Explore our research

Discover how Bournemouth University and the University of Glasgow joined forces to turn scientific theory into art, opening the door to a world of interdisciplinary possibilities.

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Chickens’ diffusion to the west – through India, the Near East, Mediterranean and northern Europe – has been almost completely neglected in academic research. But the outcomes from this significant research project show just how important understanding the subject is.

BU’s Professor Khan has discovered a clean, sustainable and renewable way of meeting our future energy needs.

How we deal with emotional experiences not only impacts the mind, but the body too, according to research carried out by BU’s Professor Roger Baker.

Oil traders, portfolio managers and policymakers will all benefit from a new framework for oil price forecasting that uses information from a wider range of sources in its predictions.

Foot drop is a temporary or permanent muscular weakness or paralysis that affects people’s ability to lift the front part of the foot and move their toes. FES is a method of externally and electrically controlling muscles to generate movement.

The Neolithic in southwest Asia (c 11,700-7800 cal BP) is an important period in human history which saw the advent of sedentism, agriculture, and ultimately, the rise of complex societies...

Research led by Professor Jane Murphy and Dr Joanne Holmes of the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at BU has resulted in the development of a toolkit that’s helping to transform nutritional care for people with dementia. This has reached almost 2,100 known recipients to date.

BU's Dr Anya Chapman is raising awareness of the importance of piers and how they can help regenerate seaside communities, successfully securing much-needed government funding to ensure their sustainable future.

Find out how BU researchers have applied their ecological tipping points research into society, with the uptake of their recommendations by the Forestry Commission and further research now extending to all types of ecosystems.

See how historic exhibits of Scotland were understood in China, helping to position Scotland’s international tourist product.

The hump-backed mahseer population has decreased by 90% in the last 15 years but due to a case of mistaken identity, the fish disappeared unnoticed from South India’s River Cauvery until research led by Adrian Pinder, director of Bournemouth University’s Global Environmental Solutions and director of The Mahseer Trust, highlighted the giant carp’s plight.

Discover how BU research into lives of sex workers during sport mega-events has led to significant change in Brazilian Federal Law.

The SAIL project aims to identify new and sustainable partnership opportunities between areas such as leisure, tourism and health to help ageing people be more active and remain independent for longer.

People with exceptional facial recognition skills account for a small proportion of the population – but in areas such as security, their abilities can make a big impact.

After succeeding in making face blindness an officially recognised condition, researchers from Bournemouth University are now trialling effective treatment for those with prosopagnosia.

BU’s Dr Sascha-Dominik Bachmann is working with military experts to explore the concept further and advise government officials and NATO about how to deal with this new and emerging threat.

BU research which guided policymakers on the implications for intellectual property rights in the UK, as a result of 3D printing, is set to shape the landscape on an international scale.

With around 40,000 registered social workers employed in the UK, it seems almost impossible that more than half of them would have undertaken training from one university – but that’s exactly what BU has achieved.

Read how 3D rainforest mapping is informing conservation plans that are key to assuring the survival of species such as gibbons, siamangs, orangutans and elephants.

Discover how research into the media portrayal of para-athletes could make a difference to the daily lives of people with disabilities.

Discover how a BU project is helping disabled children tell their stories.

Research project Aftershock Nepal, which questioned the media’s handling of the 2015 earthquake, has led the way for similar initiatives to address humanitarian crises worldwide.

Extensive geophysical surveys of Avebury World Heritage Site address big academically and societally relevant questions, such as the social use of space at different times in the past.

Researchers in BU’s Psychology department are leading the way in transforming the building and design guidelines of dementia care homes in the UK, helping residents with their navigation and orientation skills, which will improve their independence and quality of life.

Desti-Smart is a project addressing challenges for efficient sustainable tourism while at the same time promoting a low-carbon economy.

DRIVE is a new network that brings together academics, NGOs, stakeholders and practitioners from Kenya with UK partners to maximise digital technologies to address development challenges.

Investigating the origin and development of large-scale monuments, and the emergence of early complex societies, on the north European Plain, to examine the relations between monumental building and social structures after the emergence of sedentism at around 4100 BC.

The Smart Ports Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development (SPEED) project aims to improve ports in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the UK by using new advances in technology and data science.

BU's Dr Jayne Caudwell is working with local stakeholders to help provide valuable swimming sessions for the transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming community. 

MultiFluid will develop a multi-level theory and hybrid solution with tools to provide a coherent multi-level enhancement to refine the fluid details and offer user-friendly controls in animation.

PATH is an EU-funded project which will enable women, families and healthcare professionals to prevent, diagnose, and successfully manage mild to moderate perinatal mental health issues.

Reducing nutrient levels in coastal ecosystems (RaNTrans) aims to improve the ecological status of transitional waters in England and France.

Bournemouth University has led the way in helping people with multiple sclerosis to manage their fatigue, the most common and debilitating of the disease’s symptoms.

The SAMARCH project aims to provide new scientific evidence to inform the management of salmon and sea trout (salmonids) in the estuaries and coastal waters of the French and English sides of the Channel.

Discover how the research of BU’s Dr Anna Feigenbaum has empowered everyday civilians to report the use of riot control weapons, such as tear gas canisters, during protest situations.

In an increasingly connected and digital society, developing effective and collaborative cybersecurity measures is becoming more and more important. In recognition of this challenge, the European Commission has funded four pilot projects through Horizon2020 to establish and ope

Researchers from Bournemouth University, in collaboration with the University of Brighton, have been exploring how advances in digital technologies are transforming our reading experiences – and have transformed how reading is researched in the process.

VISTA AR is a research project funded by ERDF that is working closely with  a number of tourist attractions in the South of England and the North of France , to develop an understanding of visitor experiences and using virtual reality to create new business models.

This project investigates how best to safeguard, protect and investigate mass graves to ensure truth and justice for survivor populations. 

The understanding of human anatomy is vital to the delivery of healthcare. Drawing on the computer animation and visualisation skills available at BU, the team are developing an online medical teaching platform to help improve medical education and training.

Schools, welfare organizations and businesses work together to support young people from within entrepreneur hubs. In these hubs, young people work on a business pop-up that will improve their neighborhood.

Woolcombe is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. During the 1960s the Austin family, then owners of Woolcombe Farm, became interested in the archaeological resource of their home and carried out some limited excavations.

The 3DPARE project is working to deploy and monitor artificial reef blocks in the Atlantic ocean which have been designed and fabricated using innovative 3D printing technology and sustainable, low-impact bio-receptive materials.

There are many political and economic incentives to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but they bring with them a number of complexities that require in-depth research and discussion – a challenge a team of academics, led by Principal Investigator and BU Professor Jens Hölscher, is working to tackle.

AiBle is a 3-year UK/France cross-border EU Interreg project to improve the recovery experience of stroke patients with better treatment effects and efficiency by developing an upper-limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robot based on AI and cloud computing.

The Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP), funded by English Heritage, systematically collected information about the nature and outcomes of more than 80,000 archaeological projects undertaken between 1990 and 2010.

Taking place across Europe, this project explores how to reduce unemployment and obesity at the same time through supporting people to make healthier lifestyle choices.

BU established The Centre for Face Processing Disorders (CFPD) to provide cognitive screening and training programmes to improve recognition skills for affected adults and children.

The objective of the MARINEFF project is to develop a new approach to the design and construction of maritime infrastructure. MARINEFF strives to enhance and protect coastal and transitional water ecosystems in cross-border Channel regions.

Building on an excavation and insights from the early 1970s, discover how BU academics and undergraduate students have worked together to discover more about a possible Roman fortlet in Dorset.

This innovative programme of archaeological science will characterise stone and ceramic building materials and explore the contexts within which they were produced.

Discover how BU’s work, alongside partner institutions, is helping to improve the understanding of computational intelligence for multiple audiences – and garnering tens of thousands of online views in the process.

How a cycling and education programme is helping patients with hip osteoarthritis.

Digital Arts for Refugee Engagment (DA-RE) is an exploratory research project using arts-based activities in combination with digital literacy for developing the capabilities of refugee youth in Turkey and Bangladesh.

Researchers at Bournemouth University were commissioned by Health Education England (HEE) to develop the ‘Dementia Education And Learning Through Simulation 2’ (DEALTS2) programme. DEALTS2 is simulation-based dementia toolkit that’s being used nationally to support the delivery of dementia education across acute care.

BU’s programme of research focuses on location, evaluation, excavation, recovery, recording of crimes scenes and the analysis and use of evidence in a legal context. It is a combination of primary research and the analysis of the results of professional practice.

Find out how BU revived a post-excavation project to report findings from fieldwork and excavation activities that were completed more than 30 years ago.

The team are reasearching digital addiction (DA) as an emergent research area and are exploring the problematic usage of digital media described by being obsessive, excessive, compulsive, impulsive and hasty. They particularly focus on aiding people to adjust their usage style through the use of digital technology itself.

Frailty is a condition that affects one in ten people over the age of 65. It means people are at higher risk of falls, disability and poorer quality of life. The technology developed by this project can help people to live well by enabling access to person-centred advice and care.

Professor Tom Watson’s research and academic advice has significantly contributed to a shift in industry evaluation practice away from Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) measurement of PR activity to an evidence-based, objective-driven approach.

ECO-CODING is a Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) funded project that will bring the technology of DNA barcoding to BU, collaborating environmental organisations and local school children.

BU’s software engineering research has focused on the improvement of software development methods with a particular emphasis on the ‘upstream’ or requirements phases.

The Wayfinding Research Centre (WRC) at BU conducts laboratory-based research, strongly informed by theory, to conceptualise the processes underlying human navigation. 

Fair access – or widening participation (WP) – is an area of considerable interest in the UK’s higher education sector. Its impetus is on breaking down barriers that prevent people from diverse backgrounds from entering higher education, and flourishing when they do.

The National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice (NCPQSWPP) is working in partnership with government and trade bodies to raise awareness of the scale of the problem and to gain a greater understanding of the reasons why people are drawn into a scam. 

BU’s research has been at the heart of a dynamic repositioning of culture, working directly with the UK’s largest conservation charity, the National Trust, to make heritage accessible to a wider audience.

Project PDE-GIR, led by Bournemouth University, is developing partial differential equation (PDE) techniques to improve geometric modelling, image processing, and shape reconstruction (GIR). 

Academic colleagues from the UK, China, South Africa, Australia and Sweden are working on developing joint answers to global challenges from a dual cultural perspective.

Green tribology provides answers to friction and wear problems within an ecological and environmentally sound context. 

BU is a partner in the Human Henge project co-ordinated by the Restoration Trust and also involving Richmond Fellowship, English Heritage, and The National Trust. Using natural and constructed landscapes to promote health and well-being has a long and distinguished history stretching back to the pilgrimages of medieval times.

BU researchers are interested in how surgeons are affected personally and professionally when things go wrong, and in developing interventions to mitigate the impact of adverse events on surgeons

Funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, the INSCCOPe project aims to improve the nutritional health of older people in the community, by supporting the implementation of a new procedure for screening and treatment of malnutrition.

Dr Ian Stephenson’s research develops new techniques to produce and render higher quality 3D images for feature film production.

BU’s combination of theoretical and practice-based research into health and social care education and practice gives the balance needed to deliver effective training programmes with wide-reaching impacts.

Discover how BU is working in partnership with Coda Music Centre and SEN schools to make music more accessible to all children.

BU breastfeeding research has generated impacts for a wide range of beneficiaries at a local, national and international level.

Within today’s information societies, there are a number of ‘informational interests’ on the basis of which certain rights are claimed and wrongs denounced.

ASPIRE is part of the Interreg VA Channel programme and will run from September 2019 to February 2023. The project has a total budget of over €10million and involves partners from the UK and France.

The aim of this project is to produce a short, animated film that shows the process of mass grave protection and investigation from the perspective of victims’ families.

This research has considered the expression of sentencing explanations through face to face and telephone interviews with 16 youth court Magistrates across Southern England. 

Extensive data analysis based on fieldwork conducted between 1993 and 2009 has enabled BU to report on a fascinating ceremonial and funereal landscape in east Dorset.

Survey and excavation in the UNESCO World Heritage landscape of Avebury, to discover more about the people that inhabited it and the ways they lived. 

Improving the retention rate of registered nursing staff through collaborative development and use of an evidence-based nurse retention model.

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are increasingly used for their muscle-building and aesthetic effects. But they can have a detrimental impact on physical and emotional wellbeing, and little is known about the experiences of their users.

Investigating the development, social context, and landscape-setting of Malta’s Neolithic temples by focusing on the site of Skorba and its surroundings.

Archaeological evidence from sites in and around Novgorod, Russia, is being used to map nearby forests and document their exploitation.

CIPPM, in collaboration with other European research centres, has been at the forefront of research to develop solutions for the digitization of our cultural heritage.

Developing the tools to empower the youngest generations of refugees.

BU researchers have developed economic modelling techniques to more accurately predict the outcome of events, policies or other major economic decisions.

Developing a suite of modelling tools to support economic forecasting.

Researchers at Bournemouth University have been undertaking a programme of research around self-management approaches for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to improve everyday quality of life.

The Neolithic Flint Mines project was established in order to fully record and widely disseminate the results of the early 20th century investigations for the first time.

See how BU researchers have helped a Scottish town to explain its history in a modern way.

Background

In 1912, the discovery of human skull fragments, an ape-like jaw and crudely worked flints close to the quiet Sussex village of Piltdown was hailed by the world’s press as the most sensational archaeological find ever, the ‘missing link’ in the ‘chain’ of human evolution.

Discover how gamification can improve the quality and efficiency of police training, including the core curriculum area of Stop and Search.

BU research into the ecology and management of non-native fish has provided the evidence base for regulations, policy and management programmes.

BU researchers developed practice development approaches that would work across a wide variety of health and social care settings.

Working with the charity Energise Me, this project explored how the people working in physical activity, and their attutitudes, affect the physical activity levels of LGBT+ people.

A group of researchers at Bournemouth University are running several projects with the aim of reducing sexual violence through better education and campaigning, better police and court practices, and changes to the law. 

The Centre for Media History (CMH) has won over £1 million in grants to digitise radio collections. Together with published output this has created the leading academic centre for radio history.

Neal White has conducted interdisciplinary research across art and techno scientific disciplines at BU since 2003. His work uses art as a reflective framework – an active cyclical experiment – through which we can ask questions that will lead to unexpected events and ideas.

Reading on Screen is a collaboration between the universities of Bournemouth and Brighton funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The Refugee and Migrant Leisure Network (RMLN) connects Bournemouth University academics working within the Centre for Events, Leisure, Society and Culture (CELSC) with local community partners.

‘REGNVM: the First Kingdom’ is an ongoing project using archaeological and historical evidence to reassess the nature of cultural change across central south eastern Britain from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD, examining in particular the nature of trade, globalisatio

These projects are hosted by the Engineering and Social Informatics research group (ESOTICS) in the Department of Computing and Informatics and the Department of Psychology, along with input from other academic departments, funded jointly by Bournemouth University and other collaborators.

Neighborhood Justice Panels (NJPs) in England are a local justice initiative made accessible to the public via the police and through probation recommendations in court. They provide an out of court option that is both flexible and cost-effective due to voluntary support.

CIPPM undertook a comparative study of commercial music videos and amateur parodies to determine whether there were economic consequences to the presence of parody.

Research into 2003/5 changes to UK accounting, auditing and corporate governance regulation found major flaws in the regime. By providing evidence and lobbying via other organisations, researchers have exposed these defects and their implications, contributing to critical public debate around the policy.

This project investigates care and support provided to people in their homes during the pandemic. It focuses on home care workers, carers and volunteers and the role they played in sustaining others and keeping them well at home. 

The 'Story 2 Remember' project is using drama and storytelling to create a training program to be used by health and social care professionals in care settings, with people with Alzheimer's disease.

Find out how BU researchers have created a system that provides timely advice to balance the requirements of coastal bird conservation with those of society.

New modelling technology is helping preserve historic tanks, and other unique vehicles and structures, for generations to come.

The Active Ageing Evaluation is a collaborative research project between the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) and Active Dorset. Active Dorset is a local organisation responsible for creating the conditions for local people to choose an active lifestyle through participation in sport and physical activity.

The Durotriges Project is an intensive, multi-disciplinary investigation into the prehistoric and Roman societies of central south western Britain, conducted by staff and students of the Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science of Bournemouth University working in co-operation with students from other universities, schools, sixth form colleges and team of dedicated local volunteers.

This project aims to reduce domestic violence by focusing on changing the behaviour patterns of the perpetrators and helping them see their impact.

This study will consider the impact of greater fear and anxiety around pain (pain catastrophising) and how this affects the time when women are admitted to hospital in labour, their labour choices, and birth outcomes.

Dr Samuel Nyman's research into improving the wellbeing and health of those with dementia and their carers.

Functional Electrical Stimulation, or FES, is a method of externally controlling muscles when signals from the brain can no longer control movement.

The Wessex Portal and the Dorset Coast Digital Archive aims at promoting a better understanding of the unique natural environment and heritage assets.

The Imperial Image Database was set up in 2010 with the aim of generating three-dimensional (3D) scans of Roman portraiture recovered from different contexts across southern Britain.

The UK-China Health and Economy Partnership is a novel knowledge transfer partnership that will promote long-term collaboration between Bournemouth University, the University of York, the University of Sheffield and the University of Leeds.

Fruits and vegetables are fundamental to a healthy diet. High fruit and vegetable consumption has been associated with reduced risk from a number of chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and dementia and cognitive decline, yet fruit and vegetable consumption across the UK, Europe and the US remains lower than recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Funded by the reproductive and gynaecological health charity Wellbeing of Women, this study into the perineal practice undertaken by midwives at the time of birth collected information from across the four countries of the UK.

Why are some people highly engaged by political communication, while others are not? Why do some people believe spurious claims of political actors while others approach them all with cynicism?

Exploring practical ways to support people who might find it difficult to access virtual or remote health services and who might be affected by wider inequalities.

Funded by the first Egyptological ERC Advanced Grant, the Hyksos Enigma Project sees BU working with researchers all over Europe, under the direction of renowned Egyptologist Manfred Bietak and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Researchers are investigating the feasibility of using slow and deep breathing as an alternative treatment method for high blood pressure during pregnancy.

The aim of this project is to measure the economic and socio-cultural contribution of UK outdoor events. This will be achieved through the collection of data from public outdoor event suppliers, organisers and consumers to measure the value of public outdoor events in the UK. 

Virtual Avebury is an AHRC/EPSRC funded project under the 2017 Immersive Partnerships call.

The Vlochos Archaeological Project (VLAP) is a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa and the Swedish Institute at Athens, with participating archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg and Bournemouth University, examining the extensive remains of a Classical-Hellenistic urban site at Vlochós in the municipality of Palamás.

This study is crucial to understand how communities living in the Channel coastlands became interdependent at a time when trade in tin and copper was strengthening the foundations for an extensive prehistoric European union.