Explore our research

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.

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.

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 3,046 known recipients to date.

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.

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.

The National Centre for Cross Disciplinary Social Work (NCCDSW) (formerly the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work) at BU has developed an exceptional reputation, delivering trusted education, research and consultancy with NHS Trusts, local authorities and other major employers in England, including the British Forces Social Work Service.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Investigating the efficacy of nurse-led, technology-supported models of care for patients requiring assessment, support and health education for skin cancer detection. 

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.

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 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.

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

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.

Developing an intervention to support older adults using personalised health coaching and digital technology to manage symptoms of frailty and long-term health conditions.

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 how digital interventions can support successful reintegration into the workforce after a stroke. 

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.

The Emotional Processing Scale for Wellbeing (EPS-W) taps into how people deal with changes and challenges in their working lives and provides guidance for improving wellbeing and building emotional resilience.

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

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

Funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK, the project aims to create dialogue and engage with minority ethnic communities around brain health and dementia.

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.

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.

A novel approach to investigating inequalities in nutrition and healthy ageing for older Black African adults in the UK. 

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.

Providing a first-person perspective of what it feels like to have dementia in an unfamiliar hospital environment. 

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.

An inclusive community food model for the health, wellbeing and social connectedness of older people. 

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Funded by Dementia Research UK, this project is working collaboratively with veterans with dementia to better understand their experiences and support needs. 

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

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.

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

A co-produced sustainable food-based intervention to improve nutritional health and ageing in older South Asian and Black African and Caribbean communities living in the UK 

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

Comparing different nutritional approaches for treating malnourished older adults in care homes. 

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 TOMATO project will help develop an intervention to provide nutritional care for people living with dementia at home.

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.

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.

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