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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

Working with military experts to explore the concept of hybrid warfare 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

The ECHO project will deliver an organised and coordinated approach to strengthen proactive cyber defence in the European Union, through effective and efficient multi-sector collaboration.

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.

Investigating the use of generative AI tools in media creation in the context of responsible AI.

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.

This project started life as a symposium at BU, in June 2022, and evolved into an edited collection of articles published by Edinburgh University Press in Summer 2025.

ADDISONIC is finding new ways of fatigue-testing materials to more accurately predict and extend their lifespan, reducing the amount that ends up in landfill. 

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.

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 was to develop a new approach to the design and construction of maritime infrastructure. MARINEFF strived 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.

Run by Catalin Brylla, this project explores the engagement with digital media for improving physical, psychological, social and economic wellbeing in the visually impaired community.

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.

Exploring blame dynamics around the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts. 

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.

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. They particularly focus on aiding people to adjust their usage style through the use of digital technology itself.

Exploring the experiences of deaf and disabled television professionals working both on and behind the screen.

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.

Understanding how the characteristics of CEOs influence research and development, innovation, and performance. 

Experiment driven and user experience-oriented analytics for extremely precise outcomes and decisions

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.

FishE is exploring the factors that can negatively affect fish populations, and find effective strategies to prevent their decline.

The FoodMAPP project will enable local providers to supply and sell produce directly to consumers, reducing waste and food miles. 

These projects include academics from the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Media and Communication.

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

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.

The Hybrid Digital Physical Space research cluster is developing a deeper understanding of human behaviour and emerging technologies in hybrid spaces. 

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

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

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

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.

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. 

Exploring where, when and under what circumstances the mapping of mass graves should be avoided or kept secret so that protection is not jeopardised.

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.

An interactive narrative aimed at young people in high risk areas of Colombia at high risk of (re)recruitment by non-state armed gangs. 

The MINE team are combining cognitive neuroscience, clinical and social psychology with virtual reality (VR) to develop new insights into understanding and changing people's behaviour.

Developing a suite of modelling tools to support economic forecasting.

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.

Co-created by older people and academic researchers, this project will explore what it means to be an older person in a digital world.

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.

A European project exploring how artificial intelligence and big data can help detect and investigate crime. 

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.

This AHRC network is focused on three emblematic contexts: two rural communities (Bario and Long Lamai) in Malaysia, a historical town (Ilha de Moçambique) in Mozambique, and five favelas (Rio de Janeiro) in Brazil.

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

A short, animated film that shows the process of mass grave protection and investigation from the perspective of victims’ families.

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.

Exploring ways to improve mental well-being with therapeutic activities in ancient landscapes

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

An interactive mobile phone app to aid understanding and adherence to the UK’s 5-a-day fruit and vegetable recommendations. 

Research led by the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP) in conjunction with industry bodies has investigated management practices in the UK television industry. 

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.

Investigating approaches to reducing free sugar intake and the impact of limiting exposure to sweet taste. 

This project aims to design, develop and test an intervention to support TV freelancers’ careers. 

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

The Centre for Applied Creative Technologies PLUS (CfACTs+) will transform the healthcare sector and training with digital technologies. 

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 is designed to progressively develop comprehensive data on states and their relationship with missing persons. 

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.

Demonstrating the role of digital media and advertising in stimulating consumer imagination has transformed advertising in Transport for London. 

UCCVP aims to explore and investigate cloud-based virtual film production in both the UK and China, identifying key challenges and developing future strategic plans for UK-China collaboration in the film industry.

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.

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 the experiences and motivations of production managers working in UK television, as well as the current skills gap for the industry. 

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.

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.

Exploring feelings of belonging and identity within post-industrial communities in the North East of England and Eastern Germany and their representation in media and popular culture.

Building on understanding of the Waddon Hill Roman Fort in Dorset and the history of the site. 

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.