Tag Archives: research

BU research featured on BBC’s Monkey Planet

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Research conducted by Bournemouth University’s Alison Hillyer has been featured on a BBC programme looking at primates.

Monkey Planet, currently showing on BBC1, featured research into the Red Colobus monkey and its interactions with another species, green monkeys, and how their relationship has developed through living in the same habitat.  Specifically, the programme showed how the red colobus monkeys form special multi-species associations that are most likely a way of improving predator detection.

BU’s research at the site is mostly concerned with the conservation status of Temmincki’s red colobus in the region and is aimed at developing an integrated conservation strategy for the region that involves experts in tourism (Vijay Reddy and Feifei Xu) and primatology (Amanda Korstjens and Alison Hillyer) and is conducted in close collaboration with the local authorities.

Alison Hillyer invited the BBC to the site for filming and advised them on the transcript for the sequences.  The research and filming took place in The Gambia, more information about the project can be found on BU’s research pages.

The Temmincki’s red colobus monkeys (not to be confused with the Zanzibar Red Colobus) are in need of protection to avoid their extinction. BU students have been invited back to The Gambia in July 2014 for a new inter-disciplinary project that aims to develop a sustainable long-term strategy to support local development and conservation in The Gambia through eco-tourism business.

The programme can be viewed again on the BBC website for the next seven days.

BSO volunteering opportunity for BU Music students

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bso-logoThe Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) are offering BU Music students a work-shadowing opportunity.

BU’s Dementia Institute (BUDI) is joining up with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on a pilot intervention to work with people with dementia and their carers.

The partnership will provide a unique opportunity for five BU Music students to work alongside BSO musicians, planning and running workshops with people with dementia, supporting them to learn new instruments as well as re-learn previous skills.

The workshops will run for 10 weeks, from the Wednesday 9 April – Wednesday 11 June 2014, in the Student Hall, Talbot Campus. These rehearsals will culminate in a final performance on Saturday 14 June 2014, at the Life Centre, Winton, to showcase the group’s efforts.

BUDI’s Research Assistant, Laura Reynolds, says “we’re looking for volunteers with a genuine interest in working with older people, and those who are able to commit to most, if not all, of the 10 weekly sessions. We know that 10 weeks is a big commitment so we will consider students who can commit to the majority of sessions as well. All we ask is that the students have a genuine interest in working with older people, and would be able to help out with rhythm support etc. We are open to interest from individuals and from groups.”

For more information, and to volunteer, please email Laura Reynolds or Sarah Hambidge, or call 01202 962546 by 26 March 2014.

BU Epidural research featured on numerous medical websites

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Professor Venky Dubey and PhD student Neil Vaughan from Bournemouth University were featured on a number of medical websites, such as Medical Xpress and The Engineer, highlighting their award-winning medical device that makes epidural injections safer and more effective.

The device, an epidural simulator, uses software to predict where a patient’s epidural space will be, as this varies from person to person.

The project, led by Venky Dubey, won the Information Technology category at the Institution of Engineering and Technology Innovation Awards, which received over 400 entries.

The software replicates the conditions of giving an epidural to a real-life patient and allows adjustments for different heights, BMI’s, angles and rotations of the spine. The simulator allows doctors to train for the procedure, improving results and reducing potential risks to patients.

Dr Wee, consultant specialist at Poole Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust, said “there is a need to provide precise training in a delicate clinical procedure which has potential devastating effects to the mother when things go wrong”.

BU Postgraduate students share work at annual conference

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Postgraduate students from across BU had the chance to share their work and research with others from across the university at the 6th Annual Postgraduate Conference.

Postgraduate work was shared through a series of talks – based around the BU’s eight research themes – and poster and photograph presentations.

The conference ran over two days, and, for the first time, featured presentations by postgraduate taught students as well as those working on postgraduate research.

Opening the conference, BU’s vice-chancellor Professor John Vinney, said: “It is the 6th Postgraduate Conference but, in my mind, it is the first one that brings together all this talent from across the organisation.

“It is a combination of all our excellent parts of education taking place at the university.”

Work featured in the conference covered everything from analysis of gunshot residue to childbirth in Nepal and changes in visual memory across the lifetime.

Prizes were given to the postgraduate students who had the best posters and photography and gave the best oral presentations.

Mike Rowley prize

Mike Rowley receiving his prize from Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor John Fletcher

Mike Rowley won the award for the best talk, which was about his work looking at planting particular trees in Haiti and Mexico to increase food security and potentially decrease carbon dioxide levels.

 “It was really unexpected,” said Mike, who is completing a Master’s degree in Applied Science by Research. 

“I’m shocked but it’s brilliant, and it was really great to have had the opportunity to present my work.

“Being able to practice presenting is a huge thing so this was a good opportunity to hone your skills and have feedback from your peers and colleagues.”

Fiona Knight, Academic Manager for The Graduate School, said: “The conference aims to bring all of our postgraduate students together, and helps to break down school boundaries.

“It gives them a chance to present their work in a friendly environment and get feedback from their peers.”

Keynote speeches at the conference were given by Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, and Professor Tiantian Zhang, Head of the Graduate School at BU, who spoke about her research journey looking at cryopreservation.

Professor Zhang’s advice to the current postgraduate students included making the most of networking and international opportunities, and remembering that research should be stimulating and fun.

“I think to choose the right research question is an important one,” she said.

“Networking and international collaboration is also important. It creates a lot of opportunity in terms of work and output but also grant applications.

“I do think it’s important to believe in what you do and never give up.”

Find out more about The Graduate School at Bournemouth University

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.

Student surveys email group

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BU operates a ‘surveys’ email group to allow you to participate in other students research. Previously all students were enrolled in this group but could choose to ‘opt-out’. Following feedback from students we have changed the way this operates and students now have to choose to receive these emails.

The Student survey email group is a facility for students to send survey requests to for dissertation purposes, this can be a valuable tool if you are at the stage of conducting research. You can join or leave at your own discretion. All email requests for surveys to be published to this group have to be approved by askBU. Please follow the below instructions:

Joining the Group

In student email account:

  • Click Options
  • Select Groups
  • Within the window ‘Public Groups I belong to’ select Join Locate Surveys
  • Click Join, and then Close
  • Then close the Join window.

Leaving the Group

  • Follow the steps above and select Leave instead of Join.

Sending out a Survey

  • Users need to send the request to surveys@live.bournemouth.ac.uk not studentsurveys@bournemouth.ac.uk. You will only be able to see the ‘surveys’ address if you are a member of the surveys group
  • Approval of emails sent to this group are processed by the askBU Student Team – during office hours Monday to Friday.

eBU: Online Journal

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Publishing should be high on the agenda of any early career scholar, and students should feel no different. For those who are concerned or intimidated by the harsh academic publishing world, eBU is here to help.

eBU: Online Journal is the new online working paper journal for the BU community. Putting your work ‘out there’ can be daunting. eBU is particularly useful for early career scholars, UGs, PGTs and PGRs who may wish and have something to publish, but have not yet dipped their toes into the world of academic peer reviewed publishing. You may have a thesis where 1 or 2 of the key messages could make up a paper, or a highly acclaimed essay or literature review that with a bit of work could be formatted into a paper. If so, please do get it touch.

eBU works on the basis of immediate publication (subject to an initial quality check) and open peer review. Author guidelines to differ depending on whether you are a UG, PGT or PGR – so please consult the eBU site for more information. Once published on the internal site, we aim to upload 2 reviews within 3 weeks. Authors are then encouraged to use the comments to aid publication in an external journal. Alternatively, authors also have the option of publishing on the external eBU site. Please note that only using eBU as a forum for internal peer review (with the intention to publish externally – which we encourage!) WILL NOT ENDANGER FURTHER PUBLICATION.

There are drop in sessions for anyone who wishes to discuss eBU, has something to submit or just fancies a chat!

These will be held on Talbot Campus:

Monday 7October 11am – 2pm PG30d

Tuesday 8 October 11am – 2pm PG30d

And on the Lansdowne:

Wednesday 9 11am – 2pm EBC ground floor cafe

To access eBU, when on campus simply type ‘ebu’ into your web browser address bar.

BU Research wins Best Paper at CCT13

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Research by Bournemouth University student Rebecca Watkins has won the Best Competitive Paper at the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) Conference 2013.

At this year’s conference in Tucson, Arizona, Bournemouth University PhD student Rebecca Watkins and senior lecturer Dr. Mike Molesworth were awarded Best Competitive Paper for their contribution entitled ‘The Biographies of Digital Virtual Goods’.

Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) is an interdisciplinary field that comprises macro, interpretive, and critical perspectives of consumer behaviour, and the CCT conference has become the premier international venue for consumer culture researchers spanning a broad spectrum of academic disciplines to come together to share their ideas, empirical insights, and theoretical interests in an engaging, cutting edge, collegial forum.

The conference invited original contributions in the form of full papers that undergo a rigorous peer review process with three double blind reviewers, and as a result research presented at the conference is consistently of an exceptionally high standard.

The paper communicated empirical findings from Rebecca’s PhD research which explores ownership and possession in the context of digital goods, from magical swords, luxury cars and avatars within virtual worlds, to mp3s, ebooks, and social networking profiles.

Building on award winning research by Dr Denegri-Knott and Dr Molesworth from BU’s Media School, Rebecca and Mike highlight the ways in which the nature of digital goods encourages the delaying of classification decisions, resulting in vast digital hoards, and in doing so contribute to existing understanding of digital goods as possessions by providing insight into their biographies, including the significant ways in which they diverge from the typical biographies of material goods.

A key contribution of the paper, and of Rebecca’s research more broadly, is to illustrate that our understanding of material culture and consumption, so understandably rooted in the materiality of goods, is problematised by the emergence of digital possessions, often leading to tense and turbulent relationships between consumers and the providers of these digital goods that are yet to be adequately addressed by policy makers.

Rebecca’s attendance at the conference was partially funded by the Graduate School’s PGR Development Fund

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