News
QMU receives external funding for four more SME partnerships in Food and Drink
Our portfolio of work with Scotland’s food and drink sector continues to grow with external funding secured for a further four SME projects with: Gusto Catering trading as Viator Ventures; Ormiston Grows; Cuddybridge Apple Juice; and British Trout .
QMU’s Phonetic and Phonological Systems webpage awarded Site of the Month Award
Congratulations to Speech and Hearing Sciences at QMU. The new Phonetic and Phonological Systems Analysis page, launched in December 2012, has gained the ‘Site of the Month Award’ for January 2013 by Speechwoman.
Speechwoman is the alias for Dr Caroline Bowen, a renowned speech professional who runs the website Since 1998. Speechwoman’s website has been providing information and resources to consumers, Speech-Language Pathologists / Speech and Language Therapists and students worldwide. Each month, Speechwoman selects an outstanding speech-language pathology related website as her ‘Site of the Month’, and this time it’s QMU’s PPSA page that’s being highlighted.
The PPSA is a new tool to chart and analyse phonetic transcription data. It has developed from collaboration between Speech and Language Therapists Dr Jocelynne Watson (QMU) and Dr Sally Bates (University College Plymouth Marjon). The PPSA provides an easily interpretable, at-a-glance profile of a speaker's sound system. Since launching only a month ago, the QMU PPSA page has had over 130 registrations from professionals in Scotland, the UK, New Zealand, Gibraltar, Holland and Texas.
If you are a speech and language therapist at QMU and would like to know more about QMU’s Phonetic and Phonological Systems Analysis pages, take a look at http://www.qmu.ac.uk/ppsa/
It may also be helpful for you to find out more about Speechwoman, Dr Caroline Bowen, and her website www.speech-language-therapy.com. Caroline has a particular interest in children's speech sound disorders and the role of families in intervention, so if this appeals to you, Speechwoman’s website might be a very valuable resource for you in the future.
QMU Recognised in European Commission HR Excellence in Research Awards
QMU has been recognised for achieving HR Excellence in Research by the European Commission underlining its commitment to improving the working conditions, mobility and career development for research staff in its flagship areas of health and rehabilitation, sustainable business and culture and creativity
QMU is one of ten universities in the UK to have their two-year reviews and future plans approved. Seventy two UK organisations now have the Award which aims to enhance the quality and output of the research base, through supporting the training and development of world-class researchers.
“Excellence in our research has led to the development of a distinctive research culture which is attracting scholars from around the world and for a small university like QMU to be included in the first tranche of European awards is a huge achievement. It badges the university as a European institution that is committed to supporting researcher mobility and career development. Our work in areas such as food and nutrition, speech sciences, international health, media and communication and rehabilitation sciences has achieved international recognition and reflects the quality of the people we are able to attract and retain.”
To gain the award, Queen Margaret University has demonstrated robust implementation plans to improve how they attract, manage and develop research staff to improve the quantity, quality and impact of research for the benefit of UK society and the economy.
David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science said:
"Our world-class universities are once again leading the way. It's vital that the working conditions of researchers continue to improve because world-class science and research are the key to future economic growth. The total number of UK institutions with this award is higher than in the whole of the rest of Europe put together, which is a great testament to the strength of our research base."
Governance through Communication: Stakeholder Engagement, Dialogue, and Corporate Social Responsibility - QMU, 15 June 2013
QMU's Centre for Dialogue has been awarded (on a competitive basis) the opportunity to host a pre-conference to the prestigious International Communication Association (ICA) conference that is being held in London this June. The two-part pre-conference will focus on three themes — stakeholder engagement, dialogue, and corporate social responsibility. It will also investigate the topical question of governance, focusing on the role communication expertise and practices play in the way in which the idea of governance is constructed and enacted by government and business organizations. The first part of the pre-conference (“Dialogue and Stakeholder Engagement”) will be held Saturday, 15 June, 9:30 – 16:30, at the Centre for Dialogue, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. The second part (“CSR and Communication: Extending the Agenda”) will be held Monday, 17 June; 9:00 – 17:00 at Cass Business School, London (hosted by Copenhagen Business School). The pre-conference is the outcome of collaboration with a number of international colleagues from the University of Waikato, Queensland University of Technology, Massey University College of Business, and Copenhagen Business School.
The pre-conference is sponsored by the Public Relations and Organizational Communication Divisions of the International Communication Association
https://www.icahdq.org/conf/2013/confdescriptions.asp
QMU Food and Drink /AMT partnership wins Interface Excellence Awards 2012
We are delighted to announce that QMU researchers in food and drink and the SME, Advanced Microwave Technologies (AMT) were awarded the Sustained Partnership Award and Innovation of the Year Award in recognition of their cutting edge research and its application to industry. This is excellent recognition of the leading position and profile our research team in food and drink have secured in supporting Scotland’s SMEs. http://www.qmu.ac.uk/marketing/press_releases/Interface_Awards.htm
AlcoLOLs project for research in Dialogue awarded £58k by the Robertson Trust
The AlcoLOLs project - initially developed with pupils from Portobello High School - is a peer education project for teenagers which uses dialogue techniques to create a new approach to supporting young people in negotiating the challenges posed by alcohol by learning together and from one another in a carefully constructed communication context. The Robertson Trust has awarded £58k to fund year 1 of a three year project which will enable the AlcoLOLs project to be extended to a further five schools from North East Edinburgh.
Dr Natalia Zharkova awarded ESRC grant to study speech development in children
This research grant from the ESRC (approximately £375k fEC) is to carry out a project entitled “Coarticulation and tongue differentiation in children between three and thirteen years old”. Dr Nigel Hewlett and Dr Robin Lickley are co-investigators at QMU. Prof Fiona Gibbon from University College Cork is an international co-investigator, and Prof William Hardcastle is a consultant. The project will continue the research programme on studying motor speech development in children, initiated by Dr Zharkova in 2008, in collaboration with Dr Nigel Hewlett and Prof William Hardcastle. Previous research by the team has suggested that subtle developmental changes are likely to be found during childhood. The new study will focus on these subtle changes, by collecting and analysing ultrasound imaging data on tongue position and shape in speech.
Macmillan Cancer Support award £393,000 for Cancer Study in Nutrition
A research team led by Professor Isobel Davidson in collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Macmillan Cancer Support have been awarded £393k for a project to establish a Scottish Macmillan Centre for Supported Self Management for patients affected by cancer.
This project will develop a whole systems model (governance, risk management, quality assurance, implementation, reach, evaluation) that will assure the effective operation of ‘Macmillan Supporters’ who will actively engage with cancer patients (carers). QM will define accreditation and quality assurance mechanisms for the ‘Macmillan Supporters’ programme. The work in generic nutrition training will serve as a model that can be adopted in other topic areas e.g. concomitant radio/chemo therapy, vocational rehabilitation. It is envisaged that a minimum of four modules (including generic training) will be developed during this three year project. Added to which there is significant potential for transferring this model to long term conditions per se.
ESRC Grant for Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre
The Economic and Social Research Council have funded a grant submitted by Dr Eleanor Lawson and Professor James M Scobbie (CASL Research Centre) in collaboration with Dr Jane Stuart-Smith at Glasgow University. Dr Lawson’s research project is titled SEEING THE LINKS IN THE SPEAKER-HEARER CHAIN: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSMISSION OF ARTICULATORY VARIATION USING ULTRASOUND TONGUE IMAGING. The project will look at ongoing processes of language variation and change in Scotland, using experimental mimicry and spontaneous dialogue speech. The findings will address theoretical questions about how accent variation is acquired and transmitted to others. The project fits with the CASL Research Centre’s strategy by helping develop Ultrasound Tongue Imaging and by using it to better understand normal speech functioning, acquisition and variation.
Psychology Project with ELCAP
Dr Karen Goodall secured funding for a project with East Lothian charity ELCAP. The research looked at recruitment and retention of carers of clients with challenging behaviours. It made recommendations to the company on ways in which they could improve their recruitment process and also increase employment satisfaction of longer-term employees.
Headley Trust Funding for Stroke Research
Dr Jocelynne Watson has secured £35,000 from the Headley Trust to support the development of innovative Intensive Speech and Language Therapy for people with Aphasia following stroke. A pilot group will run this summer providing student placements and post qualification internship experience. If successful the model might have potential to be effective with a range of different client groups, involving interprofessional working and practice based learning. The therapy will include some computer based interventions which are provided by one of our SME partners, Propeller
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