Insight Magazine (12) - London's university courses and news

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Business courses Read why London is the world’s business and financial capital

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Arts courses Find out how London’s creative arts schools inspire and showcase talent

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insight Issue twelve

Science courses

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Discover how London is pushing the boundaries of science and technology

Teaching courses Explore why London is the global centre for teacher training

The latest news and courses from London’s universities www.studylondon.ac.uk

Sign up to become a London Ambassador and boost your CV with voluntary work

Study in London Experience the world in one city

London events From the famous Notting Hill Carnival to the spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks, London has hundreds of free events and festivals

WELCOME

To subscribe for free, visit www.studylondon.ac.uk

London’s musical landscape is virtually unparalleled. We have more venues and performances taking place than New York or Paris, with many of them free.

We are host to the largest celebration of classical composers in the world in the annual Proms, the most democratic of all music festivals. Songs and compositions can have a transforming impact on young people and as Confucius once said, “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without”.

As well as being home to a vast number of orchestras, in this edition of insight you will read how London is also home to world-class music conservatoires. These hothouses of talent are teaching tomorrow’s classical stars who are drawn to the city from around the world.

But as the Mayor of London I am not only concerned with our city’s great cultural heritage, I am also responsible for reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and want to ensure that London is a world leader in tackling climate change. We are blessed that in London we already have some of the leading climate change thinkers undertaking research that we can call upon.

London is home to not one but two Grantham Institutes for Climate Change with teams of academics working on groundbreaking research that will change the way we think about our planet. Inside you will read more about their research and the courses you can enrol on to do your bit and help stem the tide of climate change.

I hope you enjoy reading this edition of insight.

Remember, you can go to www.studylondon.ac.uk for more news and information on studying in one of the most amazing cities in the world.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London November 2010

Issue 12

CONTENTS news 02 Read about the latest courses, research and student successes from London’s universities

business & finance 10 THE RISE OF THE GLOBAL MANAGER Boost your CV with an international perspective 11 Brazilian scholarship • A social media star • World cup placement • Graduate scheme success

creative ARTS 12 CLASSICAL MUSIC SPOTLIGHT Enjoy hundreds of concerts and learn from the city’s world-class orchestras 13 Shoe design • BBC radio bursary award • IKEA design placement • Screenwriting success

science & TECHNOLOGY 14 CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH How the city’s researchers are fighting the race against time 15 Future science leaders • Life-saving thermal clothes • Chemistry award • Drug research

health & public policy 16 INSPIRING FUTURE SCHOOL LEADERS London’s next generation of leaders are changing the way we teach and learn 17 Professional of the year • DNA research breakthrough • Microbiology professor • Helping rebuild Haiti

regular features 18 CALENDAR OF EVENTS Discover London’s diverse festivals and celebrations 20 London’s hidden gems The V&A Museum of Childhood Explore childcare and child development, from childbirth in the 17th century to teenage rebellion in the 1960s

insight is produced by London Higher four times a year. The editorial content of insight is produced by the Study London team. London Higher, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No. 05731255. Registered Charity No.1114873. For editorial enquiries please email press@studylondon.ac.uk For advertising enquiries please email advertising@studylondon.ac.uk. insight is printed on 100% recycled paper.

Credits: Some facts have been supplied by Visit London and HESA data. With thanks to student journalists Jonathan Garrett and Estella Shardlow from City University London and James O’Reilly from University of the Arts London.

Cover image: Royal Holloway, University of London student Pooja Suri Inset: James O’ Jenkins. insight is designed and printed by Fatpipe Limited www.fatpipe.co.uk The views in insight are not necessarily those of London Higher. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published in insight, London Higher does not accept responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors or the advertisers. All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved.

NEWS

in the news the LATEST NEWS FROM LONDON’s UNIVERSITIES

Be a London Ambassador

SEVEN of London’s universities have been ranked in the world’s top 200 in the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, more than any other city in the world. The ranking recognises the quality of the teaching, research and internationalism of the world’s universities.

The seven top ranked London universities are: • Imperial College London • University College London • King’s College London • London School of Economics and Political Science • Royal Holloway, University of London • Queen Mary, University of London • Birkbeck, University of London.

THE build-up towards the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games continues with the launch of the London Ambassador’s programme.

The Mayor of London is recruiting 8,000 Ambassadors to welcome visitors from all over the world and be the ‘face of London’.

Students studying, or planning to study, in London are encouraged to apply by 31 December 2010 at www.londonambassadors.org.uk

2 www.studylondon.ac.uk

Source: James O’ Jenkins

World ranking

NEWS

Chinese cultural scholar

University of West London THAMES Valley University (TVU) has announced a name change to the University of West London. The new name is not the university’s first. It was originally founded in 1860 as the Lady Byron School. The new brand, logo and name will be introduced later this year. The change coincides with the appointment of a new Chancellor and a celebration of the university’s 150 years of providing education in West London to students and local companies.

Safer scanning

Source: Stewart Edwards

Stewart (left) collects his award

AN undergraduate student at the School of Oriental and African Studies has won first prize at the Chinese Bridge competition, a prestigious contest in China for nonnative speakers. Stewart Johnson beat more than 6,000 competitors from 59 countries to win the final, which was shown live on Chinese

state television and watched by an estimated 200 million people.

To win the competition, Stewart had to deliver a speech in Chinese and answer questions about Chinese culture. His prize is a full three-year scholarship to study in China as well as being named a ‘cultural ambassador’.

A SCIENTIFIC breakthrough by academics from Middlesex University will make it possible to scan a newborn baby’s lungs without exposing the child to radiation. They have discovered a new scanning technique that passes a small electrical current into the body which is likely to lead to the development of cheaper alternatives to MRI and CT scanners. These highly portable scanners will also reduce the need to transport premature babies to specialist scanning facilities.

New home

Indian law internship A LAW graduate from City University London has won a coveted human rights scholarship in Pakistan. Charlotte Bailye, who recently completed the Bar Vocational Course at City’s Law School, will now begin a Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) internship.

Charlotte will work for the

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, spending a month in Lahore to work with Justice Majida Razvi, the country’s first female high court judge.

The talented law graduate beat more than 100 other candidates with her report on forced marriage and honour killings in Pakistan, soon to be published by the HRLA.

RAVENSBOURNE’S new £70 million home next to the O2 music venue is purpose built and includes a fully functioning TV studio for students.

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NEWS

Vodafone partnership

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A PROFESSOR from King’s College London has received the American Psychological Association (APA) 2010 Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology. The APA recognised Professor David Clark’s research into panic disorders and the treatment of social phobias. With 150,000 members, the APA is the largest association of psychologists in the world. Professor Clark joined King’s in 2000 and is also the director of the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma.

Professor David Clark

Edinburgh Festival Award PETER Bramley, a Course Co-ordinator at Rose Bruford College, has won the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award for his production of Ovid’s Metamorphoses at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Peter will now receive funding

to stage his show in New York in January 2011. The show has received critical acclaim and was created with a cast of actors comprising mostly of recent graduates from Rose Bruford’s BA Acting Musicianship and BA Acting programmes.

Source: King’s College London

LONDON Business School has expanded its partnership with Vodafone and is doubling the number of scholarships it awards to its students from two to four.

This increase forms part of a deepening relationship between Vodafone and London Business School, with Vodafone recently joining the School’s corporate partnership programme. The world’s leading mobile telecommunications company is also seeking to recruit more London Business School students while also working with several of the School’s academic staff to collaborate on research.

Vittorio Colao, Vodafone’s CEO, recently spoke at the School’s Global Leadership Summit outlining the company’s emerging market strategy and how it intends to focus on the Indian market.

Psychology research prize

NEWS

Meeting Nelson Mandela Source: Bunmi Olaye

Bunmi (left) meeting Nelson Mandela

Keyboard successes TWO Royal College of Music pianists have recently won major prizes. Alexey Chernov won First Prize and €3,000 in the Italian International Piano Competition “AMA Calabria”, and also in Italy, Konstantin Lapshin won First Prize in the Mendelssohn Cup.

New film course

UNIVERSITY of East London fashion student Bunmi Olaye was recently invited to meet Nelson Mandela at his home after she was awarded the Best Emerging International Designer award at

Africa Fashion Week. The talented student, whose designs have attracted the attention of America’s First Lady, Michelle Obama, has since showcased her work to the world at London Fashion Week.

CHRISTOPHER Harkin, an Industrial Design and Technology student at Brunel University, has created a lightweight, self-assembly cot that is covered with a net to protect children from malaria-carrying mosquitos in the developing world.

The net is made using a mesh that is four times stronger than traditional mosquito netting.

The design student was inspired to create his life-saving design when he learnt that malaria is responsible for the deaths of 3,000 children every day, the majority of them aged under five. The cot can be flat-packed and Chris is now working with a charity to transport his products to Cambodia.

Source: Christopher Harkin / Brunel University

Preventing malaria

A NEW MA in Film Curating is being launched thanks to a unique collaboration between the London Consortium and the London Film School. Students can study the role of film curating in an age when digital distribution technologies are transforming the sector.

Each student also gets the opportunity to curate a film screening or film-related event at the end of each year, using the resources and expertise of the London Film School and the institutions of the London Consortium.

The London Consortium is a unique collaboration between: • Architectural Association • Birkbeck, University of London • Institute of Contemporary Arts • Science Museum • Tate.

Together they teach postgraduate qualifications in the humanities and cultural studies, including a Master’s of Research (MRes). The MRes combines coursework, research and can act as a pathway into the Consortium’s PhD programme.

Did you know?

The BFI London Film Festival screened over

300 new films

Christopher with his design

(Source: BFI)

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NEWS

Dance and music scholarship

DR Sharon Shalev, a research fellow at the London School of Economics, has been awarded the prestigious British Society of Criminology’s Book Prize for her book Supermax: controlling risk through solitary confinement.

The prize is awarded annually to a publication that makes a valuable contribution to the development of criminology.

Supermax is the first book to offer a comprehensive examination of the supermax prison system in the USA, which was established to protect society from its most violent and dangerous criminals.

TRINITY Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance has established the Loveday Scholarship, the Conservatoire’s first scholarship available to both dance and music students.

There will be five ‘Loveday Scholars’ every ten years, four for musicians and one for a dancer.

All postgraduate students in need of financial support and who are exceptionally talented in music or contemporary dance will be eligible to apply. The funds to create the

Only in London

LSE professor Christopher Pissarides was recently awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, which takes the number of Nobel prize winners from LSE to 16 (Source: London School of Economics)

6 www.studylondon.ac.uk

Source: Trinity Laban

Prison break

Mark and Liza Loveday (centre)

scholarship are available thanks to the generous donation of enthusiastic arts supporters Mark and Liza Loveday. Professor David Clark

Olympic clothes for Team GB STELLA McCartney, a University of the Arts alumni, will lead the design team creating Team GB’s tracksuits for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The celebrated British designer will work on a wide range of clothes, from competitive

performance wear to regular clothing for fans. Stella trained as an apprentice with Christian Lacroix on Savile Row as a teenager and graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design with a BA in Fashion in 1995.

NEWS

Fashion Week work

ACTING graduate Andrew Garfield from the Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) has been selected to replace Tobey Maguire as the new Spider-Man for the fourth film due to be released in 2012.

Three years after finishing his degree at Central, Andrew was voted one of Variety magazine’s ‘top 10 to watch’. Later this year he will appear alongside Keira Knightley in the forthcoming British sci-fi thriller, Never Let Me Go and he is also Students working on their designs starring in The Social Network based on the founding of Facebook.

Andrew joins an illustrious list of successful alumni from the school, which includes James Bond actor consumer behaviour. Students have Judi Dench, playwright Harold the option to complete an internship Pinter and English Patient actor within a luxury brand company Kristin Scott Thomas. CSSD, a and gain industry-specific work specialist conservatoire within the experience. Alternatively students can University of London, has one of the undertake a dissertation on a research broadest range of drama, theatre and area within luxury branding. performance courses in Europe.

Source: Royal College of Art

A TEAM of 10 students from the Royal College of Art was recently invited to design a clothes collection for UK high street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S). The MA Fashion & Textiles students worked closely with the M&S fashion team and the finished designs featured both in-store and online during London Fashion Week.

The best student designer from the team will be given the opportunity to produce a larger collection for 2011.

New Spider-Man

Luxury brand management THE European Business School at Regent’s College London has launched a new MA Luxury Brand Management. The course focuses on the marketing and management of luxury brands and also offers modules studying intellectual property law and

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NEWS

Rowing gold

New university college BPP has been named the UK’s first new private sector university college for more than 30 years. The new university college already has degree awarding powers and over 35,000 students study its law, business and accountancy qualifications.

8 www.studylondon.ac.uk

Source: St Mary’s University College

ROEHAMPTON University rowing student and sport scholar Jamie Kirkwood and his team won gold at this year’s Under-23 World Championships in Belarus. Jamie started rowing at the age of 14 and is now studying Sport and Exercise Science at Roehampton.

In addition to his studies Jamie will continue training as London gets ready to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

Premier League placement

Undergraduates at the Chelsea Academy

PHYSICAL and Sport Education undergraduates from St Mary’s University College, Twickenham have been selected to help coordinate Chelsea Football Club’s ‘Search for an Asian Soccer Star 2010’. The 25 students will use the skills and knowledge that they have learnt in their degree programme to work as coaches and help identify promising footballers.

Chelsea Football Club will work with the Asian Media Group and Kick

It Out to search forProfessor playersDavid in theClark UK from Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi backgrounds aged 8 to 13 years old.

The young players will be judged during a series of matches and tests specifically designed to examine their speed, skill and ability.

Successful candidates will then be selected for a week’s training with the Chelsea Academy squad and could even be signed by Chelsea as professional footballers.

NEWS

Harrods talent showcase

Flower power JAMES Clarke, a Landscape Architecture graduate from the University of Greenwich, has won a Gold Award at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

James’s winning design was a show garden for the Tourism Authority of Thailand. As part of his research, James visited Thailand to study different plants and capture the local character. His design also won him the Tudor Rose Award for the Best Show Garden, the highest accolade awarded by the RHS.

Modern biology BIOLOGISTS of the future will be better equipped to tackle big problems including climate change and species extinction thanks to Imperial College London’s new MSc in Quantitative Biology. The course will provide the next generation of scientists with the necessary tools in mathematics, statistics and video imaging to help them tackle modern problems in biology.

The one-year course is offered full-time over 50 weeks. In addition to taught modules, students will also undertake a research project.

Source: Hasan Hejazi / Harrods

Clothes designed by London College of Fashion student Hasan Hejazi

FOUR up-and-coming designers from the London College of Fashion’s MA Fashion Design and Technology course have been chosen to showcase their work on a new Harrods website. The new

multimedia platform will provide a high profile stage for students to launch their fashion careers. A selection of their clothes will also be sold to the public at the Harrods Designer Studio.

International programmes THE University of London has been delivering distance learning degrees through its External System since 1858. Over 150 years later, the programme has changed its name and will now be called International Programmes. The University of London International Programmes will continue to offer internationally recognised Diplomas, Bachelor’s and Master’s courses to 50,000 students in 180 countries.

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business & FINANCE NEWS AND COURSES

The rise of the global manager Brendan Jongman

Source: Brendan Jongman / Jonny Garrett

Boost your CV with an international perspective.

T

he popularity of management courses, especially those offering a global perspective, has helped propel London Business School (LBS) to the top of the FT’s Global MBA Rankings.

Brendan Jongman, a student from The Netherlands on LBS’s Master’s in Management, chose the School because of its global reputation.

“In terms of business, London is the capital of the world right now and London Business School is the best school in the world in the rankings,” he says.

Even so LBS has exceeded his expectations, giving him the chance to network with people from the industry and attend lectures given by world leading academics. “The teaching is fantastic,” he says, “The big advantage here is that the teachers are real business people.”

London’s unique multicultural population is also replicated within the city’s business schools. At Cass Business School, part of City

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www.studylondon.ac.uk

University, there are students from 90 countries studying business and finance courses. While at Imperial Business School, 70 percent of the MBA class are from outside the UK. Gaining an international outlook is one of the key reasons why students choose to study in the city. A London qualification gives your CV that all important global perspective, which will put you ahead of the competition for a successful career with a blue chip multinational company.

Only in London

A quarter of London businesses are foreign-owned. With over 20,000 overseas-owned companies, London attracts more inward investment than any other European country.

(Source: Think London)

Did you know?

There are

63,000

students studying business and management courses in London (Source: HESA 2008/9)

Course highlights LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY Entrepreneurship and Management, BA LONDON SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY Management with Business Information Technology, BA KING’S COLLEGE LONDON International Management, MSc LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL Master’s in Management QUEEN MARY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Management and Organisational Innovation, MA ROEHAMPTON UNIVERSITY International Management with Finance, MSc UNIVERSITY OF LONDON INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES International Management, MSc Find more courses at www.studylondon.ac.uk

business & FINANCE

A social media star LONDON Metropolitan University alumnus Amanda Rose has been listed by leading business magazine Management Today as one of the top ‘35 women under 35’ in business.

Amanda came from Canada to study the University’s MA Communications Management.

The course has given Amanda the skills to coordinate high profile

events such as London Fashion Week, the Brit Awards and Twestival, an event that used social media to raise $1.2m for charity. It has been quite a year for Amanda who has created her own strategic consultancy ‘Connect the Dots’ while also being named as one of the year’s ‘Most Intriguing People’ by US television news channel CNN.

Graduate scheme success

World cup placement

Source: Royal Holloway, University of London

LONDON South Bank University (LSBU) student Oksana Kiose recently completed a placement at the world renowned advertising agency Ogilvy where she worked on internet giant Yahoo’s football world cup advertising campaign.

The Marketing Communications student won the placement thanks to a competition at her university.

During her placement, Oksana worked on a promotional campaign featuring the global football icon David Beckham while also learning from the experienced Ogilvy team as they finalised marketing briefs, presentations and the latest advertisement releases.

Over the years, LSBU has created a strong partnership with the advertising agency, which currently employs more than 10 LSBU graduates.

Brazilian scholarship LONDON Business School has created the Wili and Ilse Scholarship to help support students from Brazil studying an MBA at the School.

Thanks to an anonymous donation, the funding will increase the number of scholarships on offer at the School.

In the last year, the School has awarded more than £1 million in student support.

Pooja Suri

TWO students at Royal Holloway, University of London are celebrating after winning places on Vodafone’s competitive graduate scheme. The students beat almost 3,000 applicants to work for the one of the world’s largest mobile phone companies.

Management student Lauren

Did you know?

McKinlay together with Maths and There are Management student Pooja Suri will begin work in September with a starting salary of £25,000. Their placement will give them experience of a wide range of areas including retail, Brazilian students studying in marketing, research and development, London (Source: HESA 2008-9) human resources and finance.

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CREATIVE ARTS NEWS AND COURSES

Classical music spotlight Grace Yeo

Course highlights BRUNEL UNIVERSITY Musical Composition, BMus KINGSTON UNIVERSITY Music Technology, BMus ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC Music (Performance or Composition), BMus TRINITY LABAN Musical Theatre (Performance), BA GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DRAMA Music Composition, MMus ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE Music in Performance, MA ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC Music, DMA Find more courses at www.studylondon.ac.uk Did you know?

The Proms were founded in

Source: Nina Large

Enjoy hundreds of concerts and learn from the city’s world-class orchestras.

G

race Yeo, a South Korean Master’s student at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, is a big fan of London’s lively classical music scene. “You can enjoy classical music any night of the week,” She says. Grace’s favourite venue is the Royal Albert Hall which is famous for hosting the BBC Proms each year, a 115 year old classical music festival that stages 100 concerts in just 12

www.studylondon.ac.uk

nine weeks.

Grace also enjoys performing in London. She has played solo piano concerts at prestigious venues such as St Martin in the Fields Church and she has even played a concerto at the Royal Albert Hall.

The talented student started playing piano aged four and it was while studying a BMus degree at Seoul University that Grace decided to study in London.

At Guildhall, she was awarded the Barbara Stringer Scholarship and she is now planning to stay in the UK to audition for a professional orchestra.

1895

to encourage more people to listen to classical music (Source: BBC)

Until then, she is enjoying London life. “I’m really lucky that most of my friends are British so it’s great for improving my English skills,” she says.

And there’s as much listening as there is talking in a city that is home to the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. You can spend a year in London and never hear the same classical symphony twice.

Only in London

25 Brook Street, Mayfair has been home to both George Frederick Handel and Jimi Hendrix, though separated by more than 200 years.

CREATIVE ARTS

IKEA design placement

Shoe design

GRAPHIC design students at Kingston University London have won an IKEA work placement after winning the Student of the Year award at this year’s D&AD awards. Jessica Reynolds and Serena Wise won the highest honour with their eye-catching design, which answered a brief set by furniture retail giant IKEA. They redesigned the IKEA catalogue as a colour wheel

LONDON College of Fashion (LCF) has teamed up with UK high street retailer New Look to create a new footwear collection. Students on the MA Fashion Footwear course will gain valuable work experience as they design a collection of shoes, boots and sandals that will be sold in New Look stores.

Students will compete to have their designs chosen by a panel of industry and retail experts. Winning students will then play an integral role in the production process before their shoes go on sale. The project could be the beginning of an illustrious career as the students aim to follow in the footsteps of shoe designers and former LCF graduates Jimmy Choo and LK Bennett.

(pictured) to display all products organised according to colour, enabling customers to choose and match items of furniture more easily.

Judges praised the elegant design, highlighting its easy to use and fun approach. The two students will now develop the idea further on a work placement at IKEA’s advertising agency, ‘Mother’.

Source: IKEA / Kingston University London

Screenwriting success Source: Royal Holloway, University of London

A ROYAL Holloway, University of London student has won the David Lean Award in recognition of his screenwriting talents. Judges, including screenwriters, agents and a former Film4 executive, awarded Jonathan Nicol £5,000 to help him develop his work and begin his film career. The MA Screenwriting student will use the money to develop ‘Best of Luck’, his current screenplay. He will attend next year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival and continue to run creative writing workshops for young people.

Royal Holloway’s campus

BBC radio bursary award THIRD year acting student Iain Batchelor, from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and Henry Devas, from Rose Bruford College, have been awarded joint first place in the BBC Carleton Hobbs Bursary Award.

The pair beat 80 students from 20 different schools to win the top prize, which is a five month work placement with the BBC’s prestigious Radio Drama Company.

The bursary has been run by the BBC’s Radio and Drama department since 1953. To date, the scheme has helped launch the careers of 120 outstanding graduates.

Did you know?

The BBC first started to broadcast in

1922 (Source: BBC)

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13

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEWS AND COURSES

Climate change research

Source: www.visitbritainimages.com

The Thames Barrier, protecting London from rising sea levels

How the city’s researchers are fighting the race against time.

A

neire Khan has more reason than many of her contemporaries to have an interest in climate change.

The Imperial College London PhD student has seen first-hand the disastrous impact of a changing climate in her native Bangladesh.

“For Bangladesh, climate change is not just a concept that may happen in the future,” she says. “Sea-level rise is a critical factor making Bangladesh especially vulnerable to climate change.”

As part of her PhD, Aneire is studying the effects of rising sea-levels on the water supply in Bangladesh’s remote coastal regions. She hopes to be able to help some of the 20 million people threatened by the increasing salt levels found in drinking water near Bangladesh’s coast.

While Aneire works on her research during the day, in the evenings she sings in a fusion band that mixes 14

www.studylondon.ac.uk

Bengali music with Latin and Afro beats. “London is rich in culture and because I am a singer, that particular aspect really attracted me,” Aneire explains.

Groundbreaking climate change research is taking place in London.

The city is home to two Grantham Research Institutes, at Imperial and the London School of Economics.

They specialise on improving our understanding of the science behind climate change and developing new technologies to combat its worst effects. Researchers like Aneire know it is a race against time.

Only in London

There are over 250 environmentalrelated courses available at London’s universities. You can search for them at www.studylondon.ac.uk Did you know?

The Mayor of London has pledged a

60%

cut in carbon output by 2025 (Source: Mayor of London)

Course highlights BIRBECK, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Climate Change Management, MSc IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development, MSc LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Environmental Policy and Regulation, MSc MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY Environmental Pollution Control, MSc UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON Environment, Science and Society, MSc UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON Renewable Energy and the Built Environment, MSc Find more courses at www.studylondon.ac.uk

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Life-saving thermal clothes

Chemistry award

AN INDUSTRIAL Design and Technology student at Brunel University has designed a life-saving thermal vest to protect its wearer from hypothermia. Snowboarding enthusiast Tom Le Mesurier designed the ‘HyProtection’ vest to include heat strips that are triggered by underarm sensors, which are then activated if the core body temperature drops too low.

PROFESSOR Paul Workman from the Institute of Cancer Research has received a prestigious award from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for his work in discovering exciting new anti-cancer drugs.

Professor Workman was given the RSC George & Christine Sosnovsky Award in Cancer Therapy for his research that seeks to design drugs with the ability to block the molecules that are essential for cancer cells to grow and spread. As a result, a number of new drugs have entered clinical trials, including one that has already received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The RSC is the professional body for chemical scientists and is the largest organisation in Europe dedicated to advancing the science.

The vest has been designed particularly for someone who is unable to move due to injury, or if they are stranded somewhere and are at risk to hypothermia. Warmed by the vest, wearers will have more time to be found before chronic hypothermia begins. Tom recently showcased his pioneering design to industry buyers at the Made in Brunel product design exhibition.

Source: Brunel University

Drug research

Tom Le Mesurier with his HyProtection vest

Future science leaders RESEARCHERS from Imperial College London have been awarded more than £8 million in fellowships from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The fellowships will provide support to early stage researchers and help established researchers develop their

potential to become international leaders in their field. Imperial will use the funding to work on a variety of important projects such as designing the next generation of eco-friendly cars, making internet servers more secure, generating nuclear power systems and fighting diseases.

TWO students from the School of Pharmacy have won the prestigious Physiological Society’s Undergraduate Prize. Zahra Ali and Sagar Arvind Pal won with their research into drugs that work with blood vessels and blood pressure to evaluate how drugs affect symptoms such as dizziness, fainting and heart failure.

In addition to a cash prize, the students also received free membership to the Physiological Society, which was founded in 1876 and has counted 21 Nobel Laureates as its members. The Society works to contribute to the understanding of biomedical sciences and the detection, prevention and treatment of disease and disability.

The School of Pharmacy is a college of the University of London and is the only free-standing specialist school in the UK dedicated entirely to teaching and research in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences.

The School is over 150 years old and currently teaches around 1,600 students.

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HEALTH & PUBLIC POLICY NEWS AND COURSES

Inspiring future school leaders Source: Institute of Education

Course highlights UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH Education and Child Development, BA GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Education (Culture, Language and Identity), MA INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION Development Education, MA KING’S COLLEGE LONDON Education Management, MA MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY Education: Leadership, Management and Change, MA ST MARY’S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, TWICKENHAM Education (Leading Innovation and Change), MSc Find more courses at www.studylondon.ac.uk Only in London

Chris Husbands, incoming director of the Institute of Education

London’s next generation of leaders are changing the way we teach and learn.

T

he new incoming director of the Institute of Education, Chris Husbands, recently summed up the role of teacher training, saying, “I am passionately dedicated to the quality of children’s experiences in schools, and how we support teachers in getting the best out of children.”

There is a vast range of courses in London that aim to support teachers through training and continuous professional development. MA Education student Nancy Narabal

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came from the Philippines to study at Middlesex University. She is studying Leadership, Management and Change, a course that will improve her pedagogic research skills and give her the tools to manage organisational change.

Nancy has found her time studying in London inspirational. “Accessibility to information needed by students is always possible as there are enormous libraries in every borough,” she says.

London’s multicultural student population has also helped her understand different cultures, a skill she will take back to the Philippines.

“The opportunities to meet students from other parts of the world help us adapt to the excellent learning styles

London has over 385 public libraries, meeting the needs of nursery school children through to learned professors. and reasoning skills of students from different backgrounds,” she explains.

With nearly 2,000 schools in London there are lots of opportunities for trainee teachers to undertake work experience and transfer what they learn in the lecture hall into the classroom.

Did you know?

The V&A Museum of Childhood receives

40,000 visitors each year

(Source: Museum of Childhood)

HEALTH & PUBLIC POLICY

DNA research breakthrough DR Jo Morris and Amin Alamshah from King’s College London have been awarded Breast Cancer Campaign’s ‘Research Team of the Year’ prize for their groundbreaking studies.

The team has discovered proteins that identify where DNA damage has occurred in the body. The proteins also have the ability to attach

themselves within the body to fix genetic faults. Failure to repair this damage can lead to cell death and trigger diseases such as cancer.

It is hoped the discovery will help scientists develop drugs that work with common cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy to kill cancerous cells while reproducing healthy new cells.

Professional of the year CITY University London graduate Dr Zahra Jessa has been named ‘Professional of the Year’ at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards 2010. Dr Jessa was recognised for her research into detecting visual problems in elderly people. The award recognises professionals who have become leading practitioners in their chosen field and who are an inspiration to other women. Dr Jessa is currently working in London as an optometrist at Moorfields - one of the world’s leading eye hospitals.

Microbiology professor Source: Queen Many, University of London

Source: King’s College London

Amin Alamshah and Dr Jo Morris

Helping rebuild Haiti Source: University College London

A TEAM of architects, engineers and students from University College London are using their expertise to build a primary school and community centre in Haiti. The rebuilding of this vital infrastructure for local communities follows the violent earthquake in January which killed nearly a quarter of a million people and left a million more homeless.

The team will work with Thinking Development, a nongovernmental organisation leading the redevelopment project in the country’s capital city, Port-au-Prince.

At work in Haiti

The new facilities will be earthquakeresistant and eco-friendly. The team will work with the local community to enable people in Haiti to lead their own recovery.

PROFESSOR John Oxford from Queen Mary, University of London has received an influential award in recognition of his vital work communicating public health messages about influenza.

The virology professor was given the Communications Award by the Society for Applied Microbiology in recognition of the important role he had in helping the public understand the risks of the recent swine flu pandemic. Professor Oxford (pictured) has spent years studying the influenza virus and has published 250 scientific papers on the subject.

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17

EVENTS

calendar of events january

A selection of London’s festivals and celebrations

NOVEMBER

New Year’s Day Parade International Mime Festival London Art Fair

Lord Mayor’s Show Join the Lord Mayor’s procession, winding through 800 years of London history, when the newly elected Lord Mayor makes his way to the Royal Courts of Justice to pledge allegiance to the Crown. Enjoy the Show with 6,000 performers, 200 vehicles, 70 floats and 24 marching bands.

FEBRUARY

Chinese New Year Celebrations London Fashion Week Six Nations Rugby at Twickenham march

St Patrick’s Day Parade Affordable Art Fair april

London Marathon London Book Fair The Camden Crawl Vaisakhi Celebrations The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race may

June

Trooping the Colour City of London Festival London Literature Festival

The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition London Festival of Architecture Taste of London Camden Green Fair 18

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NOVEMBER London Jazz Festival Jazz enthusiasts and newcomers come together for an inspiring ten days of jazz, packed with everything from be-bop to beat-box.

Take your pick of 192 concerts at 41 venues and listen to some of the world’s best jazz music.

Source: Damian Searles

Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships

Source: Clive Totman

Africa Day Celebrations FA Cup Final Chelsea Flower Show Student Final Year Shows across London

EVENTS

Go online to read more about events taking place in London www.studylondon.ac.uk JULY

Wireless Music Festival BBC Proms Classical Music Festival Pride London August

Source: Visit London

Trafalgar Square Festival Carnaval del Pueblo Notting Hill Carnival London Triathlon London Mela september

Regent Street Festival Open House London Design Festival Thames Festival London Fashion Week The Great River Race Brick Lane Festival

DECEMBER Christmas Carols in Trafalgar Square Listen to school and charity choirs as they help raise money for good causes each December. Carols are sung beneath the 20 metre tall Christmas tree donated by Norway every year since 1947 as a token of Norwegian and British friendship.

DECEMBER New Year’s Eve Fireworks

Source: Visit London

Countdown to the New Year with 350,000 revellers and enjoy a spectacular fireworks display against the backdrop of the London Eye and Houses of Parliament.

Big Ben’s famous chimes start the celebrations at midnight making this free event a night to remember.

october

London Film Festival Eid Celebrations Frieze Art Fair Bloomsbury Festival Diwali Celebrations London Games Festival

JANUARY 2010 International Mime Festival

Lord Mayor’s Show London Jazz Festival State Opening of Parliament december Source: Mat Hennem

Challenge your expectations of mime with London’s guide to the best in contemporary, international visual theatre.

Quietly enjoy performances at some of London’s most prestigious venues.

november

Carols in Trafalgar Square New Year’s Eve Fireworks Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

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19

LONDON’s hidden gems

In each edition we explore london’s unique treasures, specialist collectionS and resources. IN this edition we focus on THE V&A MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD.

CHILD’S PLAY The Museum of Childhood

A

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teenage rebellion in the 1960s.

The education programme at the Museum is full of popular teaching sessions, making it a perfect resource for teachers completing their early years teacher training.

An extensive refurbishment has recently increased the Museum’s capacity, providing more room for interactive areas and educational facilities. It is no wonder that 400,000 children visit each year to marvel at the toys of yesteryear.

The Old Pretender Doll, c.1680

Nuremberg House Dolls House c.1670

All images: The V&A Museum of Childhood

fter the success of London’s 1851 Great Exhibition, much of the land south of Hyde Park was bought with the income and today is home to the national treasures of the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum.

Across town in Bethnal Green, a very different type of museum can also trace its roots back to 1851, the V&A Museum of Childhood. Within its vaulted steel roof the Museum contains the national childhood collection and is home to the world’s finest collection of children’s toys, dolls’ houses, games and costumes.

Its doll collection numbers 8,000 and contains rare examples dating back to the 17th century, including the Old Pretender Doll that is believed to have belonged to King James II. The Museum is more than just a toy shop. It explores the themes of childhood past and present through a dynamic programme of exhibitions.

Visitors can explore the social history of childcare and child development through the ages, ranging from childbirth in the 17th century to

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EVENTS

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Find your university course in London at: www.studylondon.ac.uk

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