SHADOW CHANCELLOR VISITS KEELE

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, MP, visited Keele this week for a question and answer session with students.

The Conservative MP for Tatton in Cheshire was invited to Keele by students in the School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy and the Newcastle and Keele Conservative Future and discussed young people in politics, the economy and the jobs market.

During the visit he also took the opportunity to take a look at the Science Park where he was greeted by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Janet Finch, and met with tenants. 

VOLUNTEERS CELEBRATE ACHIEVEMENTS

Students, staff and placement providers enjoyed an evening of entertainment last week to celebrate student volunteering through VE @ Keele. Throughout the academic year students have volunteered in a variety of placements, helping to make a positive difference to the lives of others, whilst developing their own skills and experience.

VE Awards were presented to 37 Keele students and the prestigious Student Volunteering England Gold Award was presented to ActiVE student volunteering society executive members for their continued commitment and dedication to supporting Keele volunteers and developing positive links with the local community in and around Keele.

Best Placement Provider of the Year Award went to Staffordshire Women's Aid in recognition of the support and variety of volunteer opportunities available to Keele students.

For more information about VE @ Keele, contact Becky Wardell at http://system.newzapp.co.uk/GLink.asp?LID=MjIxMjAwMiw5 or visit http://system.newzapp.co.uk/GLink.asp?LID=MjIxMjAwMyw5

GRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

The 4th annual Graduate Research Symposium took place in the Chancellor's Building last week. The event goes from strength to strength and this year there were more than 50 research presentations, 30 entrants for the poster competition and over180 attendees, making the day very lively and vibrant.

Invited speakers were Professor Pat Bailey, Dean of Natural Sciences, who discussed 'the magic and mystery of research', and Professor Barbara Kelly who, along with the musical in-put of acclaimed pianist Michael Bell and soloist Karen Ratcliffe, gave insights in to her research on Ravel.

The standard of entries for the poster competition was very high but the judges were unanimous in their decision to award first prize to Julie Melville (Research Institute for Life Course Studies). The four runners up were John Butcher (Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics, EPSAM), Ryad Soobhany (EPSAM), Hannah Moore (Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine), and Elizabeth Maddock (EPSAM) - who also won the competition to design the Symposium programme cover. The five winners will now go forward to the Vitae Midlands Hub regional final on 7 July at Nottingham University.

Claire Williams and Tom Edge, Exesios Advertising Agency, joined Professor Nye Evans and Dr David Gadd in the difficult task of judging the posters.

BEST STAND AT TOP LONDON SHOW

Keele Conferences took Keele Hall to London to exhibit at the Academic Venue Show. The annual exhibition took place at the Emirates Stadium, London, with event buyers specifically looking for university venues.

The team hosted a Victorian-themed stand, complete with Keele Hall backdrop, staff in period attire and free Victoria sponge cake for visitors, to promote the venue. On the day the team was given the award for best stand.

Sales and Marketing Manager, Marcus Wilson, said: "Winning the best stand award was an honour, but the important thing about the day was that we spoke to over 60 potential event organisers – all with a keen interest in bringing their events to Keele. We're now in the process of following up these contacts with a view to inviting them to Keele to look at the facilities we can offer for their next event."

KEELELINK AWARDS NIGHT

The Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning division held their first annual Keelelink Awards Ceremony this week in Keele Hall Ballroom. The ceremony was a highlight for the Keelelink School and College Partnership programme celebrating unprecedented success and achievements of all projects over the last twelve months, which has given or provided local students of all ages the platform to realise their full academic potential.

Nearly 250 attended and guests included University staff and students involved with the projects, external contacts that support the programme and pupils from the Rhythm Factory Dance Loft and Port Vale Football Homework clubs. Teachers and school representatives from many Keelelink school and college partners were also present. Other guests included local business sponsors, Evolution, and local project partners, The Altogether Company, as well as the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Stoke-on-Trent.

The evening was hosted by Widening Participation Manager Kylie Cross and included a key note speech from Pro Vice-Chancellor for Community and Partnerships, Kevin Mattinson. Individual project awards were presented to students, teachers, pupils and schools.

Jayne Arrowsmith was awarded the Parent Ambassador of the Year award; the award for Most Zealous New Keelelink Member went to Shire Oak School, Walsall, and the Keelelink School and College Partner of the Year went to Madeley High School.

The night also included a fantastic live performance from the Rhythm Factory Dance Loft Homework Club participants.

MEGA MOLECULES WIN TOP PRIZE

Molly Cool and scientists from the School of Physical and Geographical Sciences teamed up with the Science Group at Bollington Festival to put on a parade of mega molecules, 10 billion times larger than the real things.  The molecules represented were based around the festival theme of 'Going Green', from the polymers in fuel cells, to biodiesel, ethanol and vitamin C to represent the local fruit and veg. To top it all the molecules won first prize for best entry in the parade.

More pictures of the molecules in action can be found at http://system.newzapp.co.uk/GLink.asp?LID=MjIxMjAwNCw5 and more science events at the festival can be found at http://system.newzapp.co.uk/GLink.asp?LID=MjIxMjAwNSw5

GOLD MEDAL FOR KEELE CHEF

Just days after being named Staffordshire Young Chef of Tomorrow 2009 last week, Modern Apprentice Luke Staton has won first prize in the Culinary Skills Olympics for trainees at the Buxton Campus of the University of Derby.

There were 12 competitors in the contest but Luke saw them all off with his two dishes of seared Red Mullet with squid ink noodles and saffron and mint sauce and mignons of beef  with fondant potato, spring vegetables and morel mushroom jus.

His prize is a set of Victorinox chef's knives, a book from the famous 'El Bulli' restaurant and another Michelin starred placement, this time with Richard Corrigan in London.

Executive Chef, Peter Walters, said: "Two Gold Medals for Luke in five days is a brilliant achievement. He has worked extremely hard with the team to get to this level."

WORKING GROUP CHAIR

Professor Ilana Crome, School of Medicine, has been appointed to the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Working Group on Treatment Effectiveness.

Professor Crome has also been appointed as a member of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guideline Development Group (GDG) on Mental Illness and Substance Misuse.

KEELE RESEARCHER AT SCIENCE INNOVATION CAMP
 
Dr Katherine Haxton, Chemistry, was one of thirty up and coming researchers from across the disciplines of science and social science who came together for the first of four innovation camps organised by The National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA).

 
The Crucible programme aims to develop new ideas and explore the wider potential that interdisciplinary collaboration can bring to their work.

At the end of the programme participants are offered the chance to bid for small grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 in an effort to encourage continued collaborations. Seven projects have already been funded since the programme started four years ago.
 
Katherine's research interests include new drug delivery methods for metal based anticancer drugs using polymers.

ADDRESSING CHILD SAFETY

Injury is a principal cause of death in children and across the EU every day 25 children die needlessly through accidents.

This is a huge toll and the European Commission has part funded the European Child Safety Alliance, based in Amsterdam, to develop a Child Safety Action Plans project, which has identified over 100 proven good practices and assessed the capacity and readiness of 24 countries to prevent childhood accidents.

The latest publications, assessing each country's accident prevention approaches and comparative positions, were launched last week by the EU Commissioners for Health and for Consumers and the Chair of European Parliament Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. 

Professor Michael Rigby, Professor of Health Information Strategy (School of Public Policy and Professional Practice and the Research Institute for Public Policy and Management) is one of two academic advisers to the project, and as a result of his contribution Keele is listed as one of the six project partners – alongside the European Commission, WHO and UNICEF.

STAFF VERSUS STUDENTS SPORTS TOURNAMENT

After a week of events between staff and students a sports tournament ended in a tie of two all.

All the sports were played with a great deal of fun but still remained highly competitive. However, after totalling up the scores from the four events, staff came out on top.

The week commenced with a close fought battle in 11 a-side football, finishing with a student win by the smallest of margins. Next up was badminton with staff pulling back to even the competition with a convincing win.

The third day saw another staff victory in the golf at Wychwood Park Golf Club and on the final day of competition the students fielded a strong netball team to record a convincing victory against a determined staff team.

Organisers have thanked the Leisure Centre staff, Wychwood Park staff, Peter Hill (Football Referee), Kaye Wayman (Netball Umpire), Tom Way-Rider (Golf Captain) and all who took part for making the events run smoothly.