Search results
-
LORIC secures Business Support Project funding
Both projects focus on supporting small to medium sized enterprises to engage in research and development that will help them to grow, develop and innovate. A key aspect of the assistance provided via these projects is research to help to provide the information needed by businesses to move forward with the introduction of new products, services and processes. This may involve market research, competitor analysis or designing customer feedback mechanisms. Another important aspect of both projects is supporting businesses to use data more effectively. This can involve using data that a business already holds and analysing it in a way which provides new insights; or accessing new data sets that help to meet the information needs of the business. Through these projects, eligible businesses are able to access digitisation facilities to enable their businesses to become more digitally based and to unlock value from brand heritage by providing digital access to stored documents, such as ledgers, diaries or old photographs. LORIC Project Manager, Kay Purle explains that the support on offer can help to unlock insights that can help businesses to develop new ideas, create new products or services, or even create new business ventures. Support on offer is tailored to the business in order to help them to get the most of their involvement with the projects, and includes bespoke, one-to-one support as well as a range of both online and face to face events. Funding is currently in place to support SMEs in North East Lincolnshire, East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland. For more information visit LORIC | Lincolnshire Open Research & Innovation Centre (bgu.ac.uk) or contact the LORIC team at loric@bishopg.ac.uk. Both projects are made possible by funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. -
Apprenticeship funding secured for Bishop Grosseteste University
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) have received over £100,000 of funding towards Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and apprenticeships. -
Extra Funding to Encourage Young People into University
More young people will be encouraged to study at university thanks to new government funding which has been secured by Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. Today (Thursday 8th January) the university was promised £24,000 over two years to support its collaborative work with other universities and colleges to widen participation in higher education. The money will be used to extend and increase BGU’s widening participation activities across the region and enable the university to engage with pupils from more schools. BGU is involved in three networks which work to improve access to higher education to young people from all backgrounds. “This new funding of £24,470 from HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England) will provide a great boost to our widening participation activities,” said Karen Richardson, Head of Student Recruitment and Admissions at BGU. “Hopefully we will be able to reintroduce summer schools and help to raise the aspirations of students who would not otherwise think that studying at university was for them.” Lincolnshire is characterised by comparatively high attainment at GCSE but low levels of participation in higher education – only 32% of 18-year-olds go on to higher education courses at university or college compared to the national average of 38%. * BGU’s widening participation activities target people from disadvantaged socio-economic areas, people with no history of higher education in their family, black and minority ethnic groups, males (for teacher training courses) and mature students. The university currently runs two access to HE programmes: First Steps 2 Study and Next Steps 4 Study. First Steps 2 Study is aimed at Year 9,10 and 11 pupils and involves a student ambassador from BGU, campus visits and a visit to the school, while Next Steps 4 Study targets Year 12 and 13 pupils who take part in debates, workshops, seminars and presentations both at school and at the university. BGU is a member of three networks involved in widening participation: the North East Midlands Collaborative Outreach Network, the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers, and Magna Carta – Education for Liberty (which is led by the University of Lincoln). Other partners in the Magna Carta – Education for Liberty network include Lincoln College, Boston College, North Lindsey College, Grimsby Institute and Grantham College. Partners in the North East Midlands Collaborative Outreach Network include BGU, the University of Nottingham, the University of Derby, Nottingham Trent University, West Nottinghamshire College, Central College Nottingham, Loughborough College and Stephenson College in Coalville and Nottingham. The funding announced today is part of a new £22 million national scheme involving 226 higher education institutions and reaching 4,300 secondary schools and colleges. The National Networks for Collaborative Outreach (NNCO) will deliver a nationally co-ordinated approach to working with schools, universities and colleges to help people access higher education. Greg Clark, Minister for Universities and Science, commented: “A record number of students entered higher education in 2014, with entry rates for students from disadvantaged backgrounds increasing by over 10% to its highest ever level. “However there is still more work to do to ensure all students who want to study hard can benefit, irrespective of their background.” * Latest HEFCE statistics for 2011/12. -
Students Help National Social Initiative Find New Funding Opportunities
Students from the Business (Team Entrepreneurship) programme at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) travelled to London last week where they took part in an assessed business challenge project for social enterprise The Ramadan Tent Project (RTP). RTP run the internationally acclaimed 'Open Iftar' event, which this year will be held in major cities around the UK. Iftar is the fast-breaking meal eaten by Muslims after sunset during the month of Ramadan. Open Iftar is an inter/non faith, inter-cultural event which celebrates diversity and welcomes anyone from any background. The first event was held in London in 2013 and since then the initiative has spread to seven cites and four continents, welcoming over 60,000 guests who are invited to join together to share food, to chat, laugh and listen to a variety of speakers on a wide range of subjects. The challenge given to students by RTP was to consider how it could develop sustainable income streams that will allow them to grow the Open Iftar initiative which is free to all who attend. They had 24 hours to research resources, contact potential stakeholders and develop solutions, which were delivered as a professional presentation the following day. Team Coaches Chris Jackson and Peter Tasi from BGU were on hand to monitor the process and progress. Chris was particularly pleased with how the students took to the task: " I have to say that we were pretty impressed with the way our guys tackled a tough task, developing four potential sources of income as well as engaging with people in the local communities by simply going out and talking with them. They also saw a bigger picture and were able to engage wider support nationally, raising over £6,000 in pledges". Peter Tasi added: "This is what can be achieved by active team work. Of course is doesn't just end here as we now have to formally assess the students on their process and how they synthesise their activity to aspects of business theory which are core to their learning". "Following their visible success with the task, they must now formalise and reflect on the process and individually present their learning experience back to us. It's not as straightforward as it seems." On the day, results were presented back to RTP CEO Omar Salha who was visibly impressed: "This is an amazing achievement and we're really grateful to have been able to engage with you in this way. Some of the impromptu visits that you have made in the short time that you were with us show us the size of the task before us." In a short space of time, students found that they were able to engage with corporations such as Disney and Virgin. These are contacts who they will now be working with to explore the full extent of possible support for RTP. Project Leader for the task was BGU student Daria Pipsenska: "This was just an amazing opportunity and took us all way outside of our comfort zones! We were able to achieve good results while working under pressure as a team and we did things we'd never done before and couldn't hope to achieve sitting in a classroom." If you’re interested in a future in international business or in starting your own company, our business courses are the perfect path to take. You can find more information on them on our website or by contacting our Enquiries Team. -
BGU awarded British Council Funding to strengthen China Partnership
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) is delighted to announce that, following a highly competitive application process, it has been awarded £30,000 through the British Council’s ‘Generation UK’ initiative. This initiative aims to help 80,000 students from the UK boost their employability, enhance their long-term job prospects, and develop a global mind-set through study and work experience opportunities in China. BGU’s project will provide opportunities for students and staff to engage in partnership visits to Hengyang Normal University (HYNU). Delegations from BGU first travelled out to HYNU in July 2017 and in September 2017 colleagues from HYNU visited BGU to collaborate and formalise the partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding. Securing this funding represents an important next step forwards in the development of the partnership. BGU’s project is led by Dr Steven Puttick, Head of Programmes: Secondary, FE & Research Education, who spoke of his excitement on the potential of the project: “I am delighted that BGU have been awarded these funds which represent a significant investment that recognises the growing international reputation of the institution. We are really looking forward to developing our collaboration with colleagues at HYNU, and are excited about the opportunities this will help us to create.” The project is one part of the broader Lincolnshire – Hunan twinning partnership, and will also enable BGU to significantly build on these relationships. Following the award Dr Nick Gee, Head of the School of Teacher Development at BGU & a Visiting Professor at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, praised BGU’s growing international profile: “This funding recognises our flourishing international reputation within South East Asia, where we now have multiple partners offering fantastic learning opportunities for our highly successful TESOL provision.” BGU International manager Wayne Dyble added: “This funding will provide us with the opportunity to develop a sustainable relationship with HYNU and importantly gives students an excellent opportunity to enhance their cultural awareness and knowledge of China as a country and provide added value as they develop graduate attributes which will be invaluable to their careers in a global marketplace.” BGU have a global outlook on education, and our courses offer unprecedented opportunities to Teach & Travel. You can find more information about all of these, including our BA in English Language and Teaching and MA Course in TESOL on our website, or by contacting our Enquiries Team. For further information on all the international activities taking place at BGU visit our news page or contact our International Department to find out what exciting opportunities are available to you. -
BGU Awarded £2.6M European Funding to Support Local Businesses
Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln has been awarded over £2.6 million of European funding for two major projects to support entrepreneurship and innovation with businesses and social enterprises in Greater Lincolnshire.The award, from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), is the biggest business and research investment ever secured by BGU.It reflects the university’s strategy to increase its positive support for the development of businesses, communities and the economy of Greater Lincolnshire.BGU has purchased St. Hugh’s on Newport, an iconic Grade II listed building, to provide a new home for the projects. The building is on the site of an Augustinian Friary and has been used as offices for many years.The projects are: Lincolnshire Open Research and Innovation Centre (LORIC), which has a total value of £3.5 million (ESIF contribution £2.1 million) BGU Business Inspiration, which has a total value of £878k (ESIF contribution £527k). The two projects will run until spring 2019 and spring 2020 respectively, and will provide support for over 130 small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and social enterprises and will create eight jobs.Mark Bowen, Enterprise Development Manager at BGU, said: “The LORIC project will provide support to businesses, public and third-sector organisations across Greater Lincolnshire and position the university at the leading edge in the use of open data to support innovation.“The Business Inspiration project is designed to develop entrepreneurial leadership, with a particular focus on innovative approaches to growing small and micro-businesses. It includes a £307k grant-making fund that will encourage businesses in using creative and innovative approaches. It will provide successful applicants with up to 100% funding as well as financial support to employ graduate interns and placements.“We plan to refurbish St Hugh’s to create LORIC. The work is expected to take about 11 months to complete, but we already have a live project running in the background.“As a result of setting-up LORIC and our associated project BGU Business Inspiration, we are intending to create eight new jobs but, by the time we have reached our target, around 40 people will be working at St Hugh’s.” Mark added: “Once again this highlights the commitment of BGU to developing the communities that have supported us for more than 155 years.“Thanks are due to the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Lincolnshire County Council’s Technical Assistance team and the Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub for their unstinting support throughout the challenging application process, which took more than a year to complete.”BGU will be making a total investment of £1.6 million with participating businesses contributing £153k. Open Data Open Data is increasingly in the news. The demand from businesses and organisations to be able to analyse and interpret large, complex datasets into useable information which they can easily work with is increasing.In the future, the stars of the data scene will be people and businesses with the skills to interpret and connect different datasets in ways which will not only be easily accessible, but which will help businesses to find new opportunities and solve problems which they may not currently be aware of.They will not only be tech and digital sector enterprises, but businesses in mainstream service, health, manufacturing, visitor economy, educational and skills sectors for example. They all have the potential to benefit from open data.Insights could help to identify new market opportunities and develop new capabilities within a business to improve productivity, efficiency or profitability.“At BGU, we are keen to develop the capacity of our research students and academic teams to work with organisations and to transform datasets into a language which end users can understand and use to add value in practical ways,” said Mr Bowen.“For example, the services we are offering could be useful to help health and social care organisations to plan more effectively for the future. A business could find analysed data useful in helping them to understand changing patterns, needs and preferences within communities.” -
#12DaysofBGU Day 11: £2.6M Funding to Support Local Businesses
This year BGU was awarded over £2.6 million of European funding for two major projects to support entrepreneurship and innovation with businesses and social enterprises in Greater Lincolnshire. -
BGU Academics Awarded €178,000 Erasmus Funding for Well-being Research
Academics from Bishop Grosseteste University’s (BGU) Well-being and Workload in Education RKEU group have been awarded 178,000 euro of Erasmus+ funding to research and develop the well-being of initial teacher education students. The group from BGU, who will be leading this international project, consists of Dr. Emma Clarke, Dr. Phil Wood, Shaun Thompson and Aimee Quickfall. They will be working with colleagues at the University of Eastern Finland and Kobenhavns Professionshojskole, University of Copenhagen. Aimee, who is Head of Programmes for Primary and Early Years at BGU, commented that: “It is great to be working with our Finnish and Danish colleagues again on a topic that is dear to all of us – the continued success and happiness of our teacher trainees.” The aim of the project is to produce a package of resources for ITE students, school mentors and university staff, including ‘well-being toolkits’ that will be tailored to Finnish, Danish and UK contexts. Shaun, who is Regional Partnership Lead at BGU explained this: “It is really important to consider different education systems and also the different people that need support with well-being. If a student struggles with their well-being during their training, mentors and university tutors also need resources to support their trainee in their context; on placement, in tutorials, at a distance and in person.” The project will run for three years and include events in all three countries to share findings with students, school mentors and initial teacher educators. Emma pointed out: “The project has a real activist aim – we want to improve the experiences of teacher trainees as widely as we can.” To that end, the project outcomes will include a website with free to access online resources, blogs and advice, as well as the toolkits for supporting trainee well-being. Phil explained that: “Although the toolkits and resources will be based on research carried out at BGU, UEF and Copenhagen, there will be useful materials and findings for teacher trainees, mentors and tutors in other contexts and countries.” If you’re interested in a future in education, our BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS (3 year undergraduate degree), BA (Hons) Primary Teaching Studies with QTS (15 month top up degree), and PGCE courses are the perfect ways to begin or continue your adventure on the path to becoming a fantastic teacher! If you have any questions, our Enquiries Team are ready to help. Contact them today or visit our website to find out how to take your next steps. -
LORIC Centre Announce Second Round of Funding for Lincolnshire Enterprises
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) has been successful in securing over £399,030 of grant funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in order to support Small and Medium Enterprises (including self-employed individuals) with data-driven innovation. The project will be delivered by the team at the Lincolnshire Open Research and Innovation Centre (LORIC). LORIC was first opened in 2018 with support from the ERDF and, following the success of the first project, has, to date, supported over 50 companies from various sectors. The funding awarded for the second phase of the LORIC project will enable the team to collaborate with even more beneficiaries than before, as well as expanding on the existing roster of services. Eligible SMEs will be given a minimum of 12 hours of support in the form of consultancy, a dedicated knowledge exchange project, or a digitization endeavour. Alongside that support, the team will also work to facilitate and nurture collaborations between researchers and companies in Greater Lincolnshire. Following the funding acquisition, Professor Scott Fleming, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at BGU, praised the LORIC project for its continued positive impact: “We are delighted that LORIC has been awarded a second phase of European funding. It’s recognition of the impact that the LORIC team has had on the business communities of the city and Greater Lincolnshire. We’re thrilled to be able to take forward the outstanding work that began in 2018 and we’re looking forward to continuing our successful collaborations and establishing exciting new partnerships.” The programme will run from February 2021 to June 2023. For more information on the project, eligibility criteria, and the researcher/business collaboration offer, please visit loric.bishopg.ac.uk. -
NQT Experiences to be Explored as BGU Academics Secure British Academy COVID-19 Research Funding
Academics from Bishop Grosseteste University Dr Emma Clarke, Dr Phil Wood and Aimee Quickfall have secured British Academy funding for a ground-breaking project looking into the experiences of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) in 2020/21; a cohort of teachers who have been impacted greatly by the COVID-19 pandemic. The highly competitive British Academy funding process resulted in just 6% of bids being approved. This project considers the experiences of newly qualified teachers, taking up their first career role having missed part of their work-based practice prior to employment. This project will follow NQTs through their first year of teaching to understand the challenges and opportunities they face, how they can be better supported professionally and emotionally, to inform practices and policies to ensure sustainability within the sector during and after the pandemic. Dr. Clarke commented on the project, explaining: “This research will help us understand the complex processes at play for NQTs and is important in ensuring that this cohort thrive in their careers. With a recruitment gap already apparent in English education, any adverse impact on this group of teachers moving forward will play a major role in exacerbating that problem.” It is hoped that the impact of the study will also reach beyond the teaching profession. Dr. Wood explained: “This research project will offer insights into how the wider public sector has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the training of a new generation of professionals.” The project is part of the Well-being and Workload in Education Research and Knowledge Exchange Unit. If you would like to know more about the work of the Well-being and Workload in Education RKEU, please contact aimee.quickfall@bishopg.ac.uk
Explore BGU
Browse our wide range of degree courses and find the perfect one for you.
Open days are the best way to find out what BGU has to offer.
Download your copy of our prospectus to find out more about life at BGU.