This is an archive of our old news and events pages. This site is no longer maintained, as such some links may no longer work.

About sgates

Status: ACTIVE. Research Communications Manager

BU student on Cherries’ first premiership game

Posted on August 11, 2015 by sgates

Sara Foss is an MSc International Accounting and Finance student. She was the lucky winner of two tickets to AFC Bournemouth´s first premier league match against Aston Villa on Saturday 8 August 2015. Sara tells us about her day:

“I was super excited as I’ve never been to a premier league match before and it made it even better being able to support AFC Bournemouth. I’ve grown so fond of this city while doing my masters degree here!

“I chose to bring my friend from university. You could feel the excitement and anticipation around Bournemouth town in the early morning hours, which grew even stronger as we were walking towards the stadium.

“When we arrived at the stadium we were meet by thousands of AFC Bournemouth fans (and a couple of Aston Villa fans) and everyone was so happy and excited about the game. We had great seats behind the goal and the atmosphere at the stadium was fantastic.

“AFC Bournemouth dominated the first half and it was so much fun to watch. Unfortunately Aston Villa scored during second half and won the match 1-0.

“Even though we didn’t win, it was still an amazing experience to be a part of and I’m sure we’ll both remember this day for a long time. It was clearly one of the most fun experiences I have had during my year in Bournemouth.”

BU is the official Higher Education partner of AFC Bournemouth. Keep checking our Facebook page for more AFC Bournemouth competitions and news.

Security notice for Android users

Posted on August 10, 2015 by sgates

Students using Androids should be aware of a newly discovered weakness in the devices that leaves them vulnerable to being hacked simply by downloading a multimedia message (MMS).

BU’s Information Security team have this information about protecting yourself and your device.

What is the vulnerability?

Malware could be sent to your mobile phone via a multimedia message, downloaded to your phone and executed.

What is the risk?

It could allow hackers to take complete control of a phone.

If I have been infected, what are the symptoms?

It is possible you may not notice any symptoms of an infection. However, there are giveaways:

Odd charges on your mobile statements
Odd data and excessive data usage (may show up in charges or your data quota runs out unexpectedly)
Significant reduction in battery life
Unexpected applications installed on your phone
You had antivirus but it has stopped / keeps stopping

How can I protect myself?

Disable the auto-retrieve multimedia messages on your android apps. You can find out how here. Once you have disabled auto-retrieve, only open MSM messages if you know the sender and are confident it is secure.

We recommend that BU students and staff switch off the auto retrieve setting on multimedia messages (MMS).

If you have any questions about this or any other security-related concern, please contact the IT Service Desk on 01202 965515 or extension 65515.

Turnitin maintenance – Saturday 15 August 3-7pm

Posted on August 3, 2015 by sgates

Turnitin will be unavailable due to maintenance on Saturday 15 August from 3-7pm.

You will not be able to submit assignments during this time.

Please contact the IT Service Desk (01202 965515) if you have any questions.

If you have any problem submitting your assignment outside of this time, please also contact the IT Service Desk (01202 965515).

Chris Packham at BU’s Festival of Learning

Posted on July 13, 2015 by sgates

Springwatch presenter Chris Packham joined hundreds of people at Bournemouth University for the start of the week-long Festival of Learning.

The Festival, which features over 150 free events and activities, kicked off with a family day on BU’s Talbot Campus – with a whole host of activities for all ages.

From Mini Professor Taster sessions to a performance by the Dementia Orchestra and the chance to play wheelchair basketball and get hands-on with fossils from the Jurassic Coast – young and old were treated to a range of free activities.

Chris Packham gave two talks about ecology and conservation as part of the Festival, and took a tour around the campus to get involved with some of the interactive activities taking place.

“To be here at a Festival of Learning is really exciting,” Chris said. “In fact, I can’t think of anything more exciting than a Festival of Learning, and obviously it’s been really great to attract young people into the learning environment.”

He added: “I think it’s absolutely essential that universities engage with the communities where they are based, the community that’s supporting them and they are helping to support.”

The Festival of Learning is now in its third year, and aims to share the university’s knowledge and expertise with the public in an engaging and accessible way.

Andrew and Jane Diffey, of Poole, came to one of Chris Packham’s talks.

They said: “Chris was really good, really interesting. He’s really humorous but he balanced it so well with other information too. The pictures he used were brilliant and amazing that he took them himself.

“It was very good, good that it was free and we had the opportunity to come locally to listen to something like this. It was really great.”

The Festival of Learning runs until Friday 17 July, with a range of free events still to come – from theatre performances to professional development opportunities and the chance to have some fun with food.

BU’s Knowledge Exchange and Impact Manager Dr Rebecca Edwards said: “The opening day has gone really well – the sun has shone and we’ve had lots of people of all ages coming onto campus and getting stuck in.

“It’s fantastic to have an endorsement for the Festival of Learning from someone like Chris Packham. His talks were really inspirational and he has just been fabulous, walking around campus talking to people.”

She added: “There are so many highlights that I think that for everybody there will be something still to come along to – lots of fun events, but also lots of things which can really help you grow and learn.”

To find out more about the Festival of Learning, and book free tickets for events, visit The Festival of Learning website.

Congratulations to our NSS prize winners

Posted on May 21, 2015 by sgates

BU hosted a presentation today for fifteen lucky final year students who won prizes in the National Student Survey (NSS) draw.

Prizes included cash, VIP Graduation packages and tickets to the SUBU Summer Ball.

Final year BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance student Kate Ibbotson won £200. She said: “I’m looking forward to getting past all my final year exams and using the money to celebrate properly.”

Lucy Smith from the BA (Hons) Politics and Media said: “It’s fantastic to receive some Summer Ball tickets from a survey that takes less than ten minutes to fill out!”

BU’s Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney presented the prizes to the lucky students, who were drawn at random by Ipsos Mori – the company the government commissions to run the survey.

Today’s event also celebrated the excellent response rate BU achieved this year. A massive 78.78% of all BU final year undergraduates completed the NSS, which is BU’s highest response rate ever in the ten years the survey has existed and an impressive 7.78% above the national average.

“The reason it’s so important to get a high participation rate,” explained Professor Vinney, “is to get the widest possible spread of perspectives from across our student body.”

All UK universities complete the NSS. It provides valuable insight into the student experience, so the organisations know what works well and what might need improving. Results are also publicly available to prospective students and their families to help them make informed choices of where and what to study.

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all those students who completed the NSS.

Kathryn Richmond

Posted on April 23, 2015 by sgates

“We were very sad at BU to hear of the death of our student Kathryn Richmond earlier this week. Kathryn was studying on the Tourism Management programme.

“Kathryn was friendly, affable and a dedicated student. She was liked by many students and staff, and will be sorely missed by all those that knew her within the Faculty of Management (School of Tourism) and beyond.

“Our thoughts are with her family, friends and fellow students at this time.”

Anya Chapman – Programme Lead and Neelu Seetaram – Unit Tutor

If any students need support at this difficult time, please visit the Chaplaincy or Counselling pages of the Student Portal.

New Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology

Posted on April 15, 2015 by sgates

BU is delighted to welcome Professor Christine Maggs as the new Executive Dean of Bournemouth University’s Faculty of Science and Technology.

Christine joins BU from Queen’s University Belfast where she held the role of Head of the School of Biological Sciences and Professor of Phycology. Christine was appointed to Queen’s in 1995 and has held the roles of Lecturer, Reader and Director of Research before taking on the role of Head of the School of Biological Sciences and Professor of Phycology.

In addition to serving on a number of leadership groups and committees at the university, Christine played a critical role in the School achieving Athena Swan Gold, which recognises the commitment to advancing women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine. Christine has also served on a Research Excellence Framework (REF) panel, advised the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and has an award of Excellence from the Phycological Society of America.

Christine has a strong track record in improving and maintaining a high student experience; she has a strong research profile and has engaged with organisations and businesses throughout her career. Christine’s experience will be a huge asset to the university as we move further forward in achieving our strategic goals.

Research Photography Competition – Vote Now

Posted on March 9, 2015 by sgates

‘Can you tell the story of your research in a single image?’ That’s the challenge we set BU’s academics and postgraduates earlier this year, and the overwhelming response saw researchers from all across the university downing tools to take up their cameras and think of unusual ways to illustrate their research. The resulting images demonstrate not just the creativity of our academics and postgraduates, but also the fascinating range of research taking place at BU.

Researchers from all across the university working in areas as diverse as dementia, archaeology, kayaking and 3D printing submitted images to the competition, and now we want your help to decide which pictures should form a photography exhibition on Talbot campus later this year.

To vote for your favourite images, visit our research website or Facebook page and vote for as many images as you like. Perhaps a particular research subject strikes a chord with you, or you find a certain image especially evocative – whatever your reasons for having a favourite, the content of the exhibition is up to you to decide!

Make sure you vote to ensure that your favourite image is part of the exhibition on Talbot campus later this year. The deadline for voting is Friday 27 March. Details of the exhibition will follow once voting is complete.

BU’s New Student Centre

Posted on February 27, 2015 by sgates

We’re really pleased to announce that yesterday we got the keys to your new Student Centre.

The building will be a great new space for you to study, socialise and get involved with your Students’ Union.

There’s still some work to be done before we open the doors, including the internal fit-out and moving of SUBU offices. You can follow the preparations and progress.

We’ll officially open the doors on Monday 23 March 2015 and then you’ll be able to go inside, have a look around and start using the facilities, which include:

High quality space for collaborative working
SUBU offices
A student advice centre
Two cafes
Radio and media studios
Bookable meeting rooms
Access points for student services.

Take a look at the new Student Centre website to see images of the completed building, up-to-date FAQs, a floor plan, details of how to book rooms and much more.

If you would like to send us your feedback or if you have any additional queries please email studentcentre@bournemouth.ac.uk.

The opening of the new Student Centre marks an important milestone in BU’s on-going investment in world class facilities, improving student experience and reducing our impact on the environment.

BU Faculties: What do I need to know?

Posted on February 20, 2015 by sgates

BU’s move from ‘Academic Schools’ to ‘Faculties’ got underway at the end of last year, and we hope that the change has had very little impact on your day-to-day experience.

In addition to the existing Faculty of Science & Technology, the three new Faculties are:

Faculty of Media & Communication, incorporating the current Media School and Law.
Faculty of Management, incorporating the current Business School and School of Tourism.
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, incorporating the School of Health and Social Care.

The move towards a Faculty structure will provide you with greater opportunities for collaborative study across the whole University, and as previous students have done, you will continue to graduate from your course and BU (as opposed to one of BU’s academic areas).

The move has also allowed us to establish a sound foundation for future investment in our existing areas of academic strength, and more scope to develop new subject areas. The names of the Faculties were chosen to reflect our subject areas, strengths and contributions to society – they also reflect that BU is maturing as an institution and brings us in line with other, well established, universities around the world.

To help develop the Faculties we are recruiting an additional 30 academic staff, and there may be some changes to roles within the management structure. The impact on your lecturers and tutors should be minimal.

You’ll also see our website and signage change over the coming months to reflect our new Faculties structure.

If you have any questions you can read the FAQs, contact SUBU President, Chloe Schendel-Wilson at or talk to your Student Rep.

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