EPSRC FELLOWSHIP

Stuart Jenkins, from the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM), has been awarded an EPSRC Landscape Fellowship (E-TERM, Engineering Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine).

This two-year Fellowship (award £200,000) was awarded following interview by a panel of biotechnology industry experts and is affiliated with the EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre in Regenerative Medicine (www.dtcregen-med.com) held by the Regenerative Medicine group at Keele.

The project aims to develop methods to optimise magnetic nanoparticle-mediated gene delivery to neural transplant cells, with the goal of augmenting regeneration in the central nervous system. Stuart recently completed his PhD on this topic in Dr Divya Chari's laboratory at the ISTM, where the fellowship will be based.

MED STUDENTS AID HEART ATTACK VICTIM

On a recent mountain biking trip to Wales, two 4th year Keele medical students, Nabil Hussein and Asar Mushtaq, received some unexpected clinical experience as they went to the aid of another rider who had suffered a suspected heart attack.

An ambulance had been called but it was evidently some time away, so Nabil and Asar cared for the patient for 30-40 minutes in horrendous weather conditions …a couple of degrees above freezing and hailing. When the ambulance arrived they assisted the crew to prepare the patient for transfer to hospital. Once the patient had been stabilised, an ECG confirmed a myocardial infarction.

The following day, the gentleman in question telephoned Nabil from hospital, as he awaited transfer to a specialist centre for corrective surgery, to thank them for their efforts.

Pictured, left to right, are Nabil Hussein, Stuart McBain, co-lead for year 3 of the MBChB programme, and Asar Mushtaq at the end of the day in Llandegla.

NEW ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR KEELE'S BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES

Keele's research institute for Science & Technology in Medicine (ISTM) has invested £39,000 in the latest Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) equipment, coupled to Thermal Desorption (TD) capability, to support the future work of new lecturer Dr Wen-Wu Li, pictured, and his clinical and lab-based collaborators.

The new TD-GC-MS instrument has been installed in the multi-disciplinary laboratories at the Guy Hilton Research Centre, in the same suite in which the University's specialised Select Ion Flow Tube (SIFT) MS, developed by Professor David Smith FRS and Professor Patrik Spanel,  is also located.  TD-GC-MS is widely used for analysis of metabolites, particularly volatile organic compounds, and the the combination of GC-MS with SIFT-MS creates an even more powerful tool for the analysis of volatile compounds especially for breath, urine and cell cultures analysis, ensuring Keele remains at the forefront of this field.  Support for the new equipment came from the current allocation of capital equipment funds from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and from within ISTM.

Dr Li moved to Keele a year ago, to take up the post of Lecturer in Analytical Biochemistry. He had previously worked on the chemical biology of carbohydrate and proteins at Oxford University, and prior to that on plant biotechnology and protein chemistry in two German universities, based on his PhD in organic chemistry from Zhejiang University in China.
The GC-MS capability is also of interest to a wider range of researchers in ISTM as it can be applied to clinical chemistry and biochemistry; drug metabolism in pharmacokinetics; forensic science; chemical ecology; and food and environmental sciences.

INVITED ARTIST AT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Professor Rajmil Fischman, Research Institute of Humanities, was one of the three invited artists to the thirteenth edition of the International Acousmatic and Multimedia Festival Sonoimágenes, which took place in Buenos Aires last week.

He presented a seminar entitled Expresión Musical 'Hecha a Mano' ('Handmade' Musical Expression), in which he discussed the work carried out during an AHRC funded project that aims to enable music performance using natural hand actions (e.g. throwing objects, sowing seeds, shaking virtual objects, etc.) – furthering the possibilities afforded by game controllers. This includes the implementation of a self-contained 'Manual Actions Expressive System' (MAES) consisting of a digital glove controlled by specialised software for the creation of musical gestures and Ruraq Maki (Handmade), a musical work composed with MAES, which received its world premiere during the seminar.

He also presented in concert his audiovisual work ¿Te Acuerdas Hijo? (Do You Remember Son?) and If Stones Could Have a Brief Word…  for digital audio. Sonoimágenes has featured worldwide recognised researchers and creators such as  João Pedro Oliveira (Portugal), Francis Dhomont (France/Canada), John Young (New Zealand/UK) and others. Fischman's presence in Sonoimágines 2012 follows an invitation in October to present MAES and ¿Te Acuerdas Hijo? at the KLEM-KURAIA Festival, Bilbao.

FESTIVAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AT KEELE 

Students and staff from the Research Institute of Primary Care and Health Sciences welcomed members of the public to Keele Hall as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) nationwide Festival of Social Science.

The public event, entitled 'Social Science: Improving Care, Improving Lives ', was a celebration of the contribution that social sciences are making towards research into health, illness and the health services.

Members of the public were introduced to various aspects of the social sciences, the research process, and given examples of how social science research is improving services in their local communities.

For more information about the ESRC, visit www.esrc.ac.uk.

Pictured: Tom Porter, April Woodward, Liz Alcock – event organisers and PhD students from the RI of Primary Care and Health Sciences

SUPPORTING TRANSITIONS AND FIELDWORK

Drs Richard Waller, pictured left, and Ian Stimpson attended the first meeting of an HEA "Special Interest Group" on Transitions that is looking at the challenges students face when moving from school or college to university and the ways in which this transition can be supported. Richard delivered a presentation on "Transitions in Information Literacy" which he undertook in collaboration with Dr Peter Knight, work which continues to be supported by a Keele Teaching Innovation project.

Ian also attended the HEA SIG on Fieldwork that is examining the current state, concerns and challenges to fieldwork and their potential solutions. He co-lead a session on "Inclusive Fieldwork" covering issues to do with sexuality, gender, class and disability, based on his work on using technology to support mobility impaired students, also supported by two Keele Teaching Innovation projects.

Full details of the meetings can be found at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/subjects/ gees/Transitions_SIG_2012_workshop_report.pdf and http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/subjects/ gees/GEES_fieldwork_SIG_2012_workshop_report.pdf

PEAK DISTRICT WEEKEND AWAY FOR PHD STUDENTS

A group of PhD students gathered for a weekend away in the Peak District to discuss the ins and outs of pursuing doctoral studies and to talk about their research. The event, held in Whaley Bridge, was initiated by Dr Liz Carter and organized by staff and student representatives from the Research Institute for Social Sciences. It also attracted participants from Humanities and Primary Care and Health Sciences. Workshops were held on various topics, including effective supervision, networking and attending conferences, publishing, building an academic CV, and applying for academic jobs.

These were followed by presentations in which students outlined their research projects and reported their findings to date. The social side of the weekend was as important as the academic one. Film nights, visits to local hostelries, and a rather muddy walk along the Goyt Valley meant that, as well as offering an opportunity to discuss the academic side of doing a PhD, the weekend helped forge a sense of community among PhD students, especially for those just arriving at Keele.

CBE CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Staff members from the Commercial & Business Engagement Directorate were celebrating this week at a special ceremony at Keele Hall. The event, "Celebrating Success", brought together more than 150 members of staff from across the Directorate including Catering, Accommodation, Science and Business Park and Conferences & Events. Awards and certificates presented included diplomas, NVQs, long service awards and 'Total Recognition' awards, a scheme now in its 3rd year which sees staff voted for by students, staff and visitors.
 
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, closed the ceremony with a speech thanking staff for their contribution to the on-going success of the University.

The Vice-Chancellor, right, is pictured with some of the team who received awards and Assistant Director of Commercial and Student Services, Clare Snape, left.

RECOGNITION FOR ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY BSC PROGRAMME

Keele University was one of the finalists at the Green Gown Awards 2012 in the 'courses' category.

The 'Environment & Sustainability' BSc degree programme, for which our first students graduated earlier this year, was commended by the judges as being a "well planned and implemented project, drawing together multiple disciplines across Faculty and School boundaries."

The programme is truly interdisciplinary, and is led by Zoe Robinson, from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and Sherilyn MacGregor, from the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences.

The awards ceremony was attended by Zoe and Sherilyn, as well as Professor Mark Ormerod (PVC Research and Enterprise, who was keenly involved in establishing the degree programme), and Professor Pat Bailey in his capacity as PVC (Environment & Sustainability).

Pat, pictured above, said: "It was a great achievement for Keele to again reach the finals of the Green Gown awards - the fourth time that we have been recognised in this in recent years."

INVITED PAPERS AT INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS

Professor Robert Ladrech (SPIRE) presented invited papers at two workshops last week.

He presented 'A Europeanization Research Perspective on Sub-National Parliaments in the European Union', at Esterhazy Castle, Eisenstadt, Austria.

This was a workshop on 'Subnational Parliaments in an EU Multi-level Parliamentary System: Taking Stock of the Post-Lisbon Era', organised by the Institute for Political Research of Tubingen University, Germany, and supported by the EU Commission and FosterEurope.

The following day he presented the paper 'Financial Crisis, Democratic Legitimacy and the Role of Transnational Parties', at the headquarters of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Berlin, Germany.

This was a workshop on 'Strengthening democracy and ensuring social progress in Europe of the 21st century', part of the Next Left Research Programme organised by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), the SPD and the Renner Institute of the Austrian Social Democratic Party.

DEAFNESS RESEARCH UK AWARD

Dr Michael Evans (Life Sciences and iSTM), pictured below, has been awarded £8,250 from Deafness Research UK over 18 months for a project called 'Properties of the hair cell acetylcholine receptor during development'.

The co-applicant is Dr Helen Kennedy, University of Bristol, and the funding will be divided between the two universities.

The acetylcholine receptor is a component of an inhibitory pathway that influences how the auditory receptors (hair cells) detect sound and also, possibly, how they form appropriate and lasting neural connections during development.

This pathway could potentially provide a future therapeutic method to modulate how we hear but at present more research is needed to understand its normal function.

OFF THE FENCE

Former Keele lecturer Phil Emery's play 'Wednesday's Child' is to receive a read-through performance by the Leicester drama company 'Off the Fence' on December 9.

The writer's play is a harrowing dystopian tale touching on religious and political themes.

Besides teaching a scriptwriting course at Keele for some years, Phil was a founder member of the experimental theatre collective 'Helix'.
 
WHAT'S ON - NEXT WEEK

Wednesday, 21 November
 
Concerts at Keele: The Songmen.

The Songmen possess a wealth of experience from the worlds of classical, sacred and popular music, balancing their love for the old Renaissance masters with a passion for exciting contemporary composers through commissioning and performing their own original material.

Keele University Chapel at 7.30pm.

Tickets £14 per person (£7 concessions).

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Thirty-one years ago -
 
The Geology Department mounted an exhibition which included samples of rock taken from the surface of the moon.

The samples were on loan from the Science and Engineering Research Council. 19 November 1981.