Bangor International November 2017
No. 1 in the UK for Clubs and Societies WhatUni 2017
The UK Government’s “Teaching Excellence Framework” begins to shape international student choice According to ‘The Guardian’, international students are taking the UK Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) results seriously, and have noted some striking changes in the way students now research their potential choice of university. There have been some notable differences by country also, students from India, Thailand, Turkey and Brazil in particular are showing more of an interest in TEF gold institutions.
TEF Gold confirms Bangor University is: l l
Amongst the best in the UK for ‘Teaching Quality’ A world-class learning environment
TEF aims to recognise and reward excellence in teaching and learning, and help inform prospective students’ choices for higher education. Bangor University was rated ‘Gold’ when the results were released in June 2017, and was the only university in Wales to receive the Gold rating. www.theguardian.com/highereducationnetwork/2017/oct/16/ is-the-teaching-excellence-frameworkshaping-international-student-choice
In this issue of our newsletter...
l Chevening Scholars l Research News l Take a look at our International Student Newsletter here:
www.bangor.ac.uk/international/support/news/international-student-newsletter-november-2017-34522 www.bangor.ac.uk/international
Bangor Social Robotics Workshop A successful Social Robotics Workshop organised by Emily Cross, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the School of Psychology took place on the 17th & 18th of August at Bangor University. The workshop featured a dynamic mix of neuroscientists, psychologists, roboticists, and computer scientists from all over the world including Sweden, USA, Israel, Germany and Spain, who gathered to discuss and debate how social neuroscience and social cognition might inform and advance development in social robotics. ‘If we make friends with The workshop which took place in Powis Hall, in the Main Arts building at them, perhaps they won’t rise up Bangor University and kill us all’. Participants from Europe, America, and the UK saw Bangor in its best light and left with glowing feedback about this gathering that showed off Bangor’s facilities and research at their best!
A popularity contest in the robotic petting zoo - ESRC Impact Acceleration Award In keeping with the Robotics theme, Merel Bekking a designer and artist started her artist-inresidency in the Social Brain in Action laboratory during October. This residency is funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration Award to Emily Cross, a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Ruud Hortensius a Research Officer both from the School of Psychology. The goal of this programme is to develop projects that enrich the local community and communicate research through a collaboration between Bangor researchers and external artists. During her residency Merel will work together with Emily and Ruud and other members of the SoBA lab and the Social Robots project to create a robotic petting zoo.
About the project In this interactive public art performance by designer Merel Bekking, a small group of vacuuming robots, all with unique characters, compete in a popularity contest in a robotic petting zoo housed in Pontio, Bangor University’s Arts and Innovations Centre. The characters of the robots are developed in collaboration with a local community theatre group. Visitors of the zoo can interact and feed the robots, with a display showing the intermediate raking of the robots in the popularity contest. By feeding the robots, following their lives and personalities, and rooting for them to win the contest, visitors can interact with petting zoo robots and shape who wins the
popularity contest, and thus reveal more about the social relationships humans might forge with artificial agents.
The petting zoo is on display in Pontio during autumn.
To be a Chevener, by Julius Alejandre Julius Alejandre from the Philippines, writes about his experience of gaining a Chevening Scholarship to study the MSc Public Health & Health Promotion at the School of Healthcare Sciences, Bangor University:
"My childhood was not smooth sailing compared to other children in our neighbourhood. I was often bullied at school because of my short stature. At some point, I thought that my height had something to do with my capabilities and what I can achieve. Until I realised that there are things that I can be great at. These experiences fuelled my desire to reach my dreams when others think I cannot. In high school, one of my dreams was to study in the most prestigious university of the country – the University of the Philippines (UP). I passed the UP College Admission Test and was admitted to a pre-med course. I was the first in our family to be admitted in UP, and it was a great honour for them. On my first attempt applying for the Chevening Scholarship in 2014 I was not accepted, I was not even shortlisted for the interview. But failing on my first try did not discourage me to take other opportunities. Instead, I considered it as a motivation to do things like coordinating the development and implementation of the Philippine campaign for salt iodisation and food fortification, being a volunteer for our professional organisation, and helping organise the Philippine youth movement for the Sustainable Development Goals. I decided on a career goal - of being a public health specialist in the field of health promotion and health policy. Someone who has the expertise on the social and
Julius Alejandre, pictured by Sumlang Lake in front of the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines behavioural change strategies for interview questions, to having health and nutrition. mock interviews with friends, to I remember it was my birthday and reading interview experiences of past Chevening applicants. I was backpacking across Indonesia when I received that first #Alphagram from the Chevening Secretariat about the opening of the application season for 2017/18 Chevening Scholarships.
There is really no formula for the Chevening interview, and it is really up to you on how you will use the time to prepare for the “big day”.
Upon reading the mail, my initial question was, “Am I ready? What if I fail again?” One traveller whom I tagged along with whilst visiting a temple in Yogyakarta prompted me to pick up an answer.
The Philippines was one of the last countries that announced the final awardees for Chevening – it was 13th June. Mixed of emotions filled me up and even spilled over when I finally received my Chevening award email saying that I was #ChosenForChevening.
After that trip, I rolled up my sleeves, put my game face on, and started my application. It was 4th November when I finally turned in my application documents. Excitement and anxiety were always on its peak while waiting for the results of the first cut of applicants. It was 11th February, when I received an email saying that I got shortlisted for the interview stage of Chevening. I had roughly two months to prepare for it – a time not wasted. From answering possible
I will be taking MSc Public Health and Health Promotion in Bangor University in North Wales. A stunning university town fitted for an outdoorsy person like me. Their program in public health and health promotion is what I have been looking for – something that crossbreeds health promotion with social and behavioural sciences. I have now started a great journey which I conceived some three years ago."
Research News Howszat!- Bangor & the English and
Wales Cricket Board expand their ground breaking cricket training program
Developing new long-range micro backpacks for bees A project to develop a new means of tracking bees in the landscape is progressing well according our scientists at Bangor University. An ecologist and a microsystems engineer are working together to develop micro-backpacks for bees that will enable the bees to be followed by small drones as they fly from plant to plant. Paul Cross, Senior Lecturer in the University's School of Environment, Natural Resources & Geography explains:
"Bee populations, our vital crop and fruit pollinators, are in serious decline; their survival faces challenges on several fronts, insecticides and varroa mites to name a few. The ability to track bees or other insects over their entire foraging range will be useful in various circumstances. The ability to track them over long distances can help us work out how the nicotinoids are affecting their direction finding. Other applications include tracking Asian hornets (a serious threat to many bee species) in Europe with a view to controlling or eradicating them before it's too late." Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/ research/developing-new-longrange-micro-backpacks-forbees-33257
During the cricket season Bangor University’s School of Sports, Health & Exercise Sciences, in collaboration with the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), launched a new training programme that is the first of its kind. The team of six lead by Professor Lewis Hardy seeks to improve upon traditional training methods, which take a group approach, by instead focusing on the individual needs of the players. The programme will profile participants with the aim of enhancing performance under pressure in elite cricketers through individualised support and training techniques. The expansion of this programme follows a very successful pilot program in 2016, lead by Prof. Hardy that focused on five players identified by the ECB as having considerable potential. In the current project, there are nineteen players from six county clubs who will be taking part. Project lead Professor Lewis Hardy described the importance of the collaboration saying, "This collaborative project with the ECB is quite unique in its approach and will have considerable impact on both professional cricket in the UK and the delivery of applied sport psychology services more generally."
Prof Hardy’s team is part of the Institute for Psychology Of Elite Performance (IPEP) which is the largest concentration of performance based researchers in the country. The team consists of academics who bring a diverse set of subject skills which helps create a more complete picture of athlete development from analysis both psychological and physiological. The project is part of a push from the ECB to reduce the performance gap between clubs at the county and national level and comes after ten years of collaboration between them and the university. This project is another example of the type of impact activity based on research expertise that saw the School of Sports, Health & Exercise Sciences perform so well in the most recent UK Governments Research Excellence Framework where it was ranked as 7th in the UK alongside other elite university departments. This training programme is currently focused on male cricket; however, the research team anticipate that the techniques and methods developed during this project will be employed across other sports in the future. Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/sport/news/ howszat-bangor-the-ecb-expandtheir-ground-breaking-crickettraining-program-32647
Health Services Research Summer School Date: 2 - 6 July 2018 Website: www.bangor.ac.uk/healthcaresciences/research/ summer-school-2018/index.php.en
For information email: lynne.williams@bangor.ac.uk
We welcome our Chevening Scholars 2017
Research News Bangor University opens the first nuclear energy research institute in Wales The Nuclear Futures Institute has been established with funding from the Welsh Government’s Sêr Cymru programme, which is helping to attract world leading researchers to Wales, with funding also coming from the European Regional Development Fund and from the University.
5th from the right, Bangor University’s Vice Chancellor, Prof.John G Hughes pictured with this year’s Chevening Scholars
This year we proudly welcome Chevening Scholars from all over the world; Lopez Xochipa Fabian from Mexico, Abuasad Rawan from Palestine, Bayhaqi Aham from Indonesia, Alejandre Julius Cesar from the, Philippines, Sharma Bidhya from Nepal, Ashipala Valistinus Shaningwa from Namibia, Puertas Denis from Cuba, Burneebaatar Bolortsetseg from Mongolia, and Gonem Omaro Fawzi Abdelhami from Lybia.
The £6.5m programme will fund two new research centres in the newly established Nuclear Futures Institute. These will be led by distinguished and internationally renowned research leaders specialising in two key areas for the nuclear energy sector: Materials science, sensitive analysis, predictive modelling and complete systems.
Bangor student awarded Nigeria's Petroleum Technology Development Fund scholarship
The ambition is to establish Bangor University as a new centre of excellence in the UK and attract world leading researchers.
Chemistry student Baba Fugu Mohammed was recently awarded an Overseas Scholarship from Nigeria`s Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). The remit of the PTDF is to oversee the training and development of talented researchers in the fields of science and engineering who will promote wealth and prosperity upon their return to Nigeria.
Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone, PVC for Research at Bangor University said: “We are very excited about the potential that the Nuclear Futures Institute will offer for the University, our future students, and also to businesses active in the nuclear and other energy-related areas who are being increasingly attracted to North Wales. We also will be launching degree programmes which will meet regional needs within Wales and in the wider UK energy sector and will be highly relevant to other advanced manufacturing industries.”
The Chevening Scholarships are awarded by the UK government to outstanding scholars with leadership potential.
Fugu is currently a 3rd year PhD student working with Dr Leigh Jones on the design and synthesis of novel polydentate ligands towards magnetic cage architectures. Upon receiving news of his award, Fugu gave the following statement:
Baba Fugu Mohammed “It is an honour to receive this award and I would like to thank the PTDF for their generosity and the opportunity to forge a brighter future for me and my family. It is exciting that my country believes in me and my fellow successful applicants and we look forward to repaying their faith.”
Publications
Silver medal for Bangor student A Bangor University student brought home a silver medal for Wales from the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Australia recently. Weightlifter Catrin Jones, 18, from Bangor, began her studies as a Psychology student in September. Having had a great year on the competitive circuit, Catrin won silver in the junior competition which is for athletes up to 20 years old.
© Llenyddiaeth Cymru / Camera Sioned
Lecturer Alys Conran’s debut novel named Wales' Book of the Year 2017 Creative Writer and Lecturer Alys Conran was the stand- out winner at this year’s ‘Wales Book of the Year’ winning a hat-trick of Awards, scooping not only one of the main prizes, the English Book of the year Award, a specially commissioned trophy designed and created by the artist Angharad Pearce Jones, and a £4,000 prize, but also winning the Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award English fiction Award and the People’s Choice Award, all for her debut novel Pigeon.
A Bangor University Sports Scholarship Local Bursary recipient, Catrin has moved up a body weight class to the 53kg and Catrin Jones weighed in as one of the lightest athletes in this class, as her goal is to compete at the Commonwealth games in the 53kg class next year.
MSc Tropical Forestry students publish findings from their research in Ghana
Congratulating Alys Conran on her achievement, Andrew Webb, Head of the School of English Literature commented:
“This is wonderful news for Alys and thoroughly deserved recognition for her brilliant first novel Pigeon, which is set in north Wales. Alys is also a brilliant lecturer on the Creative Writing programme, we value the teaching and guidance of people who are themselves creative writing practitioners. This recognition underlines, were it necessary, just how outstanding Alys’ work is,”
Students from the MSc Tropical Forestry programme A group of MSc Tropical Forestry (distance learning) students from Bangor University have had their research published in a leading scientific publication, the International Forestry Review, the journal of the Commonwealth Forestry Association. The article “Reduced impact logging and silvicultural interventions in Ghana: the case of Bobiri Forest Reserve”, published in September 2017, presents the findings of research which was conducted as part of a tropical forestry study tour, during which students devised, prepared and conducted their own research, with supervision and guidance from School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography staff members.
Dr Liyang Yue shortlisted for prestigious Newton Prize Dr Liyang Yue of Bangor University’s School of Electronic Engineering has been shortlisted for the 2017 Newton Prize for his project building a super-resolution metamaterial 3D printing system. The Prize is an annual £1 million fund awarded for the best research or innovation that supports the economic development and social welfare of developing countries. Dr Yue is in with the chance of winning up to £200,000 from the Prize to be used to advance or develop the work further. The Newton Prize is part of the broader Newton Fund, which builds research and innovation partnerships with 18 partner countries to support their economic development and social welfare, and to develop their research and innovation capacity for long-term sustainable growth. It has a total UK Government investment of £735 million up until 2021, and each partner country provides matched funding and resources for every programme, making it an equitable partnership. Dr Yue will work on the development of new high performing metamaterials, which have the potential to transform telecom infrastructures and services, optical computing, solar energy and medical devices. Usage is currently limited by the manufacturing challenges involved. Dr Yue’s project enables 3D metamaterials to be directly printed from 3D CAD models with higher design freedom and lower cost compared to conventional photolithograpy methods. Impacts of this work can be found in the Vietnamese telecommunications and photonics industries, as well as in the energy, environment and health sectors.
On receiving the news, Dr Yue said:
“I am very excited and honoured to be shortlisted for this prize. My Vietnamese partner and I spent nine months developing a micro/nano 3D printing platform in Bangor. These printed micro/nano structures can be used to fabricate an artificial electromagnetic metamaterial using ‘exotic’ properties which cannot be found in nature. This platform is a low-cost but powerful research tool for fundamental nanotechnology and photonics research in both countries, and a huge scientific impact could be expected from it in the future.” Dr Iestyn Pierce, Head of the School of Electronic Engineering: “I’m delighted that Dr Yue’s work has been recognised. Dr Yue’s research is a fine example of the ground-breaking, innovative work being conducted at the University. We attract some of the best international-calibre researchers and teachers to our School and it is another great example of our international partnership working.” More than 150 Newton funded projects, fellowships or other
Dr Liyang Yue awards applied for the Newton Prize from the eligible countries for this year – India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. There are 25 shortlisted applications in total and five Prizes of up to £200,000 will be awarded to each winner to be used to advance or develop existing Newton funded work. There will be two winners in India and one in Malaysia, Thailand and in Vietnam.
These characters placed next to an eyelash provide an example of the micro/nano printing technology. Further information is available on the Newton Fund website. Follow their Twitter feed for regular updates about the Newton Prize: @NewtonFund and #NewtonPrize.
From Malawi to Bangor: Marshal Papworth scholarship is awarded to an MSc Environmental Forestry student Wisdom Nyondoh from Malawi is the latest recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Marshal Papworth Fund. He is enrolled on the MSc Environmental Forestry programme and is already taking modules in Silviculture, Natural Resource Management, Forest Resources and Assessment, and Research Planning and Communication. It’s a busy first semester and he’s been enjoying getting to know the lecturers and fellow students in the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography (SENRGy). As part of the scholarship, the Marshal Papworth Co-ordinator, Sandra Lauridsen, visited Bangor to check how Wisdom is settling in and to discuss the current collaboration with SENRGy lecturers Dr Mark Rayment and Dr Rob Brook.
© Genevieve Agaba L-R: Dr Mark Rayment (lecturer in forestry), Wisdom Nyondoh (Marshal Papworth Fund scholar), Sandra Lauridsen (Marshal Papworth co-ordinator), and Dr Rob Brook (senior lecturer in agriculture and rural development)
managed forests within customary tremendous amount of work in this owned land, so as to bring forest area and is continually expanding Upon completion of the MSc resources close to the people at his skillset and knowledge, with programme, Wisdom’s vision is to village level, while maximizing the intention of improving current continue working with the collective responsibility of the development practices in his home Malawian government and NGO beneficiaries. He’s already done a country. sector to establish sustainably For further information on the Marshal Papworth Fund’s scholarships: www.marshalpapworth.com/our-scholarships/universities-colleges/
Bangor Indian students invited to celebrate Diwali in Cardiff with the Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM, First Minister of Wales Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights and this year, to celebrate the occasion, six Bangor University Indian students were invited to Cardiff for a special event with the Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM, First Minister of Wales. International Student Ambassadors Charu Dada, Shailaja Bakshi and Srimonti Guha, together with Bangor Indian Society members Siddharth Shukla, Somya Singh, Yasharth Mishra and Marcel Clusa from the International Support Office travelled to Cardiff on the 16 October where a big reception was waiting for them at the Millennium Centre. Students got to meet, mingle and even dance with the First Minister of Wales, who dedicated a few words in his the future of this country and for the future relations speech to acknowledge the importance of the between Wales and India. current 2,000 Indian students studying the UK for
Bangor’s BSc Product Design course is proving popular with international students The Product Design BSc (Hons) course at Bangor University is proving very popular with international students. There are currently five international students enrolled on the course; in year one we have Joie-Anne Christie Veitch from Jamaica, Jevohn Martin from Anguilla and Eva Lin Jerkovic from Croatia. Year two we have Nabila Martam from Indonesia, Nabila joined Bangor through direct entry into year two and finally in year three we have Poom Kaensuwan from Thailand. Poom isn’t pictured here as he is currently on a work placement with leading tool manufacturer, Carl Kammerling International (CK Tools). Poom has worked on a number of projects with them and even has one of his designs on the market.
Lecturer Dewi Rowlands working with Nabila Martam on one of her projects
Student Eva Lin Kerkovic said: “In addition to the professional working environment, exceptional lecturers and three work placements, there is also a homely feeling and acceptance that you get when you are here.” The design and technology centre comprises of a well equiped IT/lecture room, fully equiped workshop with a comprehensive range of CNC machinery and equipment as well as a rapid prototyping studio that allows 3d printing and other such facilities. L-R: Eva Lin Jerkovic, Jevohn Martin, Joie-Anne Christie Veitch
What is Product Design? Product design is concerned with the development and creation of everyday items and luxury goods, small products and huge products - in fact product design is at the very heart of our modern world. It's a product designer like British product design guru Sir Johnathan Ive that designed key products such as the iPhone range.
More about the Product Design BSc (Hons) course: The BSc Product Design degree course at Bangor University‘s Design and Technology Centre is a diverse design course which focuses on a wide range of design sectors as well as developing professional skills. We are the only UK University to offer a Product Design degree course with three separate industrial work placements which will allow students to develop skills and work on projects at a diverse range of working environments, projects and companies.
For more information visit the Product Design course page: www.bangor.ac.uk/international/courses/undergraduate/W240-Product-Design
www.bangor.ac.uk/international
Meet us in your country in 2017 We shall be visiting the following countries between November and December 2017: India Singapore USA
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November November December
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
Office Contacts
Ali Khan Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388874 : Email: a.khan@bangor.ac.uk
International Office
IEC, Bangor University Bangor, Gwynedd Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, LL57 2DG, U.K. Singapore, Sri Lanka Country Manager responsible for:
Tel: +44 (0) 1248382028 E-mail: international@bangor.ac.uk Web: www.bangor.ac.uk
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
Partnerships Office IEC, Bangor University Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388325 E-mail: c.billing@bangor.ac.uk Web: www.bangor.ac.uk
Bangor International College Michael Rogerson Tel: +44 (0) 1248 383648 : Email: m.rogerson@bangor.ac.uk Country Manager responsible for: European Union Countries Noor Al-Zubaidi Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382879 : Email: n.al-zubaidi@bangor.ac.uk 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
Oswalds Building, Victoria Drive Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, U.K. Tel: 01248 383 783 E-mail: bic@bangor.ac.uk
Beijing Office
Sarah Jones-Morris Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388843 : Email: s.jones-morris@bangor.ac.uk
Bangor University Room A029, 3rd Floor, The Exchange Beijing, B-118, Jianguo Road Chaoyang District Beijing, P.R. China 100022
Country Manager responsible for: Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon Central Asia - including Azerbaijan.
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