Tag Archives: Bournemouth Uni

Students and academics from across Europe visit BU for international social work conference

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Students and academics from across Europe visited Bournemouth University for a week of events centred around social work and diversity.

It is the first time BU has held the International Social Work Week, organised for students and staff of universities in the SOCNET network.

Around 50 academics and students in social work, sociology and law visited BU for the week, from universities in places including Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain.

Dr Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Head of Sociology at BU, helped to organise the week.

She said: “It helps the staff gain international connections, and because you are part of a network it helps give students the opportunities to go abroad to other universities as well.

“It means that you are part of a community rather than an individual institution.”

She added: “We are creating these research networks and links, which are really important.

“There are very different approaches to social work in Europe. We learn from them as much as they learn from us.”

The event is held every year at different universities who are part of the network, with each week having a different theme.

This year’s theme was around diversity, with talks and workshops on issues including discrimination and cohesion, marginalised groups and social work approaches.

But there was also chance for the visitors to explore Bournemouth and the surrounding area, with excursions to Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast and a visit to the Mayor of Bournemouth’s Parlour.

Student Franziska Lasche, from Hochschule Bremen University in Germany, said she had enjoyed her time in Bournemouth.

“It’s the first time I have been to Bournemouth, and I have really enjoyed it,” she said.

“It’s good to get to know people and exchange our experiences and ideas. It’s useful to have a network of people from all across Europe.”

Jill Davey, Framework Leader for Social and Community Studies and Erasmus coordinator at BU, said the week had gone well, and they now hoped to hold the event in Bournemouth every three years.

“It has been a very successful week,” she said.

“As well as potential student exchanges and opportunities at BU, a lot of the students have expressed interest in coming across and doing programmes and further study here.

“We’ve also had lots of people saying they are going to come back to Bournemouth for a holiday, so it’s really good for the tourist trade as well.”

Maria Luisa Gomez Jimenez, from the Public Law Department at the University of Malaga, was one of the academics running workshops during the SOCNET week.

She said: “It has been wonderful, and I think it’s a really valuable thing for us and the students to meet each other and exchange perspectives, backgrounds and ways of looking at problems and seeking solutions.”

New online portal to highlight research done by BU in the Poole and Purbeck region

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A new online portal will allow students and staff from BU’s School of Applied Sciences to share their knowledge and research more easily with the local community.

The Poole and Purbeck Portal will highlight the work being done in the area, as well as providing a space for employers and key stakeholders in the region to post placement and project opportunities.

BU Networking and Bid Development Officer Ben Thornes has helped create the Portal.

He said: “The community is open to anyone who wishes to understand, study, protect or improve the region – this includes professionals in organisations outside the university, as well as students, academics, scientists and anyone who lives in the area.

“Exciting opportunities, knowledge and expertise will be shared on the Portal, creating a gateway for new collaborations across the region.”

The Poole and Purbeck region is an area of outstanding natural beauty, with rich biodiversity and important heritage sites.

It has long been a popular place for research within BU’s School of Applied Sciences, ranging from archaeological investigations of an Iron Age port at Poole Harbour to analysis of woodland patches to see if biodiversity is being lost.

The website will be used as a showcase for the work and research that the School of Applied Sciences is doing across the region, as well as an area for staff and students to network with employers, local authorities and key stakeholders.

Dr Genoveva Esteban, Associate Professor in Aquatic Environmental Sciences at BU, is principal investigator for the Poole and Purbeck Portal.

She said: “Job offers will go on the portal, as well as third year dissertation and research projects.

“We have already been out speaking with businesses and organisations in the area about it. They think it is an excellent idea and now they can easily see what we do.”

The project has been funded by a £41,000 grant from the university and the team are also hoping to connect with wildlife, conservation and heritage groups in the region.

“If you want to find out what the university has done in a particular area, it is an easier way of locating it right there and then without having to go through all the different journal sites,” said Ben.

“It is a way for people to be easily able to see the work that BU does in the community and the benefits of that.”

You can find the Poole and Purbeck Portal at: www.pooleandpurbeckportal.co.uk

BU TV Production student mingles with stars after winning ‘mini-Oscar’

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A Television Production student from Bournemouth University has received a prestigious First Light Award for a film he created.

The First Light Awards – known as the ‘mini-Oscars’ – celebrate the success of young filmmakers from across the UK.

Final year BA (Hons) Television Production student Gulliver Moore won in the YouTube Digital Innovation category for his short film, The Perfect Dream.

The film mixes real-life footage and digital effects to show a bed appearing in places ranging from the beach to space, and won through a public online vote.

Gulliver, 23, got to attend a star-studded awards ceremony in London alongside the likes of actors Rafe Spall, Simon Pegg and Joely Richardson.

“The Perfect Dream follows a man roaming through fantasies at the click of a bedside lamp, searching for his perfect dream,” said Gulliver, who lives in Winton.

“It was a great feeling to win at the ceremony – I had to give a completely impromptu speech to hundreds of people.”

He added: “I was expecting a small screening with a few people. It turned out to be a huge ceremony with a red carpet, a huge cinema, paparazzi and lots of British celebrities.

“I met some very interesting people at the after party and had to do lots of interviews. It was quite a surreal day.”

Gulliver received a trophy and £1,000 for winning the award, which he will put towards his next filming project.

The 2013 First Light Awards took place at Odeon, in Leicester Square on March 19.

To find out more about the First Light awards, and to see Gulliver’s winning entry, visit the website

BU vice-chancellor attends launch of University Innovators Guide

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Professor John Vinney, the Vice- Chancellor of Bournemouth University, attended the launch of The Dods University Innovators Guide in Westminster.

The publication focuses on the strength of university-business collaboration in the UK at the moment and examines how this relationship can be developed further in the future to help grow the economy.

The event was attended by MPs, Members of the House of Lords and business leaders.

Speaking at the launch, Professor Sir Tim Wilson, author of the 2012 Review of Business-University Collaboration, spoke about how, with the end of traditional industry, the UK has to rely on its workforce as the capital to drive forward the economy, and universities were vital in developing the necessary skills for this.

The Wilson Review was published last year and in it Professor Wilson proposed an agenda for change to make the UK the best place in the world for business-university collaboration.

Also speaking at the launch was Adrian Bailey MP, who is Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee at Westminster.

He emphasised that universities were already collaborating with business, but not enough was being done to publicise this.

“Universities need to highlight their overall contribution to driving forward the economy and society today,” he said, adding that he welcomed the publication as a great significant contribution to that.

Professor Keith Brown from the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work at BU was at the event, highlighting the work the NCPQSW does with the private and public sector to provide in providing education and training for professionals within Health and Social Care.

He was accompanied by Jo Sams who studied at the NCPQSW and now owns and runs a number of residential care homes for young people.

The Dods Innovators Guide was produced in partnership with Bournemouth University, the University of Birmingham, Brunel University, the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Northampton.

It features an article on BU by Professor Vinney in which he outlines his plans for university-business collaboration.

He concludes: “University-business collaboration brings clear benefits to our students, the University, and the businesses that we engage with, and our work with local, national and international business is a source of considerable pride.

“The recommendations in The Dods University Innovator’s Guide will ensure that BU can continue to prepare our graduates not just for the world of today, but for the world of tomorrow.”

Download the University Innovators Guide

BU student aims to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks for charity

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A Bournemouth University student hopes to raise £100,000 for charity by completing 52 marathons in 52 weeks.

Second year BSc (Hons) Sports Development and Coaching Sciences student Ben Godbold will start the challenge in April with the London Marathon.

He aims to complete 52 marathons over the next year – in places including New York, Paris and Madrid – before doing the London Marathon again in 2014.

Ben, 20, was inspired to take up the challenge after carrying the Olympic Torch through his hometown of Gosport in July.

Ben, who was nominated for the honour for voluntary cricket coaching, said: “Carrying the torch in front of 100,000 people was pretty crazy.

“All the people who came along that day and said thank you for what you doing really inspired me.

“With things that had happened in my life, I wanted to give a bit more. I thought I’d do one marathon and it just went from there.”

Ben, who lives in the Meyrick Park area while studying, hopes to raise around £100,000, which he will split between four charities close to his heart.

He is fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Society, a disease which his grandmother battled, alongside Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and children’s cancer charity CLIC Sergeant in memory of his cousin David – who fought leukaemia aged 8, 13 and 18 and later died.

“Before he died, he said he wanted to me to go out in his name and inspire people,” said Ben.

“The whole theme of it is to be an inspiration and to go and inspire young people to do whatever they want in life.

“I just want to show that if you have a bit of determination and time you can do it.”

Ben is also fundraising for the Alicia Pannell Fund, which raises money for nine-year-old Alicia, who Ben has known for the past five years.

He said: “Alicia was born prematurely and had water on her brain, so needs 24-hour care.

“Her family treats her like a princess so we want to raise £20,000 for her and her family to go to Disneyland in Florida and be a princess.”

Ben is training five times a week in preparation for the challenge but is currently battling a knee injury.

He is also fundraising to allow him to travel the world to complete the marathons, organising events and abseiling down Battersea Power Station.

“I want to go all around the world but I can’t really fund it personally,” said Ben, who also wants to set up and complete his own marathon in Gosport as part of the challenge.

“It is all dependent on sponsorship.”

Ben will be on placement for most of the year’s challenge, but says friends, family, businesses and Bournemouth University have all been supportive.

“The university has been supporting me quite a lot, which is good, and SportBU has given me free gym membership.

“I have never run a marathon in my life, so to do 52 in a row is probably a bit stupid, but it will be fun.”

You can find out more about the challenge, or sponsor Ben here

Accounting students receive £100 prize for best company study presentation

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Final year Accounting students judged to have presented the best company study were rewarded with a £100 prize.

The company study is a project done by groups of students in their final year of the Accounting degree framework.

It consists of a 10,000 word report and a 20 minute presentation analysing aspects of a company including its financial management, corporate governance and strategy.

Of 28 groups, the best four were selected to present in front of Lesley Fox from Mazars – a company which specialises in audit, tax and advisory services, and sponsors the company study project.

Lesley said that all of the groups impressed with clear and incisive presentations on companies including brewery SAB Miller, Whitbread Plc (who own companies like Costa and Premier Inn), and real estate company British Land.

But she chose final year Accounting and Finance students Alexander Brooke, Daniel Frampton, Ivy Lappin and Rahim Bah as winners for their presentation on mining company BHP Billiton.

Lesley said that it was a “very tough decision” to make.

She said: “I was very impressed – they all had a professional approach to the presentations and were very clear. The knowledge of the companies they were studying was also strong.

“We have sponsored the project for a number of years now. It gives the students that interaction with local businesses and a chance to present in front of an external contact, with an outside opinion.”

She added that the winners impressed with the way they responded to questions and presented as a team.

Each member of the winning team received £100 from Mazars, and will also be presented with a certificate during their graduation ceremonies.

Daniel Frampton from the team said: “The competition was really good. Everyone was great so it was really good to be named as winner. The rest of the guys did extremely well.”

Ivy Lappin added: “It has been challenging but we have come through it, and I feel more confident about my presentation skills and teamwork now.”

BU students learn how to make mobile apps in free workshops

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Students at Bournemouth University have been learning how to create their own mobile phone applications in workshops run by a local company.

Bournemouth-based web and app development company 3 Sided Cube has been running the evening workshops at BU’s Media School for the past six weeks.

In the sessions, students from across the university have all been working on creating a BBC News app, learning the basics of iOS development so that they can hopefully go away and work on their own ideas.

Phil Caudell, senior iOS developer at 3 Sided Cube, has been leading the weekly workshops.

He said: “People come in here not knowing anything about it and by the end of it, they can have an app that they could sell and make money on.

“The iPhone market is so new and changing so quickly that I think that having companies come in can give real world experience that hopefully rubs off on students so they can get an idea of what is happening out there.”

He added that the workshops were mutually beneficial, as the company were looking to potentially take on the new student developers as interns and staff.

“We were looking to expand and take on new people and finding developers is hard as it is new market, so there are not many people out there,” he said.

“We thought, if we can’t find people, let’s train people up and see what comes out of it.

“They have done really well with it, and we are hoping to take some of them on as interns.

“We ran the workshops last year as well – we were so impressed by one of the students that we actually hired him as a result.”

Patrick Guffui, a final year Bsc (Hons) Computing student, was one of around 25 students who chose to attend the free workshops.

He said: “It’s great that we are learning something very focused and technical.

“I have learnt a lot, and have a better understanding of how the mobile development process works. It’s definitely something I am interested in pursuing as a career.”

SportBU manager swapping lbs for £s for Comic Relief

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A manager at Bournemouth University’s on-campus gym will raise money for Comic Relief by completing a gruelling number of fitness classes.

Charlton Clarke, who is Duty Manager (Intramural and External Facilities) at SportBU, will complete 34 fitness classes over seven days – a total of 27.75 hours of exercise.

Charlton, who also teaches fitness classes at the Talbot Campus gym, hopes to raise at least £500 for his Lbs for £s Challenge through an online donation site and collection buckets.

He will be taking part in up to seven classes a day – including spinning, pilates and Legs, Bums and Tums – from Monday 4th March until Sunday 10th March.

Charlton, 25, said: “I have always wanted to do something for Red Nose Day – I see all the celebrities doing the massive challenges and get a bit jealous.

“I am here on a daily basis, so I thought it would be interesting just to see how many classes I could do in a week. Then I thought I may as well combine it with raising money.”

The challenge will see Charlton complete some of the half hour and hour long classes consecutively – doing them throughout the day while working normal hours in between.

Charlton, of Westbourne, will also be taking part in classes that he normally teaches and will attempt his first ever Zumba class.

He said: “The Zumba class will be interesting. I like doing classes which are pretty stationary, as anything that involves lots of movement or dancing, I’m usually rubbish.

“I’m looking forward to taking part in the Boxercise class – I have taught that for about three years and I have always been on the other side, shouting at people.

“My colleague is going to run the class for me and she says she’s quite looking forward to putting me through my paces.”

He added: “The people who come to my classes regularly, are going to see me and want me to push myself.

“Thursday is quite a tough day – if I’m not tried and struggling by that point anyway, I will be by the end of it.

“I’m just throwing myself into it and hoping for the best.”

You can sponsor Charlton here

New student visual effects competition – now open for entry!

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BFX is a 6–week team competition for visual effects and animation students from around the country hosted by Bournemouth University and AUB in July and August 2013. Groups will be competing to win an internship at a leading UK film and visual effects studio and all works will be screened at the BFX festival taking place in Bournemouth in September 2013!

The competition aims to replicate a film studio working on a live project with participants working in groups of up to six to produce a highly polished short visual effects or animated sequence. Teams will get to select their own brief from a number of pieces of classic literature and will be mentored and monitored by industry practitioners throughout the competition. A panel of carefully selected industry judges will have the task of picking a winning team.

Sofronis Efstathiou, BFX Festival Director said; “BFX competition presents the opportunity for students to be mentored by the very best VFX animators, producers and artists in the UK. Working on a live brief in a collaborative manner within an intense competitive environment will add invaluable experience to all participants CV’s; and for a lucky few a coveted internship will help kick start their career.”

Supported by the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund as part of A Bigger Future 2, BFX competition is free to enter and participants will receive accommodation and a stipend towards living expenses. Industry partners so far include The Mill, MPC, Double–Negative, Framestore, and Cinesite some of whom will be offering internships to the very best individuals.

BFX competition is now open for entry and applications must be received by 26 April. Applicants must be 18 years or older currently studying, or recently graduated, at a UK Higher Education Institution (university or Art College).

To find out more about how to apply to BFX visit the BFX website.

BFX Competition is part of a larger festival taking place in Bournemouth 25 to 29 September, which aims to celebrate British talent and creativity in animation and visual effects. The event, in its first year, is being organised by The International VFX Hub; a collaboration between the award–winning National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University (NCCA) and the Faculty of Media and Performance at the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB).

BU event provides insight into media reform post-Leveson

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Academics, media industry experts and journalists all joined together at Bournemouth University to discuss media reform through a post–Leveson lens.

The address, given by Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party, set the scene for the conference before other guest speakers, including Professor James Curran of Goldsmiths University, gave their views.

The event, called ‘Opportunities for Media Reform post–Leveson’, provided analysis of the current media climate and provoked discussion on the ways in which the sector needs to change and adapt so as to align itself with the Leveson Report while maintaining its core ethics.

Topics included discussion on the use of technology in media, the financial restrictions placed on media organisations and the failure of the British press to reform in the past. Each guest speaker spoke on a different facet of media reform to give thought provoking insight into what the Leveson Report could mean for the future of the British press.

As a part of her address, Natalie Bennett said, “We have got technological advances, issues with the local media and, of course, huge commercial pressures. But the risk is that all of those pressures are only going to make the dark side of the press worse, unless we take some action.”

Stephen Jukes, Dean of BU’s Media School and former journalist, opened the conference by saying, “I’m the first to admit that the ethical standards across the media have fallen to an all–time low. There are already a whole range of laws out there – I say reform them and use them.”

For more information about the event you can visit the conference website.