Bangor International October 2014 by Bangor University

BANGOR INTERNATIONAL October 2014

Top 10 in UK for Student Satisfaction Bangor University is top in Wales in the most recent measure of student satisfaction, and is in the Top 10 of the UK.

Bangor University Top 50 in the UK

The results are drawn from the National Student Survey, a poll of around half a million graduating students at each university in the UK, which provides the most comprehensive feedback on the student experience at each institution. Professor Oliver Turnbull, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Teaching & Learning at Bangor University commented on the results saying:

“Bangor has a tradition of providing excellent teaching and student care, and this is borne out by these wonderful results. We're particularly delighted that the poll places us so clearly as top in Wales.“

Bangor University has leapt up the tables to be placed among the UK’s top 50 best Universities according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015. This follows hard on the heels of the recent National Student Survey (NSS) results which placed the University at best in Wales for student satisfaction. Vice-Chancellor Professor John G Hughes greeted the news saying:

“We have a 130 year tradition of providing excellent teaching and student care, and we take great pride in the quality of both our teaching and our research at Bangor University. We've recently introduced initiatives to give students a stronger voice in the University, and the success of our approach is reﬂected in this Guide." Professor Oliver Turnbull, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning) said:

"There are many things that students need to consider when choosing a university, including league tables. However, we always suggest that students do their own research.”

In this issue of our newsletter... u

Alumni event in Bahrain

Bangor welcomes new International Students

Summer Schools at Bangor University www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Research News Microscopic marine biodiversity mirrors larger life

A nematode worm at 100x magnification Distribution of microscopic plants and animals in our oceans mimics the distribution pattern of larger land-based plants and animals, research reveals. Little is known about the microscopic organisms living in our oceans that make the basis of the food chain which ultimately, support enigmatic creatures such as sharks and dolphins. The majority of these microscopic animals remain unidentified, but an international team of researchers including scientists from Bangor University have revealed that those inhabiting European beaches inhabit particular ecological niches, much as larger plants and animals do. The research also revealed that communities that are more distant from each other are made up of increasingly different species potentially in their millions.

A special welcome for international students

Members of staﬀ from the International Education Centre, Bangor University

The University’s International Student Support Office organised an earlier orientation for Bangor’s international students this year. This was the first time this was done and the aim was to provide a bespoke and focused welcome programme - giving international students a chance to organise all the practicalities of living and studying in a new country…before the busy central Welcome Week programme! More than 300 students took advantage of the airport pick up offered from Manchester Airport on Wednesday 17th September – more than double the number usually collected in previous years during Welcome Week. This was then followed by two days of information sessions, walking and bus tours and a social programme which included a bingo night and a traditional Welsh dance night called a ‘Twmpath’, with PJ Hall completely full with students experiencing a traditional Welsh welcome! Alan Edwards, Head of International Student Support commented:

“We’re very happy with how the earlier orientation panned out and are thankful to all our colleagues at other departments who helped to make the initiative such a success. International students were able to secure their accommodation, get there registration completed and organise many of the practicalities of moving to, and living in a new country in plenty of time and in a more relaxed atmosphere.”

Basrah visits Bangor

“Because identifying microscopic animals using microscopes is challenging, the modern molecular genetic tools the group used revealed these patterns for the ﬁrst time”, explains Simon Creer, who led the study from Bangor University’s College of Natural Sciences. The full paper, published in Global Ecology and Biogeography, can be read online here: (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.11 11/geb.12223/pdf)

Prof. John G Hughes (4th from left) with the Academics from Iraq

In collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientiﬁc Research (MOHSER) and Basrah University, Bangor University welcomed a group of Iraqi Academics who were met by Bangor University’s Vice Chancellor Prof John Hughes and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Colleges of: Business, Medical and Science to establish links and collaborative relations for research and promoting Academic Exchange with Bangor University.

Alumni Event in Bahrain

L-R: Prof. John Hughes, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University, Solveig Nicklos, Director of BIBF and Prof.Philip Molyneux, Dean of the College of Business, Law, Education and Social Science at Bangor University

A special graduation ceremony, co-hosted by the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) and Bangor University, was held at the Gulf Hotel, Bahrain on the 7th of September. Over 40 students who completed their degrees at the Bangor Business School through a partnership with BIBF celebrated their graduation in their home country.

“Bangor Business School and BIBF have been partners for nearly a decade, and over 400 Bahraini students, who perform to a high level, have graduated from the University in that time”, said Professor Phil Molyneux, Dean of the College of Business, Law and Social Science at Bangor University. The Business School will strengthen the partnership by oﬀering Bangor University degree programmes in Bahrain, starting in October 2015. Amongst the graduates was Maryam Khaled Ahmed Abdulla Mahmood, who came top of her entire year at Bangor Business School. During the ceremony, she was presented with the Craig Williams Memorial Award for the best performance in any Bangor Business School degree programme. Following the graduation event, Bangor University hosted an Alumni event on the 8th of September at the same venue, welcoming over 120 alumni to the reunion. It was a great success, alumni came from other parts of the Gulf as well and it was enjoyed by all. Attendees hoped this event would help launch an alumni association in Bahrain.

‘It was a pleasure to attend the Alumni event in Bahrain and it was really great to see Bangor friends who had studied everything from Accounting & Finance, Banking & Finance to Marine Biology and Oceanography. Everyone I spoke to commented on what a fantastic time they had in Bangor and how they all wished that they could turn back the clock and visit again. They loved the mountains, sea and ambience of Bangor and all sent their best regards to University colleagues and contemporaries. All of them said they will visit soon!’ said Professor Phil Molyneux. Representing Bangor University at both events was Professor John Hughes, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University, Prof. John Thornton, Prof. John Goddard, Prof Philip Molyneux of Bangor Business School, Miss Sheila O’Neal from the Alumni and Relations Oﬃce and Mr Iwan Roberts from Bangor’s Partnerships and Development Oﬃce. Representing BIBF were Solveig Nicklos, Director of BIBF, Nawal Saif, Registrar at BIBF, Wassem Mirza, Mariam Akbar Assiri, Parween Haji, Nasreen Aqeel and Dr Ahmed Abdul Hameed Abdul Ghani Al Shaikh.

International Sociological Association: Research Committee

Dr Stefan Machura of Bangor University Stefan Machura, Senior Lecturer at the School of Social Sciences, has been recently elected to the board of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on Sociology of Law. The RCSL has members all over the globe, and a number of specialized working groups. Its International Institute in Onati/Spanish Basque Country oﬀers academics and postgraduate students opportunities to study and to meet for conferences. Dr Machura will be chairing the editorial board of the RCSL newsletter. He also represents Bangor University at the Management Board of the Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice and acts as the School's Director of Postgraduate Studies where he is mainly responsible for taught degree programmes. At Bangor University, Stefan Machura has conducted a series of empirical studies on the public perception of police and courts. The studies focus on citizen’s direct and indirect sources of information ranging from contacting police and appearing in court to the eﬀects of popular TV series and of having family and friends in the police or the legal profession.

Summer Schools ‘Visceral Mind’ course attracts Business Leadership Summer School at Bangor University

Twenty delegates from the College of Graduate Study in Management, Khon Kaen University, Thailand recently attended a Business Leadership summer school at Bangor University, delivered in partnership with Llandrillo Menai International. Participants on the course ranged from academic faculty members to business leaders. Seminars focused on strategic planning, international trade and risk management. The delegates were particularly interested in how local SMEs approach the challenges facing small businesses, and paid a visit to the Adventure Consortium. The programme also included cultural events, including visits to Caernarfon Castle and Beaumaris for ﬁsh and chips!

For further information on bespoke programmes and short courses oﬀered at Bangor University please contact our Partnerships Oﬃce: partnerships@bangor.ac.uk / +44 (1248) 388 325

bright brains to Bangor

For the ﬁfth year running, Bangor University has hosted forty bright young brain scientists from over 20 countries including Israel, Colombia, Ecuador, Lithuania and Sri Lanka at its annual international summer school. The Visceral Mind: A Hands on Course in the Anatomy of Human Cognition was held from 1-5 September. The course was made possible by a donation of of $225,000 from the James S McDonnell Foundation. The course was designed to provide an opportunity for young, bright cognitive neuroscientists from across the world to come to Bangor to increase their knowledge of neuroanatomy under a collection of world-renowned academics from Bangor and beyond. Neurological patients who are active in research at the University participated in case conferences giving students the opportunity to learn about diﬀerent areas of the brain function by observing techniques of neurological examination and interpreataion of brain scans. Prof. Bob Rafal, course director commented:“This key element of the programme would not have been possible without the help of NHS patients who regularly participate in our teaching and research programmes, and we are very grateful to all those who took part. There is no substitute for the life-changing experience of dissecting the human brain, and no better way to learn, by both sight and touch, the three-dimensional organ of mind.” Prof Rafal, was joined by Prof C. Harker Rhodes, Co-director of the course and neuropathologist from Dartmouth Medical School in the US, and Dr Toni Valero-Cabre from the Hosptial of the Saltpetrier in Paris as well as other Bangor neuroscientists in providing supervised practicals in the anatomy laboratory. The students who attended the Summer School felt that they had an immensely educational and enjoyable experience, in the words of Victoria Knowland of the University of London: “A foundation in neuroanatomy is both a fascinating and necessary skill base for individuals from every branch of cognitive science. I’ve made valuable connections and, I hope, life long friends and feel immensely privileged to have been a part of this Visceral Mind boot camp.” Dr Susan Fitzpatrick, the Vice President of the James S. McDonnell Foundation, whose support made the event possible, was moved to say “It was just so encouraging to see so many bright young minds being turned on to cognitively-informed/functional approaches to brain injury.”

The Launch of Bangor College China

Islamic Finance Conference at Bangor

L-R: Professor Xianyan Zhou, President of CSUFT, Professor Zhiqing Yang, Dean of Bangor College China and Professor John Hughes, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University

A conference on Finance & Development in Islamic Economies was held at Bangor Business School, Bangor University on September 15, 2014, in collaboration with Islamic Research Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

More than 260 students celebrated the opening of Bangor College China in their home country. A special ceremony, organised by Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China, was held in the university's Conference Hall on Saturday 27th September. The Bangor College China (BCC) was launched by Professor John Hughes, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University and Professor Xianyan Zhou, President of Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT). Professor John Thornton, Head of Bangor Business School, Dr Xinyu Wu, Director of International Development and Luna Wu, Director of the Bangor Beijing Oﬃce also attended the ceremony. Welsh Government Chief Representative in Beijing Susan Jiang and Angus Bjamason, the British Council Area Director for South China were guests of honour who congratulated the BCC and its students by giving short speeches, respectively.

“Bangor College China is strategically important to Bangor University”, said Professor John Hughes. “The University is responsible for the quality of BCC teaching learning and assessment and we are committed to providing high quality bespoke programmes to the students at BCC.” BCC students and CSUFT Music major students entertained the guests as well as other students and their parents with various singing and dancing performances at the ceremony. An interactive session between the Bangor staﬀ and BCC students also took place during the evening.

The aim of the conference was to discuss an array of issues that cover banking, finance and economic development issues. Muslim countries lag behind other nations in terms of economic development. The total GNP of the fifty-seven Muslim countries is only 8 percent of the world GNP, while their total population is more than 1.3 billion and constitutes about 21 percent of the world population. Identically poor results are revealed from an analysis of the Human Development Index (HDI), as defined in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Out of fifty-seven Muslim countries, twenty-one received low scores, thirty-one countries secured medium scores and only five Muslim countries attained high scores on the HDI. Financial systems play a vital role in advancing intermediation by mitigating market frictions, facilitating efficient investment decisions, allocating scarce capital and transmitting financial transactions. This in turn stimulates capital accumulation decisions and technological innovation that are crucial in delineating a nation’s long term economic path. The conference served as a forum to exchange ideas on advancing financial development in the Muslim world.

www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Country Representatives Bing Li

Sukhjinder Bhatti

Maggie Parke

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

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388874 Email: s.bhatti@bangor.ac.uk

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

Responsible for:

Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka International students in the UK

Argentina Brazil Canada Chile

Sarah Jones-Morris

Noor Al-Zubaidi

Michael Rogerson

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

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

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382879 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 Vietnam

South Korea Taiwan Philippines

Oman Saudi Arabia Turkey UAE Qatar

Upcoming Visits for 2014 We shall be visiting the following countries between September and December 2014: Bangladesh Brunei Brazil China Colombia Ghana Hong Kong Indonesia Japan

Kurdistan Malaysia Nigeria Singapore Taiwan Thailand USA Vietnam

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

Colombia Mexico USA

Bangor University Top 10 in UK for ‘First Impressions’ Bangor University has once again been placed in the top 10 among UK Universities. With only weeks to go until the new academic year, a survey by YouthSight has placed Bangor University among the top 10 UK Universities for the favourable ﬁrst impressions gained by new students. Professor Carol Tully, Pro Chancellor (Students) said:

Vice

“Bangor University is well known for the warm welcome it extends to its students. Coming to university for the ﬁrst time can be scary and daunting, but we want our students to have a good experience, as the sooner they settle in, the better they’ll study.”