Study Leave
Study Leave provides academic staff with a period of paid academic study leave for the purposes of undertaking research, educational development or professional practice. Individuals are based for part or all of the time at another academic institution either within the UK or overseas.
A programme of internal secondments is available in order to drive interdisciplinary research at BU. Industrial Staff Placements will provide a series of short placement and internship opportunities for BU staff with local and regional businesses/organisations.
Examples of projects funded under this strand of the Fusion Investment Fund:
Engaging students in industry and updating professional practice
Senior Lecturer in Television Production and Directing Digital Film and Television, Sue Sudbury worked with Sequoia Films, which was commissioned by Channel 4 to develop an idea for their flagship documentary series Cutting Edge and also to develop and produce an international feature-length documentary, Indian Spacemen, for BBC Storyville. Sue took ten BU students on broadcast production work experience while at the same time updating her professional practice.
Sue Sudbury's professional standing was greatly enhanced and evidenced by the fact that she was asked to sit on a panel session ("Ground-breaking documentaries") at London's BVE Expo Exhibition. The session was chaired by multi BAFTA-winning Brian Woods (MD of True Vision) and this has led to Sue working with Brian on a new documentary idea.
The ten students who undertook work placements from February to June 2013 have benefited by having an exceptional and potentially career defining opportunity to work on prestigious documentary productions.
"As a camera specialist in my final year, I was very excited to be selected to take part in this Fusion Project. Having the opportunity to work abroad on an international broadcast project, such as this, was a fantastic experience. Being able to work alongside an industry professional (Sue Sudbury) and see how they operate was fascinating, especially seeing the relationship between filmmaker and contributor, a relationship that I have only ever experienced at a student level. This is something especially useful to me as I hope to work in documentary in the future"
Oliver Clubb, BA (Hons) Television Production.
Next academic year, all students devising and creating documentary films will learn from Sue's recent experience, pitching, developing, producing and directing documentaries. Sue will be able to inform and inspire students in the making of documentaries, which are creative, relevant and in-line with current broadcast practice.
Understanding the co-creation of leisure behaviour in socio-natural environments
Dr Dorothy Fox, a Lecturer in the School of Tourism, undertook research practice with the aim of bringing new ways of thinking about the natural environment into the academic and public arena. This was achieved through primary research carried out in the UK; overseas travel to Australia and New Caledonia (in the South Pacific); the initiation of international networking; undertaking training and the development of new teaching materials for 2013-14.
Dr Fox said: "The process of applying for study leave and its execution has had a profound impact on my way of thinking about my role at BU. This has led to a change from a local perspective to an international one."
As a result of this project Dr Fox is leading an international project with academics from BU, Australia, USA, Sweden and Switzerland with the intention of the publication of a journal article on leisure and recreation in peri-urban natural spaces, to be followed by a collaborative research bid. She is also taking part in a collaborative study with an academic in Turkey.