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John Vinney speaks to Guardian Higher Education Network

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Bournemouth University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Vinney, spoke to the Guardian to give his thoughts on George Osborne’s plans for the future of Higher Education, announced during the autumn statement.

The plans centred on freeing the restriction currently placed on the number of students universities can recruit each academic year.  Funds will be created for the new plan by selling the loan book that supports students while they study.

The blog post started with Professor Vinney declaring that ‘Christmas had come early’ for Higher Education institutions as the cap on the number of students was relaxed, “It is easy to get caught up in discussions about affordability and implementation, but the real headline in the chancellor’s autumn statement is that Christmas just came early for a future generation of students. Higher education is a fundamental good for both the individual and society, and any effort to make it more accessible to a larger number of people should be applauded.”

In the article Professor Vinney weighed the pros and cons of such a move, stating, “Speaking as a father, I am pleased that when my children start thinking about going to university they will have a much better chance of entering higher education, and will be much more likely to get a place at the university they want to study at, with their likelihood of success being dependent solely on their academic ability.”

Professor Vinney continued, “Speaking as a vice-chancellor, we will now have a true market in higher education, with all the joys and sorrows that come with it. But competitive, innovative providers who genuinely care about the future of their students and graduates should have absolutely nothing to fear from that.”

Professor Vinney concluded by saying, “The freeing of controls is a landmark moment for the sector and I for one am glad that a little bit of ideological policymaking has prevailed at last.”

Read the article in full on the Guardian website.

Dyson visit BU engineering students

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The James Dyson Foundation visited Bournemouth University and gave students a unique insight into the daily operations at Dyson.

Kristian King, graduate design engineer at Dyson led the talk discussing sketching, prototyping, manufacturing and other areas of their design process.

King said, “The main aim of today is to show students what it’s like to work for Dyson and what it takes to design a product of high performance.”

After the talk the Dyson team held a workshop where students were set a design challenge. “Students will design a product that uses a motor to suck or blow air. It gets young engineers thinking outside the box and gets them to feel like they’re working at Dyson,” said King.

“The reason we came to Bournemouth is because we know they have a high calibre of engineers. We also hope to encourage [today’s] first year students to consider Dyson in future.”

The James Dyson Foundation awards scholarships to university students studying science, technology, engineering, product design or maths.

Ross James, a fourth year student on the Design Engineering course at BU was recently awarded one of these bursaries. The bursaries are worth £1000 funding to build prototype products as part of their course. “It’s really good because prototype costs can be expensive for us as students,” said James.

For more information about the scholarships visit the James Dyson Foundation website.

Lecturer awarded £7,000 grant to further marine research

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Paola Palma, lecturer in Marine Archaeology at Bournemouth University has recently been awarded an English Heritage grant worth £7,000 to study shipworms around the UK.

The study will last six months and should map the presence of two types of shipworms, Teredo Navalis and Lyrodus Pedicellatus, in English waters.

Shipworms are most commonly known for causing the rapid degradation of wooden objects as they often tunnel through wood internally causing it to weaken.

Paola Palma said “Teredo Navalis is probably the shipworm best-known to archaeologists”. The study hopes to build on existing knowledge using publicly available knowledge.

BU students will also get involved with the study as part of a training exercise, details to be confirmed at a later date.

BU Masters student appears in RPS Journal

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Bournemouth University postgraduate student Kiratsinh Jadeja, recently appeared in the Royal Photographic Society Journal discussing his passion for 2D compositing.

Jadeja recently enrolled on the MA Digital Effects course at BU after discovering his interest in photography whilst travelling in India.

“I love blending my photography and Photoshop skills to produce a final result that is not only different and better, but also visually pleasing”.

“Bournemouth’s Digital Effects course is recognised by premier VFX studios like Double Negative and MPC. My interest lies in 2D compositing, which means blending frames shot in camera with computer generated frames, to come up with something totally different.”

Jadeja is building up an impressive portfolio having recently been signed as House Photographer for Getty Images and contributing photographer for Image Source. He also works with clients such as Microsoft Washington, Pearson Education UK and Expedia.

When asked about his time at the Bournemouth University, Jadeja said “I am proud to be a student here and I highly recommend it”.

Media School US Election coverage wins award

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Bournemouth University Media School students’ radio coverage of the US 2012 Presidential election has won a Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) award for best radio news day.

Media School students won the award for working through the night, broadcasting live on Hope FM and online, giving the latest news and results from the US 2012 Presidential election.

The radio coverage included hourly bulletins and news flashes throughout the night, along with live debates and guest speakers including Conor Burns MP.

The radio broadcast was only one strand of the US 2012 coverage as students were also tasked with producing a live television broadcast and a stream of online news coverage about the election.

Multimedia journalism students Beth Graham and Jodie Packwood both worked on the radio coverage as Editors and were in Coventry to receive the BJTC award. They said, “It feels really good as we put a lot of effort and time into this project. It’s the first time the radio side of the project has been recognised with a prize so it’s nice to know our coverage was award winning.

“We learnt that radio journalism takes a lot of pre-planning – you can’t just go on air and have a chat. We planned this right from the beginning of term. A highlight was when we called the result of Barack Obama winning, before the BBC.”

The students were also quick to thank the lecturers who made the radio broadcast possible, adding, “We would also like to thank the lecturers who helped out on the night and in the run up to the event – particularly Cat Greeves who helped us so much. And the project wouldn’t have even been possible without Mat Charles and Ann Luce who were the ‘big bosses’ of the event and put it all together.”

NCTJ conference hosted at Bournemouth University

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Bournemouth University Media School academics were joined by a host of journalists, guests and peers for this year’s National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Conference.

The conference, hosted at BU, brought about thought provoking discussion around the culture of journalism in a Post-Leveson climate and the sorts of skills that journalism graduates need in a multimedia, digital newsroom.

Stephen Jukes, Dean of BU’s Media School, said, “We are hugely proud of our NCTJ connections and the performance of our students in those exams every year.

“This is a really exciting time to be studying journalism, a really pivotal time where we have either seen the end of 300 years of free press or we are seeing the start of a re-evaluation of the practices of journalism and purge of some of the darker styles of the tabloid trade.”

John Ryley, Head of Sky News, gave the opening address to the conference and said, “All  the technology in the world counts for nothing without that essential element – good journalism.

“I believe that journalism can, and indeed should be, a force for good by shining a light on those things that perhaps people would prefer to remain hidden.

“Training is what separates professional journalists from so-called citizen journalists. It should also instil a value of doing the right thing, and the rights and wrongs of good practice.”

A number of industry professionals also took to the stage to give their thoughts on the current UK media climate, including two Bournemouth University BA Multimedia Journalism graduates; Ollie Joy, who now works for CNN, and Rachel Bartlett, editor of journalism.co.uk.

Study Multimedia Journalism at BU!

Miles Russell discusses Piltdown Man hoax on BBC Radio Solent

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Miles Russell, programme leader of the BSc Archaeology course at Bournemouth University appeared on Steve Harris’ Drivetime show on BBC Radio Solent, discussing the 60 year anniversary since the discovery of the Piltdown Man was uncovered as a hoax.

Russell suggested archaeologists have learned from the hoax saying, “We have all become more cynical. If a find is too good to be true, it often is”.

Piltdown Man was said to be the biggest archaeological discovery of the century in 1912 when fossils of a human braincase and an ape like jaw were discovered, marking the midpoint in evolution between apes and humans.

In the 1950’s further research was carried out on Piltdown and, 60 years ago, the discovery was exposed as a hoax.

“People were so worried about proving Piltdown as a hoax that they wanted to make sure every last test was complete,” said Russell. “Before the hoax was uncovered, children had always been taught that civilization began in the south east”. However the science behind Piltdown didn’t align with other scientists discoveries over the years.

Dr Jeff Bray appears on BBC Radio Solent

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Dr Jeff Bray, a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Retail management, appeared on Steve Harris’ Drivetime show on BBC Radio Solent, discussing the marketisation of Christmas and whether the popularity of adverts translates into sales.

Bray suggested advertising is money well spent saying “advertising helps to build retailers brand value and it subtly influences our purchase decisions”.

“Talkability is the important thing… Spending a lot on a creating a decent advert means businesses don’t have to spend that much showing it” said Bray, suggesting that YouTube and other online video outlets are the perfect place to watch a good advert.

Although he went on to suggest that advertising is hard to quantify as it is “difficult to know what is having influence on the customer”.

Student-led project to impact mountain communities

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A project to help and support communities living in mountainous regions across the world is to start at Bournemouth University.

The Students’ Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU) is partnering with AleeVee8 for the volunteering project that will see students work alongside the charity to promote its work and support the start of its project in Nepal.

A launch event took place at Bournemouth University, attended by AleeVee8 patron Tobias Ellwood MP, where students were invited to find out more about the charity and its plans for the future.

Chelsey Groves-Cooper, a final year student on the Communications and Media course at BU, brought the project to the university’s attention after completing an internship with AleeVee8. She is now one of two students heading up the project on behalf of SUBU and she is encouraging students to get involved.

Chelsey said, “I think people should get involved with aleeVee8 because it is a great cause, they will be helping others whether indirectly or directly, and ultimately they will have the chance to do some good. Students will get a lot out of this for themselves as people and as professionals, all the transferable skills and attributes gained can be put on their CV’s- making them more employable when leaving university.”

Chelsey continued by talking about what the project has done for her personally, “This experience has been so valuable to me. I have grown in confidence and have more faith in myself as an individual and as a professional. I have realised what my real passions and interests are and have gone through a huge learning curve. Ultimately, I feel this experience is so rewarding because I know that I am helping people in some way, even if it is in the long run. Coming from South Africa originally, I have seen poverty first hand and it’s sickening.”

For more information about the AleeVee8 project you can visit the SUBU website.

BU PhD student quoted on Science Daily website

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Phil Martin, a PhD student at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology at Bournemouth University, gave his comments to Science Daily about a recent study which found plant biodiversity takes longer to recover than carbon storage.

Martin said, “We think plant species normally found in old-growth forests are failing to colonise re-growing forests because their seeds never get there. These recovering forests are often far from old-growth forests and surrounded by farmland. This means forest animals cannot move seeds between the two forests.”

Martin added, “We suggest that when conservationists aim to restore tropical forests they should help dispersal of seeds from undisturbed to re-growing areas by planting trees throughout the wider landscape.”

The research team, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Bournemouth University conducted a synthesis of data collected from more than 600 secondary forest sites.

They concluded that although carbon recovered most quickly, even after 80 years re-growing forests tended to have less carbon than old-growth forests. This is probably because these forests are often dominated by small, fast growing trees. It may take centuries for larger trees which hold more carbon to become established.

To read the story in full, visit the Science Daily website.