WINTER GRADUATION CEREMONIES

Degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded to nearly 1,000 students at graduation ceremonies in the University Chapel yesterday.

Graduands and those receiving awards, and their guests, attended five ceremonies at which postgraduate degrees and diplomas, undergraduate degrees and postgraduate certificate awards were presented by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Rama Thirunamachandran.

GREEN WEEK 2013

Students and staff at Keele have organised a week of free events across campus to promote sustainability, energy and resource conservation and carbon reduction.

The week's highlights include a candle light gig from local bands, the Love:Clothes Swishing at the Sustainability Hub, a 'Growing Your Own Vegetables' workshop, and a Valentine's Green Fayre. There are environmental talks with speakers including Keele's Chancellor, Jonathon Porritt, pictured; a debate on fracking between Professor Andy Dobson and Professor Peter Styles, and workshops on green careers. 

There are many workshops and discussion opportunities on key environmental topics, and students in halls can take part in the waste reduction inter-Halls competition to win prizes.

Events will be running every day from the 11 -15 February. Book your tickets online and look on http://www.keele.ac.uk/greenweek for updates.

BBC MUSIC MATTERS INTERVIEW

BBC Radio 3's 'flagship classical music magazine programme', Music Matters, featured contributions from Dr Nicholas Reyland (Music & Music Technology, Film Studies, MCC) as part of a special edition marking the centenary of Witold 
Lutoslawski – Poland's greatest twentieth-century composer, and one of modern music's most important and distinctive voices.

In an interview broadcast last weekend, Dr Reyland drew on his research into Lutoslawski and narrative to explore the relationship between Lutoslawski's starkly dramatic life – his father's execution by Bolsheviks, capture by the Nazis, Stalinist oppression, his contribution to the Solidarity movement during Poland's battle for democracy – and his frankly emotional, yet modern and innovatory, musical dramas.

Dr Reyland is also contributing to Lutoslawski  centennial celebrations throughout Europe this year, having written specially commissioned essays for the Philharmonia Orchestra's Woven Words festival (during which he will speak at a public study day at London's South Bank Centre) and a trilingual essay collection commissioned by the Polish Institute of Culture in Brussels. In September, he will give a specially invited talk at the Chopin Institute, Warsaw.

MEDICAL INSTITUTE AWARDS FOR STAFF AND STUDENTS

Staff and students from Keele attended a prize giving event at North Staffordshire Medical Institute to formally receive grant and performance awards.

Staff awards went to Dr Bernadette Bartlam, Dr Linda Machin and Professor Julius Sim who are developing work identifying vulnerability in grief. Their work touches on some of the most important issues in research being pursued within the Research Institutes for Social Sciences and Primary Care & Health Sciences. People who are vulnerable in their grief (by whatever cause) are significant users of health and social care services. The effective identification of such individuals and the appropriate targeting of interventions and resources are crucial, therefore, to both high quality care and cost efficient services. This innovative research seeks to validate the Adult Attitude to Grief scale, devised and developed by Dr Machin, as a measure providing evidence of such vulnerability. The importance of this work was acknowledged in the award of a development grant by NSMI of £4,500.

Dr Sue Sherman (pictured) and Professor Michael Murray, RI for Social Sciences, with colleagues from University Hospital of North Staffordshire, were awarded £9,703 to "identify and promote best practice in communicating to patients the results of cervical screening history reviews following diagnosis of cervical cancer".

Many women who develop cervical cancer will have had cervical smears. It is a national requirement that all women are offered the results of a complete review of their cervical screening history following a diagnosis of cervical cancer. However, up to 20% of patients can have incorrectly reported screening tests, which may have prevented the earlier detection and treatment of their cervical cancer. Despite the potential for these review meetings to cause distress or conversely to be an opportunity for transparency, this is the first research to be conducted exploring patients' experiences.

Two medical students were also presented with awards: 2011/12 Year 2 Medical Institute Prize for Best Performance in the Summative Assessments – Eleanor Johns; 2011/12 Year 4 Medical Institute Prize for Best Performance in the Year 4 OSCE Assessments – Laura Davis.

GRAND CHARITY FUNDING FOR AGE-RELATED HEARING LOSS RESEARCH

A cheque for £39,000 was presented to Dr David Furness, of ISTM, by Dr Sandy Stewart on behalf of the Freemason's Grand Charity last Friday.  The presentation took place in the Huxley Building despite the number of attendees being depleted because of the inclement weather.  The visitors were greeted by Dr Peter Thomas, deputy head of the School of Life Sciences. 

The award is for Dr Furness to continue his work on age-related hearing loss and the use of stem cells to try to prevent it.  It follows a previous three-year award by the same charity through Deafness Research UK.

KEELE  PROFESSOR IN ROME SEMINAR ON EU FUTURE 

Professor Richard Luther, Convenor of the Keele European Parties Research Unit (KEPRU) was in Rome last week at the invitation of the social-democratic Foundation for European Progressive Studies.

It had co-organised an international seminar on "Democratic Legitimacy and Political Leadership in the European Union", attended by numerous senior European politicians and academics.

Invited because of his expertise on contemporary political parties, Professor Luther had been requested to participate in a discussion on 'The Future of European Parties'.

His contributions included reporting the findings of KEPRU research on the impact of EU membership on the distribution of political power within national political parties, as well as his research on social-democratic responses to the challenge of the populist radical right in Western Europe.

ROYAL SOCIETY GRANT

Dr Aleksandar Radu, of the Birchall Centre and EPSAM cluster, has been awarded Royal Society Research Grant of £8,990.

The grant will help development of exciting research on application of hybrid materials in chemical sensors.

The long-term goal of this research is to develop "smart" sensors whose functionality can be modulated using external stimuli thereby enabling users to adapt their sensors to the demands of analysis.

This project would examine the ability of ionic liquids to tune the functionality of ionophore-based sensors. The focus will be on synthesis of tunable ionic liquids and elucidation of mechanisms under which they influence the response of these sensors.

WHAT'S ON

CONCERTS AT KEELE

Wednesday, 30 January, 7:30pm

Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers will be performing 'The Way of the Drum' at Keele University Chapel. The group returns to the roots of Taiko Drumming, performing traditional Taiko pieces and revealing the history and culture of this fascinating folk art in a lively and entertaining concert.

Tickets are available, priced at £14 and £7 for concessions (students, the unemployed and young people aged 17/18); 16 and under go free when accompanied by a paying adult.

Please call the 24 hour booking line on 01782 717058 to order tickets. For more information please email concerts@keele. ac.uk.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Thirty-eight years ago -

Professor Richard G Swinburne, Head of the Philosophy Department at Keele, has been appointed Wilde Lecturer in natural and comparative religion at Oxford University.

The Oxford lectureship is a visiting post of three years and Professor Swinburne will lecture on the philosophy of religion. 31 January 1975.