Bangor International: June 2015 by Bangor University

Bangor International June 2015 New MSc at Bangor generating electricity and jobs in marine renewable energy Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences has developed a new 1-year MSc in Marine Renewable Energy. Marine renewable energy uses the natural power of waves and tides to generate electricity. Marine renewables is an exciting, fast growing, high tech industry that has the potential to become one of the largest high tech exportable industries in the UK economy. This new postgraduate taught course will train the next generation of scientists. Those graduating from the programme will be in high demand across the marine renewable energy sector, working for device developers as resource analysts, entering oceanographic consultancies working on in situ and modelling studies for the wave & tidal industry, geophysical surveying for the industry. There will also be opportunities to work on grid infrastructure (National Grid) and cabling, working for governmentsponsored environmental bodies such as Natural Resources Wales, assessing environmental impacts. For further information visit: www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/ postgraduate/marine-renewableenergy-msc

Bangor University and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics sign up to future collaborations With shared interests principally in the development of expertise and training relating to Biological and Life Sciences, but also Engineering, Business, Management and Computational Sciences, both organisations share a similar vision for the economic development, vitality and vibrancy of the north Wales economy as a whole. Dr Fraser Logue, Vice President Operations and Managing Director at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics and Professor John G Hughes, Vice-Chancellor of Bangor University

Bangor University and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics have signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding which will enable both organisations to work more closely together in future years. Based at the Glyn Rhonwy site in Llanberis, some 15 minutes away from the University, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics employs around 500 people as part of Siemens Healthcare which is one of the world’s largest suppliers of technology to the healthcare industry. The company is a pioneer in medical technologies that help deliver a better quality of healthcare. It is also one of the Welsh Government’s ‘Anchor Companies’ – designated as such because of its importance to the economy of Wales as a whole.

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

“To have a global entity such as Siemens on the University’s doorstep, with so many shared interests, both academically and in the economic development of the region, presents us with a great opportunity to jointly develop our staff, provide unrivalled work and study experience for our undergraduates and postgraduates as well as to work together for the benefit of the region as a whole.” “I am delighted, therefore, that we now have in place this formal framework which will enable us to collaborate in a more structured, planned and effective manner, for the mutual benefit of all, over the years to come.”

In this issue of our newsletter... u

Bangor University’s Expeditions u Law School Award www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/latest/ bangor-university-and-siemenshealthcare-diagnostics-sign-up-tofuture-collaborations-22756

Research News Signposts for improving cancer survival rates in Wales The findings of a new in-depth study of cancer could pin-point ways to improve cancer survival rates in Wales. The results of the latest International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) study revealed today in the BMJ Open is the first to show that GP’s readiness to investigate for cancer – either directly or by referral to secondary care – correlates with cancer survival. In addition, the survey reveals that GPs in the UK and within Wales, were less likely in an online survey using examples of clinical cases, to refer or investigate patients with possible cancer symptoms when they first present, compared with the other countries in the study: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Professor Richard Neal from Bangor University who led the study for Wales said:

“The findings from this study are incredibly helpful in our continuing efforts to understand the factors that might help to improve the early diagnosis of cancer in Wales. My view is that if we can find ways of getting some GPs to refer or investigate patients with potential cancer symptoms just that little bit earlier, this is likely to improve our patients’ chances of survival.”

Bangor University in the Indian Ocean Marine biologists from Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences have recently returned from a science and conservation expedition to the British Indian Ocean Territory, currently the world’s largest Marine Reserve, located 7° south of the equator, below the Maldives. The region is large at 640,000 km², remote and mostly uninhabited, and contains the best examples of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, and some of the best in the world. Dr John Turner, the Expedition Leader, explains: “The marine protected area is important because it serves as a reference or control site, indicating how tropical ecosystems function in the absence of direct human impacts, such as coastal development, effluent, and overfishing which degrade ecosystems such as coral reefs. Further, we can study how marine ecosystems can respond to changes in climate when protected from such degrading forces, which informs Government policy and management of these areas.” The research is the final part of a 3 year project awarded to Bangor

University from DEFRA’s Darwin Initiative: To Strengthen the World’s Largest Marine Protected Area, Chagos Archipelago. The Darwin Initiative funds research to protect biodiversity and the natural environment through locally based projects worldwide. Dr Turner led the international team of scientists from UK, Australia and America on the third of three expeditions to Chagos last month. The shallow reefs of Chagos are scattered in deep water over an area of 60,000 km² and therefore the researchers access them aboard the British Indian Ocean Territory’s patrol vessel, the ‘Pacific Marlin’. Dr Turner said: “Once close to a study site, diving operations are run from 5 inflatable boats on seaward reefs or by venturing inside the lagoons of the atolls, and trying to land on the small islands. We revisit specific sites on each expedition to assess change, but also take every opportunity to explore new sites on submerged banks and patch reefs – we are still discovering what is there, having seen less than 2% of the area.”

Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/research/signposts-for-improving-cancer-survival-rates-in-wa les-22954

Read the full story and see more images here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/latest/bangor-in-the-indian-ocean-23005

Bangor University group return from Himalayan expedition The expedition group at base camp.

Research News

£1.7m National Lottery grant to protect UK’s threatened marine life Thousands of ‘citizen scientists’ to be trained to monitor and protect marine life around the UK’s coastline

Academics from Bangor University have recently returned from an expedition to the Himalayas as part of a research project to investigate altitude related illness. Researchers Dr Samuel Oliver and Dr Jamie Macdonald, PhD student Gabriella Rossetti and undergraduate Sport Science student James Pollard - all from Bangor University’s School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences - were part of the 55-strong team comprising of medical doctors, scientists and mountain rescuers, who took part in the ﬁve-week expedition. Organised by Medical Expeditions (MEDEX), the expedition followed a trekking route to the 8000 m mountain Manaslu, reaching base camp at 5000 m where the team set up solar laboratories to conduct their research. The extreme winter weather made the conditions challenging at times, but the team were able to complete medical research with the aim of enhancing the health and performance of people who go into high altitude environments. Physiology Lecturer Dr Samuel Oliver, who is part of the Extremes Research Group within the School of Sport, Health and

Exercise Sciences, commented: “The reason we took part in this expedition was to complete research that will allow us to educate mountaineers, trekkers and their doctors about the nature and avoidance of altitude related illness.”

“The weather, with lots of deep snow and heavy rain, was a particular challenge on this expedition. However, conducting research in such an environment is necessary if we want to understand what it’s really like. Studying people at high altitude over many days is just not possible in a lab – to actually study physiology and psychology at high altitude, then an expedition like this is the best way to do it.” The Bangor University research team’s work now continues back in the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, where students will be helping with the work of collating and analysing the data collected over the coming weeks. They hope to disseminate and publish their research ﬁndings in due course, with the aim of also making the information available to trekkers and climbers. Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/latest/ bangor-university-group-returnfrom-himalayan-expedition-23042

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded £1.7million to “Capturing our Coast”, a project designed to explore how the marine environment is responding to global climate change. The project will train over 3,000 volunteers – making it the largest experimental marine citizen science project ever undertaken in the UK. The volunteers will collect data around key species and it is hoped the new research will help inform future policy and conservation strategies. The project is led by Newcastle University’s Dove Marine Laboratory and involves the universities of Hull, Portsmouth, Bangor and the Scottish Association for Marine Science. It also involves a number of organisations including the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, the Marine Conservation Society, Earthwatch Institute, the Natural History Museum, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Cefas and the Coastal Partnerships Network. Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/research/-1-7m-national-lotterygrant-to-protect-uk-s-threaten ed-marine-lif-23141

Research News Successful conclusion to Sustainable Fisheries Resources Project Hannah FinchSaunders and Robyn Cloake (research assistants) with a lobster (Homarus gammarus) during the research project.

Miriam scoops Employability Excellence Award prize by Professor Carol Tully, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Students.

A three year data gathering project to help Welsh fishers work sustainably culminated with a presentation at Bangor University recently. The £2M Sustainable Use of Fisheries Resources in Welsh Waters Project was funded by the European Fisheries Fund and the Welsh Government. Academics from the University’s School of Ocean Sciences worked closely with the Welsh Fishermen’s Association who welcomed the study which will help future proof the fishing industry. Jim Evans, Chairman of the Welsh Fishermen’s Association, said: "Fundamentally, the collaboration between fishermen and scientists in Wales that has developed through the term of this project, has not only produced invaluable scientific evidence on a variety of species of importance to Welsh fishermen, it will also leave a legacy that will enable fishermen and fisheries managers to maintain the evidence base providing astrong regional dimension to inform future decision making at a Welsh and EU level. I would like to extend my thanks to all the fishermen and their Fishermen's Associations for the vital contribution they have made to this project and of course a big thank you to the Fisheries & Science Conservation Team at Bangor University."

Pro-Vice Chancellor Carol Tully presents Miriam Mbah with the Employability Excellence prize Miriam Mbah, a third year Law with Criminology LLB student, was recently awarded the Bangor University Employability Excellence prize at the annual Employability Celebration evening. The aim of the event is to congratulate and showcase students who have taken part in the Bangor Employability Award. Miriam, who also made a presentation at the celebration evening detailing what employability meant to her, demonstrated exceptional commitment to developing her employability skills whilst studying for her LLB. She was awarded her

Commenting on Miriam’s success, Stephen Clear, Miriam’s Personal Tutor and Law BEA Co-Coordinator for Student Projects and Initiatives, stated: “Miriam has consistently strived for the best grades alongside her extensive engagement in extra- and co-curricular activities. Not only has she held down a part time job while completing her studies, but she has also entered several mooting competitions, including the K.K. Luthra India Moot in New Delhi. Furthermore, she has completed an internship with the Institute for Competition and Procurement Studies’ Procurement Week team, has been President of the Afro-Caribbean Society, a Student Coordinator within the School’s Legal World Series programme, and had a very active role on the School’s Staﬀ-Student Committee. This is in addition to her impressive number of law work experience placements.” Stephen added: “this award is a fantastic and well deserved acknowledgement of all her hard work and determination to be a very employable and commercially aware graduate.”

Your Brain at the Supermarket Take a look at the short ﬁlm made for the British Council by Professor James Intriligator of Bangor University’s School of Psychology. James’ ﬁlm has received the most views in that particular series and has proved very popular:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Dw72KID1M

Bangor Law School recognised for its support of international students

Research News Funding boost for the National Centre for Population Health & Wellbeing Research Bangor, Swansea and Cardiﬀ Universities have recently won £2,249,927 funding from Health and Care Research Wales (formerly NISCHR) to lead the National Centre for Population Health and Wellbeing Research (NCPHWR), an all Wales Research Centre. The aim of the NCPHWR is to make a signiﬁcant impact upon the health and wellbeing of the population of Wales through applied research.

L-R: Head of School Professor Dermot Cahill, Dr Marie Parker, Li Ling Tang and Stephen Clear at the 2015 SLTAs

Bangor Law School recently celebrated another night of teaching award success at this year’s Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTA). Organised annually by the Student Union in conjunction with the University, the SLTAs afford students an opportunity to nominate any member of staff in a range of categories from “Support Staff Member of the Year” to “Teacher of the Year.” This year nearly 300 nominations were received, spanning the full range of staff positions and departments. Three members of Law School staff were short-listed for awards this year, namely lecturers Dr Marie Parker and Stephen Clear in the ‘International Award’ category, for their work with the Legal World Series, and for the pastoral care and support of international students; and Li Ling Tang, International Relationships and Programmes Officer, in the ‘Support Staff’ category, for aiding and welcoming new Masters and

postgraduate law students to Bangor. Although both categories were fiercely competitive, the Law School staff made the final six in each of their respective categories. On the night, Stephen went on to win the International Award, with the reasons for his award success being given by his students as: “He makes a conscious effort with international students to understand how they are finding Bangor. He enhances their student experience by having an open door policy to answer any questions they may have, no matter how big or how small.”

“Stephen promotes internationalisation and awareness of diﬀerent cultures, religious beliefs and nationalities.” “He has an amazing ability to recognise students who may be struggling and encourages the use of support services, or engagement in Student Union clubs and societies.”

The centre is set to make Wales a world leader in population health science by generating an evidence base for public health policies, services and interventions and implementing findings on a scale that makes a population level impact. Led at Bangor University by Professor Jane Noyes from the School of Social Sciences in association with Professor Ronan Lyons and an executive team of scientists from the Universities of Swansea, Cardiff and Bangor, and Chief Executive of Children in Wales and Director of Research Public Health Wales, NCPHWR will coordinate population health research for the first time in Wales. Professor Jane Noyes said “Researchers in the School of Social Sciences at Bangor University will make an important contribution to the work of NCPHWR, which will provide a critical focus for population health research across the University and nationally.”

Ban

Bangor Law School: top 10 mooters in Europe

Bangor University in Vietnam

Team Bangor outside the Peace Palace: (L-R) Katherine Gildner, Elizabeth Strange, student coach Aaron Clegg, Scott Sharp and William Carlsen

Bangor Law School students have ranked amongst the top 10 mooting teams in Europe following their outstanding performance at a major competition. William Carlsen, Elizabeth Strange, Scott Sharp and Katherine Gildner faced 24 teams from across Europe at the Telders International Moot Court Competition in The Hague, the Netherlands, last week. They ﬁnished a fantastic 9th in the Respondents category, and, in an amazing coup, three of the four team members were ranked amongst the top 20 oralists in the entire competition, with ﬁrst year undergraduate student Elizabeth coming sixth out of all 96 competitors. This is the third time that Bangor University has represented Wales at the Telders competition. The team’s success is testament to the lively mooting environment at Bangor Law School, where students regularly compete at internal, national and even international levels.

“I could not be any prouder of the team,.” commented Dr McDermott Rees.

The team visiting an on-farm agroforestry demonstration plot of teak, coﬀee, plum, and strips of fodder grass, in Mai Son District, Northwest Vietnam

As part of a collaborative agreement between Bangor University and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Genevieve Lamond and Dr Tim Pagella from the School of Environment, Natural Resources & Geography recently ran a two week training course in Vietnam from 1st-12th June 2015. Participants included four of our MSc students (from the Environmental Forestry, Agroforestry, and Sustainable Tropical Forestry degree programmes) and researchers from ICRAF and national research institutes in Vietnam and Laos. The focus was eliciting and analysing local knowledge using the Agroecological Knowledge Toolkit (AKT), a methodology and software

developed at Bangor University, to better understand opportunities for increasing tree cover in a landscape prone to heavy soil erosion. The ﬁndings from the two week research study will be used to inform future activities under a project called AFLI (Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers in Northwest Vietnam) which is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the CGIAR Forests, Trees and Agroforestry programme. This has been a fantastic opportunity for our students to get involved in real-world research and work in interdisciplinary teams with people of diﬀerent cultural backgrounds.

Group discussions in class during the training course in Northwest Vietnam

Bangor University in Qatar

Emoji ‘fastest growing language’

A Bangor University professor has teamed up with mobile giant TalkTalk to launch a new national PR campaign to help understand emojis – the picture based language.

Visitors from Qatar University on board the Prince Madog, L-R:Dr Jeﬀ Obbard, Dr Ibrahim Al-Ansari, Prof. Chris Richardson, Dr Ibrahim Al-Malsamani, Prof Lewis Le Vay, Prof Colin Jago

Three years ago a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for academic cooperation was established between Bangor and Qatar universities. The initial focus of the link has been on marine sciences, with several joint research projects between the Centre for Applied Marine Sciences and the Environmental Studies Centre at QU, building on a long history of collaboration with former PhD and MSc students now in academic positions at Qatar University. As a result of the link, several large joint research projects are now up and running with funding from the Qatar National Research Foundation. In addition, Qatar University has also directly supported exchange visits, including two joint research cruises in the Arabian

Gulf on their research vessel RV Janan. Building on this success, a five year renewal of the MOU has recently been agreed, with the intention of expanding and broadening the scope of cooperation between the two universities. To mark the start this new phase in the relationship, staff from the Environmental Studies Center, led by director Dr Jeff Obbard with Dr Ibrahim Al-Maslamani and Dr Ibrahim Al-Ansari, visited Bangor to explore potential for wider links across the College of Natural Science. The team met a range of staff in all three schools in CNS and explored ideas for student exchange, PhD opportunities and new areas for collaborative research."

Emoji is being adopted at a faster rate than any other language - that’s the verdict of a new study which reveals that 8 in 10 Brits (80%) are now using the colourful symbols to communicate. The ‘Emoji IQ’ study by TalkTalk Mobile is the ﬁrst piece of in-depth research on UK adoption of the new visual language taking the world by storm. TalkTalk Mobile has teamed up with the School of Linguistics and English Language’s Professor Vyv Evans to explain emoji with an online ‘Emoji IQ’ tutorial. It’s accompanied by an Emoji IQ test to ﬁnd out whether you’re an Emoji Master, Emoji Enthusiast or Emoji Beginner. Professor Evans comments: “Emoji is the fastest growing form of language in history based on its incredible adoption rate and speed of evolution.

“As a visual language emoji has already far eclipsed hieroglyphics, its ancient Egyptian precursor which took centuries to develop.” Read the full story, which has had world wide coverage, here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/latest/emoji-fastest-growingnew-language-22835

www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Country Representatives Bing Li

Ali Khan

Maggie Parke

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388207 Email: b.li@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388874 Email: a.khan@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388416 Email: maggie.parke@bangor.ac.uk

Responsible for:

Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

Argentina Brazil Canada Chile

Sarah Jones-Morris

Noor Al-Zubaidi

Michael Rogerson

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388843 Email: s.jonesmorris@bangor.ac.uk

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

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 383648 Email: m.rogerson@bangor.ac.uk

Responsible for:

Brunei Russia Indonesia Singapore Kazakhstan Thailand Malaysia Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon

Bahrain Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Libya

European Union Countries

Mainland China Hong Kong Japan Philippines Singapore

South Korea Taiwan Vietnam

Oman Saudi Arabia Turkey UAE Qatar

Colombia Mexico USA

International students in the UK

Upcoming Visits for 2015 We shall be visiting the following countries in June and July 2015: Cameroon - June Thailand - June

Vietnam - June Hong Kong - July

Please do contact us if you would like one of our international oďŹ&#x192;cers to visit your school or if you need any advice. W: www.bangor.ac.uk/international E: international@bangor.ac.uk

www.facebook.com/BangorUniversityInternational

For further details about country visits please contact the relevant Country Manager.