March 2011
Queen Mary Student
National Student Survey 2011 Entering its seventh year, the National Student Survey gives final year undergraduates the opportunity to provide their opinions on what they liked about their time at university, as well as things that they felt could have been improved. The survey provides invaluable information on the student experience at Queen Mary, enabling us to make improvements and enhance your experience here. Eligible students will be able to complete the survey online until the end of April 2011. To participate in the survey, which takes around 5 minutes to complete, please visit www.thestudentsurvey.com/faqs/faqs_1.html
Queen Mary Student: a newsletter for you
News Update on the SIS Project The SIS Project (Student Information System), is due to complete by December 2011. The new system has enabled all relevant student information to be stored in one place, and many of the timely administrative processes have become automated. Some of the highlights for students this year include:
Summer Degree Ceremonies: 18-21 July The College's Summer Degree Ceremonies will take place on the above dates. Due to the refurbishment of the Great Hall at Mile End, the ceremonies will be held at Central Hall, Westminster. The schedule for all ceremonies has now been published on the College website (www.qmul.ac.uk/graduation).
Booking for all ceremonies will open in mid April 2011 - if you are eligible to graduate you will be emailed with more details in due course. A printed invitation will also be sent to your home address in April. Please ensure your home address is up to date on your College record to ensure this invitation reaches you.
Spring BBQ To celebrate the end of term and to mark the beginning of ‘exam season’, Student and Campus Services will be hosting a Spring Barbeque for Queen Mary students. Taking place on Wednesday 30 March from 4pm, in the Student Village, Mile End, there will be a fairground attractions, beat the goalie competitions, plenty of competitive games, prizes, and of course hot food and drinks. Keep an eye out for posters, flyers and emails for further information.
• Exam Scheduling is now fully automated and personal exam timetables will be visible via MySIS • Students will be able to book and pay online for a place in their Graduation Ceremony, all accessible via MySIS • Students will be able to view online their provisional assessment results to date • Examination results and awards will be accessible via MySIS • A new style transcript will be available from summer 2011 This is a very busy period for the College with regard to the provision of services to all our students. Much College investment has been assigned to improving this service and over the next two years, we are sure that you will notice the difference.
Queen Mary Student: a newsletter for you
News
Money Matters If you are having financial problems you might be eligible to apply for a grant from the Access to Learning Fund (ALF) at Queen Mary. How can the Access to Learning Fund help you? This fund can offer non-repayable grants to students who are in financial hardship. The ALF cannot help with tuition fee payments. Can you apply to the Access to Learning Fund? Undergraduates You can apply to the ALF if you have taken your maximum Maintenance Loan entitlement for this academic year and are in financial hardship. Postgraduates You can apply to the ALF if you have the majority of your funding in place but need some extra funding, for example for study costs and travel to and from College. Where can I get an application form? The ALF is administered by the Bursaries, Grants and Scholarships office in room CB2, Queens Building, Mile End site www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/bursaries/index. html You can download a form from their website (this also has more information about the ALF) or collect one from their office, or from the Advice and Counselling Service Reception (Ground floor, Geography Building, Mile End) or the Student Office (Ground floor, Garrod Building, Whitechapel)
Is there an application deadline? You should apply by 6 May 2011, unless you have unforeseen circumstances which have affected your financial situation – in that case you can apply up to four weeks before the end of your academic year or up to 18 July 2011 if you are a continuing student. The ALF is a limited amount of money which is allocated to the College each year by the government. The money can run out, so it is best to apply as soon as possible. How long with the application take? The application form is straightforward. You need to provide some supporting documents, which are usually evidence of your funding, three months recent bank statements, and proof of your rent amount. The forms are assessed weekly so you usually have a decision within two weeks of applying, and payment is usually the week after that if you are eligible for an award. How will your application be assessed? Before applying to the ALF, you should apply for any other money you are eligible for. For example, you should apply for a student bank account with an interest free overdraft facility (if you are turned down for this, still apply to the ALF, with proof of being refused an overdraft). Once you have applied for all the money you are eligible for, if you still don’t have enough to pay for your essential costs, then you can apply to the ALF. Some groups of students are a particular priority for help from the ALF, such as students with children
(especially lone parents), students from low income families, students who have entered higher education from care, students from Foyers or who are homeless, and students in their final year. However, you do not need to be in one of these categories to apply to the fund – all students who have taken their maximum Maintenance Loan can apply. You do not need to have any unforeseen circumstances to apply to the ALF. You just need to show that your income is less than your essential costs. But if you do have any unforeseen circumstances, you should explain these in part 9 of the ALF application form. For example, you might be relying on money from a parttime job, but then you suddenly lose your job – the ALF might be able to give you a contribution towards your loss of income for a short time while you look for a new job. If you need any help explaining your unforeseen circumstances, please contact a Welfare Adviser in the Advice and Counselling Service. You can either turn up to a drop in session - every afternoon from Mondays to Fridays during term time (arrive between 1.30 and 3pm, first come first served), or contact us to book an appointment by: • emailing us via our website www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk • calling us on 020 7882 8717 • visiting our Reception on the ground floor of the Geography building, Mile End You can follow the Advice and Counselling Service on Twitter: http://twitter.com/qmul_acs
Feeling overwhelmed by too much to do?
How to get stuff done: Workshop on overcoming procrastination Wednesday 30 March 2011 2.30-4pm Procrastination 1 ½ hour presentation on 30 March at 2.30pm Workshop will include teaching on: • looking after yourself • time management • setting realistic goals • managing worrying To book email k.gillespie@qmul.ac.uk and type ‘getting stuff done’ in the subject box. Students who have not booked a place are welcome to attend on the day if there are still places available. For more details about these groups and how to book a place please visit our website
www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk
Advice and Counselling Service
Struggling to concentrate on studies?
Queen Mary Student: a newsletter for you
Research Brief Groundbreaking findings from your top research-led university…
Is dairy colostrum the key to Olympic success? Scientists investigating natural ways to enhance athletic performance have found that bovine colostrum can massively reduce gut permeability – otherwise known as ‘leaky gut syndrome.’ Their findings could have positive implications not just for athletes but also for sufferers of heatstroke. A research group led by Ray Playford, Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, looked at athletes who were asked to run for 20 minutes at 80 per cent of their aerobic maximum. At the end of the exercise, changes in the subject’s gut leakiness were measured using urine sample – also determined were changes in the athletes’ core temperature. Under standard conditions, gut leakiness had increased by 250 per cent and temperature had risen by 2 degrees. However, when the group were given a drink of dairy colostrum for two weeks before the trial, the rise in gut leakiness was reduced by about 80 per cent, despite the same effort and temperature rise. Gut disorders induced by exercise are common in runners – the body’s response to increased permeability is to clear the gut contents, giving rise to symptoms such as diarrhoea to avoid toxins from gut organisms entering the bloodstream, as these lead to heatstroke which can result in damage to the internal organs. Professor Ray Playford said: “Athletes’ performance can be seriously diminished due to gut symptoms during heavy exercise. We have been looking at natural approaches to reduce this problem as the range of products that athletes can legitimately take is very limited. Our findings suggest colostrum may have real value in helping our athletes perform. This is a research area we are especially interested in given our proximity to the 2012 Olympic site.”
New research highlights genetic links with heart disease Researchers at Queen Mary have collaborated on a study which shows new genetic causes of coronary artery disease (CAD). There are an estimated 2.6 million people living with the disease in the UK. It is the nation’s biggest killer with 94 thousand deaths each year. Scientists already know that smoking, a bad diet and lack of exercise can cause heart disease, but the new study is further evidence that genes also play a role. The research has identified 13 new genetic variants, which influence the risk of developing CHD. Scientists examined the genes of over 22,000 CAD patients of European descent and compared them with over 64,000 healthy people.
Each of the 13 variants had an effect on risk – some increased the chance by as much as 17 per cent. All the genetic variants were relatively common in the European population occurring in up to 91 per cent of people. A few of the variants seem to be associated with genes that are already linked to known CAD risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. But the rest represent completely new avenues for research. Shu Ye, Professor of Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Queen Mary, took part in the study. He said: “Coronary artery disease is a major cause of sickness and death around the world and it’s essential that we understand its causes. “This study is important because it reinforces the idea that genetic factors play a role and it opens up many new paths for researching and ultimately treating the disease.”
Queen Mary Student: a newsletter for you
Research Brief Groundbreaking findings from your top research-led university…
Exercise and CBT best treatments for chronic fatigue Two effective treatments benefit up to 60 per cent of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), according to a collaborative trial funded by the Medical Research Council and UK government departments. The largest ever study of its kind, led by researchers from Queen Mary, University London, King’s College London and the University of Edinburgh, assessed the safety and effectiveness of four separate treatments and found that graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy were the most effective. The findings, published in The Lancet, suggest these two treatments should be offered to all patients who are able to attend hospital if they are suffering from fatigue caused by CFS/ME. The findings support current guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The condition causes fatigue and other symptoms such as poor concentration and memory, disturbed sleep and muscle and joint pain. It is a long-term, complex and debilitating condition which affects around 250,000 people in the UK. The cause is not known. Professor Peter White from the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and a co-author, said: “We have found that both CBT and GET can safely help a significant number of patients. While there is still room for improvement, this is a real step forward in informing patients with CFS/ME which treatments can help to improve their health and ability to lead a more normal life.”
Gene test could solve prostate cancer riddle and spare thousands from surgery A genetic pattern could predict how aggressive prostate cancer is before treatment, and whether the disease will come back in men who have already been treated. Researchers funded by Cancer Research UK and based at Queen Mary, found that men with the highest levels of ‘cell cycle progression’ (CCP) genes – ones that encourage cells to grow – were three times more likely than those with the lowest levels to have a fatal form of prostate cancer. For patients who have had surgery to remove their prostate, those with the
highest CCP levels were 70 per cent more likely to have a recurrence of the disease. Knowing how to distinguish the aggressive tumours that need treatment from the slow-growing ones that could be monitored, sparing men from unnecessary treatment and side effects like impotence and incontinence, is the most important riddle prostate cancer scientists have to solve. The researchers believe that if these results are confirmed in large clinical trials, a test for CCP gene expression – alongside existing ones like the PSA test – could be used routinely in the clinic to overcome this problem. Lead author and Cancer Research UK epidemiologist, Professor Jack Cuzick, based at Queen Mary, University of London, said: “Our findings have great potential. CCP genes are expressed at higher levels in actively growing cells, so we could be indirectly measuring the growth rate and inherent aggressiveness of the tumour through our test.
Queen Mary Student: a newsletter for you
International Students New Careers website launched A new website launched this month to help students with international job hunting. The International Graduate Jobs website is available to view via www.prospects.ac.uk/international_graduate_jobs.htm. Students can find opportunities with different employers in a wide range of disciplines, from volunteering to internships, to graduate jobs - across the world. The site also offers information on how to write a good CV and covering letter, and tips on how to improve your interview skills. The website has been produced by AGCAS, HECSU, NASES and The Careers Group.
A message from your Students' Union representative “Hi, my name is Bilal Bin Saqib, I am your International Students' Officer for the year. I was elected last year and have been given the responsibility of looking after your interests for the year. As an international student myself, I have firsthand experience of moving to London from another country and dealing with the challenges of adapting to life in a new country, and a new academic system. Part of my remit is to make sure that all my fellow international students are settled in and are having a good time at the College. My last year at Queen Mary was great and I got to know many people and made several new friends. This year, I have greatly enjoyed the new challenges and experiences that my new role has presented me with. I am here to advise, support and represent your interests, so please feel free to email me on international@qmsu.org with any issues, concerns or comments that you have. International students form a large and vital part of the College community and we need to make sure our voice is heard. I would also like to encourage you to join the Facebook group for international students at Queen Mary as a great way of hearing about events and opportunities, or just as a way of keeping in touch with other international students here: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=162222927763 www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=162222927763&v=wall> &v=wall Good luck and hope to hear from you soon.
International student profiles The international office is always looking for more current student profiles to go on their website, please see www.qmul.ac.uk/international/studentssay/42620.html If you would like your profile to go on the website, or in Queen Mary publications, please fill out the profile form by going to the following website www.qmul.ac.uk/international/profiles/profiles.html