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thebulletin28 May 2011 - Issue 103

New Chancellor for UWE

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In this month’s issue

2 Sir Ian Carruthers, OBE, named as new UWE Chancellor

4 BRIG-H hosts inaugural health showcase at UWE

5 CAHE’s talent to take new Faculty forward

6 Scanner helps Bristol team lead the way in cancer research

8 UWE celebrates partnership success in South East Asia

10 CAR present results of new body image survey

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Front cover:

Sir Ian Carruthers OBE with Professor Steve West Photo (c) Paul Groom www.paulgroom.com

Sir Ian Carruthers, OBE, is to be installed as the new Chancellor of UWE. He brings a wealth of experience to his new role for the University. He is currently Chief Executive of the South West Strategic Health Authority. His career in the NHS spans over 40 years. He received a knighthood in the 2003 New Year's Honours List for services to the NHS and in 2006 he took over as Interim Chief Executive of the NHS, amongst the largest organisations in the world, having 1.3 million employees and a budget in excess of £100 billion. He has been the lead author on several papers on reviewing and improving the NHS and is seen as an international expert on health care systems and service delivery.

UWE awarded Sir Ian the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science in 2009 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to health and wellbeing in the South West.

In his NHS career Sir Ian has transformed access to health care as well as the quality of services and financial performance in both national and local settings.

He has overseen many major service changes and is a champion of change to deliver better outcomes for patients, staff and communities. He believes strongly in partnership working and this is demonstrated through the improvements that have seen the NHS in the South West achieve health care that is amongst the best in the United Kingdom.

Speaking about his new role Sir Ian said, “It is a great honour and a privilege to become the Chancellor of the University of West of England. Education is essential for people to develop and improve as individuals and it transforms lives. I strongly believe in putting students first so that their experience is the best it can be. I am a great supporter of the widening participation agenda and partnership working between the education, public, voluntary and private sectors so that everyone has the chance to achieve their full potential. Students are our future and it is essential that they can take up the opportunities that exist.

“This is a very important time for education and for public services. It’s a challenging

"It is a great honour and a privilege to

become the Chancellor of the University of West of England."

Sir Ian Carruthers

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period for many people, but also a fantastic opportunity for the University with its strong partnership approach to position itself for success in the future. We need to concentrate on what we do best and improve wherever we can.

“It is important to be positive and build on the outstanding record of UWE. There are exceptional people at UWE who undertake leading-edge work and it is important not to be deflected by short term issues. In the long term the talent and ability of UWE people will shine through, both in terms of its academic staff and students as they go out into the world to make their full contribution. I am delighted to be joining UWE and look forward to contributing to its continued success.”

Professor Steve West, Vice-Chancellor said, “Sir Ian will be a real asset to the University. He brings valuable experience in a vital sector, fantastic leadership qualities and great personal drive and passion for education. He has

Sir Ian Carruthers, OBE, named as new UWE Chancellor

a real appreciation of the University and what we do, and has a great understanding of the challenges and opportunities we face. I am delighted to have Sir Ian as our new Chancellor, and look forward to working with him and the Chair of the Board of Governors Gillian Camm.”

Sir Ian has undertaken a range of national tasks which most recently has included a review of service reconfiguration and co-authoring a report on age discrimination in health and social care. Sir Ian will be installed as the new Chancellor at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences awards ceremony on Monday 18 July 2011.

The current Chancellor, The Right Honourable the Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE PC, has been Chancellor since 1993, providing outstanding service to the University as an ambassador and advocate.

Sir Ian Carruthers, OBE, grew up in Carlisle and attended Carlisle Grammar

School. He commenced his career in the National Health Service (NHS) at Garlands Hospital, Carlisle, in 1969 as a trainee administrator, before subsequently holding posts in Barnsley, Blackpool, Southend, Portsmouth and Plymouth. From 1987 to 2006 Sir Ian held a succession of senior Health Authority posts with the Dorset, Somerset and Hampshire Health Authorities.

Sir Ian has worked on a number of secondments to the Department of Health which include Interim Chief Executive of the NHS and Transitional Director to establish the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. From 1994, Sir Ian was seconded to the South and West Regional Health Authority as Regional General Manager and Regional Director of the NHS Executive.

He has been Chief Executive of the South West Strategic Health Authority since its formation in July 2006.

Sir Ian Carruthers, OBE

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BRIG-H hosts inaugural health showcase at UWE

The Bristol Health Innovation Showcase, a unique exhibition highlighting the outstanding health innovation achievements in the city, was held at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in March.

It was the first exhibition from BRIG-H (Bristol Research and Innovation Group for Health), a partnership of universities and NHS Trusts committed to improving the health of people in Bristol and beyond through research, innovation and closer collaboration.

The BRIG-H partners are the University of Bristol, University of the West of

From left: Neil Bradshaw (Director of Enterprise University of Bristol) and Chair of the BRIG-H Innovation Working Group), Professor Richard Luxton (Director Institute of Bio-Sensing Technology, Deborah Evans, Chief Executive NHS Bristol and Chair, Bristol Health Leadership Executive and Professor Gianni Angelini, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiac Surgery

and Director.

Sally Good, General Manager, Decipher Limited received the award on behalf of her team.

North Bristol NHS Trust presented plans for a new state-of-the art £430m hospital opening in Southmead in 2014. The hospital will serve 500,000 local people and other patients requiring specialist services.

The Centre for Appearance Research’s Professor Nichola Rumsey presented Appearance matters at the showcase.

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England, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, North Bristol NHS Trust, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust, in association with Bristol City Council, NHS North Somerset, and NHS South Gloucestershire.

Speaking about health care in Bristol, Deborah Evans, Chief Executive NHS Bristol and Chair, Bristol Health Leadership Executive, said, “We know that Bristol is regarded as a beacon of innovation. Innovation in health is changing the lives of patients and the city: inventions, research, new companies, treatments, devices and

tools are transforming the care and quality of the lives of patients. ”

Prior to the evening showcase, the consortium hosted a Health Innovation Challenge bringing together 130 scientists, researchers, clinicians, patient representatives and others from Bristol, to generate new ideas and facilitate collaborations and initiatives to improve health in the city. It was a fruitful session, with over 30 ideas generated for future development through the collaborative network of BRIG-H partners. They included:

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- development of new point of care for diagnostic devices

- how do we help patients engage with heath technology

- how can we act as a health community and not as rivals

The BRIG-H consortium is now looking at taking some of these ideas forward and developing them into future incentives.

Professor Richard Luxton (Director, Institute of Bio-Sensing Technology) said, “The BRIG-H Innovation Showcase event was a huge success with over 200 delegates from the BRIG-H partners showing a real enthusiasm for developing and exploiting innovation. This was highlighted in the quality of the entries for the BRIG-H Health Innovation Awards. There were 30 case studies covering a wide range of innovation from technology to service provision. There was a fantastic atmosphere, full of energy and enthusiasm making the event something to remember. The event demonstrated the importance of collaboration between the partner organisations to generate innovation for health care in our region.”

The keynote address was given by Professor Gianni Angelini, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiac Surgery and Director.

The winner of the BRIG-H Health Innovation Awards was Decipher Impact Ltd, a new company set up to develop the market for a peer support programme which combats teenage smoking. The programme trains and supports teenage ‘peer supporters’ and has been shown to reduce the uptake of smoking in 12-13 year olds. The project leaders are Professor Rona Campbell, University of Bristol and Professor Laurence Moore, Cardiff University. The BRIG-H partners involved are University of Bristol and NHS Bristol.

For more information on BRIG-H see: www.biosensingtech.co.uk/Support/BRIG-H.html

Despite the political challenges faced by the sector as a whole, Professor Alex Gilkison, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education, is buoyant about the future. With creative industries representing the second-fastest growing industrial sector in the UK, after financial services, he sees great opportunities to nurture the talent of students and staff and to grow UWE’s national and international reputation through a combination of strategic partnership, investment and innovative curriculum development.

“Bristol is a vibrant city brimming with creative energy,” says Alex, “UWE has established strong partnerships regionally and it is imperative that we build, develop and expand on these to generate professional training opportunities for our students that enhance the intellectual content of our programmes. In these times we need to be clever about how we put together awards in the traditional humanities subjects so that we give our students a rounded experience that will lead to strong career opportunities when they graduate.

“Our ambition is to develop centres of excellence across our four key themes of art and design, education, liberal arts and creative media. “In each of these areas we will concentrate on developing graduates with the right mix of subject, transferable and professional skills.”

Alex was involved in spearheading the development of creative media subjects during the 1990s at the University of the West of Scotland and then worked at Edinburgh Napier University where he played a key role in national and international creative industries education.

He continues, “We have real talent in the Faculty that we need to nurture - people who understand ‘young’ industries and ‘young’ cultures. I am also conscious that we need to

ensure that students know and understand what UWE is good at, so that we emerge as a more confident Faculty with an outward vision.

“By September 2012, we will have developed a new Creative Media Centre at Frenchay that will provide industry-standard facilities to develop our expertise in journalism, film, drama and pervasive media. There are great opportunities around convergent disciplines that can act as catalysts for local media industries. Our media, design and liberal arts students will have the attributes to thrive and develop in the challenging world of portfolio creative careers.”

Alex concludes, “We need to ensure that UWE is firmly established on the map as a sector leader at the forefront of talent and content development for creative industries. We are looking to cement more strategic partnerships that meet our aspirations including with the BBC, Aardman Animations and Hong Kong University (rated in the top 50 international universities). New strategic alliances such as these will support our ambitions to create an excellent student experience.”

Alex Gilkison

CAHE’s talent to take new Faculty forward

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The delivery of a Veridex Circulating Tumour Cell (CTC) scanner at the School of Clinical Sciences at Southmead Hospital is providing an exciting opportunity for a team of Bristol scientists and clinicians to undertake potentially ground-breaking research into what controls cancer tumour cells and causes them to spread around the body.

Using a newly developed test called the CellSearch®CTC test the scanner has the potential to provide the means for more accurate measurement of cancer progression so that appropriate treatments are given.

There are only a handful of CTC scanners in the UK and this is the first scanner to be housed in a research institute based in a South West hospital. The arrival of the scanner is exciting news for Bristol as it will potentially benefit patients who are getting cancer treatment at Southmead Hospital and the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre.

Working in partnership with the two local NHS Trusts the research by scientists and clinicians at UWE, the University of Bristol, the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre and the Bristol Urological Institute has the potential to identify better targeted treatment options for patients in Bristol with advanced cancer.

The scanner will be used to help the scientists and clinicians investigate metastases of cancer cells in blood samples taken from patients with prostate, breast and colon cancers. Better insight into what causes cancer cells to metastasise (spread) will help the partnership to design and test new improved drugs for targeting and destroying these tumour cells that threaten the lives of many cancer patients.

Speaking on behalf of the research team; which includes Professor Jeff Holly (School of Clinical Sciences, University of Bristol), Professor David Gillatt (Director of the Bristol Urological Institute, Southmead Hospital) and Dr Amit Bahl (Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre), Professor Anthony Rhodes from UWE explains, “Currently tumour detection and monitoring is determined

using imaging, bone scans and serum tumour markers like the PSA test for prostate cancer. These tests do not tell us at an early stage if the cells have started to break away from the original tumour or the extent of the spread of the cancer.

“The CTC scanner will allow us to measure very low cancer cell counts in blood samples. The machine detects levels as low as one to four circulating tumour cells in a single blood sample; this is significantly lower than the measurements achieved using other technologies available to us in Bristol up until now.

“Whilst the equipment will only initially be used for research, this ability to measure low CTC levels means we can more accurately predict progression of the disease. If there are fewer cells than a certain threshold then patient prognosis is good, a higher count than the threshold means less favourable prognosis and treatments can be tailored accordingly.”

Currently men have their prostate tumours removed at Southmead Hospital by a team of surgeons led by Professor David Gillatt. These men are then regularly monitored for recurrence using a PSA test. If a recurrence is indicated men are treated with radiotherapy at the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre under the care of Dr Amit Bahl. The PSA test however cannot accurately predict the location of the tumour or if cells have moved to a secondary site in the body. Accurate

information of CTC levels may help Dr Bahl to identify the men who have tumours that have spread. In these cases radiotherapy may be inappropriate and Dr Bahl will be able to reduce the number of men who undergo this treatment unnecessarily, and thus avoid the potential adverse side effects, and he will be able to more rapidly initiate more appropriate therapy for these men.

The CTC scanner provides the potential to discover more about the characteristics of tumour cells. Currently several groups in Bristol are investigating the behaviour of cancer cells using human cell lines in the laboratory but cells grown in a lab do not behave in the same way as cells that develop in living patients. The ability to acquire living cancer cells from a patient’s blood samples will provide more relevant cells for lab experiments that will help Professor Holly’s and Professor Rhodes’ team of scientists to discover what causes cells to metastasise. This could lead to the development of improved new drugs that effectively target and destroy the circulating tumour cells that threaten people’s lives.

The scanner was funded by the Friends of Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre who provided 50 per cent of the cost of the purchase of the machine and the costs of running for a period of time, the John James Bristol Foundation, and matched funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Scanner helps Bristol team lead the way in cancer research

Dr Robin Floyd (CTC Technician), Professor Jeff Holly (Head of Clinical Sciences, University of Bristol), Professor David Gillatt (Consultant Urologist and Director of the Bristol Urological Institute), Professor Anthony Rhodes (Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, UWE).

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Academic writing Communication English language SkillsLecturers• Do your international students need help with

their English language, academic writing or communication skills?

• Do you realise that help is available FREE to your full-fee paying international students via the ACES programme, and at a small cost to other non-native/EU students?

At a glance - Modules for international students:Academic Writing and Further Academic Writing: teach students to structure assignments and research-based assignments appropriately and use suitable academic English*

Intercultural Communication: improve your understanding of how to communicate more effectively across “cultures” – increase students’ employability in the international workplace*

English for Academic Purposes courses: ongoing language improvement available through many publicly-validated courses (Cambridge FCE, CAE, CPE) and internal UWE Language Programme (ULP) modules.

*Also open to home students via the UWE Language Programme (ULP).

Three hour workshops scheduled at regular intervals in the year:Assignment writing; Reading journal articles; Seminar skills and presentations; Writing your dissertation; Pronunciation; Listening; English grammar

One-to-One consultations

By appointment

Drop-in sessions in OneZoneLunchtimes on Mondays (12:00 -13:00), Wednesdays (13:00 - 14:00) and Fridays (13:00 - 14:00)

the Autumn Term, and Mondays (12:00 - 13:00), Tuesdays (13:00 - 14:00), Wednesdays (12:00 - 13:00) and Fridays (13:00 - 14:00) in the Spring Term.

No appointments necessary, just come along.

For more information, dates and registration information see the ACES website www.uwe.ac.uk/aces/ or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]

Trainee solicitors and barristers of Bristol Law School in collaboration with practising barristers and mediators offer free legal advice, representation and mediation services to UWE employees and the wider Bristol Community.

Call the Community Legal Advice and Representation Service (CLARS) on

0117 32 82681 (24 hour voicemail) or e-mail us at [email protected]

We cannot guarantee to help but we guarantee we will listen.

Need legal help but cannot afford it?

landlord and tenant - family - insolvency - employment - consumer - personal injury - housing

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Graphic Design Team 30340UWE, BRISTOL F.06.07Printing & Stationery Services

UWE Sportwww.uwe.ac.uk/sport

Summer CampsMonday 25 – Friday 29 July 2011

Monday 1 – Friday 5 August 2011




If you are interested and would like more information please visit the websitewww.uwe.ac.uk/sport or contact the Centre for Sport reception on

0117 32 86200

UWE Hotshots Holiday Camps Monday – Friday between 08:30 – 17:30

UWE HotshotsHoliday Camps 2011for children aged 8-13Fun / Exciting / Creative

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UWE celebrates partnership success in South East Asia

The Hon Tan Sri Datuk Seri James Foong with the Chancellor

UWE Convocation Ceremony 2011

Left to right: Phenix Wai, Richard Clements, Georgina Dance, Karen Tan, Wai Mun and Khejeswari.

"The University is proud to have very strong partnerships with educational institutions and governments in SE Asia."

Vice-Chancellor

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On 11 April a group of ten academic staff from the College of Foreign Languages at the University of Danang, Vietnam, visited the Faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education for a three day workshop funded by the World Bank. The workshop was devised by Professor Peter Rawlings and Dr Michael Daller and focused upon learning and teaching approaches for English for special purposes. The delegation, led by Associate Professor Dr Phan Van Hoa, presented papers in symposia sessions with CAHE academic staff as well as participating in sessions covering innovations in e-learning.

This very successful event links directly to the development of MA English Language with two partner universities in Vietnam.

Pictured are the visiting academics from the University of Danang. Joining the group are centre from left: Gill Sandford, Associate Dean, Student Experience, Learning and Teaching and Liz Downer (AID).

The University marked its longstanding partnership with universities in South East Asia with a spring tour of Malaysia and Vietnam.

One highlight of the tour was the UWE Convocation Ceremony on Sunday 27 March in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Chancellor, The Right Honourable the Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE; Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve West and distinguished guests welcomed UWE graduands from Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Singapore to a ceremony to commemorate their graduation from the University with families and friends.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve West, said, “This was the last ceremony that our Chancellor, The Right Honourable the Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE, presided over. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her huge contribution over the years. The Baroness has played a key role in UWE’s development of strong partnerships in the region and I know she feels extremely privileged to have been able to support the excellent development of the legal profession in Malaysia. In her career she has truly embraced her leading role in the legal profession in the UK and beyond. We are very pleased that she will be continuing with UWE as Chancellor Emerita.”

The guest speaker at the ceremony was The Hon Tan Sri Datuk Seri James Foong who was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws. This honour was awarded in recognition of his outstanding work as an eminent judge and distinguished member of the English and Malaysian Bar whose influence in developing the common Law and the Malaysian legal system has been recognised around the world.

The tour continued on to Vietnam, from 28 March – 7 April 2011, where the Vice-Chancellor and team visited partner institutions in Hanoi, Cantho (to join in the celebrations marking Cantho University’s 45th anniversary), Danang and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Vice-Chancellor concluded, “The University is proud to have very strong partnerships with educational institutions and governments in SE Asia. These partnerships are of huge benefit to individuals, employers and societies – helping to transform lives and drive growth, both here and in the UK. As part of UWE’s continued commitment to investment in the region we opened our UWE SE Asia Regional Office in KL and branch office in Hanoi to further our partnerships in the region. I look forward to working together with our partners to solve the issues that are critical here, in the UK, and world-wide.”

News of the visit was warmly received in both countries with coverage in The Malaysia Star, Vietnamese newspapers and interviews with the Vice-Chancellor on Vietnamese News Channels - INFO TV and VTV4.

Richard Clements and Georgina Dance of the Law Department(FBL), visited the UWE Regional Office in Subang Jaya, Malaysia from 14 March until 21 March. They visited local universities, colleges and schools including PTPL Penang, ATC, HELP University, the International School, Kuala Lumpur, INTI International University, the Methodist College, Kuala Lumpur, Tuanku Abdul Rahman College and the British Council Education UK Exhibition.

Association of University Administrators (AUA)

Join AUA now and benefit from:

• support for your career development • networking opportunities • information on current HE issues • a world of new opportunities within the sector • the opportunity to travel (through application

for travel awards)

The UWE Bristol Branch of the AUA contributes to the professionalisation of the UWE Administrator by promoting the work of the Association and by working with the University to embed the Code of Professional Standards in a more high profile manner.

For an information pack on the benefits of being a member of the AUA, please contact Pat Hughes, [email protected] or Teresa Stephens, [email protected], UWE Joint AUA Branch Co-ordinators.

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Latest research conducted for new eating disorder charity, The Succeed Foundation, in partnership with UWE, has found that 30 per cent of women would trade at least one year of their life to achieve their ideal body weight and shape. The research has also found that in order to achieve their ideal body weight and shape:

• 16 per cent would trade 1 year of their life • 10 per cent would trade 2-5 years of their life • 2 per cent would trade 6-10 years of their life • 1 per cent would trade 21 years or more of

their life

The survey conducted at British universities by Dr Phillippa Diedrichs from the Centre for Appearance Research at UWE also discovered that in order to achieve their ideal body weight and shape 26 per cent of the women surveyed were willing to sacrifice at least one of the following:

• £5,000 from their annual salary (13 per cent) • A promotion at work (8 per cent) • Achieving a first class honours degree (6 per cent) • Spending time with their partner (9 per cent) • Spending time with their family (7 per cent) • Spending time with their friends (9 per cent) • Their health (7 per cent)

The survey results suggest that body dissatisfaction was common among the women surveyed, with one in two women saying that more needs to be done on their university campus to promote healthy body image.

• 46 per cent of the women surveyed have been ridiculed or bullied because of their appearance.

• 39 per cent of the women surveyed reported that if money wasn’t a concern they would have cosmetic surgery to alter their appearance. Of the 39 per cent who said they would have cosmetic surgery, 76 per cent desired multiple surgical procedures. 5 per cent of the women surveyed have already had cosmetic surgery to alter their appearance.

• 79 per cent of the women surveyed reported that they would like to lose weight, despite the fact that the majority of the women sampled (78.37 per cent) were actually within the underweight or ‘normal’ weight ranges. Only 3 per cent said that they would like to gain weight.

• 93 per cent of the women surveyed reported that they had had negative thoughts about their appearance during the past week. 31 per cent had negative thoughts several times a day

• When the women were asked which celebrity has the perfect body, Kelly Brook came top of the list.

320 women studying at 20 British universities completed The Succeed Foundation Body Image Survey in March 2011.

Age breakdown: range 18-65 years.

Average age = 24.49 years.

This research attracted international media attention and was reported widely in the national media in the UK.

of women would trade at least one year of their life to achieve their ideal body weight and shape

30%

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A talented MA Animation student has created a short animated film highlighting the symptoms of a little known condition that mainly affects people over 60 called normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).

The film will be broadcast in 37 GP waiting rooms via the Life Channel across Bristol this summer from 1 June to 31 August. The pilot campaign has been organised by the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH) in partnership with the UWE School of Animation.

NPH symptoms include difficulty walking, short term memory loss and urinary incontinence. These symptoms are often wrongly assumed to be all about old age but there are treatments that can improve quality of life.

At present many people remain undiagnosed and ASBAH have engaged the help of Susan Elliott, who is studying for the MA in Animation at UWE, to illustrate the symptoms in a way that will encourage more people who may have the condition to seek out help. The pilot campaign will test whether raising public awareness in one locality will lead to an increase in diagnosis and treatment.

Susan Elliott says that for her the project was serendipitous as it fitted well with her interest in using information graphics to communicate complex information.

She explains, “The animation is a short 30 second film – the challenge was to come up with a simple message that would work in the context of the GP surgery, using colours that could be easily absorbed, figures that would be realistic enough to make sense and to convey a message that treated a symptom

like urinary incontinence with sensitivity.”

ASBAH Chief Executive Jackie Bland says she is delighted with the collaboration with UWE “Susan’s animation will be a huge help in our campaign as it so clear and memorable. We know that at least 250,000 people will see it in the GP surgeries and others will be able to access it via YouTube. Susan has also illustrated a leaflet on NPH for us and these are going out to local care agencies. The more people who know about NPH the better as the sooner someone is diagnosed the more likely they are to benefit from treatment and we have seen what a huge difference treatment can make to people’s quality of life.”

Susan has also provided animation for a video about recycling commissioned by Exeter City Council.

Chris Webster, Deputy Head of Bristol School of Animation, said, “The ASBAH project has been a brilliant example of an excellent client/student opportunity. The work supports an important campaign and will be seen by many people. Animation has been used to promote health very successfully in the past and I think there is a considerable market to develop this genre. Susan is a very talented animator with a really mature attitude and I think she is going to be someone to watch out for in the future. She is typical of our MA Animation students, having graduated in Film Studies and German. When choosing people for the very popular MA Animation at UWE we look for a genuine curiosity and some experience of animation but many have not come to us via the animation graduate route.”

A still from the animation for ASBAH

UWE animator makes film for pilot NPH awareness campaign in Bristol

BBC World Service film in Machine Vision Lab

Dr Lyndon Smith, Dr Khemraj Emrith and PhD students Mark Hansen and Laurence Broadbent (all ET) and the work of UWE’s Machine Vision Laboratory (MVL) are to feature on the BBC World Service’s technology show known as 4 Tech. PhotoFace, the lab’s 3D face recognition project, hosted a visit from the film crew in May.

Lyndon, MVL co-director, said, “The BBC got in touch having seen some of the previous nose recognition publicity. They wanted to film PhotoFace equipment in action and record some interviews. We understand the programme will be broadcast four times, reaching a potential audience of 70 million, and then will be permanently available on the BBC YouTube website.”

The item recorded concentrated on the team’s work in 3D face recognition, including a collaborative project with the University of Bath concerning an idea suggested by Jiuai Sun, of MVL, that 3D nose shape alone has interesting potential as a useful biometric. MVL’s ongoing innovative work in moving high resolution 3D imaging also featured.

The PhotoFace project is a partnership with the Communications and Signal processing group at Imperial College London, the Home Office Scientific Development Branch, General Dynamics UK and Identity Solutions.

The main aims of this EPSRC funded project are to develop a photometric stereo-based technique for accurately recovering the 3D structure of faces and to utilise this three-dimensional data to advance existing face recognition technology. The interest from the BBC World Service adds to the international profile of the Machine Vision Lab, which featured in an item on Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet news programme in March, and was covered by the New Scientist technology blog.

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UWE continues to offer outstanding teacher training

The University has received a glowing Ofsted report for the provision of teacher training at secondary, primary and further education levels.

The report is divided into two categories. In the first of these, ‘Effectiveness of provision in securing high quality outcomes for trainees’, UWE is judged to be outstanding for secondary provision, good with outstanding features for primary and good for further education training.

In the second category, ‘Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality’, both secondary and primary were marked as outstanding and further education provision as good.

Professor Lynn Raphael Reed, Head of Department of Education, says she is delighted with the outcome; she said, “The written commentary captures succinctly the strengths that permeate our provision.

“The report captures our commitment to developing extended and reflective professionals equipped to respond effectively to the challenges of today and to achieve the best possible outcomes for diverse groups of learners.

“Our strong partnerships and active engagement with our local and regional communities are praised, as is our commitment to provide opportunities for ongoing continuing professional development.

“The quality of our strategic planning and leadership is highlighted and an aspect which is especially pleasing to note is the recognition of our innovative approaches to training, with many opportunities for creative cross-curricular activity and peer collaboration.

“The opportunity for accelerating learning across our provision is welcome and areas for further development are already being addressed.”

Professor Steve West, Vice-Chancellor concurs, “We are delighted at this confirmation of the quality of provision of teacher training at UWE. The School of Education has a reputation for excellence of delivery of teacher training and has historically fared very well in these assessments. Well done to the entire department for this fantastic achievement.”

UWE’s PhotoFace equipment in action

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UWE + Denby Pottery push the boundaries in 3D ceramic printing

A ceramic that has been printed in 3D

The University is collaborating with Denby Pottery to push the boundaries in new techniques to print in 3D on ceramics.

The Centre for Fine Print Research has been awarded almost £100k (£97,861) from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to further develop a technology which enables ceramic objects to be printed in 3D.

The work will be carried out by Professor Stephen Hoskins, David Huson and Dr Peter Walters from the CFPR. The patented technology enables users to design, print, fire and glaze a ceramic item, allowing production of items that until now have not been possible to manufacture.

The technology was originally developed with AHRC funding and this follow-on funding will enable the UWE team to collaborate with Denby Pottery to help ensure this exciting new technology meets the needs of end-users, including Denby.

Gary Hawley, Senior Designer, Denby Pottery, said, “Denby Pottery look forward to supporting UWE in this exciting new area of development, we believe UWE in collaboration with Denby can pool their combined skills to unlock a process that pushes the boundaries of what is currently possible.”

Professor Steve Hoskins says that this development means that for the first time it will be possible to print rapid prototypes in ceramic. He says, “Prior to this, ceramic prototypes were cast in plastic or plaster so it was not possible to fire the prototype and test the glazes. To me it is particularly exciting to combine working with creative designers on an industrial level. The new techniques will allow Denby to trial everything they make in the material they use for manufacture.”

The new 12 month project, Solid free-form fabrication in fired ceramics as a design aid for concept modelling in the ceramics industry, aims to prove the viability of using 3D printing of ceramics as an industry design tool.

A number of bespoke items will be designed and made by artists and craftspeople in collaboration with the research team and Denby to test the method of producing fired ceramic concept models. The artefacts will be included in an exhibition that will demonstrate the technology to other users. The research team is working with UWE’s Technology Transfer Team to commercialise this technology.

The AHRC Follow-on Funding Scheme is a new pilot scheme running initially for 12 months. It provides funds to support innovative engagements with non-HEI partners which foster potential pathways to impact and the funding to CFPR is one of the first awards announced under this new route.

Pictured are from left: Tracey John, Katie Gough and Lindsay McDonagh (RBI)who took part in the in the Bristol 10km run on Sunday 15 May. The energetic trio, aka the RBI Fast(ish) Ladies, were inspired to raise money for Motivation (www.motivation.org.uk), a charity that is dedicated to changing the lives of people with mobility disabilities worldwide, when they learnt about the charity through one of RBI’s collaborative projects.

Pictured is Kim Chang, Sports Business Fellow within Research Business and Innovation and the Centre for Sport who has been selected to represent England at the next Touch Rugby World Cup in June 2011.

The Touch World Cup 2011 will be held in Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh from 22-26 June. The University of Edinburgh will play host to the first World Cup to be held in Europe and brings together 95 teams from 28 countries in seven divisions, with the three open divisions in Men's, Women's and Mixed leading the elite element of the sport.

For more information about the Touch World Cup see: www.touchworldcup2011.co.uk

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Staff at the Centre for Fine Print Research hosted a two-day ‘sandpit’ as part of the development of the Bristol Institute of Creative Technologies. Participants from the University of Bristol, Pervasive Media Studio and UWE undertook an intensive collaborative live project to create a ground-breaking tangible or physical object in the area of the future of the music industry’.

The sandpit was led by Professor Stephen Hoskins, director of CFPR, (UWE), Kurt Gauss, Principal Lecturer, Engineering Design and Mathematics, (UWE) and D Kirsten Cater, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, (University of Bristol).

Participants were taken through an ideas generation process and then supported to prototype their objects using the technical and research labs at Bower Ashton, which include laser cutting, rapid prototyping, casting, mould making, electronics and many other fabrication techniques.

The sandpit participants were given a brief from Seth Jackson, Creative Marketing Director of the PIAS Entertainment Group on a radical, and consumer-led, rethink to re-establish the retail relationship between recorded music and its public.

Steve Hoskins (second from right) and participants coming up with bright ideas on the future of the music industry

UWE hosts ‘sandpit’ on future of music industryThey split into four groups – a rapid prototype group working on augmented reality running rapid prototyped printed objects overnight. A second group worked on music in-situ - recording the contextual environment of the person listening to the music to create historical value. A third group were working on live 'hack-ins' into bands that are working on their music, and the fourth group were

working on developing the music with the artists. At the end of the two days the groups pitched their prototype ideas to Seth via a Skype link.

The main aim of the two days was to develop ideas from concept to prototype, with emphasis on collaboration between disciplines and an understanding of making and manufacture.

know-how to help SW business growBusinesses in the South West are set to benefit from a new initiative to help their businesses grow by engaging with academics from Bristol Business School who will share their latest research, understanding and insights.

The Business Engagement initiative is an ESRC (The Economic and Social Research Council) funded project with the Institute of Directors South West Region that aims to develop greater understanding within businesses of what the university sector has to offer, while enhancing the academics understanding of the needs of the businesses who take part.

The project is led by Professor Nicholas O’Regan and Dr Glenn Parry of Bristol Business School (BBS).

A number of businesses which have the capacity for growth will be identified and academics will spend

time finding out the business needs and their key challenges. People from the business will then be placed at the University so they can develop their awareness and understanding of what universities do. The aim is to develop mutual understanding of processes and cultures and encourage further engagement between universities and businesses.

Dr Glenn Parry explains, “This study is all about increasing understanding. There is a wealth of knowledge in universities which could have relevance to the challenges that businesses face as they seek to grow.

“We aim to understand the companies’ needs and match them to what we and other universities have to offer. Academics have expertise based on their study of what is happening in business as well as tools and skills they can apply to businesses.

For example in my own case I have studied closely how a fundamental shift from a product focused business model to a service model has been sweeping across different industries. Instead of the focus being on the product – such as books and music, the focus is now on the service - the value is now in reading and experiencing, rather than just in the product itself. Many businesses I have worked with have benefited from a greater understanding of this global shift, and have been helped by applying some of these principles to their own business.”

The initiative aims to enhance the level of business engagement by partnering with the Institute of Directors South West Region. The funding for this project is £27,000 and aims to help firms that are seeking new ideas for expansion.

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UWE researcher elected Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing

Professor Sarah Hewlett (Department of Nursing and Midwifery) has been elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). It is the first time that this prestigious title has been bestowed on a nursing and research professional at UWE.

Professor Hewlett began her career as a nurse but went on to become a researcher and she now heads up a nationally recognised research group specialising in adaptation, coping, flare and fatigue and a particular interest in measuring patient reported outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis at The Rheumatology Research Unit based at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI).

The award was given at the RCN Congress on 10 April in Liverpool.

Professor Hewlett says, “Being elected a Fellow is recognition of a substantial contribution to the nursing profession, which for me, relates to my research on fatigue, the patient perspective and collaboration with patients in research.

“I’m delighted to have received this recognition from my peers. I’m hoping that the award will inspire undergraduate nurses to see that it is possible to take a side step into research as well as pursuing a professional nursing career. UWE has been very supportive at facilitating the work by the research unit and I’m also delighted for the United Healthcare Trust that has supported our work with the patients at the BRI.

“I was a nurse for 25 years before I decided to take an MA and then a PhD. Our research unit places patients at the centre of all work and patients sit on all research project committees. Their contribution to our findings is critical.

“We are very lucky that we are based at the Rheumatology Clinic at the BRI as this makes patient centred research achievable. Later this year I will be giving the keynote lecture at the RCN International Research Conference on collaboration in research, along with Pam Richards, one of our local patient partners which is such an honour.”

Professor Robin Means, Associate Dean (HLS) said, “Professor Hewlett’s work is groundbreaking in the way it puts patients at the centre of all research projects. We are thrilled that she has received this well deserved recognition.”

UWE student volunteers are national digital champions

Five UWE students were invited to attend Digital Champion Day at the annual National Digital Conference in May. The second year students are all taking part in the government Race Online campaign by running a community internet training project for older people.

The event celebrated the good work being done by volunteers nationwide, and brought together government, business, education and the third sector to drive forward the digital agenda in the UK. The students are all studying for a degree in Information Technology Management for Business (ITMB), developed with e-skills UK, which is offered at only thirteen universities in the UK, including UWE.

Dubbing their team Leading Edge, the students are running internet skills training and awareness courses for people over 65 in Portishead, near Bristol, in conjunction with NSHousing’s sheltered housing scheme. They are also working with a group of people in the Henleaze area of Bristol where the training has been especially adapted for those who have a very limited knowledge of the internet.

Senior Lecturer Dr Kevin Doyle (FET) said, “The students have been invited in recognition of the role that they are playing in the community as Digital Champions. It also celebrates their outstanding achievement in winning both of the bi-annual prizes for idea progression awarded by e-skills UK and the Information Technology Management for Business employers’ strategy forum.

“These students are the only ITMB students invited by e-skills UK to the event and as such will be acting as ambassadors for the ITMB community and as representatives of the 13 universities offering the award endorsed by e-skills UK.”

UK Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox said, “It’s really inspiring to see the work that the Leading Edge team has been doing to help people in their communities get online. I hope their initiative at UWE sets an example to other students across the country and encourages them to volunteer as digital champions. By mobilising the student population to get involved with Race Online 2012 and its partner organisations, we will be well on our way to creating a truly remarkable digital UK where the internet is a tool that everybody can use.”

Speaking on behalf of the UWE team, Matt Deadman said, “We were delighted to showcase our work as digital champions, and to hear from others about the fantastic things they’re doing to help get people online. It’s really inspiring to see the scale of what is going on nationwide, and to put the work we’ve been doing in a wider context. We’re looking forward to sharing our experience today with the people we’ve been helping, and to encouraging more of our fellow students to get on board.”

Karen Price of e-skills UK said, “Students are ideally placed to become digital champions in their communities, having grown up surrounded by computers, mobile phones and the internet. I want to congratulate the UWE team on their fantastic progress and the real impact they have made. I’m delighted they have been able to come here today to share their success and inspire others to get involved.”

Professor Sarah Hewlett

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A book co-authored by David James (EDU) delves into the assumptions and motivations of liberal parents in making decisions about secondary schools.

There are few topics as contentious among the middle classes as that of education. Some families fight to get their children into the state schools with the best results; many move house in order to be in a particular catchment area. Others opt for the private system. But there is another group too: they are the ones who are determined to support their local school, even if its academic performance is average or below.

It is this category of middle class family which is the focus of a new book by three leading educationalists. In White Middle Class Identities and Urban Schooling, Professor David James (EDU, UWE), Diane Reay (University of Cambridge), and Gill Crozier (Roehampton University) journey into the better-off areas of three different cities to interview parents and children in middle class families about their children’s education.

In a turnaround of the usual research scenario, the authors shine their spotlight on a group they describe as ‘people like us’, in other words those who are white, middle-class and highly educated, working in professional jobs and, furthermore, supportive of comprehensive schooling. What they discover about the views of these largely progressive-thinking and left-leaning folk makes fascinating reading.

The research was based on in-depth interviews with 125 white middle-class families in London plus two cities in the south west and north east respectively, where there had been a positive choice of a comprehensive school. The target group was families who had deliberately “eschewed working the system to their advantage”. They had not engaged in the widespread middle class practices of moving

People like us: why some middle class families opt for the local comp

house, renewing religious allegiances or going private to get their child into a higher-performing school. Most of the schools they had chosen were average or below average in the league tables.

One of the words used in the book to describe this section of the middle class is ‘omnivorous’, summing up their ability to pick and mix from the menu available to them. David James, explains, “One of the project’s general findings is that middle class families are in a position to make choices of school that are provisional, and to be ready to pull out if things don’t seem to go well. In the book we liken this to someone making a higher risk financial investment which nevertheless offers a very high return, and indeed the young people did tend to thrive, doing extremely well by all conventional measures. The financial metaphor also extends to how closely and carefully many parents watched the whole process, being highly involved as governors or in other ways.”

Despite their strong allegiance to state education, and much-stated preference for schools with a ‘good mix’ of children, the liberal middle classes are revealed to have classist attitudes that run deep into their identities. Based on an unspoken assumption of superiority,

these views shape their decision-making, set the agenda for their relationships with other groups, and are passed on to their children. Rather than being motivated by civic duty, many of the parents saw the urban comprehensive as key in the acquisition of skills their children would need to succeed in a global labour market.

Only a minority of parents seemed to be acting on the basis of strongly held community-oriented or political principles. Parents were more likely to see ordinary secondary schools as risky but also highly beneficial environments for their children.

The researchers also found very high levels of confidence within families about their own children being ‘bright’, ‘extra’ or ‘special’, in other words not quite like many of the other children – even, perhaps, in a class of their own. In this respect, parents are seen to view the world through a middle class prism with their own child, and their ambitions for that child, taking centre stage.

White Middle-Class Identities and Urban Schooling by Diane Reay, Gill Crozier and David James is published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Professor David James

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Ofsted says nursery has ‘outstanding features’

UWE Halley nursery has been deemed good with several outstanding features in a recent Ofsted inspection.

The aspects of the nursery’s operation that were classed as outstanding were: the effectiveness of partnerships; the effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents; the extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning; and the extent to which children achieve skills for the future.

The report said children are settled and secure in the welcoming and child-orientated environment and staff know each child very well and take positive steps to ensure that individual needs are met. The extensive range of indoor and outdoor stimulating play activities and experiences means that children make very good progress in learning.

The report also commented on the excellent partnership established with parents which ensures continuity of children's care and wellbeing. Parents meetings are organised to share details of each child's progress and achievements. Regular workshops, such as a clay workshop and dance massage sessions, help to get parents involved and to take an active role in their child's learning. Parents receive good quality information through the parent information pack, e-mails, regular newsletters and access to the nursery website.

The report said that the nursery is well organised and run with good policies and procedures as well as good security measures.

Alex Morfaki-Williams (Nursery Manager) said, “We take great pride in our work at the nursery and it is important to see the quality of provision recognised in this way. We aim to ensure that the provision is of the highest standard and we want every child to be happy at the nursery and this report reinforces our achievements in this area.”

Promoting Wellbeing in the South West

Research at UWE finds that simple, low cost community group activities have a beneficial impact on the wellbeing of adults with poor mental health. In a three year project, researchers Mat Jones, Richard Kimberlee, Simon Evans and Toity Deave examined the health benefits of small scale local community groups that run activities as diverse as gentle exercise, befriending, gardening, cookery, lunch clubs, arts and crafts and dance.

The team found that participation in these activities was positively associated with indicators of wellbeing - such as personal optimism, clarity of purpose, decision making, community belonging, social interaction and neighbourhood trust. At the same time the participation in the activities was also associated with reduced depression and had positive effects in diet and exercise.

All the activities studied were part of the Big Lottery funded South West Wellbeing programme. UWE’s economic analysis showed the services to be low cost in comparison to psychiatric alternatives. A survey of 171 practitioners in partner agencies, such as GPS and social care services, found that 71 per cent were signposting or referred clients to the activities. Skilling-up and co-ordination between the community centres involved may have contributed to the good results.

The national evidence shows a continued rise in the prevalence of depression, anxiety and associated conditions such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. These have a disproportionate impact on lower income and marginalised groups, and significantly contribute to the widening gap in health inequalities. As the government plans to reform health care gather pace, the research points the way for the development of a wide array of evidence-based community alternatives to clinical services.

Examples of the activities studied were Knowle West Health Park’s Fit ‘n’ Fab, a support group for people who have experienced mental health and wider social difficulties, and the Wesbank Bumps, Mums and Pushchair group.

For the evaluation reports go to http://www.southwestwellbeing.co.uk

Wesbank Bumps. Mums and Pushchair group

Lecturer and sound engineer Martyn Harries was recently nominated for a BAFTA award.

Martyn who works as a Senior Lecturer on the Music Technology and Audio Music Technology programme was nominated together with Sound Editor, Kate Hopkins for their work on the BBC 1 programme Human Planet. They were nominated in the Sound Factual category. The BAFTA Television Craft Awards celebrate the best industry talent behind the scenes and in front of the camera.

Martyn says that he and Kate are delighted, “It is very exciting to work on such a landmark series with such a talented team. The recognition implicit in the nomination for a BAFTA is great after so much hard work last year.”

Martyn previously won a BAFTA for sound work on David Attenborough’s Life of Birds (1999) and with Kate and

EMMY for Wild China (2009).

He said, “In the fast-moving post production industry UWE believe it is important that I keep current by working on projects of this calibre. The work on the Oceans soundtrack was completed during my summer break last year. The programme is the largest project that I have ever mixed, 98 sound tracks in full 5.1 surround as well as stereo. We had to bring the images to life by creating a sound world to reflect the ethnic locations and this involved gathering sounds from each of the places that the film team visited.

“The score was composed by Nitin Sawhney and recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Throughout the series this is combined with sound layering made up of many atmospheres and effects blended with location tracks of indigenous voices and a narration by John Hurt.”

Martyn joined UWE two years ago after a long career at the BBC. He continues, “I have the best of both worlds as I haven’t really stopped working on sound projects for the BBC. This Christmas I mixed the sound for the BBC 2 David Attenborough Madagascar programme. However my work at UWE is quite a different sort of challenge and I’m really enjoying passing on my enthusiasm and skills to students.

“It is great to be able to get my media colleagues to talk to UWE’s students about their work and the future of the industry. Human Planet series producer, Dale Templar visited UWE recently to talk to students about the highs, lows and difficulties involved in making this landmark series. In addition to this UWE students have been invited to tour the Hoddinot Hall (BBC National Orchestra of Wales concert hall and recording studios) as a result of contacts made on this show.”

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UWE lecturer gets BAFTA nomination for Human Planet sound

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Stills from the Ocean episode, Human Planet

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With the number of people aged over 75 projected to nearly double from 4.8 to 8.7 million in England by 2033, experts from leading organisations dealing with the care of older people, are calling for positive change to training and development for managers and carers in residential homes.

The outcome from a high level debate, led by a group from UWE and Warwick Medical School, was consensus to lobby government to address the pressing need for future change to ensure the 500,000 people employed in the independent residential care sector have an appropriate training in basic nursing skills to offer the best care for our ageing population.

Those contributing included experts from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the Quality Care Commission, General Practice, National Skills Academy for Social Care, the British Geriatrics Society as well as lead independent, voluntary and public sector providers of long-term care. There was consensus that a nationally-recognised training and development programme for up-skilling care home staff with basic nursing skills needs to be implemented across the 18,000 care homes in England.

Professor Ala Szczepura from Warwick Medical School, said, “Our research indicates that increased training of social care workers in basic nursing skills can help prevent unnecessary hospital admissions, improve quality of care for older residents and reduce costs for the NHS.”

Deidre Wild (UWE) added, “The question is not whether social

care staff can be trained to undertake a range of basic nursing skills – we have seen that they are exceptionally responsive to learning new ways to provide a better quality of care. The real issue is who is going to take responsibility for consistency at a national level for such care improvements being implemented locally.”

Warwick Medical School and UWE confirmed there was consensus on three key recommendations:

Improve the abilities of home managers: by creating a national chartered professional management qualification building on the Registered Manager’s Award. The National Skills Academy for Social Care is already well placed to respond to this development.

National registration of home managers and support workers: this should be competency-based, and derived from competencies already identified by providers at a local level.

A standardised induction with basic training for care home staff: this should be provided as low cost e-learning, to enable funds to be released for the more specialised training needed.

This debate comes at a time of increased demand upon public health and social services prompting the ad hoc growth of many projects aimed at up-skilling the social care worker. However, without a responsible professional framework we risk leaving vulnerable older people at increased risk from an unregulated system.

Who is responsible for social care development for older people in residential care?

Music in Time, a creative music programme developed by Superact, in collaboration with UWE and the Age Concern Older Offenders Project, recently won a Koestler Highly Commended Award for their work with Dartmoor Prison. The music programme won a Singer-Songwriter category commendation for the production of a music CD with prisoners entitled 'No rhyme or reason.'

The goals of the Music in Time project were to nurture desire and passion for learning and sharing, and to work together collaboratively to produce something to be proud of. The UWE research team noted how, as sessions progressed, participants learned to respect one another more, developed pride in what they were achieving and a sense of accomplishment. The recorded CD was subsequently submitted to the annual national Prison Arts Awards scheme established in 1962 by Arthur Koestler.

Dr Nick de Viggiani (HASS) commented, “Creative music programmes like this one can bring a real difference to the lives and potential of people in prison. Fundamentally, they offer prisoners an alternative form of personal and social learning opportunity, which

is empowering in that it builds self confidence, self esteem, self efficacy, and interpersonal and communication skills.

“It helps individuals in prison to find focus and discipline, to respect others for whom they may ordinarily have little time. Ultimately – although we need more evidence on this – participatory music programmes have the potential to improve mental health and wellbeing and reduce social exclusion.”

One participant commented, “I found it an uplifting experience. It gives you confidence … it was like a community thing really, a bond with people I might not normally associate with on the wing. I felt positive after the first time and so was quite happy to go along the second time. I actually looked forward to it.”

HMP Dartmoor is a category C adult male training prison where the Music in Time project team worked closely with the prison’s Social Inclusion Officer to deliver two programmes to separate groups of prisoners, using talented professional musicians. The programme awarded the Koestler Award was led by the Newcastle based folk band Park Bench Social Club who provided six half-day interactive music workshops, where participants engaged in song writing, learning and playing musical

instruments, composing and recording, and producing the final CD art work.

A full copy of the Music in Time report is available at http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/8255/

Koestler Highly Commended Award for Music in Time project

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Early career researchers earn their SPURS Twenty-one staff have been awarded SPUR3 grants designed to support early career researchers at UWE. As a result, more than £270k from the Strategic Research Development Fund has been allocated to fund projects across the University next year.

“The purpose of the scheme is to support up-and-coming researchers, in excellent and promising areas of research to undertake some preliminary work with a view to making a substantial bid for external funding to take this work forward” said, Professor Paul Gough (DVC, Academic). “The standard of proposals was high. Many congratulations to the successful applicants.”

Administered by RBI, the scheme, now in its third year, has invested more than £0.75m in supporting 57 projects. The first round of projects, now completed, has led to some outstanding successes including major grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and National Institute of Health Research to support research in medical robotics (Dr Sanja Dogramadzi, FET) and joint pain management (Dr Nicola Walsh, HLS) respectively.

Another first round award recipient, Dr Antonia Beringer (HLS), who is researching end-of-life care for children, said, “The award has been a real springboard for me. As well as financial backing, the mentorship support has helped to develop my skills and confidence in managing a research team and in keeping the project on track.”

The full list of SPUR3 awards, which vary in size from £6k to £19k, is:

Name Faculty Research Area

Jo Angouri CAHE Strategic decision making in the workplace

Helen Butcher CAHE Young children’s participation in decisions about the curriculum

Jing Chen FBL CEO compensation and corporate governance in UK financial institutions

Louise Condon HLS Infant feeding in the first year of life

Emma Dures HLS Training in cognitive-behavioural skills to support patient self management

Daniela Gabor FBL A tale of two peripheries: Europe in crisis

Rachel Hagen HLS Environmental factors and prostate cancer

James Hoggett HLS The effectiveness of evidence based policing in reducing incidences of local crime.

Ioannis Ieropolis FET Wastewater treatment

Paul Laidler CAHE Digital printed artefacts in a visual arts context

Rachel Manning HLS Volunteerism, charity, and civic engagement

Elena Marco FET Space in the sustainable and healthy home

Darian Meacham CAHE Cognitive enhancement and education

Steve Melia FET Alternatives to personal car use for mobile NHS professionals

Janet Miller FBL Worker voice in the small firm

Yvette Morey FBL Vitamin D deficiency in Bristol’s Somali community.

Abby Sabey HLS Newly qualified GPs and their role in commissioning health services

Ian Shergold FET Road public transport services in a world of falling subsidies and more complex demand

Bambo Soyinka CAHE Directing multi-platform performances

Graham Squires FET Incentives for property development within urban planning

Nick Wilton FBL Work placements for undergraduate students: an employer’s perspective

For further information on the SPUR scheme, contact Alison Vaughton, RBI ([email protected])

No such thing as a silly idea

UWE’s Coffeemat Challenge drew to a close after an amazing 157 ideas were submitted and over 11,000 votes received. The grand finale was celebrated at the Ideas Factory with the unveiling of a wall of ideas, comprising all the ideas submitted in the latest Challenge.

“The Challenge has gone from strength to strength,” said Kim Brookes, project co-ordinator, “and has generated a wealth of great ideas which we have been able to push through to various parts of the University for feedback and possible action.”

The winner of the final heat was Economics student Daniel Sempere Pico, who took home an ASUS netbook for his idea for rental lockers at UWE.

The Challenge has certainly stimulated an interest in Enterprise at UWE which has achieved stunning victories in this year’s Regional Varsity competition run by Bristol University, and more recently the National Flux 2011 competition where UWE competed with 35 universities. The next big thing is theBizIdea competition which closes for entries on 27 May, where there is the opportunity to get professional feedback on your ideas submission, as well as to win cash prizes.

Taking part in the Coffeemat Challenge were Ben Pullen, Chris Dalley, Dave Cropley, Marcel Nobrega and Raphael Nagel.

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Six enterprising UWE students have won the £3,000 top prize in the grand finals of FLUX500, an intense national business challenge competition. The UWE team triumphed against 31 teams from universities across the UK at the event which was hosted by City of Bristol College at its South Bristol Skills Academy in Hengrove, and sponsored by Experian.

FLUX500 is a fast-paced competition for university students, developed by The Working Knowledge Group, and is the largest enterprise competition in UK higher education.

The winning team consisted of Alex Green, Safiyyah Henderson, Raphael Nagel, Marcel Nobrega, Ariana-Alexander Sefre and Chris Dalley.

Coaching the team were Enterprise Project staff Iheanyi Ibe, Kim Brookes, Ricardo De Marchi, Kim Jones and the UWE Ideas Factory.

Iheanyi said, “The UWE students were from a wide range of subject areas, including Illustration, Art and Design, Business Enterprise, Robotics, Information Technology, and Property Management and Investment. As part of the intensive, two-day competition, they were faced with the task of utilising Experian’s investment venture fund to create a new business to complement the company’s existing portfolio.

“The team’s winning idea was based around developing online based tailor-made data products for small and medium enterprises. 30 business experts, from companies such as Roxburgh Milkins LLP, Experian, Fujitsu and a range of other large and small organisations, were on hand to guide the teams through the competition.”

During the competition, teams were divided into three streams, with the winner of each stream heat going through to the final to tackle another surprise challenge with other stream winners. The UWE team battled their way through the heats and finals, eventually beating Bangor University and the University of Hertfordshire to be crowned FLUX 2010 National Champions.

Adrienne Noonan, Senior Lecturer, Employability and Industry Liaison in the Department of Art and Design said, “Some of the team had taken a new module called Enterprise in Creative Practice as an alternative to a traditional dissertation. The module, which piloted last autumn, has clearly paid off by opening up opportunities like FLUX to our students.”

Business expert Keith Beattie, who is a partner at Burges Salmon LLP said, “This was a fantastic experience, with great ideas, teamwork and enthusiasm. I have been really impressed with how professional and commercially aware the teams have been. They have been a real credit to their universities and I wish them every success.”

For information about Enterprise at UWE, visit http://rbi.uwe.ac.uk/Internet/innovation/

UWE team triumph in national business challenge

Team celebrating with cash prize: from left to right, Alex, Ariana, Marcel, Raphael, Chris, and Safiyyah

Busy summer ahead for new Service

As part of an intensive programme of delivery this summer term, UWE’s Schools and Colleges Partnership Service (SCPS) is running six Summer Schools covering Art, Media and Design, Business and Finance, Property, a Year 10 and a Year 12 Summer School, and a residential Summer School for Looked After Young People.

The SCPS is also recruiting 180 students to undertake a three week placement in 30 local secondary and primary schools in June. The students will work in the classroom alongside teachers, supporting mainly STEM subjects but also helping with languages and humanities, and becoming involved in other aspects of day-to-day school life such as sports days and lunch time clubs.

These initiatives are just two that contribute to the work of the SCPS. The Service was created in September 2010, bringing together the established Outreach Centre with the Partnerships Team from AID. The new Service works to support recruitment to UWE, in particular for non-traditional students, and to widen participation in Higher Education in general. The focus is on raising aspirations, raising attainment, developing progression opportunities and supporting progression into and through Higher Education. The SCPS comprises a team of 14 with a wide range of expertise, including traditional curriculum and progression routes, vocational learning, raising aspirations and attainment, mentoring and tutoring, use of Student Ambassadors, bespoke events and activities, and research and analysis.

Fay Croft, newly appointed Director of Widening Participation and Schools and Colleges Partnerships, has extensive experience of partnership work to support progression to higher levels of learning for non-traditional students.

Fay says, “I am delighted to have joined UWE, which has a local, regional and national reputation for excellence in widening participation in HE and for working in partnership. The SCPS team has extensive knowledge and expertise, and a great enthusiasm to deliver high quality work on behalf of the University. This will be particularly important as we move into the new funding regime for HE in future years. We look forward to working further with colleagues across the Faculties and professional support Services.”

The SCPS can be contacted on 82162 or [email protected] or by visiting 2C22, Frenchay Campus.

Fay Croft

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An exciting new farmers’ market is being launched at Ashton Court Estate, Bristol by food entrepreneur Sophie Bowden – with help and advice from the UWE Ventures incubator.

The farmers’ market was held for the first time on 15 May and will be held there every third Sunday from 10.30 – 14.30.

Sophie set up her food business, Mullion Cove, two years ago and was awarded a fellowship from UWE last year as part of the solutions4recession enterprise project.

She said, “I have had immense input from UWE Ventures mentors and advisers. My main mentors have been Paul Clarkson and Jill Burnett, together with David Hedley from Business Link. Their combined help and assistance has been invaluable to me and has helped me build my business plan for Mullion Cove.

“The new venture will do something that I'm passionate about - showcasing

Ventures incubator client Sophie Bowden has

set up a new farmers’ market at Ashton Court

UWE Ventures incubator helps boost local food business

artisan producers selling local produce to the community in and around Ashton Court and Bristol in general. I have always thought it would make a great site for a thriving farmers’ market. Local craftspeople will be invited to partake in craft demonstrations.”

The new monthly market will take place in the courtyard of the estate’s mansion house. Local food producers or craftspeople who would like to take part in the farmers’ market, can contact Sophie at [email protected] for an application form.

The market logo and flyer for the new market have also been designed by UWE Ventures clients Fiasco Design.

Mullion Cove is a Bristol-based business specialising in Cornish food and drink. Its UWE fellowship provided invaluable business guidance and development through regular business reviews, advice sessions and targeted networking at UWE Ventures.

UWE Enterprise Manager Jill Burnett

said, “We look forward to this new market becoming another great Bristol destination. Sophie has mobilised wide support for this venture, which plays to Bristol strengths and sense of place.”

For more information on s4r and UWE Ventures visit http://rbi.uwe.ac.uk/Internet/innovation/

For more information on Mullion Cove, visit http://www.mullioncove.net/

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Summer Connections for postgraduate research students at UWE This summer will be busy for UWE research students as many of them prepare to give presentations on their projects at seminars inside and outside of the University. Communicating a message clearly and effectively is becoming increasingly important as researchers recognise that engaging a wide range of academic and non-academic audiences will be key to their future success, whatever career path they follow.

Research, Business and Innovation (RBI) in partnership with the University Research Degrees Award Board is organising a number of institution-wide events with the overall theme of Connections – getting your research out to where it matters. These will culminate with the UWE Postgraduate Summer Connections event on Friday 1 July in The Street (S block, Frenchay Campus).

As part of this event, all research students have been invited to enter a poster competition with exciting prizes on offer for the most effective posters. This will be judged by a panel chaired by Professor Paul Gough (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic) who will also be giving a keynote address. The event will end with a drinks reception.

Professor Jacky Brine (Chair of the University Research Degrees Award Board) said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for UWE research students to share their enthusiasm about research and to broaden their networks both within and outside the University.”

Supporting events being organised by RBI include Perfect posters, a workshop providing hints and tips on how to communicate your research using visual techniques, and the Digital researcher, a workshop showcasing social media tools in the context of academic research and their role in effective communication and building networks.

For more information on the postgraduate research Summer Connections please contact Paul Spencer in RBI [email protected]

http://rbi.uwe.ac.uk/intranet/research/psc.asp

RBI workshops boost EU bidding

RBI hosted two workshops in March to promote and support EU bidding. More than 20 UWE researchers attended a workshop on bidding for funds from the European Commission led by Emma Carey, the University’s UK Research Office representative based in Brussels. Emma provided a wealth of advice and guidance on applying for EU projects. In particular, Emma presented on bidding for Marie Curie Fellowships and an introduction on what to expect under the Commission’s next funding framework (expected to be called FP8). Emma also gave bespoke assistance to staff through a series of one-to-one sessions.

Dr Neil Phillips, Senior Research Development Manager (RBI) provided guidance on using the Commission’s Electronic Proposal Submission System and guidance on appropriate timescales for bid preparation. Other elements of the workshop included an overview of specific EU schemes and tips on how to prepare a good application. The workshop featured a lively discussion including personal experiences of collaboration with partners at an international level.

He said, “Bidding to the EU is becoming increasingly competitive but there are still significant amount of funds available for the best proposals from the best consortia. Getting good advice on developing proposals from staff with experience of EU bidding is crucial to success.”

To strengthen UWE’s administrative support for the submission of EU proposals and project management of ongoing EU projects, RBI also hosted a workshop for staff from Faculty Research Offices. The workshop provided faculty representatives with a better understanding of the administrative aspects of the application process and tasks associated with project management. Professor Richard McClatchey (FET) provided an overview of his personal experiences of EU bidding and project management. Dr Neil Phillips (RBI) led a group discussion on roles and responsibilities in the preparation of proposals. Paul Gelling (FET) shared his personal experiences of supporting the planning and development of EU bids and the subsequent smooth running of EU bids.

Future workshops hosted by RBI are being planned which are expected to include administration of EU projects including financial records and associated documentation; tracking the status of project tasks, maintaining a risk register and general project management techniques.

If you are interested in European funding and would like support for your submission, contact [email protected] in RBI.

EU project administration workshop featured (left to right) Professor Richard McClatchey (FET), Paul Gelling (FET Faculty Research Office) and Dr Neil Phillips (RBI)

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UWE hosted a day of film-making for young people from Jordan as part of the Young Bridge Builders programme. The visitors came to Bristol as part of wider ten day-trip to Britain organised by the UK charity Bridges for Communities which aims to promote understanding between different cultures.

This year’s programme builds on the success of a similar initiative last year and the idea for a film-making day came from Dan Green, Bridges director and David Neal, Senior Technical Instructor at UWE.

David said, “We welcomed the group of Jordanian students to our Bower Ashton campus on 20 April to write, shoot and edit a short film using the excellent media facilities here. Many of the group said that it was the highlight of their trip!”

The young visitors started their trip to the UK on 14 April and first spent several days in the Nottingham area. While in Bristol they visited the City Centre and Museum, the Suspension Bridge and Harbour and stayed with Bristol families. As part of their ten days in the UK they also visited a church and a mosque, the House of Commons, community projects, and heard from leaders in different fields.

Dan Green from the charity said, “We believe that this experience will have a lasting impact on the lives of the young people involved and their communities in Jordan and the UK. The relationships that begin during the programme will change people’s perceptions and worldviews for good. This can be a real catalyst for personal and spiritual growth on both sides.”

UWE filmmakers help build bridges with Jordanian students

Film day at Bower Ashton for Jordanian students Zaid Asfour, Daniel Gregory, Bushra Hadidi, Ruba Salkham, Tareq Neiroukh and Sami Abu Rassa

UWE domestic abuse service wins Attorney General's pro bono award Law students from Bristol Law School have won a prestigious Attorney General’s award for a free service offering legal support to victims of domestic abuse.

The Domestic Abuse Support Service (DASS) was launched in November 2010 by trainee solicitors, barristers (supported by GDL and LLB students) at UWE. It has already dealt with 85 cases, obtaining not only non-molestation and occupation orders for victims but also assisting with the commonly connected problems of custody and access to children. It is currently dealing with approximately six cases a week.

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, announced the winners at an afternoon tea reception recently at the House of Commons. Student representatives of the DASS service attended and found out they had won top prize for best new student pro bono service in the annual LawWorks Attorney General Awards to which 152 schemes had been submitted.

Dominic Grieve said, “These awards celebrate a group of law students who in spite of their busy academic or postgraduate studies have shown a strong commitment to pro bono work. By doing so they are continuing one of the finest traditions of the legal profession.”

Law lecturer, Stephen Migdal, who set up and supervises the service said, “So far, the cases dealt with by the UWE team include non-molestation and occupation orders, port alert procedures to stop child abduction, ‘seize and snatch’ orders to recover children from ‘vanishing’ fathers and emergency interim child residence applications on behalf of both mothers and grandmothers."

Dominic Grieve QC MP Attorney-General, Catherine Coady, Matthew Griffiths and Andrew Stone, trainee barristers, Bristol Law School

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Cross-Faculty projects bring volunteers together this springUWE Volunteering has been busy this spring engaging student volunteers in CAHE Faculty projects. Back in October a group of seven UWE students started planning a mural project as part of a bettertogether funded project at Begbrook Primary School in Frenchay. During February and March students from across CAHE ran creative workshops with groups of children in every year group, linking art to maths and devising ideas for a final mural to brighten up a playground building. While design ideas came together, a group of 10 Occupational Therapy students on a two week volunteering programme were enlisted to paint a fresh base coat on the entire building.

With the help of mural artist, UWE graduate Alex Dimond, the pupils’ designs were combined into a colourful artwork. This was a great chance for the volunteers to get practical experience in the classroom and see a project progressing.

Andi Pratt, a first year Illustration student at UWE, says he was keen to take the opportunity to do something independent of his coursework.

He said, “I made a beeline for the volunteering stand at Freshers’ Week and said that I was very keen to get involved in art and design projects. This has been a really rewarding experience and it’s been great to work in a school.”

The final mural was unveiled by Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Gough on 8 April to much positive feedback from pupils, parents and staff alike.

Another feast for the eyes was the Oxvamp Fashion Show on 1 April. A collaboration between UWE, Oxfam and a local youth volunteering project, the show aimed to raise the profile of Oxfam’s online store and encourage more people to shop online for second-hand clothes.

In collaboration with the Creative Arts Enterprise Office, the

event showcased the textile talents of 11 UWE Fashion Design students and a UWE Fashion lecturer Stephanie Wooster, who had been busy transforming un-sellable military costumes into flamboyant catwalk collections. 13 students from CAHE and Bristol Business School organised the event taking on a variety of roles from marketing to event management, set design to script writing.

Jo Earl, Project Co-ordinator from UWE Volunteering said, “Organising a big event open to the public is a huge undertaking. It has been a privilege to engage with so many dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers, all keen to get involved in a practical project which puts their skills to good use and provides them with invaluable experience of such a wide range of tasks. In addition support received from UWE staff has been invaluable.”

Two photography students documented the progress of the show and will provide high quality images for the designers’ portfolios and promotion surrounding the event. The show even formed the basis of a coursework film documentary by a team of CAHE Journalism students. The team were supported by Barney Curtis, Louise Swindell and Ruth Ackroyd from Culture Media and Drama who provided staging for the catwalk.

Lucy Cox, Project Co-ordinator from the Creative Arts Enterprise Office was keen to provide Creative Arts students with the chance to run a live industry related project. Lucy highlights the importance of allowing students autonomy within their roles; “It is vital that we support student-led initiatives and nurture our external partnerships so that students gain first-hand experience to develop new skill sets. Our students managed this project with commitment and flair – they were great to work with and the team pulled off a fantastic event.”

Visual art of numbers visual 2 UWE volunteers

Emma Weeks, Emily Foster, Andi Pratt, Lizzie

Walker and Katie Partridge before the mural

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UWE launches international placements for law students

Two law students at Bristol Institute of Legal Practice (BILP) are the first to be placed with German law firms as part of BILP’s new international placement scheme. Over the summer, Legal Practice Course (LPC) students Simon Curran and Lauren Luscombe will undertake four-week placements at two leading German commercial law firms in Berlin and Dusseldorf.

These placements form part of the launch by BILP of an innovative international development for the LPC. From September 2011, students with links to or an interest in Germany may become part of an LPC working group undertaking cultural and legal activities relating to Germany as well as having the chance of being chosen for the work placements at BILP’s partner firms in Germany. Plans are already in train to widen the scheme to include other countries over the next couple of years.

Senior Lecturer Dagmar Steffens who is co-ordinating BILP’s international activities for the LPC said, “In today’s competitive employment market, it is important for our LPC students to stand out through varied and relevant work experience. The work placements offered by our German partners will enhance our students’ employability at this early stage of their careers as well as generally affording them an incredible once in a lifetime experience. In the long run, it might well be the starting point of an international career.”

Simon Curran, who will be working at GSK Stockmann + Kollegen in Berlin, said, “I am so pleased to have been selected by BILP for this exciting opportunity which gives me a chance to maximise the benefit of having gained an LLB in Law and German. I am really looking forward to the challenge of working in a different business culture at one of Germany’s most highly regarded real estate and corporate law firms.”

After completing his LPC studies and the placement, Simon will join a leading South West law firm to complete his training to become a solicitor.

Lauren Luscombe will work at the Düsseldorf offices of Beiten Burkhardt, one of Germany’s top corporate law firms with particular strengths in Eastern Europe, China and Russia.

Dr Oda Wedemeyer, Berlin-based partner at GSK Stockmann + Kollegen, said, “GSK is committed to selecting and supporting the very best up-and-coming young lawyers for the firm’s internship programme, not only nationally but also on an international level. GSK is delighted to participate in BILP’s new LPC international placement scheme by offering an annual GSK internship to BILP LPC students, and is looking forward to working with BILP as one of the top LPC providers in the UK. This creation of international opportunities bears witness to both GSK’s and BILP’s commitment to be at the forefront of training across boundaries as well as to their ability to think outside the box.”

The international work placements on offer complement BILP’s recently launched placement scheme in Bristol and the South West which is being run in conjunction with Bristol Law Society.

Award success for UWE Graphic Design students

Eight Graphic Design students have been given awards for their graphic design and typography work from the prestigious International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD).

One student, Chris Nott was awarded the highest accolade from the society, a commendation. Three other students: Joe Allison, Tom Eves and James Somerfield will receive merit awards during the 2011 ISTD Student Award ceremony held at the Design Museum, London on 17 July 2011. The awards will be handed out by one of the world’s most prominent typographers Erik Spiekermann. They will be admitted membership to the Society along with fellow students Heather Kendrick, Maxim McNair, Alex Smye-Rumsby and Yan Yeh Yine who have gained the high level of expertise needed.

Graphic Design Lecturer, John Paul Dowling said, “For a graduating student, gaining membership to the Society gives them the edge when applying for work within the creative industries. It is a difficult task and a great honour to have the MISTD accreditation after one's name. We are delighted for all the students - even more so those who achieved commendation and merit awards which are very rare.”

Chris Nott’s winning entry

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Volunteer receives award from Ablaze

Anna Kawar, Staff Volunteering Co-ordinator for UWE Volunteering (Student Services) was a recent recipient of an award recognising the excellent work she has done in building and delivering a Staff Volunteering Scheme at UWE in partnership with Ablaze.

UWE volunteering works in partnership with Ablaze to deliver a number of staff volunteering projects that UWE staff can get involved in including reading buddies, number partners, and mentoring. All the projects involve working one to one with young people to develop their skills and more than 1,000 students across Bristol have benefited from this service.

Ablaze is a registered charity formed and supported by Bristol's business community to connect the enthusiasm and commitment of business to work with education. Chief Executive, Roger Opie, said, “We have been heavily oversubscribed with nominations for the past year. The awards acknowledge the contribution that both firms and individuals have made. They have really shown great enthusiasm, energy and commitment to the purpose of raising aspirations in our schools.”

Anna has been working on the Staff Volunteering Scheme for the past three years and this award not only recognises the ongoing support she gives UWE staff to enable them to have a positive volunteering experience but it also recognises the strategic work and development she has done in building the scheme.

Anna Kawar receiving award from Richard Nile of Nile Arnall Solicitors.

Professor Ron Ritchie, Assistant Vice-Chancellor: Partnerships, Diversity and Civic Engagement, said, “I was proud to represent UWE at the event and was pleased we got a number of mentions from the stage about our commitment to Ablaze and schools. The work that colleagues are doing as volunteers does make a difference and is appreciated.

“The event re-iterated not only the value of volunteering to the education system and the young people the staff work with but the value of volunteering to the business organisations in terms of building skills and retaining staff. This is certainly a benefit that we feel UWE gains and I hope we are able to build upon the excellent work.”

On receiving her award Anna said, “I am of course very happy to receive this but all the staff volunteers are

deserving of awards too. Every week they leave their office work and make the trip to the schools to work with the children. These volunteers have helped young people with a range of literacy and numeracy skills as well as social challenges; they have endured when there have been changes in school and UWE co-ordinators, Ofsted inspections, not to mention snow and rain, surprise school trips, and the general hubbub of school life. They are really remarkable and I am continually amazed by them.”

The school co-ordinators have fed back how the pupils have progressed by leaps and bounds. Sarah from Hillfields Primary School, said, “I have seen improvements in every sphere of the children’s work. It’s not just about their achievements but it’s also about their aspirations too.”

Bryony Ball, a first year Graphic Design student had this portrait Meera Osborne selected for the prestigious Royal Photographic Society 154th International Print Exhibition. The exhibition is the longest standing of its kind in the world, running for over 150 years. Bryony's work will tour along 125 selected images both in the UK and overseas. An acceptance in the International Print Exhibition has always been coveted by professionals and amateurs alike and has helped many aspiring photographers to launch their career and achieve recognition. The 153rd International Print Exhibition is showing in the UK until 26 May at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. http://www.rps.org/international-print-exhibition/home

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UWE awarded £25k to help develop social enterprises

UWE has been awarded £25,000 by the Intellectual Property Office 2011 Fast Forward Competition.

The project led by Dr Lorna Collins in Bristol Business School will raise awareness of Intellectual Property issues amongst social enterprises by creating a network and access to expertise.

Announcing the successful projects, Intellectual Property Minister Baroness Wilcox said, “I would like to congratulate the University of the West of England. Through interactions with industry, charities and government, UK institutions are creating new companies, improving public services and attracting foreign investment. This is an essential driver of economic growth and prosperity.”

Dr Lorna Collins said, “We are delighted to have been successful and it is brilliant news for our Social Innovation and Enterprise Research Cluster. It was a tough competition and only 10 out of 70 projects were funded.

“We will link social enterprise and technology and manufacturing business with whom we have established relationships with an ambition to connect around 120 different social enterprises with 20 expert practitioners at UWE and 10 strategic partners via an online community. This will enable a sharing of expertise through exemplar projects. We want to help social enterprises to become better at commercialising unrealised IP assets.

“The Social Enterprise Sector invests significant energy creating social innovations but little attention to the maximising investment. There are plenty of ideas but often a failure to communicate widely or develop them due to a lack of skills. Through building strategic alliances we hope to plug a gap as there is a striking absence of support.”

UWE will develop an online community, hold an exhibition and drop in evenings throughout the year as well as using social network channels to disseminate live case studies.

The 2011 Fast Forward Competition rewarded institutions working with business and the local community to create new companies or services to the benefit of the economy and society.

The entry was supported by Dr Richard Ball (Senior Lecturer, Department of Law), Andrew Wilson (from UWE), the Dolphin Society, Veale Wasbrough Vizards, Saffrey Champness, ManageMyIP, Highfield Ltd. and Prism Places and Prism Places Social Enterprise Limited.

Centre for Sport hosts sporting stars

Hockey and cricket were two of the sports that recently took centre stage at the Centre for Sport. In March, the current Captain of the England Women’s team, Charlotte Edwards MBE, and squad member, Caroline Atkins came to support an Under-15s girls’ cricket tournament. In April, UWE Head Hockey Coach and recently appointed Head Coach of the U18 Irish boys hockey squad, Turloch O’Siochain arranged a three game series against U18 Welsh boys. He said, “The Irish U18s management team were delighted to be given the opportunity to train and play at the world class facilities here at UWE. They were three good matches against our Welsh counterparts allowing us to introduce key tactical concepts to the players. Easter is a critical time during the training cycle in preparation for the summer competition. Coming to UWE allowed us to maximise our contact time with the players.” The results of the matches were Ireland 8 Wales 2, Ireland 8 Wales 1, Ireland 8 Wales 2.

The Irish U18’s squad at the Centre for Sport

England cricketers: from left

Caroline Atkins and Charlotte Edwards

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Student expedition helps conserve biodiversity in Cuba

Buying Bananas

Academic Staff from the University of Havana

Final year undergraduates from the Department of Applied Sciences have just returned from the Isla de la Juventude (The Isle of Youth), a remote island off the southern coast of Cuba that is believed to be the inspiration for both Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and Peter Pan by JM Barrie. The expedition forms part of a module on tropical forests and coral reefs that is an option available to students studying Conservation, Biology or Environmental Science.

Cuba, and its islands, is a world biodiversity hotspot and this area of the Caribbean contains many species of plants and animals that are endemic to the region and found nowhere else in the world. The attraction of spending a week diving on pristine coral reefs and a week camping on a tropical island paradise is very appealing, but there are plenty of sand flies and mosquitoes to worry about. The real purpose of the module is to provide students with practical skills for studying tropical ecosystems – some of the most threatened habitats in the world.

The trip is funded by the students themselves and their support enables academic staff from the University of Havana to travel to the island to carry out conservation research programmes. This is the fifth expedition to the island and joint long-term research projects between UWE and Havana are already underway that will help understand and conserve the island’s unique fauna and flora.

Running an expedition to a remote island is not without risk: there are sharks, stinging jellyfish, salt water crocodiles, poisonous trees and frogs, scorpions and tarantula spiders, but perhaps surprisingly, no poisonous snakes and no malaria on the island. The whole UWE team (Dr David Bird, Dr Lyn Newton, Dr Darren Reynolds, Dr Grace O’Donovan and Dave Molesworth) have all completed specialist medical training and all the activities are carefully assessed.

Dr David Bird, the module leader, points out, “Our students get to work with conservation experts and become actively involved with their research. They get to handle rare, and

often endangered, species of reptiles, birds and bats that is impossible to do in the UK. All the students hold an internationally recognised diving qualification and they must be able to recognise more than 100 species of coral reef organisms before they arrive so that they can begin to collect data on fish diversity on their first dive”.

For many students, this is an experience of a lifetime; as one student wrote on his module questionnaire “this was the best two weeks of my life”.

Plans to apply for external funding from DERFAs Darwin Initiative are well advanced. This programme is designed to help countries that are rich in biodiversity but poor in resources and a successful application will greatly enhance the potential for conservation work. Support has already been obtained from UWE’s bettertogether fund and from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences to help equip a small teaching laboratory at the University of Havana.

These beautiful photos of the expedition were taken by Dr David Bird.

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In April, Illustration alumni Sarah Grice and Sara Thielker won the regional heats at the Royal West of England Academy and competed in the finals of the Art of Nurture, a prestigious national art competition run by Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

Sarah and Sara, both working as professional illustrators, had their work exhibited in the iconic setting of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. This is the first year that the competition has been open to graduates.

UWE Illustration students have an established track record in the Art of Nurture competition with winners in the national top three for the past five years. Last year’s national winner was

Illustration graduate, Gaby Selby, who saw his winning designs used in a high profile national advertising campaign for Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

Sarah Grice, who worked for a year in 2009 as an Illustration Junior Fellow at UWE, said, “Having worked last year with the students when they submitted entries (and Gaby going on to win), it was a pleasant surprise to make the national finals myself this year. I was very proud to represent the South West and UWE at the finals. It was hugely exciting to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum and meet all the other entrants.”

This year’s UWE regional finalists also included graduate, Richard Partridge

who came third nationally in the competition in 2009 and current Illustration students Nick Chambers and Rosa Middleton.

Gary Embury is the lecturer who coaches the students for the Art of Nurture competition each year, he said, “Congratulations to all the UWE regional finalists. With over 600 entries received nationally, they’ve done exceptionally well and it confirms the courses continuing success in gaining awards for students in national and international competitions. ”

For more information on the Art of Nurture see: www.artofnurture.co.uk

From left Sarah Grice and Sara Thielker with their winning entries

UWE alumni flourish at prestigious Art of Nurture competition

Sue Yilmaz from Academic Registry is cycling from Vietnam to Cambodia in aid of the Women for Women Charity this autumn. The charity funds research to advance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment for a range of devastating conditions that affect women and their babies.

Sue says, “I saw the advert for this cycle ride in a WeightWatchers magazine. I have been fortunate to visit Vietnam as part of my role within the Academic Registry but this cycle trip will enable me to delve deeper into the culture whilst raising money for a good cause. The 400 km trip starts in Ho Chi Minh City and ends at the ancient temple site of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

“I would like to thank the staff of UWE Centre for Sport who have been brilliant in supporting my training by

offering advice on an exercise and fitness regime. The bike ride has also spurred a number of my colleagues in Academic Registry into joining me in taking on the Get Gorge-ous challenge to cycle 50 miles to Cheddar Gorge and back in July as part of my training. I have to raise £3,100 in order to participate, so look out for fund raising events.

“I’m really looking forward to what will be an enormous personal challenge.”

If you would like to sponsor Sue go to www.justgiving.com/sue-yilmaz

For more information about Women for Women go to www.women-for-women.org

Sue Yilmaz to cycle Vietnam and Cambodia for charity

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Hartpury hosts South West Careers Fair

Hartpury recently played host to the South West Regional Animal, Land and Equine Careers Fair in the Hartpury Arena. The event was attended by 341 students from universities across the country including Liverpool University, Chester University and Bournemouth University, along with some more local institutions.

Local and national employers including Innovis, Equine Careers and Gloucestershire Police, were on hand to offer advice to students who were exploring future career opportunities ready for when they graduate. There were also a number of presentations including a CV Surgery, Conservation Africa, postgraduate study at UWE Hartpury and Business Link.

Special guest speaker Miranda Krestovnikoff, from BBC’s Coast and The One Show programmes, graduated from Bristol University where she studied Zoology. She gave advice to students and said, “It is extremely important now to get a wealth of experience alongside a degree, a degree on its own will not separate you from the rest when looking for jobs, especially in the land-based industries. Students should always explore their interests further, whether it be diving, horse riding, animal care or anything else as this is one way to gain that all important added value.”

One student who attended said, “This is a great opportunity to come and find out exactly what employers are looking for in graduates. I have also been able to look at companies that I perhaps hadn’t thought of before.”

The day finished with a display from the Hartpury College Equine Academy and Newent Bird of Prey Centre.

Equestrian Challenge is huge success

A 9,000 strong crowd enjoyed the inaugural Equestrian Challenge race day at Newbury Racecourse in March which was won by UWE Hartpury students Harriet Evans and Jenny Lewis, after competing with equine students from other institutions to develop a Celebration of the Horse theme for the day.

Back in October, Newbury Racecourse launched the inaugural Equestrian Challenge in partnership with the British Equestrian Federation to help raise awareness of the equine industry.

Students from Hartpury, Sparsholt, Cirencester, Oxford Brookes and the Royal Agricultural College all took part. The race day was a huge success which featured equestrian themed activities as well as seven races, with the aim of uniting racing and the equestrian world.

World Class Performance Manager and Chef d'Equipe of the British Eventing Team Yogi Breisner spoke about his work in the approach to the London 2012 Olympics. Displays included a dressage demonstration in the parade ring, a Pony Club unmounted games display as well as polocrosse and vaulting demonstrations.

Harriet and Jenny are both students on the BA(Hons) Equine Business Management course They said, “Equestrian Challenge has been an extremely valuable competition for both of us as we would like to work within the racing industry when we graduate. The competition allowed us to be creative with what we wanted to do and we could put some of our business lectures into our proposal. An opportunity like this looks great on CVs no matter what type of job you want to do after university. We both thoroughly enjoyed the day and it would not have been possible without the help we had from fellow Hartpury students. We are pleased to announce that the day raised £4,578 for Riding for the Disabled (RDA) and attendance increased by 1,500 racegoers from last year. The Celebrating Equestrianism theme was a real success.”

Jenny Lewis (left) and Harriet Evans

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UWE bettertogether awards 2011 Friday 24 June 2011Exhibition and Conference Centre,Frenchay Campus 12:00 - 14:00

The bettertogether awards 2011 will publicly recognise the outstanding contribution of individuals and teams who have gone the extra mile in their areas of work.

An all staff event – refreshments provided.

Please register to attend at

https://www.formstack.com/forms/uwe-uwe_bettertogether_awards_2011

Professor Janet Dwyer

of the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) is giving her inaugural lecture on

14 June 2011 18:00-19:00

Pathways to sustainable agriculture, 1980-2020: 40 years of policy learning

in Britain and the EU?

CCRI is a partnership between UWE, Hartpury College, the Royal Agricultural College and the University of Gloucestershire.

University of Gloucestershire Oxstalls Campus

To reserve a free place please contact [email protected]

Telephone

01242 714122

UWE Gospel Choir reach national competition final UWE Gospel Choir has reached the final of University Gospel Choir of the Year. They are among eight university gospel choirs to be selected to perform at the final of the competition at Peacock Theatre in Sadler’s Wells on 16 July.

The Choir entered the competition, organised by University Gospel Choir of the Year (UGCY), a recently formed London based organisation in February this year. Entry was via the submission of an online video performance of the 15 strong gospel choir singing Surely Goodness, from Israel Houghton’s A Deeper Life album, which can be viewed at www.youtube.com/user/chrmnsmls.

The purpose of UGCY is to provide a platform for university gospel choirs all over the UK to develop and showcase their musical abilities, whilst celebrating and promoting the powerful and uplifting traditions of gospel music, inspiring people from all walks of life.

Charmaine Samuels, choir director and the members of the choir are over the moon about the results and are excited about the July event in London. Charmaine says, “We expect the competition to be strong, but we feel that with the support of the CPA and the commitment and enthusiasm of the choir we are able contenders for the title of “University Gospel Choir of the Year”.

The winners of the competition will gain the opportunity to perform at the annual event Christmas Carols with the Stars at the Royal Albert Hall in December 2011, plus the winning choir will also spend three days in a state of the art professional studio in London to record their very own single, courtesy of MVLS music.

Gospel Choir singing in the Colston Hall

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Take part in DigiCult

DigiCult, an inter-disciplinary event, organised jointly by the Faculty of Environment and Technology and Digital Cultures Research Centre will take place at UWE 10.00 to 16.00 on Thursday 9 June in N Block.

The event will showcase existing work taking place at the intersection of technology and culture by UWE staff and associates.

Dr Marcus Lynch, one of the event organisers, says, “DigiCult will present a great opportunity to network together the skills, experience and creative talents of people at UWE and promote partnerships and collaborations for future work in this area.

There will be keynote speakers, demonstrations of prototypes and projects followed by facilitated sessions with advice on sources of potential funding available. Refreshments will be provided.

“There are still some spaces available to showcase projects within Lab rooms in N-Block, running on PC, Mac, standalone or otherwise. Access to audio equipment and projectors can also be arranged depending upon the nature of the display. Displays will exhibit simultaneously throughout the morning. If you feel you have work that you would like to showcase please contact ASAP as spaces are limited.

“If you are interested to attend the event and join in on the later discussions please RSVP in order to gauge numbers for catering and facilitating.”

Please contact Josh Ward ([email protected]) to register your interest in participation and Marcus Lynch ([email protected]) for any further details.

Bristol HarboursideFree event, Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th June 2011

For more information, visit www.festivalofnature.org

BFN 2011 EX A4 Poster.indd 1 28/03/2011 14:44

The Bolland Lecture 2011Wednesday 1 June 2011 17:30

Glendinning Lecture Theatre (2D67), UWE, Frenchay Campus, BS36 1HS

The Annual Bolland Lecture 2011.

Guest Speaker:

Nick Wilson MD HP UK and Ireland.Register to attend at:

http://www.formstack.com/forms/ uwe-bolland_annual_lecture

Art, Design and Media Degree Show 2011

Saturday 11 June – Thursday 16 June 2011Join us for the annual showcase of work by final year undergraduate and postgraduate students. The show is the highlight of the academic year and a chance to discover a new generation of artists, designers and media practitioners.

Bower Ashton Campus will host a spectacular range of work from 14 courses including Animation, Drawing and Applied Arts, Fashion, Graphic Design and Media Practice. Work by undergraduate Fine Art students will be exhibited at Spike Island and MA Fine Art students will be exhibiting at Bristol Diving School.

http://info.uwe.ac.uk/events/event.aspx?id=12163

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Security pedal power: pictured are the UWE Operations and Security Team who will now include two mountain bikes in their security operations at Frenchay Campus from April. UWE’s commitment to sustainability, promoting Bristol Cycling City and healthier lifestyles, are all great reasons for choosing to use mountain bikes. The bikes will also add greater visibility for the UWE security team and improve their response times. Each bike will have a First Aid Kit and radio communications. Through using these bikes David Taylor, Head of Security, hopes to reduce the response rate of the CSOs to an incident, make the CSOs more approachable than a passing vehicle and keep all users fit and healthy.

UWE host Feminism in Action conference

UWE’s Gender Studies Research Group was launched in June last year, bringing together academics from across the University to further develop regional, national and international research and collaborations around gender.

Feminism in Action – is the last in a variety of well-attended and thought-provoking events the group has staged this year. This one day seminar is jointly hosted with Psychology of Women Section (POWS) and will take place on Monday 11 July 2011, 10:00 - 17:00 on Frenchay Campus.

This free event is open to all and promises an exciting programme of local and international speakers including:

Sexual violence prevention and the problem of pornography Dr Nicola Gavey, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Feminism in action in Bristol Dr Helen Mott, Co-ordinator, Bristol Fawcett Society

Dr Victoria Clarke, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Conference Co-organiser says,

“The Gender Studies Research Group at UWE is a vibrant focal space for Gender researchers across a wide range of disciplines at UWE and elsewhere, fostering transdisciplinary conversations and research activities. In our Feminism in Action conference we extend those connections and conversations into the community to explore the synergies between academic and community activist feminism, asking what academic and activist feminisms can learn from each other and how feminist research and activism can best impact the lived experiences of girls and women in the real world.”

To register for Feminism in Action, please contact [email protected]

For more information on UWE Gender Studies Research Group visit: www.uwe.ac.uk/research/groups/gender-studies/index.shtml

Guy Keith-Miller (SCPS) and Marcus Kepple-Palmer (Law) appeared with other panellists including Cllr Mark Bradshaw, Brigid Allen (Principal) and Revd Rod Symmons (Vicar, Redland Parish Church) in a debate organised and chaired by Year 13 student Jamie Mills, on the subject of tackling homophobia in schools. The lively debate, held at Bristol Brunel Academy, (part of the Cabot Learning Federation, sponsored by UWE) saw a selection of Year 11 students pose a variety of questions to the panellists including, To what extent is religion to blame for homophobia in schools?, If questioned, do you think gay teachers should feel free to discuss their sexuality openly with their students? and Are we able to eradicate the word gay (meaning bad) from our playgrounds?

The debate formed part of a campaign which has included teacher training, drama workshops, school assemblies and collaboration with a UWE PhD thesis to highlight discrimination and bullying in schools on the grounds of sexuality. The campaign has been endorsed by Bristol City Council who recently, in collaboration with Stonewall, hosted a visit by Sir Ian McKellen to the City Academy Bristol and Fairfield schools to further this message.

Pictured left to right are, Cllr Mark Bradshaw, Guy Keith-Miller, Jamie Mills, Marcus Kepple-Palmer, Brigid Allen, and Revd Rod Symmons.

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CAR researchers recruit young actors with visible differences for social skills training video Researchers from the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) have been filming social skills training videos at the Bower Ashton Media Centre with a group of young actors some of whom have visible differences. The videos will contribute towards the YP-Face IT online support programme. This seven week web-based, interactive programme is currently being developed by CAR to help young people struggling to adapt to a visible difference resulting from traumatic injuries (including burns) craniofacial and skin conditions and changes to appearance resulting from medical and surgical treatments. The project is being led by Research Associate, Heidi Williamson.

Two of the young actors who took part said: “It’s been great filming. We’ve been using the green screen and doing different bits of acting, it’s been amazing. I’ve done acting on stage before but doing filmed acting is a completely different thing for me, it’s been really good fun. I think the YP Face It programme is going to be really, really helpful for those people that use it. It’s designed with them in mind, so it should help young people that have appearance problems a lot”. Lucas 15 yrs

“Taking part in the YP Face It filming was a really great experience for me. I enjoyed everything, on set and off, and after the filming I felt hot, tired but completely happy. I gained so much from the experience, and I really hope other young people can gain from the programme too: it's a great way of showing young people the best ways to deal with difficult social situations. I thoroughly loved every bit of this and it was a great scheme to be part of.” Eloise 14 yrs

The online support programme is subject to a six month’s feasibility study followed by a pilot trial. The launch of the trial will be in the autumn.

Pictured is sound artist and composer, Jan Hendrickse performing in a workshop at the Arcomis International Flute Event in the Senedd parliament building, Cardiff. The weekend festival in April was directed by Dr Adrian Hull from the Centre for Performing Arts and brought together the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Sinfonietta, and 12 of Europe's elite flautists to celebrate the flute through a series of concerts, workshops and free foyer events for everyone. UWE students and CPA staff were heavily involved in the organisation and staging of the event which received wide media coverage including BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales and The Guardian. For more information see: www.arcomis.com/flute

The group of young actors – Lucas (back row, second from left) and Eloise (front row, third from left)

Nigel England, Community Liaison Manager organised a litter pick in Stoke Park, next to the edge of Frenchay Campus on 8 April. The team picked up five large bin bags of rubbish from the Stoke Park Estate. Pictured (l to right are) Viv Jowett, Louise Langley, Sharon Shermon and Rebecca Parsons, (all from Facilities).

Elizabeth Langford (HLS) recently hosted an exhibition of her paintings at Bristol School of Art and Design, Queen’s Road, Clifton. The exhibition ran from February 28 - 21 March. The exhibition featured a collection of her most recent watercolour paintings exploring themes of memory and place.

Children in Need Facilities – Estates collected £221.62 for Children In Need. The money was raised by staff dressing up, enjoying a fish and chip lunch and a cake sale.

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News in Brief

Staff in the mediaDr Lee Salter (CAHE) appeared on BBC Radio Bristol on Wednesday 15 March talking about race and the media, surrounding the comments made by the producer of Midsomer Murders about the racial makeup of characters.

Marie Mulvey-Roberts (ELC) was interviewed by Tom Geoghegan for the BBC News Magazine (14 March 2011) about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in connection with the live global screening of Danny Boyle's stage production based on Shelley's novel. Showings in Bristol were scheduled for 17 and 24 March.

Dr Chris Alford (PSY) was ‘Dr in the House’ on Saturday Surgery on BBC Radio Bristol on 12 March with presenter Dr Phil Hammond. He discussed sleep problems and disorders as well as his sleep research at UWE and in the Southwest. Chris and Phil also responded to listeners’ questions on sleep related matters.

Professor Moira Plant (Alcohol and Health Research Unit) was interviewed on Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 15 April about drinking in pregnancy.

Dr Paul Pilkington (HLS) did an interview BBC Radio Bristol in March about the switching off of fixed speed cameras, relating to his research in 2005 about evidence of their effectiveness.

Rod Ward (NM) was interviewed on the BBC World Service programme World Update in March about why academics should contribute to Wikipedia.

Dr Adrian Hull (CPA) was interviewed on BBC Radio Wales' Arts show in March about The Arcomis International Flute Event 2011 held in Cardiff Bay.

Alice Hortop (AHP) was interviewed on 25 March by BBC Radio Wales about office workers’ wellbeing vs productivity.

Richard Luxton (ISBT) was interviewed by BBC Radio Bristol on 30 March about BRIG-H Showcase event at the ECC.

Adrian Grandon (CAHE) was interviewed in March by BBC Radio Bristol about Charlotte Todd, Fashion graduate and creator of the Kate Middleton Dress.

John Lanham and Claire Rocks were interviewed in March about the BLOODHOUND Annual Lecture for BBC Radio Bristol and Jack/Breeze radio.

Havi Carel (CAHE) was interviewed by BBC Radio Bristol on 18 March about organ donation.

Christien van den Anker (HPP) was interviewed on 8 April by BBC Radio Bristol's Drivetime on the World Health Day campaign for migrant access to health care. Christien also spoke on their phone in on migration on 14 April. Bristol Evening Post

also published two articles on the campaign, one with a supportive quote from Bristol City Council deputy executive Graham Sims. See full article: http://bit.ly/eAwOG8

James Byron-Daniel (PSY) was interviewed in April about his research study into chocolate addiction and exercise by BBC Bristol and Heart FM.

Jonathan Benger (HLS) was interviewed by BBC Radio 5 Live, regarding the availability of follow-up services for young people who attend A&E as a result of alcohol mis-use.

Helen Frisby (HPP) featured on the History Channel documentary Mud Men in April talking about Victorian mourning and a popular funerary ritual/belief. http://www.history.co.uk/shows/mud-men.html

Richard Edwards (Law) was recently interviewed on BBC Radio 5, BBC Radio Coventry and BBC Radio Gloucestershire about the use and abuse of super-injunctions.

Lisa Harrison (HPP) was interviewed about the local elections and A/V referendum this month on BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Politics Show West, BBC Radio Somerset about the role of MPs and Jack FM about the decline of women in elected office.

PublicationsProfessor Tony Killard (HLS) has recently had the following papers published:

Troy Hibbard and Anthony J Killard, Breath ammonia analysis: Clinical application and measurement, Critical reviews in analytical chemistry, 41: 21 – 35, 2011

Magdalena M Dudek, Nigel Kent, Kerstin M Gustafsson, Thomas L Lindahl and Anthony J Killard, Fluorescence-based blood coagulation assay device for measuring activated partial thromboplastin time, Analytical Chemistry, 83: 319 – 328, 2011.

Dr Owain Jones (CCRI) has written a paper entitled Lunar-solar rhythm patterns: tracings of the material cultures of tides which has been accepted for publication by Environment and Planning A.

Pearson, Martin J, Ben Mitchinson, Jason Welsby, Tony Pipe and Tony J Prescott, (BRL) SCRATCHbot: Active tactile sensing in a whiskered mobile robot, In Proceedings SAB2010, LNAI 6226, pp93-103, Paris, August 2010

Winfield AFT and Griffiths F (BRL) Towards the emergence of artificial culture in collective robot dystems, pp 431-439 in Symbiotic Multi-robot Organisms, Eds P Levi and S Kernbach, Springer-Verlag, 2010.

Lowe, R, Montebelli, A, Ieropoulos, I, Greenman, J, Melhuish, C and Ziemke, T (BRL), Towards an energy-motivation autonomous robot: a study of artificial metabolism constrained dynamics in Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, (Artificial Life XII), 19-23 Aug 2010, Odense, Denmark.E-Book (Open Access), ISBN-10:0-262-29075-8, pp 725-732 (2010)

Dr Alison Rudd (AR) has had her book Postcolonial Gothic Fictions from the Caribbean, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (published by University of Wales Press in September 2010) nominated for the Allan Lloyd Smith memorial prize for best published book on the Gothic 2009-10. The winner will be announced at the International Gothic Association Conference in Heidelberg in August.

Anthony Rhodes (LS) has published the following paper entitled: Factors affecting estrogen receptor status in a multiracial Asian country: An analysis of 3557 cases. CH Yip, N Bhoo Pathy, CS Uiterwaal, NA Taib, GH Tan, KS Mune, WY Choo, A Rhodes. The Breast, Vol 20 Supplement 2, pp S60-S64, April (2011).

Kate Thomas (Schools and Colleges Partnership Service) has edited with Sue Jackson, and Irene Malcom: Gendered Choices: Learning, Work, Identities in Lifelong Learning, published by Springer. Kate Thomas is WVLLN Progression Co-ordinator in the Schools and Colleges Partnership Service and Convenor of the UALL Women in Lifelong Learning Network. The book explores key intersections of adult learning from a gender perspective; notably participation, workplace learning and informal pathways.

Dr Stephen Hunt (HASS) has recently had published his article Testing chaplaincy reforms in England and Wales, in the international journal Archives des Sciences Sociales des Religions (vol 153). The paper is based upon research undertaken in two regional prisons and examines the implementation of prison chaplaincy reforms aimed at addressing the needs of prisoners in a multi-faith context. On 21 April Dr Hunt’s article Evangelicalism was published in a newspaper special supplement in The Times. The article was one of a series on the subject of contemporary Christianity featured during Holy Week.

Percy-Smith, B and Carney, C (2011) Using art installations as action research to engage children and communities in evaluating and redesigning city centre spaces, Educational Action Research Journal, vol 19 (1): 23-39.

Percy-Smith, B (2011) Chapter contribution on Action research to promote leadership and agency in developing sustainable schools and communities, in Rogerson, R, Green, A and Wong, C (eds) Sustainable Communities: Skills and Learning for Place-Making, Hertford: Hertford University Press

Neil Harrison (EDU) has had a journal article accepted in the International Journal of Intercultural Relations about what early life factors make students more or less able and willing to interact with people from other cultural backgrounds (especially international students) when they get to university. The research discovered that young people who grow up in multicultural cities have more positive attitudes to cultural difference and feel better able to work with people from other cultures. Multiculturalism turns out well-adjusted individuals who are willing and able to take their place in an internationalised university and then into the global workforce.

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AppointmentsBarry Percy-Smith, Reader in Childhood and Participatory Practice, (HASS) recently completed research exploring the experiences of young people not in education, employment or training for the Connexions Service in Northamptonshire.

The research was funded by the East Midlands Improvement Partnership as one of five projects using innovative approaches to gain ‘customer insight’. He used a novel visual life journey approach to engage young people in a reflective conversation about their experiences out of education and work. These life journeys were then used to support systemic learning and service improvement with Connexions advisers and other support workers. Learning from this research will also be presented at the European Sociological Association conference in Geneva in September. Further details of the research and the approach he used can be obtained from Barry ([email protected]). Barry also completed a series of CPD workshops for Research in Practice on the theme of Meaningful participation in children’s services in Leicester, Bristol and Leeds and has just been recruited to the editorial board of Educational Action Research journal.

ConferencesDr Helen Frisby (HPP) recently presented two conference papers on popular Victorian and inter-war funeral customs. English funerary folklore, before and after the Great War was presented at the Social History Society Annual Conference, at the University of Manchester on 12 April. Ring-o-roses, Green Gavel and the Lyke Wake: death, funerals and childlore in Victorian England (and a little bit later) was presented at the Folklore Society Annual Conference, at the University of Worcester on 17 April.

Nicola Stock and Professor Nichola Rumsey (CAR) were awarded the The Craniofacial Society of GB and Ireland President's Medal, for their presentation entitled Psychosocial issues in cleft lip and palate, at The Craniofacial Society of GB and Ireland Annual Scientific Conference in York in April.

Christien van den Anker (HPP) was one of two keynote speakers at a conference on Global solidarity in honour of Vaclav Havel's 75th birthday on 29 April in Prague.

Dr Chris Alford (PSY) gave a presentation on 19 May at an international symposium on caffeine in Mexico. His talk was entitled, Caffeine and alcohol. The symposium aimed to give updated scientific information about the effects of caffeine and its safety profile in foods and beverages.

Dr Chris Alford (PSY) and Dritan Nikolla (University of Gloucestershire) gave a presentation on the MOD funded joint research project with the University of Gloucestershire entitled: EEG correlates of decision making and the influence of emotion: Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception CNRS UMR 8158 - Université Paris Descartes Centre Biomédical des Saints Pères, Paris.

Dr Stephen Hunt (HASS) presented a paper entitled Spirituality in UK prisons: prescription and limitations at the 1st Global Conference on Spirituality in the 21st Century organised by the Interdisciplinary Network for Research and Publishing, 20 - 22 March, 2011, Prague, the Czech Republic.

Dr Owain Jones (CCRI) was the co-organiser and workshop leader for the Geography and the New Empirics, Royal Geographical Society, London, which took place on 20-21 January 2011, and which was organised by the Social and Cultural Geography Research Group. The event attracted around 50 participants from geography, sociology, anthropology and art, and addressed the changing nature of the empirical in terms of the new forms of data (such as the emotional and the affective) and the new scales of data geographers deal with.

Clara Greed (FET) was invited to speak at the South Bank Centre in March as part of the Women of the World International Women's Day 100th anniversary event. Clara spoke at two sessions, first on public toilet issues and secondly at on women and toilets.

Dr Peter Clegg and Dr Simon Thompson (HPP) recently organised a Politics Research Day on the theme of Decolonisation and its aftermath. This event, on 23 March, investigated how the processes and consequences of decolonisation continue to have an impact on national, regional and global politics. Over 40 people including staff, students, and members of the local community attended. Speakers included: Dr Amanda Sives (University of Liverpool) discussed how citizenship has been defined and challenged in Jamaica since independence in 1962; Dr Clegg looked at why some small islands in the Caribbean such as Cayman Islands and Aruba wish to remain in a semi-colonial relationship with their long-standing metropolitan powers; Dr Adrian Flint (University of Bristol) analysed EU-African relations, the downgrading of the ‘special relationship’ based on history and the increasing ‘normalisation’ of trade links based on liberalisation; Professor Donna Lee (University of Birmingham) evaluated Africa’s role in the World Trade Organisation and the region’s sometimes successful attempts to increase its influence.

Dr Bob Pitt (HLS), Dr Helen Bovill (EDU) and Dr Richard Waller (EDU) presented a paper entitled Fragile entitlement: Varied experiences of adult learners in elite and new universities to the British Sociological Association's Annual Conference in London in April.

Dr Richard Waller and Neil Harrison (both EDU) presented their joint paper We can’t see the ‘ones’ for the ‘threes’! To what extent do socio-economic categories aid our understanding of students’ family backgrounds and class experiences in the context of widening participation? to the BSA's Annual Conference at the LSE in April.

Dr Richard Waller (EDU) chaired a sub-plenary session of the BSA's Education Study Group of which he is co-convenor at the 60th Annual Conference in April. The session was entitled Where have we been and where are we now? 60 years of the sociology of education. Speakers included Professor David James (EDU).

Marie Mulvey-Roberts (ELC) gave a conference paper entitled ‘Bleeding nuns, menstruation and vampires’, at Bloodwork: The Politics of the Body 1500-1900, University of Maryland, USA, 6-7 May 2011

ResearchDr Nick Startin (HPP) has successfully bid with Dr Simon Usherwood of the University of Surrey to set up a Collaborative Research Network (CRN) through the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) on the subject of Euroscepticism. The CRN has been awarded £5,000 funding by UACES to organise workshops, panels and conferences over the next three years. Nick says, “It’s great news that UACES, an independent forum for informed debate and discussion on European affairs, has given us this opportunity. When Simon and I were studying the impact of Euroscepticism on domestic politics for our doctorates a decade ago, we were working in a very small field but there has been a noticeable increase in interest in recent years. It remains though a poorly understood field in EU studies and the CRN will offer a collaborative and multi-disciplinary forum for both academics and practitioners which aims to redress this. We hope to strengthen understanding of the parties, people and agencies that are opposed to European integration.” The CRN already has 46 members from 12 different countries (including political scientists, IR specialists, economists, sociologists and legal scholars). If you are interested in this work contact Nick Startin for more details ([email protected])

Month/Issue Copy deadlineJune/104 1 June

July/105 1 July

Sept/106 1 September

Bulletin Deadlines 2011

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eRecruitment goes liveOur new eRecruitment system has gone live this month, in parallel with new UWE web pages to promoting working at UWE. This new web-based system provides job applicants, both from within the University and externally, with a seamless process for viewing UWE vacancies, applying for jobs online and tracking the progress of their application throughout the process.

The system provides significant benefits for the University and for job applicants – it automates much of the administration as all communication is by e-mail, and interview candidates can even book their own interview slot online. The applicant data that is used through the recruitment process is recorded by the applicant themselves, significantly reducing data input work in Human Resources. All this will generate efficiency gains in Human Resources and enable faster processing, thereby reducing the time to recruit.

Managers will use the system to seek approval of a post, replacing the current eRAF system. Human Resources will be working with managers to design job specific questions for their post for applicants to respond to in their on-line application. This means that applicants will provide their information in a more focused and structured way that will make shortlisting less time-consuming for managers.

A second phase of this project will provide full functionality to managers, including being able to review applications received in real time and shortlist on-line. Phase 2 will be piloted in some areas and then rolled out later this year, at this point Human Resources will operate recruitment as a paperless process.

For further information about this project contact Lesley Donnithorne in Human Resources.

Human Resources Update

Printing and Stationery ServicesDid you know that we not only provide printing for the University but also do private work for staff and work for external organisations?

If you are involved in a club or an organisation and you need some printing, please contact us for a quote.

Telephone Internal 84670 External 0117 32 84670 E-mail [email protected]

Our services include:

• Lottery/raffle tickets• Event tickets• Event programmes• Posters• Newsletters

• Calendars• Booklets with a variety of

bindings (coil, comb, tape, ring, wire)

• Bulk printing and burning of CDs and DVDs

• Postcards• Printed envelopes• Promotional goods

Tired of stuffing envelopes? We are able to offer a sophisticated mail-merge and mailing service to both University and external customers. Contact Roland Cowley on ext 84672 for more information or e-mail [email protected]

Hot newsWe are now able to accept jobs via our electronic submission service. At present it is only available to staff through the intranet. We are developing an external portal for staff over the internet. For more information, please contact Carolyn Hancocks on ext 84674 or e-mail [email protected]

WebsiteOur website contains lots of information about our services. Why not take a look today?

www.uwe.ac.uk/printing/

Graphic Design Team MC10461 UWE, BRISTOL F.05.11Printing and Stationery Serviceswww.uwe.ac.uk

what'son• forfulldetailsofallUWEevents • tosubmitaneventtothediary • tosignuptoreceiveWhat’sonmonthly

go to www.uwe.ac.uk/events

All staff, family and friends are welcome to book for this trip. You don’t have to be a SA member and you are all welcome to join us!

Dan-yr-Ogof Caves Sat 16 July 2010 The Staff Association’s annual family trip is open to all children aged 0-90!! The National Showcave Centre for Wales has plenty for the whole family – whatever their ages!

Once again the Staff Associationwill be subsidising members and children’s seats and offering them to you at a cost of:- members £17, children £10, non members £20. Bookings will be taken on a first come basis with members being given priority. Please make cheques payable to Staff Association.

As this event is not a Coach Club trip contact should be made through the following channels only:- [email protected] or Telephone 0117 32 82969 (voicemail)

Coach Club - forthcoming trips All staff, family and friends are welcome to book for trips. You don’t have to be a SA member and you are all welcome to join us!

Saturday 25 Jun 2011 – Babbacombe (and festival) Costs: Members £10.50, non-members £11.50, child £8 Plenty going on today with the Babbacombe Festival. Take the Funicular Railway down to the beach. Kent’s Caverns are a half hour walk away.

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Saturday 24 Sept 2011 – Poole (Brownsea Island optional) Costs: Members £10, Third age £11, non-members £12, child £8 Day trip to Poole with an optional trip across to Brownsea Island (NT property) if you want – please ask for cost and details. If not then wander along the quay, have a leisurely lunch, visit the outlet shops and Poole Pottery, enjoy a harbour cruise or explore Poole’s Old Town – you choose!

Xmas Market Weekend to Ghent, Bruges and Ostend 3 days (2 nights) Friday 9 - Sunday 11 December Cost: £139 (members), £145 (non-members) Beautiful places to visit at any time of the year, but with the festive feeling even better!

Please note a trip may be withdrawn if numbers are below the minimum required and any seats requested for trips will not be held without payment. Please make cheques payable to Staff Association Coach Club.

Interested in any of the above? Please contact us through:- [email protected], Telephone 0117 32 83001

Staff Association BOB ClubTickets are still available for the performances below. All tickets are for the evening performances and in the (comfortable) stalls at the Bristol Hippodrome:-

We Will Rock You – Thursday 13 Oct 2011 - £32.50 South Pacific – Thursday 24 November 2011 - £31

Peter Pan (Panto) – Tuesday 13 December 2011 – £20 (Pay by 01 Sep - £18!) Sister Act - Thursday 12 January 2012 - £27 Lord of the Dance - Tuesday 25 Jan 12 - £36.50

Non-members are welcome to join us but remember that membership will bring with it a further reduction on ticket costs advertised.

If you are interested in joining us at the theatre and wish to be put on the mailing list for regular updates and advance notice of any tickets available please contact BOB via e-mail [email protected]

www.uwe.ac.uk/events

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