Piercing the darkness

A post from the CPE blog about my reflections on a recent REF workshop.

“No light, but rather darkness visible” was the comment by my neighbour at the workshop we were attending on writing REF impact templates.  Quoting Milton’s Paradise Lost, he was referring to the guidance for impact templates which seemed to impress (and bemuse) a number of us with its opacity.

The workshop, run by the NCCPE, was designed to help us those us involved in the REF process think about ways to tackle the impact templates for each Unit of Assessment.  In relation to other sections of the REF guidance, many people feel that this area lacks detail so it was unsurprising that a large chunk of the workshop focused on challenging our misconceptions.  One area of confusion was the relationship of the template to the impact case studies, bearing in mind that the template should be a framework on which the case studies sit but that the case studies don’t have to reflect the template.

Another difficulty many people face is that Units of Assessment can be made up of several different research groups with different approaches; as such, you can end up with a patchwork quilt of ideas rather than a coherent theme.  Thankfully, there is an acknowledgement of this challenge in the guidance so there is no expectation for one approach in each template.  Conversely other people felt that their issue was that of generic plans across several Units rather than a tailored approach – a single-colour duvet rather than a patchwork quilt, as it were.  Advice here was that the strategy section of each template should be reflective – thinking about issues as well as strengths and providing an honest (but positive) assessment about where improvements could be made.

There were some handy tips from the day, especially that engagement which has had an impact on research strategy actually belongs in the environment template rather than the impact template.  And we were encouraged to suggest questions that the NCCPE could take to the REF panels and ask for clarification.  So whilst we may not have moved into the bright light just yet, at least now there might be a glimpse of something through the darkness.

Stories from the War - Avonmouth and Shirehampton

A post from the Know your Bristol blog, looking at our event in Shirehampton.  Naturally there's going to be a focus on war in the next year so it was good to get a taster of just some of the stories from here in Bristol.

It’s been nearly a hundred years since the start of the First World War but the history and heritage of it is still with us – something that was clearly shown at our latest Know your Bristol event.  Held at Shirehampton Public Hall, we had a steady stream of visitors coming to look at the resources gathered so far and contribute their stories to this growing archive – with many being so eager they turned up before we’d even got everything set up.

Shirehampton and Avonmouth both contributed to the war effort, with the latter being a strategically important military depot – a place from which many troops and equipment were dispatched to the Western Front.  In addition a remount depot was established at Shirehampton that stabled and supplied over 300,000 horses and mules to the front between 1914 and 1918.  Nowadays there are no visible remains of this site, but one of the first oral histories was from a lady remembering the large post that was one of the last remaining features from the depot before being pulled down sometime in the 70s.

We also heard personal stories of grandfathers and other family members who’d fought in the war, and the photos and mementoes that they’d sent back from the front.  A beautiful example of this was the collection of postcards decorated with detailed French embroidery, with the colours and patterns looking like they’d just been stitched yesterday.  Less attractive, but just as fascinating, was a genuine German bayonet and sheath with a tragic history.  The bayonet had been used to kill a British soldier but its owner had been killed at the same time so the bodies of these soldiers from opposing sides were found right next to each other.  A sad tale and a reminder of the impact that the War had on people, not just locally but from all over the world.

Research Encounter #4: Becky Jones

Some encounters aren’t all about work.  Becky Jones from the School of Biochemistry recently spent six months working with us at the Centre for Public Engagement.  Having just submitted her PhD, we met up to celebrate so the writing here may have been influenced by a glass of bubbly!

The cytoskeleton is a protein structure that helps cells to change shape.  This is particularly important for immune cells when faced with infections so that they can take up bacteria and dead cells, and interact with each other to fight the infection.  A protein called WASp (nothing to do with wasps) is only found in immune cells and plays an important role in regulating the cytoskeleton.  Mutations to the gene that produces the protein can lead to a rare but heritable disorder where patients are susceptible to bacterial infection.  Becky is studying zebrafish larvae, which are translucent – this means you can image them and look at cell behaviour and movement in living organisms.  By looking at the WASp protein and how mutations affect the fish she can start to uncover how such mutations might work in the human body.

Research Encounter #3: Christina Rowley

Dr Christina Rowley is a Research Associate in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, as well as working for the ESRC.  I caught up with her at a Connected Communities showcase (with her ESRC hat on) but we managed to find a few minutes to talk about her on-going research.

Popular culture and politics may seem worlds apart, but is this really the case?  In the Vietnam War, soldiers would listen to the music sent by their friends and family; today, iPods are common items of a soldier’s equipment, with music being played as they prepare for battle or in their vehicles.  But why are rap and heavy metal so prevalent on playlists? And what role does popular culture have in influencing the attitudes and behaviour of both military personnel and the public towards war?  Christina’s work looks at culture and its relationship to military interventions, and how TV can be a critical space to explore politics.

Research Encounter #2: Frances Cartwright

This next Encounter is with Frances Cartwright who is a 2nd year PhD student in the School of Biological Sciences.  Frances is no stranger to public engagement, having been a volunteer at the Festival of Nature and for our Seeds of Change project – however she doesn’t normally get the chance to talk about her own research so here it is.

Climate change mitigation is perhaps the biggest research challenge we face today.  And, as with all challenges, there are a variety of approaches that can be taken; one of these considers increasing the reflectivity of surfaces so that more of the Sun’s energy is reflected back into space.  But it’s not just buildings and roads that can reflect energy – computer modelling suggests that increasing the reflectivity of crops by only 4% can lead to a temperature decrease of 1°C in the crop fields during the summer.  So what affects the reflective properties of crops such as barley and wheat which are common in agriculture?  Frances is currently investigating natural variations in the plants – from how hairy or waxy the leaves are, to any differences in the cell structure.  Once these factors have been established, it’s the first step to ensuring crops to maximise their reflectivity and play their part in the fight against climate change.