Biosciences Newsletter 2013

Undergraduate news Page 3

Events and symposia Page 5

Celebrating success Page 7

Photography competition Page 8

Newsletter Bringing you the latest news from the School of Biosciences at the University of Kent

Inside this edition 2 Ten reasons to choose Biosciences at Kent 3 Developing excellence through practical training 4 Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse 4 Award-winning teaching 5 Record turnout for Biosciences Outreach 5 Wain Medal Lecture 5 Stacey Symposium to include launch of Stacey Fund 6 Innovation awards 6 Major grants success 6 Upgrades to Stacey and Ingram buildings 6 Kent around the world

School of Biosciences

2012/2013

2 University of Kent School of Biosciences

Welcome

Ten reasons to choose Biosciences at Kent Ten reasons why you might consider studying for a degree in the School of Biosciences: Student satisfaction The School of Biosciences has achieved excellent results for student satisfaction in the National Student Surveys.

Teaching excellence Biosciences scored the maximum possible mark in the last teaching quality assessment (an external review of our courses by the Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency).

Modern facilities Our refurbished teaching laboratories and a recent investment in high-specification laboratory equipment have underpinned advances in our extensive practical training.

Industrial links About 10% of our students spend a year out working in industry including GlaxoSmithKline, Lonza, the Genome Centre in Cambridge and Roche in Switzerland.

Summer Research Studentships The School of Biosciences has established the Stacey Fund to support 8-week summer studentships, allowing undergraduate students to gain valuable research experience.

Transferable skills As part of your degree you will learn about science communication, problem solving, working in groups, time management and IT, all of which promote graduate employability.

Final Year Projects In the final year students carry out an 8week research project which allows them to contribute directly to the work of the school.

Our innovative research projects have gained national recognition.

Academic Support We are a comparatively small school that takes the welfare of its students seriously.

Each undergraduate is assigned an academic adviser (a member of academic staff) who will monitor their progress through the course.

Attractive Campus and Location The University is situated on a 300 acre hillside campus overlooking the historic city of Canterbury.

Good Job Prospects Our students are in high demand after graduation. The School of Biosciences was ranked 9th in 2012 and 12th in 2013 for graduate employment in the Guardian University Guide.

Hello and welcome to the Biosciences Annual Newsletter.

It has been prepared to give applicants an insight into the School of Biosciences, highlighting some of the achievements of the last year while looking forward to an exciting 2013.

The School performed remarkably well in recruiting excellent students during the last academic year, for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Despite national declines in undergraduate student numbers, the School of Biosciences admitted a record number of students, all with excellent entry grades. Applications for the current UCAS cycle have increased again by 29% at the time of going to press. We feel this is a reflection of the commitment of our dedicated staff, collectively offering a truly research-led education and an outstanding learning experience. The School of Biosciences has a great deal to offer talented students, and the panel opposite highlights some of our strengths which make the School an exceptional place to study. By all available measures, our degrees have been recognised as being among the very best in the UK. If you visited the School of Biosciences during one of our UCAS visit days you will have noticed the on-going work to upgrade the interior to the building, which will provide an enhanced environment for students and staff alike. We are a School that is growing strongly; we have taken on 6 new members of academic staff in the last 2 years and are looking forward to the arrival of a further 4 before August 2013. These new appointments bring new opportunities and new expertise, and they are already adding to our portfolio of modules, bringing more flexibility and choice to our degree programmes. We warmly welcome Dr Mark Wass, an expert in bioinformatics, who has joined us most recently.

This is a very exciting time for us. We seek to maintain our national position as a School which couples international research excellence with a recognised commitment to training the next generation of scientists.

Dr Richard Williamson Undergraduate Admissions Officer

Biosciences 2012 photography competition A total of 34 images were submitted to the Biosciences 2012 photography competition themed “Bioscience through my lens”. See back page for more examples.

The winning image entitled, “Pigments of life” was taken by Dr Evelyne Deery

University of Kent School of Biosciences 3

Undergraduate news

Developing excellence through practical training

One of the unique challenges of a science degree is the balancing of academic content with practical training. Our practical classes allow students to develop their scientific knowledge and understand their practical significance. They also provide hands-on experience with cutting-edge scientific equipment and key techniques used in the biological sciences. However, in a subject that moves as quickly as the biological sciences, where rapid advances mean that techniques are constantly reinvented, universities need to ensure that they are delivering a training that is in keeping with the demands of employers.

The School of Biosciences has always responded to such challenges and reinvents its curriculum constantly. Our students recognise this, consistently ranking us highly for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey. It is also gratifying, but perhaps no surprise given our strong focus on practical skills training, that Kent ranks very well for Graduate Employability: 9th in 2012 and 12th in 2013 (out of almost 100 institutions) according to the Guardian Good University Guide. Nevertheless, the high esteem in which we are held by students, graduates and employers needs to be maintained.

Dr Kay Foster, our outstanding Director of Learning and Teaching, saw an opportunity to update our practical skills training in the current academic year. We have always had a strong focus on practical skills in all of our degree programmes, but this year Dr Foster sought to integrate a range of skills within an extended project, rather than separate practical classes.

She developed an Autumn term extended project in the second year in which students would express, purify and characterise a protein. In doing so, this would give students a true experience of research culture, where they solve their own problems and make their own decisions on experiments. They would also benefit from the world-leading expertise in protein science at the University of Kent so that their experiments would be based on the most modern, cutting edge technology available to science.

The first task was to talk to our research staff and identify a range of proteins that students could work with. “I put out a request to research staff in the School of Biosciences. The range of proteins I was offered was incredible, ranging from enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism to antibody-directed treatments for colorectal cancer. I was then able to work with expert staff

within our research laboratories to develop suitable procedures that would allow students to produce and purify the proteins and also to establish their biological functions.”

“Students have been able to gain experience of research at a very early stage of their university careers”, Dr Foster explained. “But in doing so, they have also gained a range of practical skills that are widely used in academic and industrial research environments. So as well as the transferable research skills that employers value, they are also able to add a range of cutting edge technical skills to their CVs”. In doing so, students have also recognised that the work has prepared them very effectively for their final year of study in which they undertake an extended research project.

Sometimes the best element of working in a university is that academic staff can learn as much as the students. “That is how it should be”, said Dr Foster. “I have gained a tremendous amount from the reinvention of our second year practical training. We can always learn more about a subject. This is precisely what we expect of our students. We expect it of ourselves too!”

4 University of Kent School of Biosciences

Undergraduate news

Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse On 10 July 2012, Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse was given a warm welcome by students and staff when he delivered our 20th Annual Postgraduate Symposium lecture. Sir Paul is the current President of the Royal Society, London, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2001 for his genetics research on protein molecules and their impact on cells. He is currently Director and Chief Executive of the Francis Crick Institute.

Earlier in the day, Sir Paul was made an Honorary Graduate of the University at the morning Congregation ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral.

Fresh from the ceremony, Sir Paul, presented awards to our undergraduate students lucky enough to have been nominated for prizes in recognition of their hard work, academic excellence and contribution to the school.

Award-winning teaching The recent Kent Union Teaching Awards saw three staff making the shortlist for all three categories of award: Best Teacher (Dr Peter Klappa), Fantastic Feedback (Dr Peter Nicholls) and postgraduates who Teach (Alex Moores, a PhD student who was recognised for her work in assisting students with practical work). A further 16 members of staff were recognised by students for the quality of their teaching, each receiving a prestigious mug! This recognition is in addition to the National Teaching Fellowship awarded to Dr Dan Lloyd by the Higher Education Academy that selects the best 50 university teachers annually from nominations across the UK. Dr Lloyd remains one of only 25 National Teaching Fellows in the UK within the Biological Sciences, and one of only 5 across the University of Kent.

Key facts Most recent measures of quality and esteem for the School of Biosciences: Teaching Quality Assessment: 24/24 National Student Survey: 95% student satisfaction Graduate employability: 12th out of 97 in Guardian University Guide

Did you know?

New modules for 2013

UCAS applications to the School of Biosciences have increased year-on-year since 2005, and this year alone has seen an increase in applications of 29% compared to last year. This is a strong endorsement of the School’s strong performance in national league tables, the recognised quality of our degree programmes and our excellent record of graduate employability.

We are adding new modules in Cancer Biology, Bioinformatics, Protein Science and Microbiology to our degree programmes in the coming year.

With new staff arriving shortly, we are building their world-leading research experience into new modules in the second and final year of our degree programmes. This will enhance the choice available to our students as they progress through our degree programmes.

University of Kent School of Biosciences 5

Events and symposia

Record turnout for Biosciences Outreach September saw the first MBP2 day of the 2012/13 academic year, with record numbers of students queuing to take part in this school-led research project. MBP2 (the Myelin Basic Protein Project) was conceived in 2008 by Dr David Colthurst, biology teacher at the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys and a former postgraduate student in the School of Biosciences.

MBP2 is one example among the School of Biosciences’ outreach portfolio that has demonstrable impact. Since conception of the project, the numbers of students studying biology at the Simon Langton has more than doubled.

The project has also raised awareness of multiple sclerosis, with increasing numbers of students acting as occasional volunteer helpers or fund-raisers for the MS Society Centre neighbouring the school. MBP2 has now gone on to inspire similar projects by School/University partnerships across England, under the Wellcome Trust funded “Authentic Biology” programme. The School of Biosciences also recently applied for a Guardian Higher Education award based on their involvement in this pioneering project.

Wain Medal Lecture 2012 Congratulations to Dr Edward Tate from the Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London and winner of the 2012 Wain Medal.

The Medal presentation was preceded by a lecture entitled “Using chemistry to target protein modification in disease” which took place in Woolf Lecture Theatre on the Canterbury Campus. The large audience comprising the Wain family, students, staff, local schoolchildren and public members were treated to an excellent lecture describing Dr Tate’s groundbreaking research.

The Wain Medal is awarded annually in memory of Professor Louis Wain to a young scientist working at the interface of chemistry and biology.

Stacey Symposium 2013 to include launch of Stacey Fund To commemorate the late Professor Ken Stacey, the School of Biosciences has initiated the ‘Stacey Symposium’. This is an annual event, this year the 3rd Stacey Symposium will be held on 8th April 2013.

At the Symposium we invite back former students and staff to give talks on a chosen theme, the theme for the 3rd Symposium will be A career beyond the laboratory. The aim is to illustrate the range of careers our alumni have followed and we hope will inspire current students to think broadly about their career opportunities once they leave Canterbury. We also invite a wide range of alumni to the event.

In addition to the formal proceedings of the day, we will also be using the Symposium to launch the Stacey Fund. This fund – supported by donations from Kent Biosciences alumni – will provide current students with the opportunity to broaden their horizons during their undergraduate or postgraduate studies through work experience during the vacations.

Former members of the School, students or staff are invited to attend

6 University of Kent School of Biosciences

Research

Innovation Awards 2012

Upgrades to the Stacey and Ingram Buildings

Innovation, creativity and enterprise were recognised at the University of Kent’s annual Innovation Awards in October 2012.

Members of Kent’s business community and representatives of other partner organisations were welcomed by University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow to the event, which was held at the Canterbury Innovation Centre.

Professor Darren Griffin won both the impact and collaboration awards for the impact of his work in a number of areas of genetics research and his collaboration with The London Bridge Fertility, Gynaecology and Genetics Centre and JSR Genetics Ltd. In addition, Professor Mark Smales was highly commended for the collaboration with Lonza Biologics on the development of Predictive Tools for the Isolation of Highly productive Recombinant Cell Lines.

Leverhulme Fellowship Award Professor Mick Tuite was awarded a one year Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, beginning September 2012. This will allow Mick to return to the laboratory to carry out a series experiments as part of a project entitled “The natural history of yeast prions”. The aim of the project is to see if yeast prions also exist in ‘wild’ strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other Saccharomyces species and will involve research at Kent plus research visits to the USA and Portugal.

Both of the buildings that house Biosciences are in the process of a major upgrade to create a better working environment for staff and students. It is estimated that the total spent will be around £2 million. The work includes repairs to services and fire-stopping work and has now progressed to all corridors being stripped and refurbished, with walls, floors, ceilings, cupboard doors, fire-doors undergoing a complete makeover. The balustrades of the main staircases have been replaced with a metal and glass design and we look forward to the extensive remodelling and refurbishment of entrances and their foyers. Completion time is expected to be March 2013.

Major grants awarded in 2012 Professor Mark Smales, £324,213 BBSRC, Investigation and manipulation of mTOR cellular signalling to generate novel CHO host cells with high growth and productivity characteristics Dr Wei-Feng Xue, £428,736 BBSRC, Quantitative investigations into the molecular mechanisms of amyloid fibril fragmentation Professor Martin Warren, £481,242 awarded by the BBSRC: Development of cobalamin surrogates as probes and carriers through synthetic and chemical biology approaches

Professor Darren Griffin, £535,556 awarded by BBSRC: “Genome assembly chromosomal organization and comparative genomics of multiple bird species: beyond “catalogues of genes” In addition, many other awards were made bringing the total of funding for the year in excess of £2 million.

University of Kent School of Biosciences 7

Celebrating success

Kent around the world

The School of Biosciences has always been very proud of its international reputation. We have undergraduate students, postgraduate students, short term visitors and and staff from all corners of the globe, bringing a cosmopolitan atmosphere to the learning environment that benefits us all.

Recent developments have increased opportunities available to our students. A strong link with the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has permitted Study Abroad opportunities in the Far East, while four students have now undertaken exciting Sandwich Year placements at the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) in Thailand. Recent developments in North America have led to a number of vibrant student exchanges with institutions in California, Virginia and Massachusetts. We are in the process of developing further partnerships in the USA,

Hong Kong and Istanbul, adding further choice and flexibility to our degree programmes.

The School of Biosciences has celebrated a new international milestone: the first PhD student supervised by a Kent member of staff, while at an overseas institution, graduated in November 2012. Dr Abdullah Al Mutery graduated with a PhD in Genetics after successfully completing a thesis on the genome of the Gyr falcon, the national emblem of the United Arab Emirates.

Dr Al Mutery was supervised by Professor Darren Griffin in collaboration with the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) in Dubai, where most of the lab work was undertaken.

Biosciences will be continuing to expand its portfolio, thus providing external students from many other countries the opportunity to study and graduate at PhD level.

Doctor Doctor Congratulations to the following students for successfully negotiating their vivas and being awarded their PhDs. Christopher Alexander Abdullah Al Mutery Luisa De Sordi Ifeoma Ezeigwe Marc Feary Vassilios Kotiadis Stephanie Magub Wesley Naeimi Mohammad-Reza Nasiri-Avanaki Ricardo Neto Marchante Danielle Owen Nagulan Ratnarajah Alan Scott

Welcome new colleagues Dr Mark Wass joined the School of Biosciences in October 2012. He obtained his first degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge University in 2000 followed by a Masters in Computing at Imperial College London.

After a few years working in Industry as an IT consultant Mark studied for a PhD with Prof Mike Sternberg at Imperial (2004-2008) and continued onto a post-doctoral position in the group. In 2011 Mark was awarded a FEBS Long Term Fellowship to work in the group of Alfonso Valencia at the

CNIO (Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Madrid, Spain).

Mark’s research interests are in Structural Bioinformatics, particularly the analysis and prediction of protein function, structure and interactions. He is also interested in using such approaches to analyse genetic variation and identify the functional effects that are associated with disease.

Biosciences will be expecting 4 more members of academic staff to join the School over the summer, thus bringing a range of new expertise in exciting areas of the biosciences.

New Master’s programme The MSc in Drug Design will run for the first time in September 2013. The programme has been designed by Professor David Brown, formerly Director of Structural Biology at Pfizer, bringing a strong industrial focus and insight into the drug discovery process. The MSc in Drug Design is the newest in our excellent suite of postgraduate taught programmes in Cancer Biology, Reproductive Medicine, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, and Science, Communication and Society.

8 University of Kent School of Biosciences

Art for science’s sake

Follow us! @bio_kent www.facebook.com/pages/SchoolOf-Biosciences/205851959435612 blogs.kent.ac.uk/biosciences/

Biosciences 2012 photography competition The Biosciences 2012 photography competition themed “Bioscience through my lens” saw images of outstanding quality in the entries. Here are some examples, including the winners whose images conveyed the many facets of Biosciences.

From upper left to lower right are: Evelyne Deery, “Pigments of life”; Wesley Naeimi, “D.I.Y laser microscopy”; Tobias von der Haar, “Colours of Biology”, Tarun Singh, “Lab”, Dimitrios Ladakis, “The Crystal Maze”, Samantha Lynn, “Reflective cylinder”; Kevin Howland, “The Biomolecular Science Facility in ‘model’ form”; and Susanne Schroeder, “When things go wrong”.

Art meets science As part of a project that uses art to explore scientific findings and processes, the School of Biosciences hosted a workshop in which artists from across the UK spent a day undertaking scientific experiments using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a cornerstone of genetic technology. Six artists, coupled with six scientists, led to a stimulating day of mutual discovery and sharing of ideas.

School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NJ T: +44 (0)1227 823743 or 827580

www.kent.ac.uk/bio/

School of Biosciences

DPC 114402 01/13

The remarkably simple process of PCR is to be represented by these artists in a gallery exhibition to be held in the Sidney Cooper Gallery in November 2012, and students from the School of Biosciences will be assisting with planning, support and running the exhibition. Communicating science has been a very important part of the scientific culture within the school and we are looking forward to exploring how art can express scientific ideas and practices to the general public in this exciting exhibition.