendance with the intent of networking
• Pilot research work
• Fieldwork
• Attendance at external networking events leading to collaborative research proposals
• Meetings with external organisations to establish collaborations
• Preparation of specialist material or data
• Replacement teaching 

You can read more on this scheme in the EUADS Policy Document  and make a submission using the  EUADS Application Form.   

The deadline for applications is Friday 19th December 2014.  Applications and any questions should be submitted to the Funding Development Coordinator, Giles Ashton, gashton@bournemouth.ac.uk

UKRO – RISE workshop in January 2015

Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE): Information Event

In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the UK Research Office is holding an information event for researchers who are interested in applying for the 2015 MSCA Research and Innovation Staff Exchange call, which opens on 6 January 2015, with a closing date of 28 April 2015.

Aim of the Research and Innovation Staff Exchange funding
The RISE scheme supports projects which promote international and/or inter-sectoral collaboration through staff exchanges and the sharing of knowledge and best practice. The scheme involves organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors, organisations based in Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries) and outside of Europe (third countries).

Date and venue
Thursday, 22 January 2015
London South Bank University
Room 806, Keyworth Centre
Keyworth Street
London  SE1 6NG

Aim of Information Event
The event will provide participants with an in-depth overview of the RISE scheme. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals.

Who should attend?
The event is aimed at staff at UK academic and non-academic organisations, including industry, who are planning to submit a proposal to the RISE call.

Registration

Attendance is free of charge, but capacity at the venue is limited and places will therefore be allocated on a first come first served basis. Register via the UKRO workshop announcement.

The event will only take place if a minimum number of participants is reached. All interested participants will be notified by Friday 16 January 2015 at the very latest.

Agenda
The event will cover key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals. A successful RISE 2014 project case study will be presented by the Principal Investigator.

Wanted: Book reviewers

 

Sociological Research Online one of the four BSA journals is constantly looking for new reviewers of books for its section on book reviews.  Every issue of Sociological Research Online lists the recently received books from a range of publishers.  Please spread this message to (junior) sociology colleagues and Ph.D. students in the discipline.  For many social science postgraduate students a book review can be a nice first publication, with the added benefit that reading the book can be helpful in their Ph.D. journey.  For the budding book reviewer we have written a short ‘how-to-do-a-book-review piece’ which can be found on the Sociological Research Online webpages: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/info/bookreviews.html

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH, Bournemouth University

Book review editor Sociological Research Online