NEW DIRECTOR FOR KEELE'S CENTRE FOR SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY

Professor Miriam Bernard has taken on the role of Director of Keele's internationally renowned Centre for Social Gerontology following the recent departure of Professor Tom Scharf to head up the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at the National University of Ireland in Galway. Keele's Centre for Social Gerontology was established in 1987 and has been at the forefront of research, teaching and policy development in the field of ageing.

Mim has been at Keele since 1988 when she came to help set up the first PG Diploma/Masters courses in Gerontology outside London. She was Director of the courses between 1991 and 1998; and from 2004-2007; and is again heading up the newly revamped programmes. Other managerial roles at Keele have included being the inaugural Director of the Research Institute for Life Course Studies (2005-2009); Head of the School of Social Relations and Head of the Department of Applied Social Studies.

Mim has 25 years experience of policy and practice-oriented research and she has long-standing research interests in women's lives as they age. She currently heads up the interdisciplinary 'Ages And Stages' project funded under the multi-research council New Dynamics of Ageing Programme; is a co-PI on the Longitudinal Study of Ageing in a Retirement Community (LARC) project and, with colleagues in Primary Care, is working on a study funded by 'Research for Patient Benefit' on how older people cope with musculoskeletal pain. She is the author/editor of 18 books, over 70 book chapters and journal articles, and many research reports.

SCIENTIFIC RECEPTION ON GENETIC MODIFICATION OF INSECTS

Professor Paul Eggleston, School of Life Sciences, gave a talk at a scientific reception organised by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology on the theme of 'Genetic modification of insects and their possible applications for public health and agriculture' at Westminster this week.

In support of this, he also contributed to a POSTNote briefing paper for MPs.  The reception included a speaker on agricultural applications of GM insects, one on regulatory issues and one from an environmental NGO opposed to GM applications.

KEELE ALUMNA ELECTED SHERIFF OF CITY OF LONDON

Graduate Fiona Woolf (1970 Law/Psychology) has been elected as one of the two Sheriffs of the City of London – and is only the third woman to hold this office.

She will be admitted into office on Tuesday 28 September ready to preside at the election of the Lord Mayor on Wednesday 29 September.

The office of Sheriff, a pre-requisite to becoming Lord Mayor, is one of the oldest in existence and dates back to the Middle Ages.

RAVEN MASON COLLECTION OPEN DAY

Visitors had the opportunity to view the Raven Mason Collection of ironstone ceramics, housed in Keele Hall, at a free open day this week.

Curator Harry Frost welcomed ceramic enthusiasts – including one from Australia – to the collection of 19th and 20th century pieces, the largest of its kind on public display in the country.

Further open days will be held on July 27, August 31,  September 28 and October 26.

£210,000 GRANT BRINGS KALLE TO KEELE

Angus Dawson (School of Law, RI Law, Politics & Justice) will be supervising a post-doctoral research fellow, Dr Kalle Grill, after a successful application for a Marie Curie training grant through the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research on a project entitled 'The moral limits of public health policy'. Kalle will be based at Keele for two years (most likely from September 2011) and will then return to Stockholm University for a third year.

The project will involve writing a series of papers relating to the goals of public health policy, an exploration of the values relevant to such policies, and discussion of the legitimacy of government use of incentives and penalties to manipulate behaviour. The grant is for a total of £210,000.

FIRST STUDENT NURSE FROM SWEDEN

Student nurse Lotta Karlborg, a visiting student from the University of Gothenburg, has recently completed her exchange experience at the School of Nursing and Midwifery. As well as spending time in lectures and seminars she was allocated to a range of placement areas in both hospital and community settings. She recently presented at a Global Experiences Workshop the style of nursing found in Sweden and her initial perceptions of nursing in the UK.

Wynne Thomas, School International Champion, presented Lotta with her leaving present on her final day with District Nurse Stefanie Mahan at Porthill Clinic, North Staffordshire Community Healthcare. Plans are in place to have future staff and student exchanges.

CONFERENCE PAPER PRESENTED IN IRELAND

Dr Mahmood Niazi, School of Computing and Mathematics, has presented his two papers in the 11th International Conference on Product Focused Software Development and Process Improvement (PROFES 2010) which was held in Republic of Ireland from 21-23 June. PROFES is the premier forum for practitioners, researchers, and educators to present and discuss experiences, ideas, innovations, as well as concerns related to software process and product quality improvement.

Dr Niazi also chaired a Doctoral Symposium which provided a forum for both early and late-stage PhD students to present their research and get detailed feedback and advice. It provided PhD students with an opportunity to present and to discuss their research with senior researchers in a constructive and friendly atmosphere.

Each student gave an hour presentation, followed by questions and feedback. In addition to scientific matters, students received feedback on various aspects of completing a PhD and performing research as a young professional in software engineering.

MORE THAN 100 GPS AND ACADEMICS ATTEND RESEARCH MEETING AT KEELE

The Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre hosted the 2010 Royal College of General Practitioners West Midlands Research Meeting last week.

This annual event was attended by more than 100 general practitioners, vocational trainees and researchers, with presentations from clinical academics across the region.

The meeting was opened by Professor Val Wass, head of the medical school, with the keynote presentation given by Trish Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care at Queen Mary University London.

Two awards were presented, both to Keele University staff. Dr Kay Mohanna, director of Postgraduate Programmes won the David Morgan Award for best oral presentation and Dr Toby Helliwell, GP trainee and MMedSci student, won the Donald Crombie award for best poster.

PAPER ACCEPTED FOR INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

Dr Miroslav Spasov's paper Creative Mapping – Strange Attractors and ENACTIV was accepted for presentation at the International Symposium on Music/Sonic Art  (MuSA-ICSIC) which is a part of the 22nd International Conference on Systems Research, Informatics and Cybernetics to be held in Baden-Baden, Germany. The selection process was 'blind peer-reviewed'. The topic for this year is Improvisation Systems in Performing Arts and Technologies and Miroslav will be presenting both a paper and composition based on the software that he developed at Keele for interactive composing, ENACTIV.
The aim of the international conference is to advance interdisciplinary investigations between the domains of music, architecture, urban and industrial design, dance, performance, theatre, digital media and visual arts.
The proceedings will be published in the Music/Sonic Art Symposium Proceedings of the International Institute for Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics.

APPOINTMENT AS ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Dr Mahmood Niazi, School of Computing and Mathematics, has been appointed an honorary adjunct Professor of Software Engineering at International Islamic University Pakistan. The University is the third largest public sector University in the country with nine teaching faculties and 20,000 students including 2,000 international students from 57 countries. Dr Niazi's appointment is made in the Department of Software Engineering, which offers BS, MS and PhD degrees in Software Engineering.

NEW ACADEMIC STARTER

The following academic appointment commenced in post this week:

School of Psychology

Mr James Grange, lecturer in Psychology, who was previously a PhD Student at Bangor University.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

TV personality Dr Miriam Stoppard was guest of honour at a keep fit rally at Keele University on 1st July 1995.

The event, organised by the Keep Fit Association, was designed to demonstrate the various kinds of movement and fitness sessions available for all.