SUMMER DEGREE CEREMONIES

Degrees, diplomas and postgraduate certificates were awarded to nearly 1,900 students at ceremonies held in the University Chapel this week. Graduands and their guests attended a series of 16 ceremonies over four days.
 
The graduation ceremonies had a special significance for the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Janet Finch. They were her last as Vice-Chancellor of Keele, as she retires at the end of this month. To mark her retirement, the Council and Senate of the University honoured her by inviting her to nominate all the recipients of Honorary Degrees at the ceremony.

The picture shows the Vice-Chancellor receiving a special bound copy of the honorary degree citations from the Pro-Chancellor, Ian Dudson. 

Keele University Excellence in Learning and Teaching Awards were also presented during the ceremonies to Ben Ambrose (School of Health and Rehabilitation); Claire Fox (School of Psychology); Elizabeth Mills (School of Pharmacy), pictured; James Peacock (School of Humanities) and Katie Szkornik (School of Physical and Geographical Sciences).

The prestigious Neil and Gina Smith Student of the Year Award was presented Darrell Simkins, a 23-year old student in Music and Educational Studies.

Darrell, pictured right, performed exceptionally well academically, achieving firsts in every module studied.  He has also been invited to present his dissertation at the International Conference of Education in Canada, a sign of the very high standard of scholarship and research skills Darrell attained through his studies at Keele.
 
Darrell pursued part of his studies in a partner University, in the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University, Toronto, Canada.  While at Keele Darrell participated in extracurricular music programmes, both on and off campus, and made a significant contribution to musical life at Keele and in the local community.
 
Honorary Degrees were awarded to six people who have made outstanding contributions within their fields of expertise.

Ms Gaye Blake Roberts, FMA, FRSA, Director of the Wedgwood Museum, pictured left, was awarded a Doctor of the University in recognition of her contribution to the arts and heritage in Staffordshire; Dame Christine Beasley, DBE, Doctor of Science in recognition of her outstanding leadership to Nursing in England; Professor Dame Hazel Genn, DBE, QC, Dean of Laws, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies and  co-Director of the Centre for Empirical Legal Studies in the Faculty of Laws at University College London, Doctor of Laws in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Socio-Legal Studies; Professor Sir David King, FRS, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Doctor of Science in recognition of his unrivalled contribution to Science and Environmental Policy in the United Kingdom; Professor Sir David Watson, MA, PhD, who has been a major influence on the United Kingdom Higher Education system, Doctor of Letters in recognition of his influence on higher education policy and practice and Professor Paul Wiles, CB, who was until recently, UK Government Chief Social Scientist and Chief Scientific Advisor for the Home Office, Doctor of Letters in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Criminology and Public Policy.

The ceremonies were also a landmark as the School of Pharmacy saw the first cohort of undergraduates receive their degrees and after five years of part-time study Keele's first qualified osteopaths graduated.

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES IN SCIENCE CONFERENCE

Teachers and support staff from primary and secondary schools last week came to the Science Learning Centre at Keele for their Educational Technologies in Science conference.

The conference offered a programme of six different workshops, which were presented by colleagues from across the Science Learning Centre network, Great Barr School, University of Nottingham, the ASE and Becta.

The day included introductions to free software, web resources and affordable hardware that could be used for new approaches to enhancing science teaching and covering hard to teach topics through the use of ICT.

Over lunchtime a number of educational organisations joined as exhibitors, including colleagues from the Faculty of Natural Sciences representing: Keele Link, Science for Sustainability and Fresh Science.

KEELE GRADUATE ELECTED FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY

Keele chemistry graduate, Richard Evershed, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his outstanding research achievements, making him only the second Keele graduate to be elected to an FRS, after David Smith, currently Emeritus Professor in the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine. Richard undertook his PhD at Keele, in the then Department of Chemistry, in analytical organic chemistry under the supervision of David Morgan, graduating in 1982.

Richard is currently Professor of Biogeochemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and has been elected an FRS for his scientific excellence in the field of analytical organic chemistry and biomolecular archaeology.

 The Royal Society citation for Richard reads as: "(Richard) Evershed is an internationally renowned analytical organic chemist and the leading exponent of biomolecular archaeology who has revolutionized aspects of archaeological science. His analytical procedures use the specificity of molecular structure and compound-specific isotopic signature to trace the history of artefacts or fossils.

"This has resulted in many new insights into the lives of ancient peoples and advanced the understanding of biomolecules in fossils. In soil ecology his molecular and stable isotope approaches are providing new means of studying unculturable microorganisms and minute soil invertebrates and have resulted in new temperature proxy from peat bogs for palaeoclimate reconstruction."

VISIT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNINA

Dr Sarah Hart, Lecturer in Bioscience, School of Medicine/ Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, is currently visiting the National Biological Mass Spectrometry Facility, University of California, San Francisco, in the laboratories of Professor Al Burlingame.   Located on the Mission Bay Campus, the Mass Spectrometry Facility is one of the world's leading resources in biological mass spectrometry and allied techniques, within a renowned health science research campus.

During her visit Dr Hart, pictured above, is investigating changes in the urinary proteome specific to the onset of pre-eclampsia in pregnancy, using quantitative tandem mass spectrometric techniques.  Dr Hart's visit is sponsored by an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council-funded International Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Life Science Interface.

MATHS AND STATS FOR FORENSIC SCIENCE

The first textbook to provide comprehensive coverage of the mathematics and statistics needed for an undergraduate degree in forensic science has been written by a Keele author. Essential Mathematics and Statistics for Forensic Science by Dr Craig Adam of the School of Physical and Geographical Sciences has been published by Wiley-Blackwell.

This book introduces the reader to the wide range of mathematical and statistical tools needed by the forensic scientist in the analysis, interpretation and presentation of experimental measurements on physical evidence. The mathematics is developed within the context of forensic applications; for example, blood-spatter, DNA profiles, ballistics and post-mortem interval. Accounts of recent criminal trials are used to illustrate the evaluation of the significance of evidence using Bayesian statistics.

SCIENTIFIC MEETING OF THE RESEARCH SOCIETY ON ALCOHOLISM

Dr Richard Stephens, School of Psychology, who is a member of the alcohol hangover research group, has returned from a Satellite Meeting of the 33rd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, held last week in San Antonio, Texas.
 
Alcohol hangover has been a neglected part of the alcohol research agenda until recently. Thanks to a grant of £4,886 from the Alcohol Education and Research Council, alcohol hangover researchers from around the world were brought together in San Antonio, for a research symposium and consensus meeting - the first such meeting dedicated to alcohol hangover research.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

9 July 2004

Professor Peter Crome, School of Medicine, has been elected as the President of the British Geriatrics Society. The Society, which was founded in 1947, is the only professional association, in the United Kingdom, of doctors practising geriatric medicine. Much of its work now is inter-disciplinary and multi-professional. Professor Crome will be President from October 2006 to October 2008 and starts his term as President-Elect from October this year.