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7 April 2014Issue 6 Volume 11
unilife
University wins Royal seal ofapproval
The free magazine for The University of Manchester
Message from the President
Contact usNews and story ideasMikaela Sitfordtel 0161 275 2112email [email protected]/staffnet/newsDeadline 16 April 2014
Events and listings informationPhilippa Adsheadtel 0161 275 2922email [email protected] 16 April 2014
Ads Sarah Davenporttel 0161 275 2922email [email protected] 16 April 2014
Next issue 6 May 2014
NewsImaging researchhonoured by the Queen
NewsGraphene art to spark new life at Whitworth Art Gallery
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ecently I made a brief visit to Singapore,which reminded me of the increasinglyinternational nature of higher education. The leaders of the National University of
Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technical University(NTU) face the same issues as we do, notably inmaintaining a globally competitive position.
We have strong research and educationalpartnerships with NUS, NTU and two otheruniversities in Singapore. Our Manchester BusinessSchool Worldwide (MBSW) office in Singaporeprovides part-time business programmes and wehave just signed an agreement on joint PhDstudents with A*STAR, the major research institutes in Singapore.
We also have strong research and educationalagreements with universities in many other parts of Asia, Europe, North and South America,and have just launched a joint travel fund with the University of Melbourne to promotecollaboration between staff.
Looking to our own campus, The University ofManchester, like the City, has a strong internationalflavour. About a quarter of our staff and studentsare from outside the European Union. Similarlyabout 25% of our research publications are withinternational collaborators - since 2011 we havepublished over 15,000 research articles withcollaborators in 100 countries.
We also participate in many international researchprogrammes such as the Square Kilometre Array ofinternational telescopes which is headquartered atJodrell Bank Observatory and internationalcollaborations in humanitarian conflict resolutionand world poverty. Increasingly our commercialpartnerships have an international network, such asthe BP International Centre for Advanced Materials,led from The University of Manchester and involvingthree other partner universities.
Currently about 9,200 of our students are fromoutside the EU (about 12,000 including non-UK EUstudents). The largest proportion of overseas
students is from mainland China, although this yearundergraduate applications to date from Malaysiahave slightly out-stripped Chinese applications forthe first time since 2004. We have students from157 different countries and actively supportrecruitment from about 50 countries.
Applications for entry in autumn 2014 are buoyant,with overseas applications up by about 15% forundergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes,but down by about 4% for postgraduate researchstudy. The key here is to ensure that we recruit excellentapplicants onto our programmes. The pattern ofapplications is shifting slightly with fewer applicantsfrom India, Pakistan and Nigeria, but more from smallermarkets in Central and South America, Malaysia,Indonesia, Russia and parts of the Middle East.
Demographic changes mean that the number ofuniversity age students in the UK is falling, but thereverse is true across many parts of the world as aresult of population and economic growth. So wemust consider the most appropriate balance ofhome and overseas students for our University.While our total number of non-EU students is thehighest in the UK, because of our scale, thepercentage (approximately 25%) is considerablylower than some other UK universities.
International students bring great benefits to theUniversity, the City and to the UK. At the recentceremony to award the Freedom of the City to
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Meeting the Business Engagement Team
Taking Lucy Powell MP on a tour ofthe National Graphene Institute site
Contents2 Message from the President
4 News
10 Research
13 Features
18 What’s On
20 Making a Difference
Front cover: Professor Dame Nancy Rothwelland Professor Phil Withers receive the Queen’sAnniversary Prize
ResearchViking find features in blockbuster show
FeatureBehind the mask… Universityunveils its medical treasures
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Professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, the Leader of Manchester City Council, Sir RichardLeese, reminded us of the music entrepreneur, Tony Wilson’s description of Manchester as a ‘city of immigrants.’ There is also great value in ourenormous alumni network spread across the world,many of whom are now in very senior positions inbusiness, government and education.
Because of the value of international students, we offer many bursaries, most notably our Equityand Merit Scholarships, which support studentsfrom Rwanda, Uganda, Bangladesh and Tanzaniathrough University funding and generous donationsfrom our alumni. We are considering how we canexpand this programme to offer further bursaries to the brightest students from across the world.
Many of our own students now wish to spend partof their university education overseas to broadentheir experience and enhance their career prospects– at the moment around 600 of our students spendpart of their studies abroad. In recognising theimportance of an international experience, we havelaunched our ‘Global Graduates’ scheme to support
small groups of students for short periods in othercountries. The programme is generously supportedby our alumni, and this year students will betravelling to Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco and Singapore.
There is another approach to international or ‘trans-national’ education through the provision ofdistance learning or blended learning programmesto students who wish to study in their homecountry. The latter is operated very successfully byMBSW, which provides a combination of distancelearning courses together with some face-to-faceeducation at its six international offices.
The number of students studying for a degree in their home country using a programme supplied fromoutside that country is now growing faster than thenumber of those travelling for study overseas. Hencewe will soon be at the point of ‘market crossover’and this is likely to develop further in the future.
At present, The University of Manchester has about38,000 students studying on our campus and about5,000-6,000 studying the entirety of their degreesoverseas. In the future, it is likely that we will be
educating far more students either partly or wholly in their home country, while many more ofour campus based students will spend periods ofstudy overseas.
This will mean a change in how we offer many ofour programmes and more flexibility will be requiredin the ways in which students learn and accessinformation and guidance. A greater diversity ofeducational delivery modes could be of benefit tostudents who wish to study entirely in Manchester,as well as those in far flung parts of the world.
It is clear that the globalisation of higher education is likely to continue to grow and the role of our University in international education and research is of ma jor importance. We need to carefully consider the balance of internationalstudents who study on campus and through distant learning and the focus of our internationalcollaborators. In higher education there is no doubt that ‘the world is shrinking.’
Professor Nancy RothwellPresident and Vice-Chancellor
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Visiting MyFutureFest
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University hosts healthcare’s great and good
he University played host tothe health industry’s great and good, thanks to twomajor events.
President Barack Obama’s AssistantSecretary for Health Dr Howard Kohwas among those taking to the stage as the city hosted The 11thInternational Conference on Urban Health following in thefootsteps of Toronto, New York,Amsterdam, Nairobi and Vancouver.
The event, organised by the University,provides a platform for policymakersand researchers to discuss urban
health with the proportion ofpeople living in cities projected toincrease to 70 per cent by 2050.
And Professor Ian Jacobs, Dean of the Faculty of Medical andHuman Sciences and Director ofManchester Academic HealthScience Centre (MAHSC), hosted a dinner at Manchester Museumfor NHS leaders and other keystakeholders attending the recent NHS Expo.
Held for the first time outsideLondon, the Expo brought togetherclinicians, industry and researchers
Wigwam bam! ore than 3,000 studentswere inspired andenthused about theirfuture during
MyFutureFest, a week-longprogramme of events designed anddelivered by the Careers Service.
The festival’s focal point of the festival was a PapaKata teepee,installed next to University Placefor three days, which showcasedthe many things our students cando to prepare for their futures –from Volunteering to Sport,Student Societies to InternationalProgrammes, Mentoring toStudent Media.
And there was a range of otheractivities and workshops acrosscampus including an InternshipsClinic in University Place.
New PhDprogrammePresident and Vice-ChancellorProfessor Dame Nancy Rothwellrecently visited Singapore toaccompany David Willetts,Minister of State for Universitiesand Science, during his visit topromote UK higher educationtaking in Australia, Indonesiaand Singapore.
A highlight of the programmewas the signing of an agreementbetween the University andA*STAR (Graduate Academy) for joint engagement in A*STAR’s Research AttachmentProgramme (ARAP).
The University-wide agreementwill extend the currentengagement which began withthe Faculty of Life Sciences.Students are registered in theFaculty and spend two years inManchester, funded by theFaculty, and two years in aSingapore Research Institute,funded by A*STAR.
to highlight and share good practice intackling particular conditions andimproving the quality of care andcommunications across the NHS.
CampusMasterplanUpdateThis issue of UniLife comes withan additional four-pagepublication, Campus MasterplanUpdate, which gives an update onsome of the projects which formpart of the University’s 10-year £1 billion investment to create asingle site, world-class campus.
Featured are progress reports on the Manchester CancerResearch Centre, Whitworth Art Gallery, National GrapheneInstitute, Coupland 3 and the A V Hill Building.
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Professor Ian Jacobs welcomes guests from NHS Expo
Professor Ian Jacobs, Dr Howard Koh,Lord Major Naeem UL Hassan and Dr Arpana Verma
Lise-Marie McDonnell talks to students Teepees on Oxford Road
he University of Manchester Library haswon the Facilities Project category in the2014 Guardian University Awards for itsinnovative and highly collaborative
project, The Alan Gilbert Learning Commons.
The Guardian University Awards reward projectsin universities that demonstrate genuineinnovation in the sector, collaborative deliveryon the ground, and meaningful impact bothinside their institutions and beyond, with thepotential to inspire others.
“We are delighted that all the hard work on thisimportant project has been recognised with thisaward,” said Jan Wilkinson, University Librarian.
The £24 million Learning Commons wasconceived by former President and ViceChancellor Professor Alan Gilbert, who sadlydied just after his retirement in 2010. Thebuilding is a tribute to his vision.
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he Queen has presented theUniversity with a prestigiousaward in recognition of itsworld-leading imaging
techniques and extensive knowledgebase in advanced materials technology.
President and Vice-Chancellor,Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell,accepted the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Educationfrom Her Majesty at a ceremony atBuckingham Palace last month.
Professor Rothwell was accompanied atthe Palace by University Chancellor,Tom Bloxham, Vice-President and Deanof the Faculty of Engineering andPhysical Sciences, Professor Colin Bailey,Professor of Materials Imaging, PeterLee, Professor of Nuclear Materials,Paul Mummery, and Phil Withers,Professor of Materials Science, whoaccepted a scroll for the Prize from HisRoyal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh.Five students from the School ofMaterials also attended the event.
Manchester is at the forefront indeveloping new techniques for the 3D imaging of structures and defects inmaterials, and interpreting the state ofstress, microstructure and damage inengineering materials and components.
Alan GilbertLearningCommonsscoops topaward
To date, the University has supported awide network of 90 companies and 35 institutions providing uniqueinsights into materials behaviour andfailure, enabling innovation and directimpact to UK plc.
Professor Rothwell said: “It was anhonour to be invited to meet the Queen and accept this award on behalfof our staff and students. The Queen’sAnniversary Prizes reward excellence inresearch of national and internationalsignificance and reflects theoutstanding work in imagingtechniques being carried out inManchester.”
Professor Phil Withers and Dr Robert Bradley in the lab
The Alan Gilbert Learning Commons
Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell andProfessor Phil Withers accept theQueen’s Anniversary Prize
Budget potential for University
hancellor of the Exchequer George OsborneMP announced plans in last month’s budget to fund an Alan Turing Centre forcomputing, and a new graphene centre.
There has not yet been a decision about where either of these will be located, but theUniversity confirmed it would be bidding for both to come to Manchester.
Speaking about graphene, Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and PhysicalSciences Professor Colin Bailey said: “We areengaging across the UK to commercialise grapheneand to utilise the world-class knowledge base hereat The University of Manchester. We are developingan infrastructure at the University which links in with the existing catapult centres to ensure efficientcommercialisation of graphene to accelerateapplications to market. Today’s announcement is welcome support from the Government.”
On the new Alan Turing Institute announcement,Professor Bailey added: “The University of Manchesterhas extensive knowhow and expertise in big datahandling and will be supporting the new Alan TuringInstitute for the benefit of UK Plc. Our impressiveheritage and strong track record in both computingand mathematics, not least from the work Alan Turinghimself did here, means we will be bidding to havethe new Institute based in Manchester.”
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Imaging research honoured by the Queen
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niversities and Science Minister David Willetts haspledged £100 million to theconstruction of the Square
Kilometre Array (SKA) – a radiotelescope array across South Africaand Australia with headquarters at
the University’s Jodrell BankObservatory.
The SKA will be the world’s largestand most sensitive radio telescope –the total collecting area will beapproximately one square kilometre,
giving 50 times the sensitivity, and10,000 times the survey speed, of thebest current-day telescopes.
Mr Willetts made the announcementduring a visit to Jodrell Bank last month.
New government investment for UK science
n amazing collaborationbetween one of Britain’s most acclaimed artists andgraphene Nobel Laureate
Sir Kostya Novoselov - which will setoff a firework meteor shower inWhitworth Park - is to open the doorsto the Whitworth Art Gallery followingits £15 million redevelopment.
The gallery will reopen on 25 October2014 with a major solo exhibition fromCornelia Parker, whose work invitesviewers to witness the transformationof ordinary objects into somethingcompelling and extraordinary.
Parker has been collaborating closelywith Sir Kostya, who, with Sir AndreGeim, was awarded the Nobel Prize forhis work on graphene - the thinnestand strongest known material.
Novoselov took microscopic samples of graphite from drawings in theWhitworth’s collection by WilliamBlake, Turner, Constable and Picasso as well as a pencil-written letter by Sir Ernest Rutherford (who split theatom in Manchester). He madegraphene from these samples, one of which Parker is making into a
work of art – a Blake-graphene sensoractivated by breath which will set off afirework meteor shower in WhitworthPark at the opening of the exhibition.
Chinese-born artist, Cai Guo-Qiang,best known for his firework displaysfor the Beijing Olympics in 2008, will present Unmanned Nature (2008),
a forty-five metre long, four metrehigh gunpowder drawing as the firstexhibition in the Whitworth’s newLandscape Gallery.
There will also be highlights from theWhitworth’s eclectic collection ofhistorical and contemporary fine art,textiles and wallpaper.
Graphene art to spark new life at Whitworth Art Gallery
Our EnvironmentalSustainability Team haslaunched a new engagementportal to help staff, studentsand visitors to think about theissue and take action.
The new website has a rangeof initiatives, actions andactivities which will helpindividuals make a practicaland positive contribution.
The portal was launched at theinaugural Think Sustainability:Inspiring Action event attendedby more than 100 membersof staff.
• Visit the engagementportal atwww.sustainability.manchester.ac.uk
Green for go!
Professor Colin Bailey hasbeen appointed DeputyPresident and Deputy Vice-Chancellor by anAppointments panel chairedby Mr Anil Ruia, Chairman of the Board of Governors.Professor Bailey will succeedProfessor Rod Coombs,whose retirement wasannounced earlier this month.
Professor Bailey will support the President andVice-Chancellor, ProfessorDame Nancy Rothwell, across the full range of the duties involved in thedirection and leadership ofthe University and will haveparticular responsibility forexternal engagement andinternationalisation.
Appointment of DeputyPresident and Deputy Vice-Chancellor
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David Willetts (third from right) at Jodrell Bank Observatory
Cai Guo-Qiang, Unmanned Nature: Project for the Hiroshima City Museum ofContemporary Art, 2008. Photograph: Seiji Toyonaga, courtesy Hiroshima CityMuseum of Contemporary Art.
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TV doc to launch strokeawareness month
lumnus Dr Chris Steele isamong the speakers takingpart in a month long seriesof cultural events to raise
awareness of stroke.
To coincide with Action on StrokeMonth in May, “Science Stroke Art2014” aims to highlight strokethrough the media of science and art.The programme of events will includetalks, theatre, science and artdemonstrations and music to capturethe public’s imagination and challengemisconceptions about the disease.
The month kicks-off with a launchevent for stroke survivors and healthpractitioners at Manchester TownHall, which will feature a presentation
by President and Vice-ChancellorProfessor Dame Nancy Rothwell, a world-renowned expert on stroke,on the work of our scientists who arelooking for treatments for stroke.
Professor Tony Rudd CBE, NationalClinical Director for Stroke, NHS England, will discuss thechanging face of stroke medicine,while Andy McCann, stroke survivorand motivational speaker, will discusshis life after stroke.
Finally, stroke survivor and guitaristPieter Egriega and poet Mike Garrywill take to the stage.
• For more information visitwww.sciencestrokeart.co.uk
Cycle theft victim back on the roadan Wallbridge had his bike stoken from the main campus but thanksto the University’s Cycle Theft Victim Bike Loan Scheme, he’s back on the road.
The scheme has given Ian a free loan of a reconditioned bike for a couple of months while he’s sorting out another one.
It also supplied him with a gold standard ‘D’ lock to make sure he feelsmore confident about bringing a new bike onto campus.
he Museum has a longhistory of working withartists to investigate andanimate its collection
and the latest group to take upthe role is the Owl Project – Steve Symons, Simon Blackmoreand Anthony Hall – in a residencycoordinated by art and scienceorganization Invisible Dust.
Owl Project’s residency will enable the artists to access thescientists, curators and collectionsof the Museum to create
beautiful wooden objects, combinedwith electronics to play amazing digital sounds.
Their creations highlight both thetechnical and natural world and alsoreflect our disposable culture –exploring the rise in ‘making culture’as a counter-culture.
The Owl Project will complete theirstay by creating a new work to exhibitin the Museum.
• To find out more see:www.owlproject.com
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Museum chimes with the times
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he University has been chosen to host a Johnson & JohnsonInnovation partnering
office at our campus-basedInnovation Centre, UMIC.
Johan Verbeeck, Senior Directorof Partnership Management at
Johnson & Johnson Innovation,will establish a regular presence at the University.
The Innovation Centre aims tobring together experts fromJohnson & Johnson with localinnovators to facilitate theexchange of ideas.
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Owl Project Flow Instruments. Photo: Jill Tate
Dr Chris Steele Ian Wallbridge (right) receives his bike from Oscar Murray, team leader at Biko Bikes
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ir Kostya Novoselov hosted EURegional Policy CommissionerJohannes Hahn on a visit to the National Graphene Institute
last month.
The Commissioner, who approved a £23 million investment via theEuropean Regional Development Fund (ERDF) towards the £61 millionInstitute, was given a guided tour of the construction site and anoverview of graphene research andcommercialisation.
The remaining £38 million wasprovided by the UK Governmentthrough the Engineering and PhysicalSciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Commissioner Hahn said: “TheGraphene Institute is an excellentexample of how EU regional fundingin the UK is supporting innovationand taking excellent ideas into themarketplace.”
Manchester Central MP Lucy Powellalso made a visit to the University tolearn more about wonder materialgraphene.
Mrs Powell was hosted by grapheneresearcher Dr Aravind Vijayaraghavanand also met Sir Kostya and Vice-Chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell.
The visit was part of a Royal SocietyMP-scientists pairing scheme to buildbridges between parliamentarians andsome of the best scientists in the UK.
As part of the scheme, electricalengineer Dr Alex Casson hosted civilservant Dr Matthew James in January.
• The National Graphene Institute has appointed James Baker asBusiness Director. James, formerly Vice-President of TechnologyCollaboration Programmes at BAE Systems, is responsible forattracting commercial organisations to work with the Universityon future graphene applications.
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oxing hares, burrowingparasites, baby birds andprowling wolves are justsome of the characters
appearing in ‘From the War ofNature’, a story of predation,competition, co-operation andcollaboration that is ManchesterMuseum’s latest exhibition.
The exhibition – during thenationwide commemoration ofthe start of World War I – revealsthat living things resolve conflict in many, often unexpected,
ways and aims to challenge theperception that war is an inevitableoutcome of conflict.
It includes films of University academicsshowing how they explore naturalrelationships and behaviour using avariety of approaches and methods.
They include Dr Sheena Cruickshank,an immunologist studying immuneresponses to parasites from hosts.
From the War of Nature opens to thepublic on Friday 11 April and runsuntil 7 September.
Fighting for life... at the Museum
Obituary: Bill Manning
Honorary professorshipfor captain of industry
New home for Ahmed Iqbal UllahRace Relations Resource Centre
The University is mourning its oldest staff member –boathouse stalwart BillManning who ‘arrested’ two intruders, battled a blazethat threatened tens ofthousands of pounds of kit…and retired at 95.
Bill retired from his role aspart-time caretaker of theUniversity boathouse at Sale in 2012, having workedthere for more than a decade.He joined the SPORTdepartment during the mergerof 2004, having previouslybeen employed by UMIST –following a medical he waspronounced fit to continuehis work at the age of 87.
Chris Renshaw, Deputy Headof Sport, said: “It wasn’tunusual to find Bill clearingleaves out of the gutters onthe roof of the boathouse, or up a ladder sawingbranches from overhangingtrees. The nearest we came tofalling out was when he was90; I took his ladders awayand produced a risk assessmentconfining him to light duties.
“He will be sadly missed.”
The University has appointed a leading industrialist as honorary professor to teach the next generation of engineers and further develop commercialresearch collaborations.
Juergen Maier, Managing Director of Siemens UK and Ireland IndustrySector and a member of the Siemens UK Executive Management Board,will take up the five-year post within the University’s Faculty of Engineeringand Physical Sciences.
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre has now relocated in thenewly restored, much loved and iconic Manchester Central Library.
The Centre remains a part of the University and will have its own space in theLower Ground Floor of the Library.
Visitors will need only a Manchester city library card to borrow resources fromthe collection and the Centre hopes to welcome many University students andacademics to their new premises.
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EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn in discussion at the National Graphene Institute
Struggle for Existence, George Bouverie, 1879 © National Museums Liverpool
The great andthe goodgetthe grapheneexperience
Lucy Powell MP and Sir Kostya
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A meeting with… Elaine Shillcock
Elaine Shillcock, Head of the Disability SupportOffice, started at the University in 1997 as aTechnical Support Officer at Access Summit, aHEFCE-funded project to improve provision fordisabled students. She ensures disabled peoplehave access to the same opportunities as non-disabled people, whether in work or study,working to see that all parts of the Universityconsider the needs of disabled people in theirday-to-day activities.
What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is seeing the differencethat support can make to an individual, seeingpeople suddenly realise that they can succeedwhen they thought they couldn’t. There are lotsof things that can be done to minimise thedifficulties that people face, some are very simple.
What would you say to your 16-year-oldself now?
I come from the inner-city slum areas ofManchester and my 16-year-old self was probablyquite insecure. It has taken me a long time torealise that we all have equal value regardless of our backgrounds. I would just say go for it!You can achieve anything that you want to.
Favourite book, film and TV programme?
This is where it gets really embarrassing. I thinkmy favourite book is whatever I’m reading atthe time. My favourite film (as much as I hateto say it) is Top Gun and on the rare occasions Iget the remote, I watch Motorway Cops!
What is your earliest childhood memory?
My earliest childhood memory is the night mysister was born – I don’t remember anything atall about her so she obviously didn’t make a bigimpression. I do remember my dad allowed meto sit downstairs on the kitchen sink while I waswaiting with him.
Any interesting hobbies?
I relax by taking my dog for long walks. I also playguitar and piano and have been trying to teachmyself to play saxophone for a long time. Alsocrafts, knitting crochet and making jewellery.
Any challenges?
We can’t solve every problem, and sometimespeople have unrealistic expectations. Sometimespeople think that making a reasonable adjustment is giving an advantage, but it is about levelling theplaying field and giving people the opportunity.
How did you get to the role you have now?
My degree was in Chemistry and I started work forICI as a research scientist. My great claim to fame isthat I actually had a wallpaper design named afterme! I was a chemistry lecturer in further educationand worked with students with severe emotionaldifficulties and with profound learning difficulties. I am also quite a ‘techy’ person, always thinking ofdifferent ways that gadgets can be used, which ledme to apply for the post at Access Summit.
Any future projects coming up?
I’ve recently come across a piece of software that canconvert a page of text into a unique code that can beread on a smart phone – I can think of loads of usesfor that around the University, so watch this space.
Who would be your ideal dinner party guest?
Richard Branson – he is dyslexic, as am I, and hasachieved so much. I think one of the great strengthsof many dyslexic people is their creativity and hepersonifies what can be achieved.
England star backs childhood cancer research project
anchester City and Englandfootballer James Milnervisited laboratories at theUniversity and gave a
£25,000 cheque to fund a life-savingresearch study into childhood leukaemia.
Survival rates for the most common
form of childhood cancer, acutelymphoblastic leukaemia, are now over90%, but those children who relapseafter treatment have a poor outlook.
University scientists, funded by blood cancer charity Leukaemia andLymphoma Research, are developingtesting to identify those children
who are likely to be resistant tochemotherapy and looking foralternative ways to treat these patients.
The James Milner Foundation raisesfunds and awareness for nationalcharities including Leukaemia andLymphoma Research.
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Fries on the prizeA University chef is in therunning to be named ‘Cookof the Year’ by BBC Radio 4.
Deborah Kerrmath heads upthe catering at Ashburne Hall, serving more than 160students. Radio 4 has placedDeborah in the final three aspart of their Food andFarming Awards.
Wonder women!The University is celebrating the achievements of our academicsafter winning two categories in theManchester City Council InternationalWomen’s Day Awards.
The Centre for Women’s MentalHealth won the Women in Science,Technology, Engineering andMathematics (STEM) category, whileProfessor Margot Brazier – who wasalso shortlisted for the Women inSTEM category – won the Women inLegal and Business category.
And Ruth Daniel, Manager of In Place of War, was shortlisted in theWomen in Culture and Art category.
(l-r) Professor Vaskar Saha, James Milner and James’ partner Amy Fletcher
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ewly discovered details of the funeral of a protester trampled to death by a police horse in1887, have turned the event into one of Victorian time’s most significant moments,according to a University historian.
Dr Peter Yeandle says over 100,000 people paid tribute to Alfred Linnell – one of three killed inLondon’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ protests against new laws which curtailed freedom of speech and the rightto assembly.
But the significance of the funeral, he says, has been consciously written out of history because of itsuncomfortable reading for Left and Right-wing commentators.
Linnell, a law clerk, apparently fell close to the famous writer and radical George Bernard Shaw,though it’s not known if the 41-year-old was a bystander or a protester.
The controversy was heightened when the body was misplaced – or at worst swapped – bypathologists conducting an autopsy for an inquest whose inconclusive verdict split the press.
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Research
Importance of Victorianfuneral revealed
omen who drink alcohol at moderate or heavy levels in the early stages of their pregnancy might damage the growth and function of their placenta
– the organ responsible for supplying everything that a developing infant needs until birth – University research shows.
The study looked at the effect of two or three standard drinks and four to six standard drinks consumed in one go on the placenta’sfunction in a laboratory environment. They found it reduced cell growth in the placenta.
Sylvia Lui, from the Tommy’s Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre based at the University, said: “In the long-term, there could beconsequences to how much support the infantreceives from the placenta during the rest of thepregnancy after this exposure.”
New research reinforcesdanger of drinkingalcohol while pregnant
nother health benefit for fish oils has beenuncovered by scientists at the University.
New research has found that the oils canhelp infants suffering with congenital hyperinsulinism.
The disease is a rare and potentially lethal diseaseand is the clinical opposite of diabetes that causesthose with the disease to make too much insulin.
The risk is when the brain is starved of blood sugar– a likely cause of brain damage or long-term disability.
But by giving sufferers purified fish oils similar tothose used to treat some heart attack patients,alongside standard medical treatment, their bloodsugar levels improve.
Congenital hyperinsulinism is a rare disorder affectingroughly 1 in 50,000 children overall in the UK. It causes the child’s body to produce too muchinsulin, leading to frequent low blood sugar episodes.
Low blood sugar in a baby’s developing brain can leadto long term disabilities or brain damage, according to previous research carried out by the team.
Fish oils could treatrare disease
Talking-therapycould reduceosteoarthritis pain
ackling the way the mind deals with pain may be as effective as anti-inflammatory drugs to tackle osteoarthritis, University
research shows.
Scientists funded by Arthritis Research UKsuggest talking-therapies and counselling cantarget brain mechanisms to enable the brainto cope more effectively with chronic pain.
Professor Wael El-Deredy said: “More researchis needed but this suggests we should beputting more resources into a commonapproach to developing new therapies thattarget these potential brain mechanisms.”
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Bloody Sunday, 1887
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Research
Graphene’s love affair with water
New protein involvedin lung cancer
niversity scientists have discovered anew protein that is involved in cancerand inflammation in lung tissue.
The findings could help in the development of new drugs to target lung cancer - themost common cause of cancer death inGreater Manchester.
Professor David Ray, Professor of Medicineand Endocrinology, said: “This work showsthat targeting a protein, known as Merm1,could offer a new strategy in developinganti-inflammatory treatments.
“The study has given us a new insight intothe mechanisms at play in lunginflammation and lung cancer.”
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Managers, not bosses, get things done
ong suffering and much criticisedmiddle-managers, not the people atthe top, are the most likely people totackle the nation’s health challenges -
according to research at the Faculty ofHumanities.
Dr Kathryn Oliver says it’s not academics,Directors of Public Health, politicians or bigbusiness who are the most influential, butthose without any public health background– managers in the health service and localgovernment.
And it’s the middle managers, she says, whohave successfully brought issues such asminimum unit price for alcohol to theforefront of the policy agenda.
Her findings provide some rare comfort tomiddle-managers under fire by some mediacommentators and politicians, who claimthere are too many.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and hispredecessor Andrew Lansley havehighlighted the “pen-pushing culture” inthe NHS, promising to reduce bureaucracy.
For her research Dr Oliver asked 152 policyleaders across local government and theNHS in an English conurbation to nominatethe most powerful and influential people inpublic health policy across the city.
rtefacts from the UK mainland’s first fullyintact Viking boat burial site, discovered byUniversity archaeologists working in theScottish Highlands, are one of ten
extraordinary objects to feature in the BritishMuseum’s latest blockbuster show.
In ‘A history of the Viking world in 10 extraordinaryobjects’, author of A History of the World in 100 Objects and Director of the British Museum,Neil MacGregor, condenses the museum’s latestblockbuster show into ten fascinating pieces.
The burial, from late ninth or early tenth century, is part of a rare fully intact site excavated in the
summer of 2011 on the remote ArdnamurchanPeninsula on Scotland’s west coast.
The 1,000-year-old find was made by the ArdnamurchanTransitions Project (ATP), which is a team led byexperts from the Universities of Manchester, Leicester,CFA Archaeology Ltd and Archaeology Scotland.
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Oliver Harris and Eleanor Gray at work
Dr Rahul Nair with a graphene water filter
Viking find in blockbuster show
ater filters allowing precise and fast sievingof salts and organic molecules have beenrevealed by graphene scientists.
Graphene has proven itself as a wonder material with a vast range of unique properties, but one of its the least-known marvels is its strange love affair with water.
Graphene repels water, but narrow capillariesvigorously suck in water allowing its rapid permeation,if the water layer is only one atom thick – that is, as thin as graphene itself.
This bizarre property has attracted intense academicand industrial interest with intent to develop newwater filtration and desalination technologies.
The team led by Dr Rahul Nair and Sir Andre Geimhas tested how good the graphene membranes areas filters for liquid water. The results appear in thelatest issue of Science.
Dr Nair said: “The water filtration is as fast and as precise as one could possibly hope for suchnarrow capillaries.”
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A sword found at the site
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Research
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Ethnic minorities‘better qualified’
ew evidence from the 2011 Census showsthat ethnic minorities in England and Waleshave become increasingly better qualifiedthan their White British counterparts.
The research, by the University’s Centre on Dynamicsand Ethnicity (CoDE), shows an overall improvementin attainment by students in further and highereducation over the past 20 years.
However, ethnic minority groups are doing betteroverall. For example, Indian, Chinese and BlackAfrican groups had higher educational attainmentthan other ethnic minorities and the White Britishgroup in both 2001 and 2011.
The findings are particularly significant, argue the team,given the continuing ethnic inequalities in employmentidentified in CoDE’s earlier census briefings.
The figures are mostly down to wider and improvedaccess to higher education, particularly among women.
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New way toreset body clock
niversity researchers have discovered a new mechanism that governs how bodyclocks react to changes in the environment.
The discovery could provide a solution for alleviatingthe detrimental effects of chronic shift work and jet-lag. Dr David Bechtold’s team has revealed thatan enzyme controls how easily the body’s clockworkcan be adjusted or reset by environmental cues suchas light and temperature.
Internal biological timers – or circadian clocks – arefound in almost every species on the planet. Inmammals including humans, circadian clocks arefound in most cells and tissues of the body, andorchestrate daily rhythms in our physiology,including our sleep/wake patterns and metabolism.
The work was funded by the Biological SciencesResearch Council and undertaken in collaborationwith scientists from Pfizer led by Dr Travis Wager.
U
our poignant letters, written by VictoriaUniversity of Manchester students to their History Professor from the battlefields ofWorld War I, are being displayed in public
for the first time at The John Rylands Library.
The free exhibition shows the letters toProfessor Thomas Frederick Tout (1855-1929)displayed alongside six specially commissionedworks by University of Salford visual arts students.
They were written over the course of theconflict, whose centenary is beingcommemorated across the country this year.
Conscientious objector J Stanley Carr survivedthe war but fellow student Thomas SeymourHurrell, who also survived the war, died in 1918during an influenza epidemic. It is not known ifanother of the student writers, SL Connor,survived the war.
But Herbert Eckersley, killed in action in 1917,was one of 300 Victoria University ofManchester students who lost their lives in theGreat War, according to a 1918 speech by thethen vice chancellor Sir Henry Miers.
FProfessor Thomas Frederick Tout
study of one of the Europe’s mostimportant Early Mesolithic sites, StarCarr, near Scarborough, has won“Research Project of the Year” in the
national Current Archaeology Awards 2014.
A team of archaeologists from the Universitiesof Manchester and York have worked at StarCarr since 2004 to piece together its use by
hunter-gatherers at the end of the Ice Agearound 9,000 BC.
Joint directors Dr Chantal Conneller, of TheUniversity of Manchester, Professor Nicky Milner,from The University of York, and Dr Barry Taylor,now of the University of Chester, said they werethrilled to win the award.
An artist’s impression of the Star Carr settlement
Students’war lettersgo on showfor first time
Stone Age research is project of the year
Call to changeprostate cancerscreening
he UK needs to invest in testing for thosemen most at risk of prostate cancer ratherthan follow a cast-the-net-wide approachtargeting the whole population, according
to a Manchester academic.
Professor Ken Muir, from the Institute of PopulationHealth, is proposing the UK moves to a risk-basedapproach in the community – a move backed bycharity Tackle Prostate Cancer.
He surveyed more than 1,000 men and over 100 GPsabout whether they would be happy with a risk-basedapproach to prostate cancer screening. The findingsshow over 80% of men expressed strong support and 77% of GPs were supportive.
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Feature
Ambitious Futures is a national programme whichgives talented graduates training opportunities inthe higher education sector - effectively nurturingfuture senior leaders. Alex and Jacinta were thesuccessful Manchester applicants after passing arigorous selection process.
You may have seen the distinctive teepee outsideUniversity Place in February, and this was Alex’s firsttask: working on MyFutureFest, a week-longprogramme of events for the Careers andEmployability Division.
She says: “It’s been an exciting but daunting period,but the team have been very welcoming andsupportive. I’m now working on a campaign topromote a series of ‘boot-camps’ for the Class of2014, helping them to hone their skills and increasetheir confidence in preparation for when theygraduate. It’s quite a challenge to engage such alarge and diverse student community.”
Jacinta, meanwhile, has been shadowing themanagement team and working within the newly-established projects office in the Library.
She says: “The scheme appealed to me because I’d previously worked in the University’sAccommodation Office and it gave me a taste forworking in higher education. And it works twoways, it’s a great opportunity for the University toutilise the talent they’ve nurtured within astructured, supportive programme.”
Both will be moving on to their next placements inMay. Alex is going to Lancaster University to workon knowledge exchange partnerships with China,while Jacinta is going to Liverpool University to workin their student recruitment division. Manchester, inturn, will play host to trainees from two otheruniversities in the scheme.
Alex says: “Both Jacinta and I have a great supportgroup of graduates who are taking part in thescheme at other universities. We regularly keep intouch with each other and it’s an opportunity toshare our experiences about how we’re getting on.”
Will Spinks, Registrar, Secretary and Chief OperatingOfficer, who led the steering group to bring the
initiative to Manchester, said: “The AmbitiousFutures scheme is a bold innovation for the highereducation sector. It aims to grow into one of thelargest graduate recruitment schemes in thecountry. We are very pleased that Manchester isinvolved in its early development.”
Alex and Jacinta will return to Manchester inOctober to start their final six-month programmeplacement. If you have a suitable placement rolewithin your department, or could host a traineefrom another university, contact Helen Barton,Planning Support Office on ext. 52154 [email protected].
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The future is bright
The University is taking part in the innovativegraduate trainee programme Ambitious Futures.Here UniLife talks to our first trainees Alex Barkerand Jacinta Blythe, who started their Manchesterplacements in January...
Alex Barker
Jacinta Blythe
Feature
14
t’s never been about CSI or ‘Cracker’...and forensic psychology students are nowhammering that message home by creating
their own myth-busting posters.
From day one, the School of Psychological Sciences’undergraduates use research tools; collecting andanalysing data to further their knowledge on a widerange of topics.
Today, thanks to the University’s ‘Learning ThroughResearch’ programme, its second year students arefacing a new challenge – how to put complex issuesin lay person’s language and promote their work tothe wider world.
“We’re closing the final bit of the loop,” says Dr Lee Wickham, Programme Director for the BSc in Psychology.
“Some universities simply teach students how toreplicate phenomena, testing existing research, butManchester has always wanted its students to takethe next step.
“They don’t just access current literature; they learnto think critically about how they can extendknowledge by finding the next new questions to ask.
“The posters then test their ability to explain theanswers in simple terms to the general public. It’sabout developing skills that can be used in anyworkplace to improve their employability.”
So far most posters have focused on destroyingmisconceptions about the subject – particularly onlie-detectors and criminal profiling.
“People think it’s CSI and Cracker,” says Dr Wickham.“The problem is those misconceptions have comeup through the criminal justice system; the belief
that you can look at a crime scene and write aprofile for the culprit; that you can tell someone islying if they scratch their nose.
“There is no scientific basis for any of that.”
While the FBI uses the polygraph – or lie detector –on the strength of mere anecdotal evidence, UKpolicing takes a more statistical line, drawing on theadvice of psychology professionals.
The turning point came in the wake of theWimbledon Common murder of Rachel Nickell in1992. The police set a ‘honey trap’ for primesuspect Colin Stagg – who was wrongly arrestedand eventually acquitted before the real killer wasbrought to justice, having killed again.
“Sometimes flawed information doesn’t just not help,it can be extremely damaging,” says Dr Wickham.
The designs have already been exhibited in theSchool and at University Open Days. The next step isto show them on the web.
Dr Wickham is impressed: “Our students have realcreative flair.”
Learning andthe criminalmind
The University’s newLearning Through Researchprogramme teaches ourundergraduate studentsabout their subject by havingthem look at – or do –research. This will not onlyenhance our students’learning experience, it willimprove their employabilityby increasing the scope oftheir studies and skills base.Here UniLife meets one of the academics showing ourstudents a new way oflearning…
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Dr Lee Wickham
Feature
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Behind the mask
ioneering facial reconstructions by artistRichard Neave and neuro surgery illustrationsdrawn by Dorothy Davidson as the operationsactually took place are just some of the
treasures rediscovered in the 1970’s and now beingcared for in the Museum of Medicine and Health.
During the move from the old Medical School inCoupland Street to the then newly-built StopfordBuilding in 1973, a veritable treasure-trove of medicalequipment initially collected by Professor of AnatomyGeorge Mitchell was boxed up and put into storage.
Later unearthed by the then Executive Dean, Dr BillBeswick, he immediately recognised the historicalimportance of the items and his wife, Charlotte, set about identifying and cataloguing each piece,using her skills in calligraphy to write labels.
The collection, which has been added to over theyears, has created a medical museum which staffand students can utilise for research and teaching.
And now a programme of public events is to open up the collection to other organisationsbeyond the University with loans to schools,galleries and the Museum of Science and Industryproving a huge success.
Kate Dack, Public Programmes Manager withNowgen at the Faculty of Medical and HumanSciences, is working closely with Stephanie Seville,Heritage Assistant for the Museum, and Dr JamesHopkins, University Historian.
Kate said: “There are some amazing items in ourcollection and my role is to help find ways to engagewith the public and tell the stories about the medicalartefacts and the people who worked with them.”
Consisting of medical and nursing equipment,instruments, apparatus and some archival material, the museum’s aim is to collect and conserve anythingrelevant to the practice of medicine, nursing andpharmacy. A medical collection in the widest sense, it isa teaching resource to support further understandingof the history of medicine, health and disease.
Stephanie has the enjoyable task of caring for andpresenting the collection. She said: “There are lotsof gems in our collection and I just want to getstuck in. In the future, along with our public eventsprogramme, we are hoping to produce leaflets andpostcards featuring some of the museum collection.”
Members of staff and students are invited to accessthe collection for research and teaching purposes.
• For more information visitwww.mms.manchester.ac.uk/museumor email [email protected]
The University is about to unveil its medicaltreasures. UniLife has a sneak preview of theMuseum of Medicine and Health...
PStephanie Seville
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Feature
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The Research ExcellenceFramework – the new systemfor assessing the quality ofresearch in UK highereducation institutions – asksus to show the impact thatour research has on the world.Here UniLife looks at how ourresearchers really arechanging the world…
Blue – and grey –sky thinking
Teams of scientists hunch over instruments andcomputers aboard what appears to be an ordinarypassenger plane, but it is in fact an airborne laboratorycapable of measuring important atmosphericproperties and responding within hours to atmosphericpollution incidents anywhere in the world.
Many members of the School of Earth, Atmosphericand Environmental Sciences staff lead andcontribute to these activities on board this nationalfacility, managed by the National Centre forAtmospheric Science, a NERC Centre.
Whilst the aircraft is the platform for collecting theimportant data, the real analysis takes place at theschool’s Simon Building, in the Centre forAtmospheric Sciences.
Under Professor Hugh Coe, the team has developedworld-leading expertise on the impact of pollutionon climate and the ability to quantify the effect ofaerosol particles within changing atmospheres.
Over the past two years alone they have provideddata on the 2012 Icelandic ash cloud that enabledthe UK’s grounded airline industry to get back intothe skies; extracted the first accurate measurementof how much gas was being emitted from thedamaged North Sea Elgin platform; and are nowworking with the Brazilian government to evaluatethe effect of biomass burning on climate and cropgrowth in the Sao Paulo region.
“During the ash cloud event, airlines were unable tooperate and wanted the engine manufacturers totell them how much airborne ash their enginescould safely tolerate,” explains Professor Coe.
“The CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) had grounded allflights and the situation just went on and on.
“The engine manufacturers determined a limit of ashmass for safe operation and it was the Met Office’sjob to predict the ash mass across the UK, allowing theCAA to decide whether or not to close UK airspace.
“We flew into the cloud to determine exactly howmuch ash was there and how high up it was. Thesedata provided the Met Office with the informationthey needed to verify their model predictions and sohelp the CAA decide that flights could resume.
“Without going to the scene and carrying out detailedmeasurements this wouldn’t have been possible.
“Our research and analysis at Elgin had a similarlypractical outcome and now in Brazil we areproviding data that’s important for prediction ofweather and climate that affects everything fromtransport infrastructure to crop growth.
“The School of Earth, Atmospheric andEnvironmental Sciences is an inspiring place to workand it is fantastic to be able to do so among somany motivated young scientists, who are usingfundamental physical science to tackle globallycomplex problems.”
Professor Hugh Coe at work
Listings
What’s On
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The Whitworth Art Gallery
Re-opening 25 October 2014The Whitworth Art Gallery has started a new and exciting chapter in its history. A major building project is now takingplace to transform and extend the 120-year-old gallery, doubling its publicareas whilst reducing its carbon footprintand improving facilities for visitors.
This new development by architects MUMA will re-connect the 19th centurybuilding with Whitworth Park through anelegant contemporary extension. The newWhitworth will bring you more art, moreactivities, more events and more space. It will be all things our many visitors havealways loved about the Whitworth.
We look forward to welcoming you backon Saturday 25 October 2014.
Visit our website for details of ourforthcoming outreach events…..
Whitworth Art GalleryOxford Road, Manchester0161 275 7450email [email protected]/whitworth
The ManchesterMuseum
EXHIBITIONS
All exhibitions at The Manchester Museumare FREE
Fragmentary Ancestors: Figurines fromKoma Land, Ghana until 5 May
From the War of Nature from 11 Apr – 31 Aug
FAMILY ACTIVITIES
Most activities are free and drop-in, someactivities may need to be booked and maycost up to £1.50, all ages.
Every Sat and Sun, 11am-4pmDiscovery Centre
Drop into the Discovery Centre for drawingand other art activities inspired by theMuseum’s collection and pick up one of ourfree Museum activity sheets.
Available Sat and Sun 10am or 2pm –bookings one month in advanceNew! Children’s Birthday Parties
Tues 15 and 29 Apr, 10.30am, 11.30amand 1pm, FREE (booking essential)Baby ExplorersSensory play and interactive story sessionsfor babies who aren’t walking yet.
Fri 25 Apr, 10.30am and 11.30am, FREE (booking essential) Magic CarpetStory making and activity sessions. Fortoddlers up to 5yrs and their families/carers.
Sat 26 Apr, 11am, FREEMagic CarpetBig Saturday: Plants, Poisons, Platypuses
FREE TALKS, TOURS AND WORKSHOPSFOR ADULTS
Every Tues and Thurs, 12pmVivarium Tours
Every Weds and Thurs, 1pmTaster Tours
Fri 25 Apr, 2pm (booking essential)Urban Naturalist: Urban Wildlife
Opening times Open: Tues-Sat 10am-5pmSun-Mon (and Bank Holidays) 11am-4pm
FREE admission
The Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester 0161 275 2648www.manchester.ac.uk/museum Follow us on Twitter @McrMuseum www.facebook.com/ManchesterMuseum
Drawings by Anthony McCarthy, from The Space Between, currently on show at The John Rylands Library
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Chaplaincies
St Peter’s House Chaplaincy Sunday, 11am Holy Communion12.45pm Lunch (1st Sun)Sunday, 5.30pm Student Service (term-time only)Wednesday 12.15pm Eucharist, followedby free soup lunch (term-time only)
RC Chaplaincy Avila House Mass Times (term-time only)Sun, 7pm in the Holy Name ChurchMon, Tues, Thurs and Friday, 5.30pm in theChaplaincy ChapelWeds, 1.05pm in the Chaplaincy Chapel
The Jewish Student Centre andSynagogue07817 250 557Email Rabbi Ephraim Guttentag:[email protected]
Muslim Chaplaincy South Campus Mosque, McDougall CentreJammaat (Group Prayer) Daily Juma Prayer Friday 1.15pm Honorary Imam: Imam Habeeb,[email protected]
North Campus MosqueBasement of Joule Library, Sackville Street Building Jammaat (Group Prayer) DailyJuma Prayer Friday 12.30pm
The role of Volunteer Muslim Chaplain is toprovide pastoral support, guidance and alistening ear to Muslim staff and students.Chaplains’ contact details are available inthe prayer rooms or via St Peter’s House.
Gig GuideJohn RylandsLibrary (Deansgate)
EXHIBITIONS
Aftermath (exhibition to mark thecentenary of the IWW)until 23 June
Bus Stop Storiesuntil 22 June
The Space Between: Exhibition ofArtworks by Anthony McCarthyuntil 3 Aug
FAMILY FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES
Mon 7 Apr-Sun 27 AprGrumbold’s Dragon Egg Hunt
Sat 12 Apr, 11am-4pm (booking essential)Passion Art Trail: Easter Craft Workshop
Mon 14 Apr, 2pm-4pm (booking essential)Learn Together: Pop-up Books and Cards
Sat 26 Apr, 12pm-1pmHere be Dragons!
THINGS TO DO
Mon 7 Apr, 12.30pm-1pmRylands Gallery: Bitesize Talk
Wed 9 Apr, 11am-11.30amCurator Talk: Bus Stop Stories
Fri 11 Apr, 12.30pm-1pmRylands Gallery: Bitesize Talk
Tues 15 Apr, 12.30pm-1pmRylands Gallery: Bitesize Talk
Mon 14 Apr, 2pm-4pm (booking required)Photography Workshop: Bus Stop Stories
Thurs 24 Apr, 12.30pm-1pmRylands Gallery: Bitesize Talk
Weds 30 Apr, 12.30pm-1pmRylands Gallery: Bitesize Talk
TOURS
Booking required for all tours
Sun 13 Apr, 3pm-4pmUnusual Views: Library Tours forPhotographers
Thurs 17 Apr, 1pm-3pmTours and Treasures
Wed 23 Apr, 2pm-3pm (FULLY BOOKED)Shakespeare 450
Fri 25 Apr, 3pm-4pm (FULLY BOOKED)Explorer Tour
Sun 4 May, 3pm-4pmExplorer Tour
For further details of our events, please visitour website
FREE ADMISSION
Public opening times: Sun-Mon 12-5pm,Tues-Sat 10am-5pm
Reader opening times: Mon-Weds, Fri-Sat10am-5pm, Thurs 10am-7pm
The John Rylands Library 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH Visitor/Event Enquiries: 0161 306 0555General/Reader Enquiries: 0161 275 3764 www.library.manchester.ac.uk/specialcollections/
The Martin HarrisCentre for Musicand Drama
THEATRE/PERFORMANCE
Wed 23 Apr, 1pm and 7pm, £10/£8/£5Black Box Theatre Company presentsRomeo and Juliet
Thurs 24 Apr, 10am and 2pm, £10/£8/£5Black Box Theatre Company presentsRomeo and Juliet
Fri 25 Apr, 10am, £10/£8/£5Black Box Theatre Company presentsRomeo and Juliet
FREE LUNCHTIME CONCERTS
Thurs 1 May, 1.10pmTrio Atem
Fri 2 May, 1.10pmManchester University CommissioningEnsemble (MUCE)
EVENING CONCERTS
Wed 9 Apr, 6pm, £8/£5Poems and Songs by Bertolt Brecht
The Martin Harris Centre for Music and DramaBridgeford Street, Manchester, M13 9PL0161 275 8951 email [email protected]/martinharriscentre
Jodrell BankDiscovery Centre
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre offers a greatday out for all the family. Come and explorethe planets using our model of the SolarSystem. Find answers to the wonders theUniverse, listen to the sounds of the Big Bang and discover what the scientistsare researching ‘Live’ in our interactiveSpace Pavilion. The glass-walled café offersspectacular views of the iconic Lovelltelescope and fantastic homemade cakes!
EVENTS
Mon 7 – Fri 11 AprMars Exploration
Mon 14 – Thurs 17 AprMars Science Show
Tues 22 – Fri 25 AprMars Exploration
Information:Live from Jodrell Bank websitewww.livefromjodrellbank.com
Tickets: http://ow.ly/hQCFUTickets include entry to the Discovery Centre.
Opening times10am-5pm
For more information and prices please visitour website Jodrell Bank Discovery CentreMacclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 9DL01477 571 766www.jodrellbank.net
InternationalSociety
Visit some of the most beautiful andinteresting locations around England, Scotlandand Wales. There are visits taking place almost every weekend throughout the year.
Sat 12 AprNorth Wales visiting the SnowdonMountain Railway, Swallow Falls andBetws-y-coed
Sun 13 AprCheshire Oaks and Chester
Sat 19 AprPeak District visiting Poole’s Cavern andHardwick Hall
Sun 20 AprRobin Hood’s Bay and Scarborough
Sat 26 AprStratford-upon-Avon
Sun 27 AprBlackpool
Sat 3 MayLake District visiting Aira Force Waterfalland Ambleside
Sun 4 MayNorth Wales visiting Conwy andCaernarfon Castles
Opening times Mon-Fri 9.30am – 7pm (during term time)Mon-Fri 9.30am – 5pm (during vacation)
Small World Café opening timesMon-Fri 11am – 3pm
327 Oxford Road (next to Krobar)0161 275 4959 email [email protected]
Wed 9 Apr Devildriver - £17
Thurs 10 Apr The Wildhearts + Hey! Hello! - £20Johnette Napolitano- £17.50Hue and Cry - £19.50
Fri 11 Apr Memphis May Fire + The Word Alive + Cytota -£11Manchester Orchestra -£12.50
Sat 12 Apr UB40 - £28.50Penetration - £12
Tues 15 Apr Gallon Drunk - £10
Wed 16 Apr Augustines - £12.50
Thurs 17 Apr The Summer Set - £12
Fri 18 Apr Brand New + Saves TheDay - £22.50
Sat 19 Apr Berlin Berlin + PuppetRebellion - £8
Mon 21 Apr Kvelertak - £10
Tues 22 Apr Brody Dalle - £12
Wed 23 Apr The TemperanceMovement - £11
Thurs 24 Apr Clutch - £16.50Uncle Acid and TheDeadbeats - £11.50
Fri 25 Apr Jace Everett with Band -£14.50Patent Pending + PeopleOn Vacation - £12.50
Sat 26 Apr The Smiths Ltd – The UK’sNo.1 Smiths Tribute - £10
Sun 27 Apr John Butler Trio - £20
Mon 28 Apr Blood Red Shoes + Slaves+ DZ Deathrays - £10
Fri 2 May De La Soul – Celebrating25 years of Hip Hop - £25
Sat 3 May Northside - £15
Mon 5 May Neon Trees - £12.50
Tickets fromStudents’ Union, Oxford RoadPiccadilly Box Office @ easy Internet Café (c/c) 0871 2200260Royal Court (Liverpool) 0151 709 4321 (c/c)Students’ UnionOxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL0161 275 2930 www.manchesteracademy.net
Manchester Academy 1, 2 and 3
Feature
Next Issue 6 May 2014
M1032 03.14 The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Royal Charter aNumber RC000797 Cert no. SGS-COC-3059
Please help us distribute UniLifemore efficiently.
Undelivered copies should be sent toSarah Davenport at The University ofManchester Visitors Centre, UniversityPlace, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL.
University staff should send changes ofwork address [email protected]
Or opt out of receiving hard copies atwww.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/opt-out/
The insidestory onsaving lives
The University’s strategic planManchester 2020 lists one of our goals ascontributing to the social and economicsuccess of the local, national andinternational community. Our newengagement campaign to encourage staff to highlight how they are ‘making a difference’ to society was launchedfeaturing campus installations and a newblog. Here UniLife looks at a colleague wecan be proud of…
Professor Tony Peyton is using electromagnetics toimprove people’s lives – from testing the quality offood to detecting landmines in war-torn countries.
Tony and the team at the School of Electrical andElectronic Engineering investigate ways to useelectromagnetics for a range of inspection applications.
Their work – which involves formulating algorithmsto describe the signals received – has a huge rangeof applications, including revealing themicrostructure of a steel component, testing thequality of food, detecting whether a person iscarrying a hidden weapon or just a mobile phoneand locating buried objects.
Tony says: “I’m lucky to have good connections withmany companies, charities and organisations, who wepartner to provide technological solutions for arange of real-world problems. We also work closelywith other Schools in Engineering and Physical
Sciences.
“A recent example, of which I am most proud, is ‘Find A Better Way’; a charity founded byManchester United and England legend Sir BobbyCharlton. This charity is dedicated to providingpractical, humanitarian solutions to the globalproblem of landmines.
“Our team is working with Find a Better Way to findquicker, effective and safer solutions to the problemof detecting landmines in war torn countries acrossthe world. It is early days but we have alreadyidentified that we can use the technology developedand tested in Manchester to find a solution that willhelp reduce the huge amount of time spent dealingwith metallic clutter rather than landmines byhumanitarian clearance teams.
“Saving this time will ultimately save lives, as moreeffort can be focused on the challenge of clearing
these devastating weapons.”
Professor Tony Peyton at work with his team
Tony (left) with Sir Bobby Charlton
