HONORARY FELLOWSHIP FOR LEADING KEELE ACADEMIC

Professor Charlotte Williams, OBE, was among the prominent figures from the worlds of film, sport, education and social reform who were awarded Honorary Fellowships at the annual graduation ceremonies of the University of Wales, Newport this week.
 
Professor Williams, Head of the School of Public Policy and Professional Practice, has been an energetic and important contributor to Welsh Assembly Government initiatives on equality, diversity and the field of race relations.  A committed supporter of the Social Work degree programme, she is a major contributor to a book being published by the University of Wales Press, marking 60 years of the British Welfare State.  She entered academic life following a professional career in social and welfare work and was awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours list in 2007.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS IN INDIA

Dr Stefan Krause, Lecturer in Environmental Geoscience from the Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (iEPSAM) presented an opening keynote lecture at the 8th International Association of Hydrological Sciences Scientific Assembly in Hyderabad, India this week.

The presentation on "Hyporheic controls on groundwater-surface water exchange and nutrient transformation in lowland vs. upland rivers"; which has been co-authored by Emma Naden, 3rd year Applied Environmental Science student and Dr Nigel Cassidy,  iEPSAM, raised great interest amongst the conference attendants from 78 countries and initiated the development of an interdisciplinary strategy for the advancement of process understanding and the reduction of predictive uncertainties at data sparse hydrological interfaces.

SOCIETY OF LEGAL SCHOLARS CENTENARY CONFERENCE AT KEELE

More than 400 delegates attended The Society of Legal Scholars Centenary Conference at Keele this week. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Janet Finch, welcomed the Society, whose President is Professor Fiona Cownie, School of Law, at a centenary birthday drinks reception in the Exhibition Suite. During the reception a celebration cake was cut by Professor Margot Brazier, the Society's first female President, and Professor William Twining, the earliest living President of the Society.

The four day conference, which celebrated 100 years of Legal Scholarship, included a centenary banquet dinner in Keele Hall, with a centenary toast given by Lord Bingham and the presentation of the 2009 Birks Books Prize, that was followed by a spectacular firework display on the Keele Hall lawns.

The picture shows Professor Cownie, second left, with Professor Celia Wells, Professor Margot Brazier and Professor Sarah Worthington, past presidents of the society.

ADVICE ON EU FUNDING

European Advisor Emma Carey, from the UK Research Office (UKRO), visited Keele this week to give two presentations, one on EU funding and one focusing more specifically on European Research Council and Marie Curie funding. Individual surgery sessions were also organised with Emma to discuss EU topics or queries.

UKRO is the UK's leading information and advice service on European Union funding for research and higher education. Established in Brussels in 1984, UKRO is jointly funded by all seven UK Research Councils and receives subscriptions from over 140 research organisations, principally in the UK.

ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MEMBERS VISIT KENNEDY SPACE CENTRE

Eight students, members of the University's Astronomical Society, have returned from a trip to Florida to watch the launch of the space shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy space centre. They managed to secure tickets to watch the launch from the visitor complex but disappointment struck when the launch was delayed. However, it was rescheduled and the group witnessed a spectacular night time launch. 

Whilst on site they met astronauts James Reilly and Commander John McBride, pictured above. During their two week visit they also met Keele graduate and former member of staff, Dr Ron Maddison, who was instrumental in the development of the Keele observatory, went to the Kennedy visitor complex six times and visited the launch pads and Astronaut Hall of Fame.

CONSULTANT TO UN FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION

Dr Ambreena Manji, Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice, has been appointed consultant to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN in Rome.

She will advise the organisation on gender and access to land and write a report to guide the FAO's future land policies.

Dr Manji has published widely on land law reform in Africa and is the author of a number of policy reviews on women's land rights, including for the United Nations Development Programme and for ActionAid.

RESEARCH GRANTS

Dr David Furness, Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (iSTM) has been awarded £42,488 by Deafness Research UK as an extension of a previous grant for a project titled "Role of fibrocyte degeneration in age-related hearing loss and exploration of a replacement stem cell strategy for its prevention".

Dr Shailesh Naire, iEPSAM, has been awarded £31,643 by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for a four year project titled " Workshops: UK Mathematics in Medicine Study Groups".

Dr Nigel Cooper, iSTM, has been awarded £2,880 by Deafness Research UK for a 12 months project titled "Mechanical studies of inner ear function".

NEW APPOINTMENT

The following academic appointment commenced in post this week:

Keele Management School

Dr Alena Audzeyeva, Lecturer in Finance, who was previously a Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Associate at the University of Leeds.

CAMPUS PARKING

Campus parking availability had a welcome increase this week with the completion, ahead of schedule, of the car parks at Darwin and to the rear of the Stephenson Building.

This is providing an additional 85 spaces on the Darwin car park and 100 behind the Stephenson Building.

The development of the Darwin car park has also had a positive environmental impact by installing devices to clean up the rain water discharge off the surface, which is inevitably contaminated by vehicles using the facility.