Cultural revolution on South Coast as Bournemouth sheds its former identity as a polytechnic

When Paul Curran took over the helm at Bournemouth University four years ago he was struck by its fantastic location, on a World Heritage coastline close to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. He felt it should mirror such beauty with high-quality academic offerings.

What he found was that Bournemouth was still the traditional polytechnic it had once been, full of academic staff who viewed their job as teaching students rather than being passionate about their subject.

Only 17 per cent had PhDs and many undertook no research. That had to change fast, he decided, to enable the university to climb the league tables and compete.

So, Curran implemented what is believed to be the most thorough-going cultural revolution in the university world: in an unprecedented blood-letting, he got rid of 240 staff, including five compulsorily, which meant about one-third of the academics left through three waves of redundancies; he introduced a huge staff development programme; and he went on a hiring spree to bring in new blood.

Since 2005, the university has made 141 new appointments, mainly from overseas or from older universities in Britain. And this week it is advertising for 37 more academics, including five professors.

"We have been recruiting people who are engaged with their subject," says Curran. "In these appointments we have focused on areas of strength or potential, for example, in conservation sciences and ecology. And we are opening a new executive business school on 24 September."

The new blood and the staff training have enabled Bournemouth to climb the league tables to be one of the best of the new universities. It stands now at 54th out of 113 in the Complete University Guide published in The Independent, ahead of pre-1992 universities such as Aberystwyth and Bradford. And the money it won from the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) of 2008 tripled to £2.2m. It was the fourth most improved university in the RAE. Moreover, 36 per cent of staff now have PhDs.

"You can really notice over the last three years a very strong change in the culture and feel of the place," says Nick Petford, pro-vice-chancellor for research and enterprise.

None of this happened without sweat and tears. Although Curran plays down the trouble, there was quite a bit of it. Rattled by the pace of change and the numbers of staff he wanted to lose, the University and College Union organised mass meetings and a vote of no-confidence in the vice-chancellor.

But, supported by the governing body, Curran pressed on. The curriculum was streamlined, giving academics some breathing space in which to do research. The results speak for themselves, according to the vice-chancellor. Bournemouth is now, for example, doing much better in the National Student Survey, having done not very well five years ago.

Previously deputy vice-chancellor at Southampton University, Curran was in charge of research at Southampton and knows all about how to maximise a university's performance in the RAE. He himself is no slouch at research, having built up an impressive reputation as a physical geographer for his work in earth observation. He is continuing with that research and is a visiting professor at Southampton.

A member of the Natural Environment Research Council, he has learnt how academics develop reputations and was struck by the quality of papers written, for example, by the staff in conservation studies. "When I came here, I used to look at what they did and I thought this could be in far better journals," he explains. "I said to them, 'What about going to Science [the world's leading journal of science research]. It's really big and well-regarded.' There was some hesitancy because they published in what they thought were the most appropriate journals."

But they did as he suggested and over the past six months have had three papers published in Science – one on footprints in Africa, another on blue butterflies, and the third on biodiversity. "They have never had papers in journals as high-profile as that before," says Curran. "They're flying. It's wonderful to see."

Bournemouth's fully-funded PhD programme has also helped to burnish its research reputation. All this has had a dramatic effect on the number of students applying.

In the old days 1,400 students would routinely attend the university's open days, but last year 6,000 turned up. "We're expecting over 7,000 next year," says Curran brightly.

Applications have gone up 13.6 per cent, and overseas application by more than 30 per cent.

The vice-chancellor believes that the university's rebranding exercise has also helped – all the clearly signposted signs on buildings advertising BU, Bournemouth University, as well as signs at the train station and the airport.

Like other new universities, Bournemouth is educating students whom it hopes will be the entrepreneurs of the future. One is Franzica Conrad, a 2004 graduate of product design who has invented a pop-up tent to take to the Glastonbury Festival, manufactured under license by Gelert.

Another is Philip Robinson who has designed a bike pump that fits into the saddle and works much better than a conventional hand pump. It is being inserted into Dahon's folding bikes and manufactured in the Far East. The third is Simon Phelps, who has designed an award-winning flood barrier to rival the sandbag, and has set up a company jointly with the university, which is manufacturing his product. All are receiving support and advice from the university.

None is a millionaire yet. But their licensing agreements and patents are bringing in £200,000 a year to Bournemouth, and helping to add lustre to a university that has been changing before their eyes.