Bangor International April 2018

Bangor International April 2018

No. 1 in the UK for Clubs and Societies WhatUni 2017

Bangor University Shortlisted for 8 Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2018 Bangor University has been shortlisted for 8 of 12 Awards in this year’s Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2018, with the nominations based on the excellent reviews and opinions of the University’s own students.

The Whatuni Student Rankings are based on averages taken from tens of thousands of reviews submitted by students and published on Whatuni.com.

Professor John G Hughes, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the news saying:

“I’m delighted that our students have again this year shown their support and appreciation for the education and experience offered at Bangor. This reflects our focus on providing world-class teaching and research and an all-round student-centred university experience.”

Professor Carol Tully, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students), said:

“We’re extremely proud of our relationship with our students and work in partnership with them to

ensure that their time at Bangor University is both enjoyable and rewarding. It’s wonderful to see the hard work done across the University and the Students Union acknowledged in this way once again.”

Eleni Cashell, Editor of Whatuni,

“Being nominated for an award is a huge achievement, because the only judges at the WUSCAs are the students themselves. It showcases to both prospective students and the higher education sector that your institution offers value for money, provides a good student experience and has a highly

satisfied and supported student community.”

Jonah Duffin, Chief Marketing Officer of Whatuni.com parent company Hotcourses Group, said: "Nothing sells the value of an institution to prospective students more than hearing from current students how fantastic their university experience is. This nomination is an invaluable marketing tool."

The official 2018 Whatuni Student Rankings will be announced on 19th of April at a ceremony in London.

In this issue of our newsletter...

l Award Winners l Research News l Take a look at our International Student Newsletter here:

https://www.bangor.ac.uk/international/support/news/international-student-newsletter-march-2018-36024 www.bangor.ac.uk/international

£5 Million EU investment in Centre for Environmental Biotechnology A world-leading scientific facility will be developed at Bangor University following a £5m EU funding boost the Energy and Rural Affairs Secretary, Lesley Griffiths, announced on the 18th January.

The funding will help create the Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, which will position the University at the cutting edge of research into how natural materials can be utilised within industrial products and processes.

The investment will enable the University to work on major research and development projects with global businesses in sectors including life sciences, pharmaceutical, energy and manufacturing.

The facility will provide state-ofthe-art equipment and worldleading expertise for identifying and isolating enzymes in extremophiles. These are

microorganisms that thrive in extreme conditions such as high temperature, salinity, or acidity.

The enzymes can then be used to transform industrial processes in key sectors of the economy.

Speaking at an event in North Wales on Regional Investment in Wales after Brexit, Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, said:

“Supporting initiatives that further pioneering scientific research is a key aim of the Welsh Government.

This investment will create a centre of excellence for groundbreaking research, encouraging inward investment and ensure Wales can take advantage of the economic impact that this rapidly expanding industrial area could bring.

“This is one of many examples of how EU funds are supporting our nation’s economy, supporting

growth and jobs, and demonstrates the importance of Wales receiving replacement funding from the UK Government after we leave the EU.” The Centre for Environmental Biotechnology will also include investment from Bangor University. It will be located on the Deiniol Road site and will form the first part of a planned major redevelopment of the University’s science and engineering area.

Co-leader Professor Peter Golyshin said: “These enzymes have wide application in many industrial processes such as in the pharmaceutical industry. The project will utilise state-of-the-art analytical equipment which will put North Wales at the forefront of developments in this exciting area of biotechnology.”

Refurbishment work to develop the centre began mid February.

‘Hen Blant Bach’ nominated for International Film & Television Award A programme, of which Bangor University was an integral part, has received international praise by reaching the 2018 New York Festivals International Film and Television Awards final.

‘Hen Blant Bach’, a production by ‘Darlun’ production company is nominated in the Community Portraits category. The series was a new factual format for S4C, and followed the social experiment which brought older people and nursery children together to share their day care. The programmes documented the transformative positive effects that can be brought about by bringing these two

groups together.

Sharing their insights in the programmes were Bangor University psychologist, Dr Catrin Hedd Jones of the School of Healthcare Sciences and Dr Nia Williams of the School of Education, seen on screen, and Prof Bob Woods.

Under the watchful eye of the two psychologists, the viewers received an expert commentary what happens when this age gap is bridged and the resulting positive effects.

Dr Nia Williams of the School of Education commented:

“The nomination is an incredible acknowledgement of the research work and a fantastic opportunity to put Wales and Bangor University on the map.

The 2018 New York International Film and Television awards will be held in Las Vegas on 10 April, 2018.

My Quest for a Dream Career

By Gracious M. Ali, a Commonwealth Masters Scholar from Malawi - MSc Public Health and Health Promotion “My dad, an agricultural extension professional who has devoted his life helping local farmers, has been a great role model and inspired my interest in community service. When I graduated from high school, I didn’t think twice about following in my dad’s footsteps and applied for admission into a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Extension at the University of Malawi.

However, two years into my studies, I discovered that, although community service is in my blood, agriculture was not my field. I had developed an unquenchable interest in public health.

I graduated from the university in 2012, determined to chase every opportunity that could gain me entry into public health and by good fortune and hard work, I secured a job with an international organization, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), supporting the Ministry of Health in Malawi to scale up community management of acute malnutrition in children under five years. I was offered the challenging but exciting task of coordinating the supply chain of malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia drugs for 504 village clinics for under-fives.

Despite the fact that I had landed myself a job in the field I longed for, I still felt that I could do much greater things if I acquired the appropriate technical knowledge and skills in public health. I therefore decided to do whatever I possibly could to further my studies, with the particular aim of studying public health at Master’s level. In 2015, I started my applications to my preferred universities.

Unfortunately, these resulted in the familiar “we regret to inform you that your application for admission was unsuccessful”

emails, as I was deemed ineligible.

“Life goes on!” I assured myself, and planned to bounce back with another round of applications the following year, while in the meantime adding one more year of public health work experience to help make my application stronger.

Upon handing over the supplychain project to the Ministry of Health at the end March of 2015, I was immediately greeted with another exciting assignment, supporting the Ministry of Health in the national roll out of injectable Artesunate, a newly recommended first-line treatment for severe malaria.

2016 was upon us, bringing the opportunity to resume Master’s applications, targeting the same universities, but this time around with more upbeat replies “We are pleased to inform you that your application….”. How imagination catches reality! I was offered admission into a total of four programmes and I settled for the MSc in Public Health and Health Promotion at Bangor University.

However, I still had one more mountain to climb, I had not yet secured funding for a September 2016 start, which meant I had to request to defer my admission into the 2017/18 academic year.

My only hopes for funding were the Commonwealth Commission and Chevening scholarships, two prestigious UK government scholarships for overseas students. I was fortunately shortlisted for both schemes, and was eventually awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship.

I enrolled at Bangor University in September 2017 and truth be told, my world has tremendously changed during the few months I have been at Bangor. The teaching and research at the university are of high quality, the people are

L-R: Gracious M.Ali with Vice Chancellor Prof. John G. Hughes friendly, and the environment is quiet and pleasant. I have no regrets on choosing Bangor University!

My immediate plan upon completion of my studies is to return back to Malawi, and contribute to government programmes that are intended to address health inequalities.

Further, I wish to become a successful public health social entrepreneur to enable me to address such inequalities at local and national levels in a sustainable manner.

Although I do not yet consider myself successful, I am confident that I am a better version today of what I was yesterday. I am certain that I was meant to be and belong in this field, and that I am on the right path to success.

I would like to encourage everyone out there caught in the valley of dreams versus reality; do not quench out the flame inside you, pursue your dreams, and face whatever hiccups life presents you until you can shout “I overcame and I made it!” The sky is the limit.”

Research News

Bending light

Bangor University graduate from India wins award

Dr Liyang Yue at School of Electronic Engineering is the lead author of a paper recently published in the scientific journal "Optics Letters” which reports on a new way to produce a curved light beam, and which has created some interest among scientists since its recent publication.

At the recent NUS Connect International Student Conference in Sheffield (27th-28th February), one of our recent graduates from India – Ms Charu Dada, won the ‘ International Student of the Year Award 2018’.

The new type of curved light beam (one called the ‘Airy beam’ already exists), which the researchers have named the “photonic hook” could have important future applications such being used to as trap or move particles in microfluidic on-chip devices, miniaturization of photonic components and circuits, enhancement of terahertz signal for communication and imaging uses and even for guiding electric arcs such as lightning.

"I was both thrilled and honored to hear that I won the NUS International Student of the Year 2018 award. To receive this award is both personally and professionally fulfilling to me. It gives me great confidence to know that my contributions have had a positive impact on the international students in Bangor University as well as the local community. It is both gratifying and validating to be recognized for one's work. I would like to thank the International Student Support Office for providing me with

On release, MIT Technology Review, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) magazine, immediately listed the paper as the best paper in January’s arXiv database, at Cornell University, which is the world's premier e-print repository in physics, math, computer science and related disciplines, and the most interesting preprints in its weekly review. After official publication, it also became the journal website’s top download.

Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/ research/bending-light-36274

Charu recently completed a EdD Education degree at the School of Education.

Ms Charu Dada opportunities which enriched my student experience manifold."

Wales-China Festival A new festival produced and curated by Invertigo Theatre Company and Bangor University’s Arts and Innovation Centre, Pontio took place during the Chinese New Year weekend (16 - 18 February 2018), exploring the creative connection between Wales and China.

Prof John G. Hughes, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University said:

“I am excited about the establishment of this ambitious new China-Wales Festival with its fresh and bold approach to cultural exchange – it is a very welcome addition to the Pontio offer.”

Honorary Research Fellowships for Bangor Alumni Dr Xianqing JIN from the School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China and Dr Jinlong Wei Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf have both been recently appointed Honorary Research Fellow at Bangor University. Dr Jin is a former PhD student of Electronic Engineering at Bangor and after undertaking post-doctoral work at Cambridge University has taken up an academic post at one of China’s premier research institutions. He has been recognised by the Chinese Government as a future research leader and is keen to establish stronger collaborative links with Bangor. Dr Wei is also a former PhD student of Electronic Engineering at Bangor and now holds an influential position within the European Research Division of the largest Telecoms manufacture in the World – Huawei. He is keen to support Bangor and its work with Huawei and has already provided support to existing activities.

Professor Paul Spencer, Dean of the College of Environmental

Professor Paul Spencer Sciences and Engineering said: “Electronic Engineering at Bangor University has a long track record of research excellence in communications and it currently focussing on the use of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) in next generation (5G) mobile communications applications. It is excellent to see two former PhD students, who now hold significant posts in industry and academia, agreeing to support the optical communications research group’s ambitions to establish an internationally leading DSP centre in Wales and help the realise north Wales as a testbed for 5G development.“

Visceral Mind Summer School September 2018 The School of Psychology at Bangor University will be holding a handson course in The Neuroanatomy of Cognition between 3 - 7 September 2018.

The cost will be £620 and includes accommodation (B&B), course fees, conference dinner and excursions.

Visit the link for further information: http://visceralmind.bangor.ac.uk/

Research News Finding new ways to identify and treat the most challenging brain cancers A large European research collaboration is bringing new technology to bear to combat two of the most aggressive brain cancers.

The research project combines the expertise of leading biologists and electronic engineers to develop innovative microtechnology devices that will ultimately be able to identify and treat Glioblastoma multiforme and Medulloblastoma cancer stem cells.

Scientists now believe that stem cells play a role in the recurrence of certain cancers, including these two aggressive forms, as they persist beyond current treatments and can cause tumour re-growth. Conventional treatments target rapidly proliferating differentiated cells rather than quiescent cancer stem cells, which are also difficult to identify based on standard labelling approaches.

Working with microbiologists at Padua and Limoges universities, Dr Cristiano Palego at Bangor University’s School of Electronic Engineering brings his microelectronics expertise to the project.

Commenting on early success of the project, he said that despite very different approaches, from the biologists and engineers, the initial stage project was progressing well.

The innovative research project, which is to run for 42 months, is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 framework Programme.

Student News

From Paris to Bangor

Medical Cannabis and the UK, a possible relationship?

Recently, Jonathan Joe Hernández González, an international Masters student at Bangor University met with the leader of Plaid Cymru (Political Party of Wales) in Cardiff, Mrs. Leanne Wood to show the results from his dissertation related to the actual perception of cannabis in North Wales.

Mr. Hernández presented Mrs Wood with his data which was collected from British citizens living in North Wales. The data included the thoughts and beliefs of people aged between 18 and 90 years old have about cannabis in general, the perception of the plant, the issues related to the benefits in some diseases, and their opinions from a possible consumption if a doctor recommends the use of cannabis for treating some symptoms after an eventual legalisation.

Jonathan’s document is aligned with the party’s political agenda that is being debated in the National Assembly for Wales, where the Welsh Government should ask the UK Government to reschedule cannabis for medicinal purposes.

L-R: Frank Fitzmaurice, Executive Director of Marketing, Bangor University Dr Marc Du Peloux, EBS Director of Programmes, Bangor University Vice Chancellor, Prof. John G Hughes, Julie Pidell ,Director of International Relations, European Business School, Paris (EBS) Bangor University received a partnership visit from ‘The European Business School (EBS) and ECE Paris’, on the 15 and 16th January 2018.

Both institutions are private schools with top national rankings.

Bangor University currently has an Erasmus Exchange / Study Abroad partnership with both institutions and the visit was set-up to discuss further collaboration and to view the facilities. The delegates, Dr Marc Du Peloux, EBS Director of Programmes and Julie Pidell , Director of International Relations, European Business School, Paris (EBS) met with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor John G. Hughes along with Frank Fitzmaurice, Executive Director of Marketing, pictured above. Further meetings also took place during the visit with the School of Business, the School of Psychology and the School of Electronic Engineering.

Iwan Roberts, Head of International Partnerships and

Caroline Pearson from Bangor University’s Partnerships Office recently visited both institutions in Paris between the 16 - 18th November 2017, in a bid to recruit students for study abroad placements, and have since received 35 study abroad students for the 2017/18 academic year, all to be based in the School of Electronic Engineering.

School of Psychology lecturer, Gareth Harvey has also just completed a short teaching assignment in EBS Paris where he gave some classes on Consumer Behaviour to their masters’ students.

More information on our Study Abroad and Exchanges opportunities can be seen in the link below: www.bangor.ac.uk/ international/exchanges/index .php.en

PhD student from Bangladesh wins International Pediatrics Conference award Ms Syeda Fardina Mehrin (Dina), a research investigator at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh and a PhD student working with Dr Henningham recently received the International Developmental Pediatrics congress research award for her work on “Long-Term Effects Of Psychosocial Stimulation On The Behavior Of Malnourished Children Who Participated In A Previous Study Of Psychosocial Stimulation." The award, which attracted entries from over 30 countries, was presented to Dina in Mumbai and is designed to promote young researchers and encourage innovative ideas and groundbreaking research findings.

Dina’s study was a follow-up of a cluster randomized controlled trial

conducted in 20 villages in rural areas of Bangladesh. In 2000, 214 difficulties and better prosocial behaviour compared to the malnourished children in the comparison group who had not participated in the original 1 year intervention a decade and a half mothers and their malnourished children (aged 6-24 months old) participated in a 1 year parenting intervention. This intervention led to significant improvements to children’s language, cognition and behaviour compared to malnourished children who did not receive the parenting intervention.

Dina’s follow up study, conducted in 2015, tested 90% of the children from the original study (by then 17-18 yrs old). Dina found that the malnourished children who participated in the intervention had

significantly fewer behaviour previously. This is strong evidence of considerable longevity in terms of positive effects for parenting intervention and underlines the importance of delivering those interventions at an early age.

The International Developmental Pediatrics congress is held every two years with the mission of creating a scientific international platform to connect and support clinicians, researchers and policy makers working in the field of Developmental Pediatrics and related disciplines from around the world. Researchers, Clinicians, different professionals working with childhood disability from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America participated in the congress.

Internationals Go Green!

Beach Clean 2018 A team of 50 international students from all over the World took part in a Beach Clean in Criccieth, Wales on Saturday, 25th of March.

This event was organised by the International Student Support Office at Bangor University as part of their Sustainability Project: Rhyngwladol Wyrdd!/ Internationals Go Green! together with The North Wales Wildlife Trust.

In only 2 hours, 26 big bags of litter had been collected!

www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Meet us in your country in 2018 We shall be visiting the following countries between April and July 2018: Pakistan Saudi Arabia Canada USA -

April April April - May April - May

China India Hong Kong -

April & July May July

If your country is not listed above then you may contact the relevant Country Manager listed below, OR visit our country visits page for more information: www.bangor.ac.uk/international/visits

Country Managers Karen Jones Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388207 : Email: k.m.jones@bangor.ac.uk Country Manager responsible for: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

Maggie Parke Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388416 : Email: maggie.parke@bangor.ac.uk Country Manager responsible for: The Americas: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, USA Michael Rogerson Tel: +44 (0) 1248 383648 : Email: m.rogerson@bangor.ac.uk

Office Contacts International Office IEC, Bangor University Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1248382028 E-mail: international@bangor.ac.uk Web: www.bangor.ac.uk

Partnerships Office IEC, Bangor University Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, U.K.

Country Manager responsible for: European Union Countries

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388325 E-mail: c.billing@bangor.ac.uk Web: www.bangor.ac.uk

Noor Al-Zubaidi Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382879 : Email: n.al-zubaidi@bangor.ac.uk

Bangor International College

Country Manager responsible for: Middle East and North Africa including: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, Qatar International students in the UK Sarah Jones-Morris Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388843 : Email: s.jones-morris@bangor.ac.uk Country Manager responsible for: Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon Central Asia - including Azerbaijan.

Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore Sukhjinder Bhatti Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388874 : Email: s.bhatti@bangor.ac.uk Country Manager responsible for: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka

Oswalds Building, Victoria Drive Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, U.K. Tel: 01248 383 783 E-mail: bic@bangor.ac.uk

Beijing Office Bangor University Room A029, 3rd Floor, The Exchange Beijing, B-118, Jianguo Road Chaoyang District Beijing, P.R. China 100022 Tel: 010-58902596; 010-58902597 E-mail: luna.wu@bangor.ac.uk Web: www.bangor.org.cn

Please do contact us if you would like one of our international officers to visit your school or if you need any advice. www.facebook.com/BangorUniversityInternational

@BangorUni_intl