STUDENTS LIVE GREEN AT KEELE

Four students from the BSc Environment and Sustainability programme, Scott Reid, Carl Brindley, James Adams and Jack Mills Davidson, along with many student helpers, and  enthusiastic support from their two course directors, Drs Sherilyn MacGregor and Zoe Robinson, and members of the Estates team, have spent the last four weeks converting their Barnes bungalow into a 'Sustainable Student House'.

So far they have installed a composter and a laundry line, have built raised vegetable beds in the garden and are preparing to set up a small green house in the coming weeks.  Inside the house, the students have put up a series of informative signs explaining the measures they are taking in order to live more sustainably by, for example, using less energy and creating less waste.  All the measures are designed to help the students live both more sustainably and cheaply, as well as to help inform other students about the kinds of simple changes that they can make in their own lives.  This week the students invited the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, to the bungalow to discuss their project and to show him what they have achieved to date.

The students are pictured above with the Vice-Chancellor and Barnes Hall Residential Manager, Bob Dicker, right. To find out more visit their website: www.keele.ac.uk/livegreenkeele.

INAUGURAL LECTURE BEAMED LIVE AROUND THE WORLD

Professor Anand Pandyan's inaugural lecture this week was the first to be beamed live around the world.

Tim Smale, e-Learning Fellow, working with Anand and Mark Warren, AVS, organised the transmission using free software from the web, so that relatives and friends in India, America, Europe and the UK could watch the lecture, "Defining spasticity - The (slow) walk from being a lumper to a splitter".

Professor Pandyan, Professor of Rehabilitation Technology for Health, developed an interest in spasticity related research whilst completing his PhD and it remains central to his current research activities. In his lecture he initially focused on the fundamental research that leads to the redefinition of spasticity (the lumping), then described the steps being taken to sub-classify the symptoms associated with the definition of spasticity (the splitting) before concluding by exploring whether spasticity is detrimental in patients with neurological conditions or an epiphenomenon.

He is pictured with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, after being presented with a commemorative plaque to mark his inaugural lecture. The lecture is available here.
http://www.anymeeting.com/WebConference/RecordingDefault.aspx?c_psrid=E955D8878346

The other lectures in the series are:

Monday, 16 January, 2012, Professor George Peat, Primary Care Health Sciences, "Osteoarthritis: patient observation in the community"; Tuesday, 7 February, 2012, Professor Gordon Hamilton, Life Sciences, "Sex pheromones of male insects and disease control"; Monday, 27 February, 2012, Professor Richard Luther, Politics, "Political Parties: who needs them?"; Tuesday, 20 March, 2012, Professor Robert Ladrech, Politics, "Political Parties and the European Project"; Tuesday, 17 April, 2012, Professor Robin Jeffries, Astrophysics, "A star is born"; Tuesday, 8 May, 2012, Professor Carole Thornley, Management, "Why are the low-paid always with us?"; Monday, 11 June,  2012, Professor Andy Hassell, Medicine, "The patient with arthritis, the medical student and the rheumatologist: influencing tomorrow's doctors".

KEELE ASTRONOMERS FACILITY TIME SUCCESSES

Keele Astronomers have been successful in winning facility time with a total monetary value well over £400,000.

Nye Evans, with PhD student Sarah Day, was awarded 48 hours of time on beamline I12 of the Diamond Light Source, in Oxfordshire, to study carbonation of calcium magnesium silicates. This not only has astrophysical applications in understanding how carbonates form in space but may also have relevance to sequestration of industrial CO2 in the terrestrial context.

David Anderson, with Alexis Smith, Coel Hellier and Pierre Maxted, were awarded three nights on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, in Chile, to measure the thermal infrared emission from exo-planets by comparing images taken when the planet is occulted by the host star with images taken when this is not the case. From this, the temperature structure and composition of the planet's atmosphere can be determined.

Keele PhD student Jeremy Tregloan-Reed, John Southworth, Pierre Maxted and Barry Smalley, were awarded six nights on the European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope, in Chile. They will defocus the telescope as part of a technique to obtain more accurate measurements of planets orbiting - and transiting - other stars. Jeremy and John were also awarded five nights on the 2.5m Isaac Newton Telescope, on La Palma,for a similar programme.

Jacco van Loon, pictured left, with PhD student Masha Lakicevic, won 47.5 hours of
observing time at the Australia Telescope Compact Array radio interferometre, in New South Wales. They will try to find maser emission ("lasers" operating at microwave frequencies) from hydroxyl molecules in the outflows of dying stars and supernova remnants, in the metal-depleted environments of the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy and globular star cluster 47 Tucanae.

Furthermore, James Reeves, with PhD student Jason Gofford, were awarded 200,000 seconds on NASA's Chandra space telescope to obtain highly detailed images and spectra of the gas surrounding the active nucleus of the galaxy NGC 1365. A grant of $60,000 has been awarded to James as part of the observing proposal.

HUNDREDS ATTEND STUDY ABROAD FAIR

Hundreds of Keele students attended the annual Study Abroad Fair this week. The event showcased the many opportunities students have to study at a partner university overseas, whilst earning credit towards their Keele degree.

Previous Study Abroad Keele students and international students were promoting their host/home universities and they talked of the highlights of their time overseas. Strong interest was shown in new destinations, especially those in Hong Kong and South Korea. 

The Fair was extremely well-attended with over 300 students registering their interest.  Keele International is expecting a busy period leading up to the application deadline in January next year.

KEELE LECTURER'S VISIT TO CHINA

Dr Falko Drijfhout, School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, has visited the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in China as part of the "RSC – China visiting professors program", a programme to strengthen the links between the RSC and their partners in China. Zhejiang University is one of China's top three universities, has five campuses, 22,500 undergraduate and 20,000 post graduate students.

During the visit, hosted by Professor Lou, head of the Institute of Insect Sciences, Dr Drijfhout delivered lectures on his research at the Institute of Insect Sciences and the Institute of Agricultural Bio-Environmental Engineering. The visit also included a trip to a termite control centre (see picture) where research is on-going to develop new methods, including the possible use of pheromones, to control termites, a major pest in the area. In total Dr Drijfhout visited five research groups including their post-graduate students and discussed possibilities for future collaborations and how to build links with the Chinese research community.

CHERRIES VANDALISED

A row of 12 flowering cherries outside Church Plantation was vandalised last weekend.

Keele has one of the largest collections of these trees in the country and some of them are rare in cultivation. It is hoped to replace the trees eventually. Meanwhile, they may replanted with different species that are held in store.

KEELE WORKSHOP IMPACT

Professor Michael Rigby, Emeritus Professor of Health Information Strategy was, last week, invited to speak to the Standing Committee for the Social Sciences of the European Science Foundation.  Their Autumn Plenary Meeting included a review of the impact of a series of Exploratory Workshops funded last year.
 
Professor Rigby was asked to talk on the outcome and subsequent results of the workshop he ran at Keele on the research issues concerning the potential role of informatics systems to enable integration of health and social care delivery.  This was one of only two SCSS funded workshops selected for showcasing, and the only one to be presented in person. The assessment of ESF officials was that the results of the Keele workshop 'are mature enough to be communicated, and … a research brief or position paper on this could potentially in a more general sense illustrate and showcase how social science research functions as a source of innovation'.  As a result of this presentation, the ESF is now considering means of progressing this work so as to influence research policies.

MEDICAL STUDENTS AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMIC FOUNDATION POSTS

Four Keele medical students,  Jonathan Broad, Rebecca Ewers, Marie Christine Haack and Victoria Silverwood, have been successful in the competitive application for Academic Foundation posts in the West Midlands region.
 
These prestigious posts, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, are designed to encourage young clinicians to build academic alongside clinical skills early in training. The aim is to educate and retain in the region the much needed lead clinical researchers of the future and ultimately improve health care.

Professor Val Wass, Head of the School of Medicine, pictured above, said: "This is the most successful year to date and we congratulate them most sincerely."

KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

Dr Sorin Baiasu, SPIRE/Research Institute for Social Sciences, delivered a keynote address at the international workshop 'Cosmopolitanism and Philosophy in a Cosmopolitan Sense' at the Institute of Advanced Studies, New Europe College, Bucharest.

The presentation, entitled 'Cosmopolitanism and the Highest Political Good', argued for a new interpretation of the epistemic status of the Kantian idea of a guarantee for cosmopolitics. The presentation emphasised the urgent need for such an account in the current context, where economic, social, political and environmental crises seem to act as strong disincentives for international collaboration and solidarity.

The workshop was part of a research project on "The Political Radicalisation of the Kantian Idea of Philosophy in a Cosmopolitan Sense" and drew participants from 14 countries. An edited book with papers presented at the workshop is under way.

New Europe College is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences.

EQUIPMENT DEVELOPMENT GRANT

EPSAM academics Dr Frank Rutten and Dr Vladimir Zholobenko, pictured below, have been awarded an Equipment Development Grant from major US scientific instrument manufacturer, Ocean Optics, as part of their highly competitive worldwide Blue Ocean Grants scheme. 

This award with a value of $47,000 will allow them to build on a recently finished EPSRC-funded PhD Case studentship on the identification of hazardous materials in the built environment in a collaboration with commercial partner Greenwall Environmental.

TOMORROW -

The ESRC funded 2nd Midlands Crime and Policing History Day will be held at Keele tomorrow.

The Warwicks 1914-18 WWI re-enactment group are bringing two display tents, which will be full of original WWI artefacts, along with a nurse who has a display on the medical treatment available on the front line. 

They will also be giving a display of military discipline and drilling between 1.45 and 2.30 pm, outside the Moser Building. The ESRC funded project is led by Hull University, involving Keele and Liverpool universities.

NEXT WEEK –

A performance by Fontanella takes place on Wednesday (2 November) in the Westminster Theatre, Chancellor's Building. It features five of the UK's most talented and respected recorder players.

The ensemble has appeared in concert all over the UK and on radio and television networks across Britain and Europe. All enquires, ticket sales, or to request a brochure, please telephone: 01782 717058.

Dr Lucy Munro, Senior Lecturer in English, pictured below, is to speak at Shakespeare and the Senses, an important international conference at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London next week.

 
The conference will bring together distinguished academics and theatre practitioners for three days of lectures, workshops and practical experiments examining the senses and their relationship to the worlds of medicine, epistemology, music, performance, science, clothing and art.

Dr Munro will lead a panel discussion entitled Taste and Distaste.
Further details are available online here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Fifty-six years ago -

Sir George Barnes, Director of Television at the BBC since 1950s, has been appointed Principal of the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele. He will take up his duties from September 1956.      1 November 1955.