SUMMER DEGREE CEREMONIES

Degrees were awarded to more than 1,900 under-graduate and post-graduate students at ceremonies held in the University Chapel this week. Graduands and their guests attended a series of 13 ceremonies over three days.

Keele University Excellence in Learning and Teaching Awards were also presented during the ceremonies to John Hegarty (School of Psychology), Sherilyn MacGregor (School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy), pictured left, Mark Trueman (School of Psychology) and Richard Waller (School of Physical and Geographical Sciences).

The prestigious Neil and Gina Smith Student of the Year Award was presented to Sam Creavin, pictured right. Sam achieved a Masters degree at the same time as his undergraduate studies in Medicine, the first student at Keele to achieve this.  He performed particularly well academically, gaining "Best Overall Performance" in every progress test over the last four years. He has had work from his MPhil accepted for publication and has presented at conferences nationally and internationally. In addition to his strong academic performance, Sam has contributed both to Keele and to the wider community in an extensive range of extracurricular activities.
 
Honorary Degrees were awarded to five people who have made outstanding contributions within their fields of expertise. David Cooney, pictured left, a Keele graduate,  was awarded a Doctor of the University, in recognition of his contribution to diplomacy and public service; James Hawley, the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Doctor of the University, in recognition of his contribution to the County of Staffordshire; Eric Hassall, CBE, Doctor of the University, in recognition of his contribution to industry and the work of the University; Professor Sir Alex Markham, Doctor of Science, in recognition of his contribution to molecular medicine and Dame Jo Williams, DBE, a Keele graduate, Doctor of Letters, in recognition of her contribution to social work and disability services.

ASTROPHYSICS GROUP SUCCESSES AT WINNING INTERNATIONAL FACILITY TIME

Dr Joana Oliveira, Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (EPSAM), has been awarded two nights on the 8.2-m Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory at Paranal, Chile. She will investigate the abundance, structure and composition of ice surrounding stellar embryos in the Magellanic Clouds, two galaxy neighbours that resemble the conditions in the early Universe. Ice plays a vital role in cooling dense dust clouds, so they can collapse to form stars. Spectra taken at infra-red wavelengths show water ice, carbon-monoxide ice and sometimes methanol ice. Previously Joana used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to find carbon-dioxide ice. The notional value assigned to this telescope time by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is £60,000.

Dr Rob Jeffries (EPSAM) has been awarded three nights on the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands. The project is to search for the chemical signatures of planetary rubble that might have fallen onto the surface of stars during the initial planet-building phase of an exoplanetary system.

The chemical fingerprint could tell us how frequently rocky planets form around other suns and whether their construction materials are similar to that of our own Earth. The notional value assigned to this telescope time by STFC is £51,000.

Dr Jacco van Loon (EPSAM) has been awarded eight hours on the IRAM radio interferometre on Plateau de Bure in the French Alps. The goal is to detect carbon-monoxide within the winds blown by red supergiants. These massive stars will soon (within the next 100,000 years and possibly even today) explode as supernovae.

NAKED LUNCH @ 50

Professor Oliver Harris, School of Humanities (American Studies), one of the world's leading authorities on the work of William Burroughs, last week oversaw the book launch of Naked Lunch @ 50: Anniversary Essays in Paris.

The launch, sponsored by the David Bruce Centre for American Studies, inaugurated a four-day conference and cultural homage to mark the half-century of Burroughs' most famous novel, first published in Paris in July 1959. The events, hosted in collaboration with the University of London Institute in Paris, attracted Burroughs scholars, writers, musicians, filmmakers and artists from across Europe and the United States. Full information can be found on the special anniversary website: http://nakedlunch.org/.

The picture shows Oliver Harris at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the old "Beat Hotel" in Paris where William Burroughs lived when he completed Naked Lunchin 1959.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MUSIC

Gathering to investigate musical topics as diverse as Debussy and Dream Theater, nationalism and noise music, compositional indeterminacy and political ideology, more than 150 delegates from 17 countries came to Keele last week for the Sixth International Conference on Music Since 1900 (ICMSN).  This major event, hosted by Music and Music Technology and the Research Institute for the Humanities, was organised by Dr Diego Garro and Dr Nicholas Reyland.  The conference included 37 paper sessions, two electroacoustic music concerts and a recital for soprano and piano.  The keynote lectures were given by electroacoustic pioneer Trevor Wishart (Durham University) and one of the world's most distinguished musicologists, Professor Lawrence Kramer (Fordham University), speaking on 'Text and Music/Music and Text' and 'Narrative Nostalgia' respectively.  Other plenary sessions were devoted to the death of the avant-garde and to the idea of musical narrative.  Within the pluralistic context of a series of conferences noted for their atmosphere of collegiality and openness to discussing any style/genre/category/use of music since 1900, distinct strands in the Sixth ICMSN examined cultural identity, electronic music and musical narrativity, and a series of workshops united scholars to investigate key issues in contemporary musicology.

TV INTERVIEW IN JEDDAH

Professor Peter Styles, Applied and Environmental Geophysics Research Group, School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, was interviewed for Saudi Arabian Television at a reception for the 4th anniversary of King Abdul Aziz held in Jeddah.

Professor Styles was part of an external examining team for the Faculty of Earth Sciences at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

CHEMISTRY SPECIALISTS MEET AT KEELE

Participants of Keele's Chemistry Enhancement course met in Keele Hall last week to mark the final presentation of the current format. Over the last five years the course, which was one of just two UK pilot courses, has brought an additional 90 people into teaching, as much-needed chemistry specialists. The reception, which was sponsored by the North Staffordshire Section of the Royal Society of Chemistry, enabled participants to meet again and compare their post-course careers. Many of them said that they would not have come to teaching, or would not have succeeded as a chemistry specialist, without the course and in particular the high quality teaching by chemistry lecturers. They described how the course had improved their knowledge, their confidence and helped them to see the relevance of chemistry. The course is being presented again next year in a slightly modified format and it is hoped it will make as good an impact on chemistry in schools over the next five years.

MARY PORTAS TOPS BILL FOR CHARITY SHOPS CONFERENCE

Keele once again hosted The Association of Charity Shops Annual Conference, which this year celebrated its 10th Anniversary. The Conference saw 390 delegates attend plenary and focus sessions this week on a wide range of topics aimed at improving sales, profit and performance.

The popular evening dinner hosted this year's Association of Charity Shops Annual Awards ceremony. The guest speaker was Mary Portas, star of BBC series 'Mary Queen of Charity Shops'.

CRIMINOLOGY LECTURER WINS NATIONAL PRIZE

Dr Helen Wells, Centre for Criminological Research (Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice),has won the 2009 Brian Williams Prize, set up by the British Society of Criminology, to honour the memory of the former Professor of Community Justice and Victimology at De Montfort University, who died in a car accident in 2007.  The prize is awarded annually for the best article in a refereed journal by a 'career young' criminologist.

Dr Wells was awarded the £250 prize for her article, 'The Techno-fix Versus the Fair Cop: Procedural (In)justice and Automated Speed Limit Enforcement', published in the British Journal of Criminology in 2008,  at the recent British Society of Criminology Conference in Cardiff.   Presenting the prize, Dr Simon Mackenzie said: 'It is beautifully written, theoretically engaged and empirically grounded... enabling us to engage more thoughtfully with how fundamental questions about crime, law enforcement and justice are reconfigured by social change and technological innovation.'

It was particularly fitting that Dr Wells should be the winner of this prize, as Professor Williams had been a Lecturer in Probation Studies at Keele for a number of years during the 1990s.  This is also the second national prize that Dr Wells has won.  While studying for a PhD at Keele, she won the prize for the best postgraduate paper at the BSC Conference in 2005.

APPOINTED TO BRITISH SOCIETY OF PARASITOLOGY COUNCIL

Keele malaria researchers continue their strong association with the British Society of Parasitology (BSP). Following Professor Hilary Hurd's, Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM), recently completed tenure as president of the BSP, the recent appointment of Dr Paul Horrocks (ISTM) to BSP Council continues Keele's relationship with the Society. Dr Horrocks' initial focus will be in maintaining and delivering malaria research within the society's meetings held each year, typically attracting over 400 researchers from all over the world. The BSP was launched in 1962 and currently has over 1,000 members, including some 300 overseas members, reflecting the society's work in research and education within the field of parasitology.

SCIENCE LEARNING CENTRE WELCOMES PRIMARY TEACHERS

Eighty teachers from primary schools across the West Midlands attended a Primary Science Conference at the Science Learning Centre on campus last week. The conference was packed with 16 workshops, allowing teachers to sample a range of exciting and innovative courses on the Science Learning Centre programme for 2009-10. A lunchtime 'marketplace' of various primary providers was enthusiastically received by teachers, with interactive displays and teaching ideas from a range of exhibitors, including the Earth Science Education Unit and Keele's 'Greener and Cleaner' team. The day was a huge success, with fantastic feedback from the attendees and requests for the conference to become an annual event.

EU PROJECT ON URBAN POLLUTION AND VEGETATION EFFECTS

Keele is now involved in an EU Framework 7 Urban project addressing a unique approach to the growing problem of pollution in European cities.  Urban pollution has many components including in particular small particulate matter and ozone.  The causes are also multiple, including traffic and other human activities but also natural effects, including solar ultra-violet radiation and wind-borne dust clouds.  Meanwhile, urban vegetation can have an ameliorating effect, both in trapping particulate matter and absorbing carbon dioxide.  But some plant and tree species are more vulnerable to damage than others, while some even exacerbate the problem by emitting ozone.

To study this interaction complex metrics and modelling are needed.  The recently commenced EU project - HEalth Risk from Environmental Pollution Levels in Urban Systems (HEREPLUS) - seeks to do this over three years in the four cities of Athens, Dresden, Madrid, and Rome.  The intention is to better understand the dynamic pollution model and to assess what patterns of urban green space have the most beneficial affects in modifying the polluting effect.  The intended outcome is to produce evidence-based guidance for municipal authorities, particularly on urban planting policies,

The project is led by La Sapienza University in Rome, with partners in all the study sites.  Keele is a partner through the involvement of Professor Michael Rigby and Denise Alexander, of the Research Institute for Public Policy and Management and School of Public Policy and Professional Practice.  They are providing the public health and epidemiological expertise, with Professor Rigby being a member of the Scientific Board and Denise Alexander undertaking literature searchers, and assisting the final editing of the deliverable.  The project will last until summer 2011 and Keele's financial share is 74,000 euro.