Dialogue Magazine - Issue 15

DIALOGUE THE DURHAM UNIVERSITY NEWS MAGAZINE JANUARY 2011

ISSUE 15

TREASURES OF DURHAM UNIVERSITY

EXPERIENCE DURHAM

SPOTLIGHT ON PHYSICS

First exhibition at Palace Green Library

Our staff and students get involved

A look inside the Physics Department

WELCOME Architecturally, we have 61 Grade I and II listed buildings from the 11th to 20th centuries. We have four MLA-recognised collections in our libraries and museums, with manuscripts, books and cultural objects from around the world which the British Library or British Museum would dearly love to acquire.

Durham University is a cultural hub of international importance, stimulating our students, staff and the community around us.

Only recently the Times rated Durham as one of the UK’s four ‘brainiest’ cities (a slightly tongue in cheek survey, of course).

The University’s cultural offering goes way beyond the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Who knew, for example, that the University has in its colleges the best collection of 20th-century art of any university in the UK?

This issue of Dialogue highlights cultural activities for staff, students and their families to enjoy, along with the wider community. Musicon puts on one of the best series of professional concerts in the North East. The Botanic Garden, whose head gardener Mike Hughes is interviewed, has recently been recognised as one of the leading tourist attractions in the North East as well as being a free facility for staff and students to enjoy (even in the snow). To make our cultural treasures more accessible and better known, the ‘Wolfson’ exhibition

gallery in Palace Green Library meets the highest standards for conservation and display, not just for our collections but for visiting treasures.

The first exhibition ‘Treasures of Durham University Library’ was opened formally

by Bill Bryson on 12th January and at its centerpiece is the recently recovered Shakespeare First Folio. Don’t miss it – and please bring families and friends to enjoy everything which the University has to offer to our community.

With all best wishes,

CHRIS HIGGINS, VICE-CHANCELLOR AND WARDEN

The Gateway programme is part of the University’s long term estates strategy for Durham City to provide excellent facilities for all its students and staff.

Major programme components are: • A new build on the Stockton Road incorporating: – A prestigious new Law School – A refurbishment to the main Library – The Palatine Centre, bringing together central Student Services – Catering and social facilities for students, staff and visitors.

• Refurbishment of office space at Mountjoy • Science Site Environmental Improvements For regular newsletters and updates visit www.durham.ac.uk.project

ALL STAFF MEETINGS Watch out for details of all staff meetings in Dialogue Signposts and at www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue/meetings

IMPARTING INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY AND NEW IDEAS TO THE NEXT GENERATION

CONTENTS 2

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REGULARS

SPOTLIGHT ON

FEATURES

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9 Musicon 12 Physics

8 Treasures of Durham University 10 Blueprint Awards 2010 Law Teacher of the Year 14 Getting Involved 15 Greenspace News 17 Durham Drama Festival 2011 College talent on show at ARC

Media Round-up Event Durham / Retail / Catering HR News ITS News Profile Congratulations 16 Sport BC Under Investigation What’s On

ALTERNATIVE FORMAT

INPUT

If you wish to receive Dialogue in an alternative format, please email: dialogue@durham.ac.uk

Please continue to send your feedback and contributions to: dialogue@durham.ac.uk

www.durham.ac.uk/somuchmore

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SO MUCH

MORE

MEDIA ROUND-UP Here is a taster of some of the recent stories concerning Durham that have been in the regional, national and international media.

LENGTH OF PREGNANCY INFLUENCED BY PLACENTA STRUCTURE The nine-month pregnancy in humans is influenced by the structure of the placenta, according to new research into the evolution of reproduction in mammals which ends a 100-year mystery.

The study shows that babies grow twice as fast in the wombs of some mammals compared to others. The difference in growth rates appears to be due to the structure of the placenta and the way it connects mother and baby.

The research team, including Professor Robert Barton (Anthropology) studied the length of pregnancy, structure of placenta, and size of offspring in mammals, and examined how these characteristics have changed during the evolution of mammals.

Understanding how differences between species evolve and what combination of pressures and conflicts gives rise to certain physiological features can help us to appreciate issues as diverse as economics, farming and biodiversity.

They found that the more intimate the connection is between the tissues of the mother and the foetus, the faster the growth of the baby and the shorter the pregnancy. The findings help to explain why humans, whose placentas do not form the complex web-like structure seen in animals such as dogs and leopards, have relatively lengthy pregnancies.

Coverage includes: BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4, BBC Online, New York Times, BBC Tees and widespread international media coverage in Europe, India and Africa.

ACADEMIES HAVE IMPROVED FAILING SCHOOLS AND ARE OVER-SUBSCRIBED The academy schools programme has improved a large proportion of underachieving schools and is increasingly popular with parents, according to a Durham University expert.

A new book, Academies and Educational Reform, co-authored by Professor David Galloway and Professor Elizabeth Leo, Durham University, evaluates the successes and failures of the controversial academy schools programme and the lessons that can be learnt.

The authors’ primary aim is to examine why academies succeed when they do and what causes their failure, and what their innovations and principles have to offer to policy makers, teachers, parents and anyone with an interest in education.

Coverage includes: The Guardian, Daily Telegraph (online), The Journal.

MAKING HEADLINES – MAKING HEADLINES – MAKING HEADLINES Academics have provided the media with informed expertise on a range of subjects from volcanic eruptions, to Middle East politics, and through to the origins of the word vampire.

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Professor Jon Davidson, Dr Colin Macpherson and Dr Dougal Jerram (Earth Sciences) provided comment on the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Mount Merapi. Coverage included The Guardian, BBC Radio Tees and several US publications.

The New Statesman carried a feature on proposals that new arrivals in Israel should swear an oath to “a Jewish and democratic state”, featuring comments from Professor Emma Murphy (School of Government and International Affairs).

JOIN MEDIA GUIDE TO EXPERTISE To join our searchable database of Durham University experts go to: www.durham.ac.uk/communications.office/media.relations/media-guide and click on ‘Join Media Guide’.

MORE FEMINIST JUDGES COULD CHANGE OUTCOME OF LEGAL CASES Legal judgments could end in different outcomes if more senior feminist judges are appointed to the UK’s courts, according to a new study co-ordinated

by Professor Clare McGlynn and Dr Erika Rackley of Durham Law School.

The work was co-authored by Professor Rosemary Hunter of the University of Kent and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Feminist scholars re-examined 23 judgments in key English cases such as rape trials, child custody in divorce, same-sex marriage, asylum and wearing headscarves in schools.

The Feminist Judgments Project found that different outcomes might have been achieved in some cases by applying a feminist perspective to the judgments.

There is currently only one woman, Supreme Court Justice Baroness Brenda

Hale, on the UK Supreme Court, and only six women have ever sat in the Court of Appeal or House of Lords (now the Supreme Court). Women currently make up around 45 per cent of solicitors and 31 per cent of barristers in England and Wales, the researchers said.

The researchers added that around 11 per cent of solicitors and barristers in England and Wales were from black and minority ethnic communities and that no one from this background has ever sat in the Court of Appeal, House of Lords or the Supreme Court.

Feminist Judgments: From Theory to Practice is published by Hart Publishing.

Coverage includes: The Guardian, BBC Radio 4 Law in Action, The Northern Echo, The Journal, The Evening Chronicle.

OIL BOOM POSSIBLE BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT Oil recovery using carbon dioxide could lead to a North Sea oil bonanza worth £150 billion ($ 240 billion) – but only if the current infrastructure is enhanced now, according to a new study by Professor Jon Gluyas (Earth Sciences).

A new calculation of the net worth of the UK oil field shows that using carbon dioxide (CO2) to enhance the recovery from our existing North Sea oil fields could yield an extra three billion barrels of oil over the next 20 years. Three billion barrels of oil could power, heat and transport the UK

for two years with every other form of energy switched off.

Importantly, at a time of rising CO2 emissions, the enhanced oil recovery process is just about carbon neutral with as much carbon being put back in the ground as will be taken out.

Professor Gluyas commented: “Enhanced recovery of oil in the North Sea oil fields can secure our energy supplies for the next fifty years. The extra 3 billion barrels of oil that could be produced by enhanced CO2

recovery would make us self sufficient and would add around £60bn in revenue to the Treasury.

“Priming the system now would mean we have 10–15 years to develop CO2 recycling and sufficient time to help us bridge to a future serviced by renewable energy.”

Coverage includes: Reuters, International Business Times, The Journal, The Northern Echo, The Evening Gazette and The Engineer.

3 Don’t forget to visit www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue

£5M Boost to Train GPs The University has been awarded £5m to fund the construction of a fourth wing to the Wolfson Research Institute’s flagship building on Queen’s Campus.

The funding from the Department of Health follows an application from the Northern Deanery, in partnership with the University, to upgrade the quality of training facilities for General Practice registrars in the Tees Valley and County Durham, attracting more doctors to train and work in the area.

The application proposed the concept of GP training co-located with complementary academic activities on Queen’s Campus, contributing to the University’s health cluster strategy for its work in Stockton. It also contributes to the Northern Deanery’s aim to bring more doctors to the area for postgraduate training as GPs.

Commenting on the initiative, Queen’s Campus Dean Professor Tim Blackman said, ‘We are very excited about the collaborative opportunities that will follow from this development, both in research and education. The award is also a boost for the Stockton economy at a difficult time’.

A WORLD UNIVERSITY Changes in the legislative framework provide an opportunity for us to better reflect the goals of the University Strategy in our approach to equality and diversity.

In particular, the aim to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for people of all creeds, cultures and nationalities, recognising the importance of diversity in ideas and education while respecting our traditional strengths. We have already committed ourselves to review our current Single Equality Scheme in academic year 2010/11and UEC has

agreed that the University will develop an action plan, annually updated and approved by UEC in response to the annual planning process and any issues highlighted by monitoring of data and processes.

In order to meet our University goals, it has been agreed that academic departments, colleges and professional services should include equality and diversity in their annual action planning. This will make reporting on diversity easier by providing a clearer picture of initiatives being

undertaken across the University. It will also facilitate the process of creating a University-wide Action Plan drawn together from departmental information. This is important if we are to successfully move to a culture that supports and promotes diversity and equality as a key building block of a World university.

If you would like to discuss this new approach, please contact: Sarah Winship – Diversity Advisor sarah.winship@durham.ac.uk

Create a classic Create your own classic drink in any YUM café. You can add extra espresso for a stronger taste, add a syrup for a different flavour or even choose your milk with semi-skimmed, skimmed and soya milk available in all outlets.

Yum – food for thought.

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www.yumfood.org.uk

YUM is part of

EVENT DURHAM // RETAIL // CATERING VISITOR ATTRACTIONS Don’t forget that all members of staff can enjoy free entry to the Oriental Museum, Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, and Botanic Garden on production of your staff campus card.

The Oriental Museum has four floors of world-class collections of Designated Collection status, with the Egyptian and Chinese collections a particular highlight. The Botanic Garden has grounds that are beautiful all year round, and the café makes a lovely meeting point. The Old Fulling Mill is one of the most iconic buildings in Durham, situated on the riverside, and its family activities at weekends are always popular.

In order to take advantage of this, please present your campus card (which needs to be up to date) at the till point for your visit to be recorded. Please note that your campus card admits you only; other visitors with you will still need to pay.

VENUEMASTERS MYSTERY BUYER SURVEY Event Durham has won for the 3rd consecutive year, the sought after top position in the National Mystery Buyer Survey.

The survey, carried out by VENUEMASTERS, the venue finding agency that specialises in academic venues, was introduced in 2003 to provide an accurate snapshot of service levels at each academic venue, as well as a range of quality hotels and conference centres across the UK. The award this year was announced at the VENUEMASTERS annual conference which was held at Nottingham Conference Centre and was attended by over 100 delegates.

George Martin, Revenue Manager, who was

identified as managing the calls, and Stina Maynard, Deputy Sales Office Manager, attended the event and collected the award on behalf of the team. Not only was the 2010 title retained, the score was improved from 91% to a new award-record of 99%.

Helen Strangward, Commercial Director for Event Durham said, “I am absolutely delighted that, yet again, we have won the Mystery Buyer Survey. This award reflects the hard work and dedication of the whole Event Durham team and recognises our continuing commitment to providing an excellent product, supported by the highest standards possible in customer service. We will now have to invest in a bigger trophy cabinet!”

Left to right: Terry Billingham, Stina Maynard, Natalie Hudson, George Martin

EVENT DURHAM KEEPING UP WITH TRENDS!

YUM WANTS YOUR FEEDBACK

Event Durham is now on Facebook.

We would love you to join us.

Follow us at www.facebook.com/eventdurham

We would like you to give us feedback on our service provision.

Check for regular updates on special offers and updates on what is happening within Event Durham and our various venues.

Please complete the online survey available from 17th January at www.yumfood.org.uk

Don’t forget to visit www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue

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HR NEWS

HR NEWS

HR NEWS

HR NEWS

HR SUPPORT – COLLEGES DIVISION involved employee relations within Durham Constabulary and recruitment at Newcastle City Council. Prior to joining the University, Vicki held a similar post in HR at IKEA. Deborah joined the University earlier this year following 16 years in HR roles supporting hospitality and support services for a variety of customer focussed clients.

For HR help and advice, email hr.colleges@durham.ac.uk

The University’s HR department works in teams to assist and guide each faculty/division on a range of staffing issues.

In this issue of Dialogue, we’re focussing on HR support for our colleges.

Support is provided by HR to all colleges, including the recognised Colleges of St Chad’s and St John’s. The staffing issues are as diverse as the wide spectrum of roles undertaken by college staff, often

HR support for the Division is covered

by HR Manager, Susanne Bradley (ext 46506), and two job share HR Officers, Vicki Casey and Deborah Moller-Andersen (ext 46521).

Following an extensive review, new guidance for staff and Heads of Department, including a new format for applications for promotion, has been launched. Documents are now available on the HR webpages at: www.durham.ac.uk/hr/policies/promotion

Susanne has been a member of the HR department since 2002, initially as Reward Manager. Previous roles

www.durham.ac.uk/hr/policies/probation

MAJOR PROJECTS

CELEBRATING SUCCESS!

During 2011, HR will be working on a number of major projects to support the University Strategy.

We’re starting the New Year with a celebration for all those members of staff who have successfully completed qualifications in the last 12 months.

A key project will be to modernise our recruitment and selection practices.

This will include the development of our e-recruitment system to take advantage of SMS capabilities to contact candidates and store details in talent pools for future vacancies and staff development opportunities.

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with different HR requirements, in delivering high standards of service to our students and visitors, e.g. pastoral care and welfare, admissions, cleaning, catering and portering roles.

ACADEMIC PROBATION, PROGRESSION & PROMOTIONS

A total of 110 staff will receive their certificates in a presentation from the ViceChancellor, Chris Higgins, on 11th January.

FIND OUT MORE For details of future courses, contact the Training & Development team – Mark Crabtree ext 41650 or Sophie Sowerby ext 41640.

ITS NEWS ITS NEWS ITS NEWS ITS NEWS

ITS: GETTING BETTER EVERY YEAR! Like other departments, the start of the academic year (i.e. Michaelmas term) is the busiest time of the year for the Information Technology Service (ITS).

We needed to ensure that we were maintaining our ‘business as usual’ activity (supporting our users, keeping networks up and running and responding to outages) in addition to other work which forms part of our ‘start of year’ remit. This includes: • Printing and issuing campus cards: - Distributing over 3300 cards amongst the colleges and departments for students who successfully utilised the online enrolment system - Photographing and issuing cards to those who weren’t able to use the online system: over 2000 people visited our facilities at Durham City and Queen’s Campus to have their photo taken and card issued during the first few days of term • Providing a series of ‘surgeries’ for those who needed help getting onto the University’s network via the network points in their college bedrooms - We improved how we manage this service, with the result that by the end of the first day of term 64% of our users had successfully registered on our network

- Less than 9% of our users needed to visit our surgeries for more detailed assistance getting onto the University’s network.

These figures show phone traffic into the IT Service Desk for the start of last term: • Phone calls into the IT Service Desk (October 2010) = 3806 • Total abandoned calls (October 2010) = 142 • Percentage of calls abandoned (October 2010) = 3.7% The abandoned call rate is one of the ways we check how we are performing and although we had seen improvements in these figures over the preceding months, October’s results are our best so far (in October 2009, abandoned calls stood at over 18%). They are thanks to work we’ve undertaken to identify and implement ongoing improvements to our user facing services.

Following a review of previous customer email volumes, an automatic re-direct was set up for emails which should have gone to SPA, meaning that fewer queries incorrectly came through to the IT Service Desk. This speeded up the process and got the query to the right advisors more efficiently.

Monitoring the types of call into the IT Service Desk during the first week of last term allowed us to utilise the recorded message facility on our call handling software to great effect. We put an appropriate message upfront, directing callers to sources of self help (in one particular instance, the ESOL surgeries), and pointed users straight to a source of help rather than have them wait in a queue only to be re-directed.

Despite these gains we understand that there is still more to be done and work is continuing to improve our services further.

NorMAN OOH SURVEY Each year the NorMAN (Northern Metropolitan Area Network) Out of Hours helpline conducts a survey to gather information about how it is performing and respondents’ names are entered into a prize draw.

In November one of the winners was James Kole, a 3rd year student from George Stephenson College who received £100 worth of Amazon vouchers. James said “it was a complete surprise, it only took 10 minutes to do the survey and there I was with £100 to spend just in time for Christmas”.

FIND OUT MORE For further details go to www.durham.ac.uk/its/servicedesk

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INVITATION TO CELEBRATE THE UNIVERSITY’S

TREASURES The first exhibition in the new Wolfson Gallery at Palace Green Library is open to staff, students and the general public from 15th January 2011. The exhibition will showcase the treasures of the University’s collections. These hidden gems include medieval manuscripts, printed books, objects and documents spanning millennia and telling the story of life and work in our own region, across the country and around the globe.

The first exhibition is also the first opportunity to view Durham’s own copy of Shakespeare’s celebrated First Folio since its return to the Library in July 2010. The story of its theft and remarkable recovery will be told in a smaller ‘spotlight’ exhibition. The Treasures exhibition will remain on display throughout 2011, with treasures from the collections being changed at regular intervals so that there is always something new to see. The spotlight exhibitions will change every couple of months to open up new aspects of our collections to the public.

Other than the First Folio, Treasures on display include: • first editions of Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, and Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, • a first edition Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson, • the robe and sword of Ali Dinar, the last Sultan of Darfur, part of the University’s Sudanese collection, • local artefacts including the first largescale map of County Durham and 13thto 15th-century Durham Mint coins produced by the Prince Bishops of Durham.

The University has invested £2.3m in restoring and creating publically accessible exhibition space at the Library on Palace Green, including a £500,000 donation from the Wolfson Foundation .

For regular visitors to Palace Green Library, the sight of builders, painters and electricians will be very familiar, and as work on the first phase draws to a close, the next chapter in the refurbishment of the library begins.

Future developments include additional display areas, a larger conservation laboratory and special collections reading room. New education and study facilities will ensure the continuity of the Library as a hub of research and scholarship, while a specially created display space will allow the University’s current research and projects to be showcased to a wider public audience as part of the University’s public outreach work.

The new exhibition space also complements ongoing work to renovate the University’s Alms Houses, on Owengate, as a visitor interpretation centre for the UNESCO World Heritage Site. This work is due for completion in May 2011.

FIND OUT MORE More information about the exhibition can be found at www.durham.ac.uk/library/asc/exhibitions

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SPOTLIGHT ON

MUSICON Durham University’s premiere concert organiser, Musicon, presents a star-studded concert series every year, with top musicians of international repute performing in stunning venues around Durham, including the Cathedral, Town Hall, and Elvet Methodist Church.

The launch of the first Musicon series in 1971 – almost 40 years ago – was undoubtedly a significant moment in the University’s history, bringing about greater engagement with the world beyond. While helping to put Durham on the UK’s musical map, the concert series forged a valuable link between the University and the City of Durham at large. Still today, Musicon concerts serve as opportunities for local residents, University staff and students to come together as one with the joint aim of appreciating good music. For several years now, Musicon has also been supporting the Durham Gamelan Group, which similarly fosters an open-to-all musical environment (www.durham.ac.uk/musicon.concerts/ activitiesdetails/).

Building upon the ideal of bringing people together, Musicon has always been a closeknit collaborative organisation. Based in the Music Department, it draws on the skills of both staff and students. While the key decisions about programming, finance, and administration are made by a core team of staff, the smooth running of the concerts themselves is realised by an executive committee mostly made up of undergraduate students, who expertly deal with advertising, concert management, running the box office, programme design and production, and looking after the artists. Based on deep trust and respect, this staff-student partnership works fantastically well for all parties.

While seeking to appeal to a wide variety of tastes, Musicon never compromises in the area of quality and there have been innumerable unforgettable performances over the years. The following is just a small

selection of the many luminaries who have featured in recent times: Dame Gillian Weir and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (both of whom are generous patrons to Musicon), Brian Ferneyhough, Sir Thomas Allen, Tasmin Little, Angela Hewitt, Piers Lane, and the Allegri String Quartet (who have been regular contributors for over 12 years). There are many more! One of the most stunning Musicon events was undoubtedly the BBC Philharmonic’s evensong performance in the Cathedral, in 2007, commemorating the University’s 175th anniversary.

This 2010/2011 season continues to showcase stunning musicianship. Early in November, Rafael Wallfisch – one of the most celebrated cellists of our time – performed all six of Bach’s seminal solo cello suites in the spacious ambience of Elvet Methodist church. Just two weeks later, the Ives Ensemble played Morton Feldman’s Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello (1987) in the Chapter House of the Cathedral; in one’s lifetime, there are few opportunities to experience such ethereal music played so expertly in such a timeless sacred space. And the forthcoming events promise to be no less sensational; alongside performances by the Orlando Consort, Allegri String Quartet and other distinguished artists, this year Musicon is launching two exciting mini festivals that will continue as annual events: the Musicon Festival of East Asian Music and the Musicon Jazz Festival.

Come along and experience!

FIND OUT MORE More information about Musicon can be found at www.durham/ac/uk/musicon.concerts

Don’t forget to visit www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue

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BLUEPRINT AWARDS 2010 Blueprint, now in its eighth successful year, is a business planning competition for students, alumni and staff of the five north eastern universities. Each of the five universities runs its own internal business plan competition with the strongest entries from these progressing to the regional final.

This year Durham had eight businesses progressing to the regional finals and scooped six of the thirteen awards on offer at the awards ceremony held at the end of October, comfortably exceeding the number gained by the next most successful university. Awards were as follows:

> Squirrel Audio (Douglas Bourne and William Soutter) won the Creativity and Design category and were also awarded the Garbeau Award. > Piglet (Hannah McCollum) was runner-up in the Creativity and Design category > Total Lifestyle Camps (Dr Emily Henderson) won the Social Entrepreneurship category

> Frugal Philanthropy (Kate Baker) was highly commended in the Social Enterprise category > Durham Graphene Science (Dr Karl Coleman) won the Knowledge Transfer category (for staff businesses).

Publicity is already underway for the 2011 Durham Blueprint competition with initial entries closing on Tuesday 18th January.

For more information on Durham Blueprint, go to www.durham.ac.uk/blueprint.durham

Pictured L to R: Dr Karl Coleman, Durham Graphene Science; Dr Emily Henderson, Total Lifestyle Camps; William Soutter & Doug Bourne, Squirrel Audio

LAW TEACHER OF THE YEAR James Devenney, Senior Lecturer, Durham Law School has been shortlisted for a Law Teacher of the Year Award. Entering its second phase of judging, James is one of six law teachers from across the UK who have been revealed as the shortlisted candidates who will go forward for the chance to win the £3,000 prize and the title Law Teacher of the Year 2011.

The six candidates, involved in higher legal education, were chosen by the panel of judges from the nominations received.

It was only after the shortlist had been finalised that the identities of the teachers were revealed.

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The candidates will now submit to the next stage of the competition. A rigorous judging process involving visits to observe and film the candidates’ teaching methods; the judges will also conduct interviews with colleagues, students, heads of department as well as the teacher in order to build up a body of evidence.

Judging criteria includes displaying an active interest and development of approaches to teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn; demonstrating commitment to and support for the development of students as individuals; using effective

communications skills that engage students in the learning experience; involvement in scholarly activities that have influenced and enhanced learning both of students and colleagues.

The Award, in association with the UK Centre for Legal Education, sponsored

by Oxford University Press, is the only one of its kind in the UK set up specifically to reward great law teaching.

“I am genuinely honoured to be short-listed for such a prestigious award.”

SAM ROSEVEARE

GOVERNANCE PROFILE

INPUT

JOB TITLE: President of Durham Students’ Union BACKGROUND: Archaeology & Anthropology BA WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT YOU WANT TO DO WHILST DSU PRESIDENT? • Draw up a long-term strategy for the Union, so it maintains relevancy to a rapidly changing student body.

The Union’s suffered from a lack of strategic, long-term direction, and needs to be better at looking forward.

• Better engagement with postgraduate students. Again, the agenda of the Union (and the University) has been undergraduate-centric. Postgraduate students represent an important and integral part of our community, and we need to ensure they get just as much attention as the undergraduates.

• Finally, I’d like to see a long-term plan for Dunelm House – the space isn’t used effectively, and it can deliver so much more!

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE CHANGE IN THE UNIVERSITY? It’s got to be support for postgraduates.

I think the University has made massive strides in enhancing residential postgraduate communities, but I think there’s so much more that can be done.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS DURHAM’S BEST KEPT SECRET? Leonard’s Coffee House, and more specifically, the black coffee, scrambled eggs and toasted muffins!

“a long-term strategy for the Union, so it maintains relevancy to a rapidly changing student body.”

Dialogue is about two-way communication, so tell us about your news by sending an e-mail to dialogue@durham.ac.uk

CONGRATULATIONS Helen Thornber and Rachel Smith Library) have won a Marketing Excellence Award from CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals) for the Library 24/7 campaign.

Christopher Lloyd (Modern Languages and Cultures) delivered his inaugural Professorial Lecture ‘Memory and metamorphosis in French Occupation Narratives’.

Alex Densmore (IHRR and Geography) has been appointed Editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, one of the world’s leading earth science journals.

Deryk Beyleveld (Law) has been elected to a Fellowship of the Society of Biology.

Carlos Frenk (Physics) has been awarded the Hoyle medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics for his ground-breaking contributions to the cold dark matter model through cosmological simulations, and developing novel methods for calculating the physics of galaxy formation and analysis of galaxy surveys.

Charlotte Roberts (Archaeology) has been elected President of the US Paleopathology Association and invited to become a member of the Natural History Museum Scientific Advisory Panel on Human Remains.

Gordon MacLeod (Geography) has been appointed Critical Surveys Editor of the leading international journal Regional Studies.

Sarah Curtis (Geography and IHRR) has been appointed to the Scientific Council of the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), France.

Shaun Pattinson (Law) has been awarded the 2010 Minty Medico-Legal Society Prize for the best medico-legal book Medical Law and Ethics.

Sally Brown (Medicine and Health) won the Jury Prize at the Torello Mountain Film Festival in Spain for her film (a visual interpretation of her recent research paper) ‘Lines of Flight’ and was a finalist in the Mountain Culture category at Banff Mountain Film Festival, and won Best Film: Mountain Culture, at Vancouver International Mountain Film.

Sandra Hyslop (Collingwood) won gold in the British Canoe River Race Championships in both the K1 and Classic categories.

Kiera Roberts (University College) won the individual sabre gold in the British University individual fencing championships.

Stuart Lane (Geography) has been awarded the Ralph Alger Bagnold Medal by the European Geosciences Union.

Don’t forget to visit www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue

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SPOTLIGHT ON PHYSICS Rochester Building

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The Physics Department is one of the largest departments in the University. We have around 60 academic staff, nearly 100 postdoctoral researchers, about 140 postgraduate students, 70 support staff, and about 500 undergraduate students enrolled in our various physics programmes.

Ogden Centre

Our research is organised within five sections, these are: Astronomy, which includes one of our two Institutes, plus groups working on high energy astrophysics; the Particle Physics section (which is our other Institute); the Atomic and Molecular Physics section; the Condensed Matter section; and finally the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI).

Our main building is named after Professor George Rochester, who was co-discoverer of the so-called “strange particles.” In addition, we are fortunate to have the much newer Odgen Centre, which is an impressive glass building located on the route from the science site up to Grey College. Finally, we also have a presence out at NetPark, where most of the technical aspects of the research and development carried out in the CfAI section is located.

The Physics Department has been consistently ranked amongst the top few UK Physics and Astronomy Departments in the Times league table for a number of years. In addition, using a number of key performance indicators, the Reuters organisation has placed the Department as number 1 in Europe, in the area of Space Science. We don’t build rockets,

but we do contribute to the sophisticated instruments that are flown on them, for example the replacement of the Hubble Space Telescope (called the James Web Space Telescope), which is due for launch in a few years’ time. Also, our researchers exploit the data that flows from many astronomy satellites, in particular the X-ray observatories, the Hubble Telescope, and recently the largest satellite ever launched to study the heat (long wavelength) radiation emitted by cosmic sources.

The Physics Department hosts two of the University’s Institutes, the Institute of Computational Cosmology (ICC) and the Institute of Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP). One studies the very big i.e. the formation and evolution of galaxies, and the other, the very small i.e. sub-atomic particles, and the origin of mass, as well as even more exotic things such as anti-matter and tiny black holes.

There is an interesting and profound link between the topics covered by the ICC and the IPPP, in that within the Large Hadron Collider at CERN we can reproduce conditions that resemble those present just after the Big Bang!

Of course in between the very big and the very small is everything else. Our Condensed Matter group encompasses the

study of all aspects of the solid and liquid states of matter, and therefore covers a huge range of science from technological advances in solar energy, to fundamental science, such as understanding the physics of superconductivity. Also, our researchers are major users of international facilities such as the Diamond synchrotron light source.

Our Atomic and Molecular section is concerned with the interaction between matter and radiation. These studies include very precise measurements of the properties of gases, which can reveal the quantum nature of the world around us, which has applications in the field of quantum information processing.

As for the future, we plan to forge ahead in our areas of established strengths, on both the theory and experimental fronts.

Importantly we are also looking for new opportunities, for example in areas of physics linked with biology, renewable energy and remote sensing using techniques we have pioneered in an astronomical context.

Do come along and hear our popular public lectures, which we put on several times per year.

FIND OUT MORE More information about the Department can be found at: www.durham.ac.uk/physics

CfAI test equipment at NetPark Don’t forget to visit www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue

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GETTING INVOLVED The University’s pioneering Staff Volunteering Scheme continues to grow apace and October saw a particularly exciting sight of many of the University’s senior management team, including the Vice-Chancellor, coming together with other staff and student volunteers on a Team Challenge.

Despite changeable weather, the team carried out a range of gardening, weeding and pruning work at Broadgate Farm Cooperative, near Esh Winning. Broadgate is a day centre for people with long-term, enduring mental health difficulties and regular activities at the centre focus on horticulture, ceramics & art. They also have a sensory garden, which was the focus for the challenge. The co-operative is just one of over 140 Community Partners who actively work with the University.

The Staff Volunteering Scheme provides every member of staff the opportunity to volunteer in the community for up to five days annually, during normal working hours. This is the only such university scheme in the North East and one of only a handful nationally. You can volunteer as

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an individual or as a team and we generally run at least two team events every month.

Dr Andy Cattermole (Assistant Director, Staff Volunteering & Outreach) said: “Durham is rapidly becoming one of the leading Universities in the UK for employer supported volunteering so we were particularly pleased to have the support of the Vice-Chancellor and other Senior Managers. This demonstrates the University’s commitment to community engagement and shows that every member of staff can get involved in volunteering”.

More information on how to get involved is available at www.durham.ac.uk/volunteer or contact the Staff Volunteering Team at community.engagement@durham.ac.uk

GREENSPACE UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT WEEK The University’s second annual Environment Week took place between the 15th and the 21st November. The week was filled with activities and messages relating to living and working in a more sustainable way.

Activities on specific days included exhibition stalls in the Calman and Waterside cafés; bike maintenance sessions; guided walks; guided cycle rides; and a bike sale. There was a Greenspace exhibition stall all week at the cafés with visiting exhibitors from the Energy Saving Trust, Every

Can Counts, Stockton and Durham Council’s and Northumbrian Water.

Activities going on throughout the week included college litter picks; alternative travel to work days; Fairtrade teabag competition and the launch of our new interactive walking website! www.durham.ac.uk/greenspace/ travel/maps/ The Vice-Chancellor also chose the winners of the Christmas e-card competition. The winning photos were taken by Karen Blundell, Kathryn Buckle, David Dixon,

David Fionda and Yvonne Flynn.

Staff and students were encouraged to send one of the six e-cards on the Greenspace website to save the production and transport associated with sending paper cards.

Thank you for taking part in Environment week and we hope the messages from this week have encouraged you to live and work in a more sustainable way!

You can still find carbon saving tips and environmental information on the Greenspace website at www.durham.ac.uk/greenspace/

GREEN TRAVEL To assist with moving forward with green travel initiatives, electric charging points are being installed at Durham University. Two posts, match funded by One North East, will be available for use by staff, students and visitors to the University. One point has already been installed at Queen’s Campus, Stockton and the second point will be installed on the Science Site by the end of this year.

Another initiative which has recently been launched is a new interactive walking map. This has been created

by ITS and users can enter a college or department at a start and end point and then be shown the route and given an approximate time for the walk. Walks are being added all of the time. To access this new service please visit www.durham.ac.uk/greenspace/ travel/maps

More information on the above and other travel details, including the inter-campus bus service, car sharing, bicycle user groups and public transport can be found on the Greenspace Travel website at www.durham.ac.uk/greenspace /travel

GREEN MOVE OUT 2010 This year’s Green Move Out event diverted over 30 tonnes of unwanted student belongings away from landfill.

Many of these items were redistributed back to students in reuse events, which raised over £1000 for selected charities. Leftover items and used bedding were also given to selected charities. Livers out were also included in this year’s collection event as a trial.

Ustinov College won the shield for the most bags collected for the second year running and University College won the shield for the most improved college from last year. Congratulations to both colleges for a fantastic effort in diverting waste away from landfill, promoting the reuse culture in the University and helping local charities.

Don’t forget to visit www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue

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NO COMPLAINTS HERE...

The much anticipated 2010/11 season has lived up to expectations thus far with Durham sides recording the most outstanding set of early season results in recent history.

Our Men’s Rugby Union first team, now under the stewardship of new Senior Coach, Alex Keay, remain unbeaten which includes victories against rivals Loughborough, Leeds Met Carnegie and Bath.

Men’s Lacrosse also remain unbeaten, at the moment they look unstoppable as they bid to defend their British Universities title. Women’s Fencing, who are also unbeaten, are helping to ensure that the women are well represented – they are top of the Northern Premier League whilst VC Scholar, Kira Roberts, has also won the British Universities individual sabre championships for the second time in three years.

Our rowers have already been in action.

The BUCS Small Boats Head took place in late October and once again Durham were the leading university at the event, coming home with four gold medals and two bronze. No fewer than 21 of our athletes recorded personal bests on the ergos the day before, part one of the GBR trial programme.

Our Fives Club have had another impressive term. They occupied three of the four Semi Final berths at the British University Doubles Championships. Sadly Charles Leggett and Peter Hennessy were unable to go all the way, losing to a pair

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from Oxford in the final. The Canoe Club came fourth at the British Universities WWR Championship, the undoubted highlight being the success of VC Scholar Sandra Hyslop who came away with two golds in the Women’s K1 and Women’s Classic.

The Triathlon Club continue to go from strength to strength. They have only been in existence for three years but they are now considered to be one of the most powerful clubs in the country. Their third place in the Women’s Team Duathlon, and fourth place overall, was a pleasing result bearing in mind that our best athletes will fair better over the longer distances later in the academic year.

Back to Wednesday sports and it is hard to complain about the progress of men’s and women’s basketball. Men’s basketball sit top of the Northern Premier League and in striking distance of the leaders in England Basketball National League Division 1. The women are also top of their BUCS League and look on course for promotion to National League 1.

Plenty more to come from them after Christmas. Men’s and Women’s Hockey are on course for another exciting year.

At first team level the result of the season thus far has to be the 7-1 defeat over Birmingham which kept the Palatinates top of the Premier League. The women

are not far behind them sitting in second place whilst they are both well positioned in National League Division 1.

Women’s Lacrosse, who also have a new Senior Coach in the shape of Jess Adam, started the season with a bang which included an emphatic home victory against defending champions Birmingham. It has not all been plain sailing but they remain top of the Northern Premier League and the undoubted team to beat. The same applies to women’s tennis who, despite suffering a recent set back, look on course to secure the Northern Premier League title and will be the favourites for the National Championship. The men are on course for promotion to the Premier League. They may not be able to contend with the very best this time around but they will be even stronger next season.

Our Netball club, newly promoted to the Premier League, have also had a fantastic start. They sit second in the Northern Premier League with a win against Loughborough under their belts – a truly phenomenal result. Women’s volleyball are also a club on the move. They look unbeatable and get stronger and stronger as each week passes.

FIND OUT MORE Visit www.teamdurham.com For all the latest sports news and success stories.

Durham Drama Festival 2011 The Durham Drama Festival will take place from the 23rd–26th February 2011 and is one of the highlights of Durham and the University’s theatrical year.

Run by Durham Student Theatre and with a range of respected industry professionals, an exciting line-up of workshops, Q&A sessions and a multitude of fantastic new performances, the festival is a wonderful showcase of some nation-leading theatrical talent.

For the first time ever plays have been submitted from universities and new writing organisations from all over the country, and so this year’s festival promises to be the biggest and best yet.

Hundreds of students will be making their way from their respective universities to join a host of Durham creatives in order to celebrate the performing arts.

This year’s festival will also expand from its current lodgings – The Assembly Rooms opposite Hatfield College – to encompass venues around the city. From intimate acoustic venues to a studio

space set up in an empty shop, the festival will play host to a huge range of talents in a number of exciting and innovative spaces.

This year’s judges are all industry professionals, including top London theatre critic Matt Wolf; the chief sound designer at the National Theatre, Paul Groothius; York Theatre Royal director Damien Cruden (of the acclaimed Railway Children at Waterloo Station, London); and Literary Administrator of the Royal Court London, Clare McQuillan, as well as the Head of Artistic Programming and Durham alumnus Beth Watling.

Check out the website at www.dramafest.co.uk to book your tickets as well as find out about everything that’s going on including show details, times, ticket prices, workshop descriptions and information about our festival judges.

College talent on show at ARC In February 2010, students from John Snow and Stephenson Colleges joined forces to form the Infinity Musical Theatre (IMT) group and debuted to sell-out audiences at ARC, Stockton. This year, IMT will present “Bad Girls the Musical” at ARC from 9th to 11th February 2011.

Also this year, the newly created Stephenson College Drama Group, aptly named ACT (Awesome College Theatre) are preparing for their first public performance in March 2011, staging their own adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland” at ARC.

They are shows not to be missed, so book early at www.arconline.co.uk or phone 01642 525199.

John Snow College Arts Society will be displaying a range of their excellent work in ARC during February and March 2011 and will once again be involved in a light installation project throughout Stockton during March 2011.

Both colleges at Queen’s Campus are also keen to strengthen their links with the local community. Durham Endeavour Community Orchestra (DECO) are now inviting members of the public to join the orchestra which will not only improve our connection with the locality but will strengthen the orchestra, so if you know of anyone in the Stockton/Thornaby area who may be interested in joining, please encourage them to get in contact by email at snow.jcr@durham.ac.uk

More information about both colleges can be found at: www.durham.ac.uk/stephenson and www.durham.ac.uk/johnsnow.college

Don’t forget to visit www.durham.ac.uk/dialogue

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UNDER INVESTIGATION

WHAT’S ON…

MIKE HUGHES, HEAD GARDENER, BOTANIC GARDEN

…AT THE UNIVERSITY

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD? I wanted to join the police when I left school, but Durham weren’t doing cadetships that year, so the career advice folks found me a year on a youth training scheme at the Botanic Garden as I had an allotment at home. Been here since!

HAVE YOU GOT ANY PETS? Black lab, 38 sheep and half a dozen hens.

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT? Started reading the autobiography of Sir Ranulph Fiennes on holiday this summer, never seem to get the time at home to read.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR EPITAPH TO BE? I’m with Spike Milligan on this one, something to raise a smile, “I told you I was ill…….”

WHICH HISTORICAL FIGURE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO BE? Any of the great plant hunters would be great, I’ll go for Joseph Banks who was Captain Cook’s Botanist.

WHERE WILL YOU BE GOING FOR YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY? Finland in February, never been there in the winter, can‘t wait to experience -25°c and jump in a frozen lake!

WHAT SKILL OR TALENT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO ACQUIRE? The ability to speak half a dozen different languages or more.

GIVE ME A PICTURE OF YOUR IDEAL DAY? Run with the dog at first light, family breakfast (full English), potter on in the back garden for a bit, then out for a long bike ride, a sauna and then a nice steak and a bottle of good red wine.

ON A SCALE OF 1–10, HOW MUCH DO YOU CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF YOU? 1 for people who don’t know me, 10 for people who know me.

WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST VICE? Work! I’m always thinking about new ideas, my family have finally realised that we always seem to go on holiday and funnily enough there is a garden nearby.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST RECORD YOU BOUGHT? Credence Clearwater revival.

WHAT ACHIEVEMENT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? Being happily married and having a brilliant daughter.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WORLD? Sitting on a hill overlooking Achmelvich bay in Scotland as the sun goes down.

WHAT WAS YOUR BEST SUBJECT? Geometrical and Technical drawing.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU LAUGHED AND WHY? At my daughter, Sally, she’s 13. She was learning about the suffragettes at school and was telling me about it, she thought they were some sort of special jet aeroplanes.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE FILM? Planet of the Apes, the original 1968 version.

WHAT LUXURY ITEM WOULD YOU TAKE TO A DESERT ISLAND? A pair of swimming goggles.

WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST INDULGENCE? A brooks B17 standard. Google it!

PASS THE BUCK: FINALLY, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN THE HOT-SEAT? Dr Phil Gates, Biological Sciences.

Editor: Jayne Pavitt, Acting Corporate Communications Officer Contributions: Karen Barrie, HR Policy Support Officer; Sharon Battersby, Communications Officer, ITS; Julie Biddlecombe-Brown, Exhibitions Officer; Tim Blackman, Director of Wolfson Research Institute; Andy Cattermole, Experience Durham; Callum Cheatle, St John’s College; Janet Dixon-Dawson, Senior Tutor, Snow College; Tara Duncan, University Environment Co-ordinator, Greenspace; Jill Flowers, Regional Blueprint Co-ordinator; Mike Hughes, Head Gardener, Botanic Garden; Stina Maynard, Deputy Event Durham Manager; Simon Mills, Musicon; Sam Roseveare, DSU President; Quentin Sloper, Assistant Director of Student Sport; Martin Ward, Head of Department, Physics Department.

Design: crombie, www.crombiecreative.com Printing: Statex Colour Print, www.statex.co.uk

Statex to insert their FSC logo

JANUARY Treasures of Durham University Palace Green Library Visit the newly opened exhibition hall in Palace Green Library to see this stunning exhibition of treasures from the University’s outstanding collections, including the famous Shakespeare First Folio.

Team Durham Super Wednesdays Every Wednesday during term time Maiden Castle & Queen’s Campus Sport Centres Come along to support our students as they battle it out against the best in the country as each week selected key fixtures are promoted. Watch the teams compete and be entertained by our student cheerleaders, dancers, musicians and DJs for the full match day experience.

FEBRUARY Orlando Consort 2nd February, 7.30pm Music School, Palace Green Musicon welcomes back the charismatic vocal ensemble Orlando Consort, celebrating their appointment as Ensemble in Residence at Durham University.

Chinese New Year 12th & 13th February, 2pm– 4pm Oriental Museum, Elvet Hill, Durham Join the celebrations with traditional Chinese shadow puppet shows by Noisy Oyster Theatre Company.

IAS Public Lecture – ‘The World in 2050’ Tuesday 22nd February 6.15pm Elvet Riverside ER140 Lord Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society will deliver this lecture looking to the future and at the growing gap between what science will allow us to do and what it’s prudent or ethical actually to do.

MARCH Musicon Jazz Festival 4th– 6th March Various venues across Durham City Musicon hosts Durham City’s first jazz festival with an exciting weekend of live performances FOR MORE INFORMATION on these and other events happening at the University, go to www.durham.ac.uk/whatson