RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE
NEWSLETTER ISSUE 8
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR NEW CENTRE FOR ARTS AND WELLBEING
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Image: Christopher Stevens, Murmuration of starlings, Hove.
INTRODUCTION PROFESSOR TARA DEAN, PRO-VICE-CHANCELLOR (RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE) Welcome to the eighth edition of the Research and Enterprise newsletter.
I also appreciate the diverse ways in which COREs communicate their discipline and reach out to stakeholders. I try my best to attend as many of the CORE events and initiatives as possible, but sadly cannot attend them all. I encourage everyone to check the staffcentral calendar to find out more about the wide-ranging and thought-provoking events taking place. Highlights this term have been the seminar series organised by the Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories and the annual event by the Centre for Aquatic Environments, focusing this year on Climate, Ocean and Coastal Communities (see page 15). Our COREs have more than 500 members, demonstrating strong engagement from colleagues and indicating how these centres have become integral to our research and enterprise infrastructure.
In our July issue, we reported extensively on our biennial Research and Enterprise conference; an occasion when our research and enterprise community gathered to reflect on and celebrate developments over the last two years. It is worth acknowledging that there has been an impressive amount of research and enterprise activity throughout the university in the four intervening months as we publish this next issue.
I would like to close by thanking you for your continuing research and enterprise efforts, evident here in another packed issue featuring a broad range of activities and commitments. When I meet the team to review content, we often decide to keep some features for the next issue in order to keep the newsletter to a reasonable length. I am always interested to read about your latest work and believe that the amount of news that we receive is a good indication of your support for this regular update. I learn something new with each issue – and I wonder how many of you will also read Spotlight on a Researcher and, like me, discover more about your ErdÜs Number!
Of course, our preparations for REF2021 continue; a positive outcome is a key strategic priority for us. In August, our Code of Practice was approved. In October, thanks to the efforts of our dedicated REF team, individual researchers received notification about whether or not they are in scope for REF and I am delighted that we will enter more than double the number of staff submitted in the last REF in 2014. In addition, we completed the third series of REF update meetings and scheduled the next set for March (see page 19 for details). And now, in November, we are in the midst of our mock REF to test our preparedness and highlight areas requiring our focus. We are making good progress.
As ever, we welcome your contributions. I do hope that you enjoy reading this issue and find it informative.
REF preparation is, however, just one part of the picture, and the articles in this newsletter are testament to that. We have made a number of new appointments to various research and enterprise leadership positions. It is always gratifying to see colleagues coming forward whenever a vacancy arises, demonstrating engagement with our agenda and recognising the need to play a role in driving our vision forward.
Professor Tara Dean Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise)
We have a new Centre of Research and Enterprise Excellence (CORE). The Centre for Arts and Wellbeing is the first new CORE to be approved since 2017 (see page 4). Drawing members from across the university, the new CORE is a good example of a truly interdisciplinary centre with ambitious plans, and I welcome this addition to our CORE family. The thirteen original COREs were reviewed in July this year and the panel were very pleased with their achievements, approach, support for early career researchers (ECRs) and provision of an intellectually vibrant environment for our postgraduate researchers (PGRs).
Edition 8, Autumn 2019
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CONTENTS STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
SOCIAL MEDIA
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• New Centre for Arts and Wellbeing • Introducing the new Head of Research Development, Tony Inglis • New research and enterprise leadership appointments • Research and enterprise initiatives 2019-2020 • REF update • Making the most of Pure
SUCCESSFUL FUNDING BIDS
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE UPDATE
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• The story behind the tweet: Professor Heike Rabe, BSMS
DOCTORAL COLLEGE UPDATE
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• New director of postgraduate studies – Dr Ioannis Pantelidis • Doctoral College induction day • Esther Omotola Ayoola presents on being black in academia • Kristin O’Donnell wins competitive scholarship • Insight into autism fiction commended • Challenging homelessness article recognised • My PhD journey: James Gatheral • Successful doctoral candidates
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• Mr Speaker hosted by the Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics • Researchers pinpoint the importance of wobbly proteins • Scholar visits to explore community engagement • Brighton-Canada partnership gains funding boost • Honour for late Emeritus Professor Huw Taylor • Experiences of Northern Irish migrants and the troubles • Climate, oceans and coastal communities conference • Refugee legal aid report presented in parliament • Researchers advance digital health through European consortium • Extraordinary and everyday utopias: Shaping shared futures • Care(less): Exploring care through virtual reality
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE IN FOCUS
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• Featured Centre of Research and Enterprise Excellence: Centre of Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics • Research in focus: Dr Ray Ward and Thailand’s vulnerability to storms, floods and coastal erosion • Enterprise in focus: FREDS - Building energy efficiency
SPOTLIGHT ON A RESEARCHER
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• Dr Dmitry Savostyanov
EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY • • • • •
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Inaugural lecture series Writing for The Conversation Research and Enterprise Development Programme REF2021 update meetings Healthy Futures Entrepreneurs’ Cafés We want to help you share your academic work with general and specialist audiences. Let the Research Communications team know what you’re working on and who you hope it will influence. ResearchCommunications@brighton.ac.uk
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STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE NEW CENTRE FOR ARTS AND WELLBEING
Centre for Arts and Wellbeing
Image: Christopher Stevens, Murmuration of starlings, Hove.
The university has a new Centre of Research and Enterprise Excellence (CORE). Led by Duncan Bullen from the School of Art, the Centre for Arts and Wellbeing is the first to be approved since the original thirteen in 2017.
Research and enterprise in this area makes a vital contribution to contemporary cultural life for communities well beyond the university, while refining the academic understanding of how and why developments in arts and wellbeing interweave. Included in the impact of work by centre members are inclusive arts practices backed by the Tate Gallery and introduced across South Asia; drawings on environmental degradation prompting government interventions; and writing and film initiatives that have been recognised as a means to social expression and integration in challenged communities. The centre is planning for a series of exhibitions, outreach programmes and academic events with public access over the next 18 months.
The centre unites and strengthens major strands of research and enterprise where creative practices interrelate with social, environmental and individual wellbeing. Members are drawn from across the university’s disciplines, bringing together practitioners who work in art, design, film, architecture and creative writing with colleagues from healthcare, social sciences, environmental studies and medicine. The university has a long and illustrious history in art and design practices, medicine and healthcare, and was a national pioneer in university and community engagement and co-productive research. The Centre for Arts and Wellbeing brings these strengths together, fostering novel creative and collaborative modes and methods through which a range of health and wellbeing issues can be investigated and brought to public benefit.
Duncan Bullen and his colleagues welcome approaches to work with or join the centre. Contact Duncan at D.Bullen@brighton.ac.uk Visit the centre’s webpages
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INTRODUCING THE NEW HEAD OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT, TONY INGLIS Tell us about your previous roles
applications. I am incredibly impressed by the knowledge, professionalism and dedication of the Pre-Award team and feel very proud to be part of such a strong centralised resource for research and enterprise.
Before starting as the Head of Research Development in late September 2019, I worked as a Business Relationship Manager at the University of Kent. This role involved attracting private sector investment in research expertise and matching applied research that addressed societal and industry problems.
My ambitions are shared by the team and they are that we: • increase the volume and quality of proposals to external research funding bodies • encourage a higher percentage of the research community who are eligible to apply for research grants to do so and • make every researcher aware of what we do and how we can support them. When and why should researchers get in touch with your team?
I have also worked for a US-based educational software company as their bid writer, for a start-up policy thinktank and for HSBC Bank. But prior to this, I used to work here, at the University of Brighton, as the Research Development Manager.
As soon as a researcher has an idea for a project, they should contact us. We can help them identify suitable funders and organise a network of support to strengthen their proposal and increase the chance of successful funding.
What made you return to the University of Brighton? I always felt that the University of Brighton had huge potential to make a step change in the volume and quality of research funding applications and research funding secured from external bodies. In a sense, it feels like unfinished business. The potential is still apparent and the university has invested hugely in concentrating resources to encourage research excellence through the Centres of Research and Enterprise Excellence (COREs) as well as through the university’s schools.
Researchers can talk to us about: • • • • • • • • •
finding funders costing proposals finding a sponsor (for clinical research proposals) guidance on schemes approvals quality checking proof reading drafts help with funder online submission systems identifying ethics, research integrity and research governance issues early on • developing pathways to impact (mandatory for all schemes).
Our research community has the appetite to deliver cutting-edge, innovative research, but we need to increase the number of researchers submitting funding proposals. Research is part of the vital lifeblood of universities. We need to embrace the challenge of attracting more external research funding by working together to support our academics in their pursuit of appropriate grants.
For further information Visit the RESP Sharepoint page to find out more about research bids, funding and how our Pre-Award team can support you.
Tell us about your role within RESP I head up the Pre-Award team within Research Services which sits within the Research, Enterprise and Social Partnerships (RESP) department. Our primary focus is to support academic researchers seeking funding from external research funding bodies in the UK, nationally and globally.
If you have any questions, please get in touch by emailing bidsupport@brighton.ac.uk
We have a very experienced team providing specialist advice, hosting workshops to help researchers navigate the funding landscape, demystifying the process of bidding for research funds and supporting individuals with their funding
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STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE NEW RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENTS
(Left to right) Professor Marco Marengo, Dr Nichola Khan, Dr Mary Darking, Professor Nigel Sherriff, Dr Wendy Macfarlane
New directors for COREs
New Deputy Heads of School (Research and Enterprise)
Following the retirement of Professor Morgan Heikal, Professor Marco Marengo will head up the Advanced Engineering Centre (AEC).
The Deputy Heads of School (Research and Enterprise) have formed a strong, collegiate community, providing a critical point of contact within schools, promoting the research and enterprise agenda and sharing best practice. Congratulations to our colleagues newly-appointed to this role:
In the Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics, Dr Nichola Khan is stepping up while Professor Julie Doyle focuses on the co-ordination of Unit of Assessment D34 for our REF2021 submission.
Professor Nigel Sherriff takes over from Professor Kate Galvin, his predecessor within the School of Health Sciences. Professor Galvin will be focusing on her leadership of the ambitious, recently-awarded £4.5 million INNOVATEDIGNITY project for the university.
Dr Mary Darking will take on the director’s role for the Centre for Digital Media Cultures, allowing founding director Dr Frauke Behrendt to focus on her current AHRC-funded research project, Creative and industry approaches to mobility in the age of the Internet of Things, blockchain and data (CIAM).
Following Professor Dawn Scott’s promotion to Head of the School of Life Sciences at Keele University, Dr Wendy Macfarlane has taken over the role within the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. We would like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by our founding CORE directors and our outgoing Deputy Heads of School (Research and Enterprise) and
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE INITIATIVES 2019-2020: INTERNAL FUNDING TO SUPPORT YOU
We seek applications that augment our research and enterprise capacity, develop our staff, enhance our reach and reputation, continue our commitment to developing our rich research and enterprise environment, and help meet the objectives of the university’s Research and Enterprise Strategic Plan 2017-2021.
Find out about forthcoming opportunities
From networks to innovation, from pilot research to impact, our initiatives aim to enable you to take the next step in your research and enterprise ambitions. Talk to your research mentor and/or Deputy Head of School (Research and Enterprise) about applying.
The list of opportunities for 2019-2020 are outlined in the table opposite (please note that these details are subject to change); two calls have closed and two are currently open. If you have any queries, please contact RESPinitiatives@ brighton.ac.uk for further information.
The latest details about our initiatives are available on the RESP Sharepoint site, so always use the information found there. You can also check your weekly Staff News email for information about upcoming opportunities.
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REF UPDATE Many of you will have viewed the video message from Professor Tara Dean in October’s Big Picture bulletin. For those of you who might have missed this communication, please find the transcript outlining, with relevant updates, our ongoing preparations below. The Research Excellence Framework, or REF for short, was put in place by the government to assess the quality of research in higher education institutions in the UK. REF is a process of expert review. Decisions determine quality of research in different subject areas in universities, as well as the amount of funding each higher education institution receives from government. To support our research base, it is crucial that we do well in REF2021 and demonstrate the originality, rigour and significance of our research activity.
We have leads for Units of Assessment (or UoA for short) in place and they are responsible for shaping the strategy, developing UoA-level templates for each submission, identifying high-quality impact and will chair panels for the next output review process. Over the last year, many of us have been involved with reviewing drafts of impact case studies and have provided feedback to researchers who are revising them. In addition, our Portfolios Working Group are overseeing the production of up to 70 portfolios required for some outputs that are not textual.
Our preparations are well under way. Following University-wide consultation in May, our REF2021 Code of Practice was submitted to Research England in June and I am delighted that it was accepted as submitted without any need for amendments. Our Code outlines how we will identify eligible staff, select outputs for submission and will be used to inform key decisions for REF2021.
In order to prepare for REF, we are holding our own ‘mock’ exercise in November 2019. This will enable us to test our preparedness and to implement findings ahead of the final submission in November 2020.
We have identified academic staff with Significant Responsibility for Research. Of course, we will make adjustments to ensure we account for any changes in status of staff and make sure new staff are considered.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your contributions so far. A positive outcome in the next REF is a key strategic priority for us. To find out more, please: • visit the REF pages on the RESP Sharepoint site for up-to-date information and • attend our six-monthly REF2021 update meetings – our next ones are in March 2020 (see page 19 for details).
Over the past two years, we have undertaken a systematic peer-reviewed assessment of outputs published between 2014 and 2018. This is helping us to understand the quality rating of our outputs and enable strategic selection. We will review further outputs in early 2020. This is a good opportunity for me to thank all of you who have participated with this very important activity.
INITIATIVE
DESCRIPTION
TO PRODUCE
Interdisciplinary Research Support for new interdisciplinary Initiatives research activities
Activities of significance for the next REF
Innovation Awards
Kick start funding (Seed or Proof of Concept)
New projects with commercial potential and novel routes to impact
Rising Stars
Project funds and salary costs to facilitate R&E activity focused on a career step change
Pilot research, funding applications
Sabbaticals
Extended period of teaching relief to undertake defined projects
Outputs, career step change
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STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE MAKING THE MOST OF PURE Pure is the university’s research database, bringing together researcher profiles with the outputs, activities and projects that they are involved in. It provides a public-facing website that helps us to communicate the work of our academics, schools and Centres of Research and Enterprise Excellence (COREs) to the wider world. Completing some key sections of your profile will help to develop links between Pure, search engines and other research databases. Here are some ideas to get you started and make your profile more discoverable. You can log in to the Pure editor: a link also appears at the foot of your personal webpage.
Please do not remove your school affiliation in this field. Your school must be affiliated to all of your activities. Activities In the activities field of Pure, add details of events you have hosted or contributed to by giving papers. These can build a more representative picture of the scope of your work. Activity types include conferences, peer review and membership of external bodies. We are also increasingly using Pure for our institutional reporting and adding content in this section provides data that can help your school with planning. Are you a Principal Investigator for any grants or projects?
Personal profile Take some time to complete the key text sections under the ‘Curriculum and research description’ area in your personal profile edit screen. These text boxes will appear on your personal profile overview on the portal. For each section, choose from the five headings in the drop-down menu.
Keep an eye on your Pure workflow. This is where you will find outstanding actions that are required to move your project to the next level, including getting project pages online for the public to see. When you log in to Pure you will see tasks and notifications on the right-hand side of the landing page.
Try opening with a simple summary in a 40-word paragraph, giving a straightforward description of your research interests for non-experts. Check for spelling and grammatical errors; these may be more apparent in a standard text editor such as Word where they can be rectified simply before copying back into Pure. Please avoid using capital letters except where necessary, for instance, in acronyms.
For further information PURE training workshops will be taking place throughout the Autumn term and will be of interest to all academic staff. These workshops will run across all campuses and are open and relevant to all staff with Pure profiles, including new colleagues and those with research and supervisory responsibilities. Find out more and book your place using our Eventbrite page.
If you supervise postgraduate research students, please add some text to the ‘Supervisory interests’ section. Use 40 words to make an initial statement of what broad area of discipline is covered, using terms familiar to graduating students, giving an idea of your speciality and experience.
• Visit the Pure pages on the RESP Sharepoint site to find out more about Pure, including guides and how-to videos. • Check the weekly Staff News email for updates. • If you have any questions about Pure, please get in touch with our support team Pure-support@ brighton.ac.uk.
Create and link an ORCiD ID ORCiD IDs are numerical codes that distinguish researchers and connect them uniquely to their publications. Repeated data entry can be avoided because outputs added to your Pure account can be exported to ORCiD and vice versa. All academics being submitted into our REF2021 submission will need to have an ORCiD ID connected to their Pure account. Instructions on creating and connecting your ORCiD ID can be found on our staffcentral pages. CORE and REG membership If you are a member of a Centre of Research and Enterprise Excellence (CORE) or Research and Enterprise Group (REG), email Pure support with the relevant director or leader copied in and we will add your profile to the appropriate page on Pure and the university website.
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SUCCESSFUL FUNDING BIDS EXTERNAL AWARDS OVER £1,000 (1 JULY – 31 OCTOBER 2019) SCHOOL OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCE Dr Mary Darking Dr Jo Wilding South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SC DTP) Postdoctoral Fellowship – Droughts and Deserts: immigration legal aid in UK social policy ESRC £84,771 Dr Gemma Graham Play it again Sam British Psychological Society £1,400 Orly Klein Room to rant: Young men, health research and rap The Wellcome Trust £40,373 Professor Nigel Sherriff Dr Josie Maitland South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SC DTP) Postdoctoral Fellowship – Exploring whole-system intervention to improve mental health and wellbeing in schools ESRC £86,254 Dr Carl Walker Dr Claire Warrington South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SC DTP) Postdoctoral Fellowship - Pathways from Repeated Detention (Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, Trauma and Frequent Suicide Attempts) ESRC £84,482
SCHOOL OF COMPUTING, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS Professor Anya Belz BCMY problems posed by process automation - Consultancy BCMY Ltd £1,250
Professor Robert Morgan Funding for a Visiting Professor Andy Atkins - Impact Factory Royal Academy of Engineering £30,000 Professor Haris Mouratidis CyberSANE – Cyber Security Incident Handling, Warning and Response System for the European Critical Infrastructures H2020 SU-ICT-01-2018 £158,273 Professor Karina Rodriguez Echavarria Diversity Lewes Animating Artefacts Heritage Lottery Fund £1,250 Professor Sergei Sazhin Funding for a Visiting Student - Dmitry Antonov Russian Academy of Education £15,200 Dr Marcus Winter QueenSpark Books Map Application - Consultancy QueenSpark Books £1,500
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Dr Aly Colman Internationalisation and education: Exploring quality assurance and school improvement in Mauritius’ primary and secondary school systems Tertiary Education Commission, Mauritius £5,500 Professor Andrew Hobson Diocese of Chichester Head Teacher Mentoring Diocese of Chichester £4,238 Professor Andrew Hobson Sharnbrook Academy Mentoring Programme Sharnbrook Academy Chain £14,941
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Professor Andrew Hobson Training, Development and Research Mentoring for Headteachers in Brighton Brighton and Hove City Council £14,860
SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY Dr Heidi Burgess Cwm Ivy Consultancy Natural Resources Wales £4,150 Dr James Ebdon Water Reuse Applications for Southern Water Phase II Southern Water £206,772 Dr Ian Mayor-Smith ECO-UV Project Hanovia Ltd £1,275
SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES Dr David Haines Developing an occupational therapy tool that can enable support workers to meaningfully engage people with intellectual disabilities in activity UK Occupational Therapy Research Foundation £9,857 Professor Jörg Huber East Sussex Learning Together Community Education Provider Network £9,993 Dr Claire Rosten Digital Health Catalyst 2 Emteq Ltd £21,432
SUCCESSFUL FUNDING BIDS SCHOOL OF MEDIA Dr Aristea Fotopoulou UKRI/AHRC Innovation Leadership Fellowship – ART/DATA/HEALTH: Data as creative material for health and wellbeing AHRC £198,724
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND BIOMOLECULAR SCIENCES Professor Andrew Lloyd CooperVision Contract R&D CooperVision £260,000
Help to secure funding for your projects If you would like help identifying suitable funders for your project, you can contact the Pre-Award team in Research Services. See page 5 for more details. If you would benefit from internal funding support for pilot research leading to funding applications or teaching relief to make a career step change, you may be eligible for our Rising Stars or Sabbaticals Initiatives. Find out more on pages 6 and 7.
Dr Sarah Pitt Investigation of the mechanism of action of a novel antimicrobial protein identified in the mucus of the brown garden snail, Cornu Aspersum (Helix Aspsera) Institute of Biomedical Science £4,500 Dr Irina Savina DBSL Netherlands Autosorb consultancy Carbon Tex Ltd £2,286
WANT TO KNOW WHERE TO APPLY FOR FUNDING? The university has a subscription to an online research database where you can find out about funding opportunities, policy developments and much more. Research Professional.com is a web-based search engine, useful for finding niche funders searching by disciplines, key words or known funders. The tool can be used to source funding opportunities to fit specific needs of individual researchers; specific searches can be saved and will run automatically as an email alert which delivers new and upcoming opportunities direct to your inbox on a fortnightly basis. The site is also an invaluable source of background information on all matters relating to the research environment. Staff who have a subscription will receive personalised weekly funding alerts based on their research interests. You can register for the service by visiting the Research Professional. com website. Contact the Research Services team for more information at BidSupport@brighton.ac.uk
Professor Colin Smith Programme Continuity Grant: In vitro modelling and therapeutic targeting of tumour cell migration in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia Bloodwise £53,751
SCHOOL OF SPORT AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT Professor Yannis Pitsiladis Implications of RNA-seq in the detection of anabolic steroid use and harnessing of the molecular mechanism of muscle memory IOC £66,667 Dr Alan Richardson Thermoregulation and tolerance: Consultancy Firefit £2,266
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RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE UPDATE MR SPEAKER HOSTED BY THE CENTRE FOR SPATIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL POLITICS Addressing a packed room of students and staff, he praised the “incredibly important work” being carried out at the University of Brighton. He said: “The University of Brighton has been acclaimed for the quality of its teaching and for its innovative approach to research, of which the Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics is a stellar example. “[The Centre] is pioneering in choosing to focus on real, live, and in many cases global issues of the most insistent and pressing urgency. This is incredibly important work. The university is respected in so many different disciplines.”
From left: Calvin Jansz (President, Brighton Students’ Union), Rt Hon John Bercow, Professor Debra Humphris (Vice-Chancellor)
The Rt Hon John Bercow MP, then still Speaker of the House of Commons, launched an impassioned defence of the parliamentary system in a guest lecture at the University of Brighton.
Highlighting Vice-Chancellor Professor Humphris in particular, Bercow added: “Debra deserves huge credit for coming out as the first openly gay vice-chancellor in our country – although frankly, there must be many others, and it shouldn’t have to be such a burden, but someone had to take the lead as she did.
Bercow’s speech, his last at a university in the role of Speaker, was entitled ‘Modern Politics and Democracy’ and was hosted by the university’s Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics at the Sallis Benney Theatre on 25 October.
“But more particularly, she has a track record of wider public service commitment and effective advocacy – in the National Health Service for two decades and more, as well as her leadership role at the university.”
In a wide-ranging talk, Bercow, who went on to leave his post on 31 October, warned: “we degrade parliament at our peril”.
Bercow also praised the Vice-Chancellor’s “campaigning work in offering succour and encouragement to people who are fighting the good fight against what sometimes even now seems the rampant forces of discrimination, prejudice and bigotry.”
While Bercow acknowledged there were many critics of parliamentary politics, he insisted the majority of UK politicians had the country’s interests at heart.
He added that these “continuing cultural challenges” were a “consequence” of the EU referendum campaign in 2016: “I’m not casting aspersions on anyone who holds a particular view – there are very respectable supporters of Brexit – but there is absolutely no gainsaying the fact that attendant upon and flowing from a continuing consequence of the referendum campaign, is the resurgence and attempted respectability of hitherto ugly and almost universally rejected forces.”
He said: “I believe that most of my parliamentary colleagues are motivated by their notions of the national interest, by their perceptions of the public good, and by their duty as representatives to do what they believe to be right for our country. That is something I believe should be celebrated. I say with very great force to people who deride parliament, they shouldn’t. “When one of my senior colleagues, a senior member of the government, recently said ‘this parliament is a disgrace’, I totally reject that. I am absolutely passionate about representative democracy. When I go around the world, even if there isn’t much admiration for our system in the UK, there is outside of the UK for the UK’s system. Parliament, as a forum in which people say what they mean and mean what they say, and do what they believe to be right, is incredibly important.”
Bercow signed off with a message to his successor: “Remember the backbenchers, don’t be pushed around, and try to keep the best and improve the rest.” Watch the full video on our YouTube channel.
Bercow, the first person since the Second World War to be Speaker alongside four Prime Ministers, said he “loved” speaking at universities because he was the first person in his family with the chance to attend one – the University of Essex.
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RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE UPDATE RESEARCHERS PINPOINT IMPORTANCE OF ‘WOBBLY’ PROTEINS
SCHOLAR VISITS TO EXPLORE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
New research led by academics in the Centre for Stress and Age-Related Disease could pave the way to further important breakthroughs in the development of cancer treatments.
Professor Katy Campbell, formerly Dean of the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta, visited the University of Brighton in October. Professor Campbell has a long-standing connection with Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) and her current research focuses on how institutions support community engagement.
The research looked at why a protein that can play a key Professor David Timson role in the development of cancer binds with drugs differently, depending on the amount of drug present.
Professor Campbell delivered a lunchtime seminar shedding light on community engagement in US and Canadian universities, exploring frameworks for institutional assessment and recognition in different national contexts. During her visit, she interviewed colleagues who define themselves as scholars engaged in co-production of research with communities and investigated how they became involved, their motivations and how the experience has changed them. She is also keen to unearth the extent to which community engagement is valued, supported and rewarded within institutions.
The protein in question, NQO1, is already being investigated as a possible target for new cancer drugs as up to 25 per cent of the human population can have too little of it which increases their chances of developing the disease. However, the protein has properties which mean that it binds differently to some anti-cancer drugs and the more of the drug present, the less tightly the protein binds to the drug. This is known as ‘negative cooperativity’.
Professor Campbell said, “I love the University of Brighton, this is my sixth visit. CUPP is very well-known in Canada, and the University of Brighton as a whole is recognised as being a very civically engaged university. Co-production of research with communities involves investigations where outcomes are mutually beneficial to the community and the university. It is significant work in line with the philosophy that universities have an obligation to work for the public good. My research seeks to discover the challenges around delivering community engagement, teasing out different national approaches and highlighting supportive best practice.”
The research showed that this negative cooperativity does not occur if motion within the protein is modulated by altering its sequence. Amazingly, the researchers found that altering just one building block (a glycine amino acid in the middle of the protein) was enough to abolish negative cooperativity. This happens because this tiny change alters the overall ‘wobbliness’ of the protein. The findings could apply to other proteins and potentially lead to improvements in understanding a wide range of diseases. Speaking about the research, Professor David Timson said: “It is already known that the lack of this protein can increase cancer risk. It is now known that this protein exhibits negative cooperativity with some anti-cancer drugs. Our research has now shed new light on why this is the case and established that by altering the ‘wobbliness’ of the protein we can change its properties and encourage it to bind with anti-cancer drugs more effectively.”
During her visit, Professor Campbell also took time to record an interview reflecting on her research, the higher education environment and her visit – you can listen to the podcast at Anchor FM. Both the University of Alberta and the University of Brighton are members of Research Impact Canada (RIC), a panCanadian network of universities committed to maximising the impact of academic research for the public good in local and global communities and sharing best practice; the University of Brighton is the first, and currently the only, international partner institution of RIC.
The research, which has been published in ChemBioChem, was carried out in collaboration with scientists from Queens University Belfast, Manchester University and Nottingham Trent University and funded by grants from the Medical Research Council and Association for International Cancer Research.
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BRIGHTON-CANADA PARTNERSHIP GAINS FUNDING BOOST Our long-standing international research partnership with York University, Canada, has received a major boost with a grant from Research England.
3DMed represents the highpoint of a very long collaboration with Professor Alidad Amirfazli, which has already generated world-level scientific results, such as an innovative method against ice formation on airplane wings. This time our knowledge about drops and interaction between liquid droplets and surfaces found a new venture in the field of medicine, with the hope of transferring our skills from mechanical and aeronautical engineering to the field of personalised medicine.
The funding, part of a wider £3.6 million International Investment Initiative to Professor Andrew Church scale up international research collaborations, will support research over the next five years into bio-printing technology that could reduce the cost of personalised medicine and drive innovation in tissue regeneration.
Professor Marco Marengo
The partnership will deliver industrial applications that align with industrial policy priorities in both the UK and Canada and build on the expertise of world-leading research centres and internationally recognised expertise in the knowledge exchange process at both universities.
This project is a great opportunity for the research and enterprise of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Devices and for the Advanced Engineering Centre, led by my colleague and project leader Professor Marco Marengo.
Welcoming the grant award, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), Professor Tara Dean said: “We welcome this funding award which recognises the huge potential of a well-established strategic collaboration between the University of Brighton and York University, Canada.
Working together with York University, Canada, and combining expertise in physics, space technology and biomedical sciences we aim to push the boundary of advanced engineering to pioneer new technology for regenerative medicine.
“The five-year funding will allow the project to capitalise on the synergy between programmes of excellent research in engineering and biomedicine in both universities to develop industrial applications and novel research skills in 3D bio-printing and additive biomedical manufacturing technologies.”
The support of our industrial partner, Tissue Click Ltd, will give us the focus necessary to achieve technology that is, at the same time, clinically efficacious and industrially feasible.
Rui Wang, Interim Vice-President Research and Innovation at York University, Canada said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with the University of Brighton, the first international partner institution of Research Impact Canada (RIC). As RIC members both institutions are committed to maximising the impact of academic research for social, economic, environmental and health benefits.
Professor Matteo Santin
“We believe that new knowledge, often developed through collaboration, makes a real difference in society and leads to more informed decision making for public policy, professional practice and social programmes.” The funding was the result of a successful bid led by Professor Andrew Church, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise). Professor Marco Marengo will be the project lead for the University of Brighton. It was awarded by Research England, part of UK Research and Innovation, who worked with Universities UK International to develop the International Investment Initiative.
Professor Marco Marengo
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Professor Matteo Santin
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE UPDATE EXPERIENCES OF NORTHERN IRISH MIGRANTS AND THE TROUBLES
HONOUR FOR LATE EMERITUS PROFESSOR HUW TAYLOR
Professor Graham Dawson, founder and Director of the Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories, has secured a £300k share of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding for a major new collaborative research project investigating the experience of migrants Professor Graham Dawson from Northern Ireland to Great Britain before, during and after the Northern Irish Troubles.
Professor Gertjan Medema (far left) presents awards to Dr James Ebdon (centre), accepting the award on behalf of the late Professor Huw Taylor and (right) Laura Braun
The first winners of the Professor Huw Taylor Prize were announced at a ceremony in Vienna.
Over the next three years, the project will collect 90 oral history interviews with Northern Irish migrants and their children in London, Manchester and Glasgow, to explore the complex inter-relationship between the Troubles – the conflict over Northern Ireland which began in 1969 and was ended by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 – and migrant experiences and memories in Britain. Professor Graham Dawson, the project’s Co-Investigator, and Dr Fearghus Roulston, Research Fellow on the project, will work in collaboration with Professor Liam Harte, Principal Investigator, and Research Fellow Dr Barry Hazley, at the University of Manchester.
The prize, named in honour of the late Emeritus Professor of Microbial Ecology at the University of Brighton, recognises ‘exceptional scientific contribution to provide water or sanitation solutions in emergency and developing settings’, and was launched at the International Water Association’s 20th biannual Health-Related Water Microbiology (HRWM) symposium. There were two winners of the inaugural award: Professor Taylor himself – in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the health-related water microbiology science field and to the HRWM specialist group – and Imperial College London research student Laura Braun.
Professor Dawson said: “Using oral history methods the project will analyse how migrants remember both their childhood in Northern Ireland and their lives after migration. We are also interested in the memories and experiences of their children, as second-generation Northern Irish people in Britain. We believe this study will illuminate complex issues of history, memory, identity and belonging. In particular, it will provide a fresh insight into the legacies and afterlives of the Troubles in Britain, and the cultural memory of this period. More broadly, it will help to generate a conceptual toolkit for thinking about the connections between armed conflict, popular memory, representation and migration.”
Laura was honoured for her research into the removal of parasitic worms responsible for schistosomiasis using different low-cost water treatment methods in Ethiopia and Tanzania. The two awards were presented by Professor Gertjan Medema, Chair of the IWA HRWM Specialist Group. Dr James Ebdon, who worked with Professor Taylor for many years, accepted the prize on behalf of his family, friends and colleagues at the university. Dr Ebdon said: “This award was unanimously voted for by the HRWM committee and is testament to not only how far-reaching the research Huw established was (and continues to be), but how well-regarded he was by the international scientific community.”
The project will produce a set of journal articles, a co-authored book and a series of podcasts for radio broadcast and there are plans to hold a ‘Remembrance Forum’ where participants can meet and share their experiences. Given the ongoing complications of this relationship as revealed by the current debate around Brexit, they will provide insightful narratives about the tangled lines between Britain and the partitioned island of Ireland, and the ways in which the history of this relationship is remembered and contested in popular memory culture.
Dr Ebdon also ensured that four of Professor Taylor’s former research students from Africa and South America were able to attend and present at the event. This reunion of University of Brighton researchers was made possible due to the generosity of donors to the Professor Huw Taylor Memorial Fund. The next Professor Huw Taylor Prize will be awarded in Darwin, Australia in 2021.
Further details about the project and updates on its progress will be made available on the project’s websites at www.conflictmemorymigration.org.
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REFUGEE LEGAL AID REPORT PRESENTED IN PARLIAMENT
CLIMATE, OCEANS AND COASTAL COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE
Dr Jo Wilding presented her pioneering research into refugee legal aid in parliament on 26 June. Her report, ‘Droughts and Deserts. A Report on the Immigration Legal Aid Market’, was part of an event hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Refugees.
The Centre for Aquatic Environments organised the Climate, Oceans and Coastal Communities Conference in collaboration with the United Nations Association (London and South East), and the Sussex Wildlife Trust. The event took place on 10 October Professor Andrew Church and attracted over 150 presenting (photo: Sam Roberts) delegates, including attendees from numerous environmental agencies.
The official launch of the report at Garden Court Chambers in London earlier that month was attended by officials from: the Ministry of Justice, Legal Aid Agency, Home Office, National Audit Office, Bar Council, Law Society, Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner, as well as representatives of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association and Legal Aid Practitioners Group. Speakers included Professor Sir Ross Cranston, the retired High Court judge who chaired the Justice Working Party on immigration appeals, and Eleanor Murray, an Audit Manager at the National Audit Office (NAO) who managed the NAO’s work on civil legal aid and on efficiency in the criminal justice system.
The conference was opened by Professor Chris Joyce, Director of the centre, before the Rt Hon Stephen Lloyd MP gave his personal account of why the marine environment is such a critical issue for his coastal constituency. Professor Andrew Church was the first keynote speaker and made a compelling case for maintaining and restoring nature and its contribution to people, integrating land and ocean management to conserve biodiversity. Dr Corina Ciocan then presented a short film on her university-funded Ignite project about microplastic pollution in Chichester Harbour, saying of the project: “Working in partnership with the local community meant that we had access to much more detailed historical data on water quality and environmental change.”
Dr Wilding’s study was born out of her PhD research. It takes its name from the varying levels of legal aid across England and Wales, including ‘advice deserts’, where there is no representation for refugees at all, to ‘advice droughts’ – areas where there appears to be a supply of legal aid services but where in reality they cannot be accessed. Dr Wilding found that due to imbalanced funding of asylum legal aid, “The publicly funded immigration bar is heavily dependent on the goodwill of a small number of high earners who do not do legal aid work themselves but keep their chambers financially afloat.
Next, Sir David Attenborough made an appearance. At least, he narrated the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s beautiful and fascinating film, introduced by Sarah Ward, on the threatened kelp forests of Sussex. The second keynote presentation was then given by Dr Adriana Ford, who emphasised the importance of the oceans for their environmental services and the Blue Economy, which she stressed was not just about fisheries, shipping and tourism, but was also about resilience, carbon storage and other environmental benefits. Topics in the concluding panel discussion included: how children and young people interact with climate change; what land use change we can make to improve the oceans; and how local authorities can help enhance the environment.
“High-quality practitioners lose money on every standard fee legal aid case they do. That means they reduce their market share. “What that means is that demand goes unmet in both the droughts and the deserts, as the market mechanism is failing to ensure either availability or quality of services.”
In conclusion, a wide-ranging set of subjects were discussed at this thought-provoking conference, including economic and social consequences of global warming, the state of ocean biodiversity and ecosystem services, rewilding marine habitats to mitigate climate change, and harvesting indigenous and local knowledge to strengthen the university-community partnership. The take-home message, however, was that people must offer solutions and not just present the problems.
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RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE UPDATE RESEARCHERS ADVANCE DIGITAL HEALTH THROUGH EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM project first reached out to the University of Brighton in 2013 when a small-scale pilot of the project received funding. Since then, the two institutions have deepened their partnership working to develop local capacity in digital health innovation leadership. Dr Mary Darking, Director of the Centre for Digital Media Cultures, says of the EmERGE consortium “I feel very proud to work with the HIV activist community through the European Aids Treatment Group. This meeting was also an important opportunity to celebrate how innovative our local hospital trust is. The project is coming back to where it began with Professor Martin Fisher and Dr Jenny Whetham from our local HIV Clinic, The Lawson Unit”.
The EmERGE team pictured with the bus named in tribute to Professor Martin Fisher
An international partnership of clinicians, social scientists, technology developers and HIV community activists met in Brighton in October for their penultimate consortium meeting. The University of Brighton leads two crucial aspects of the European Commission funded EmERGE project. Researchers from the Centre for Digital Media Cultures – Professor Flis Henwood, Dr Mary Darking and Dr Ben Marent – have worked alongside HIV activists, the European Aids Treatment Group, for the past five years to co-develop an mHealth platform consisting of a mobile phone app and virtual clinic. In addition, Dr Mary Darking is leading on the commercialisation of the platform through a not-for-profit strategy that aims to see the mHealth service delivered in five countries.
In fact, during the meeting, the team enjoyed a visit from the Martin Fisher Foundation bus, named by Brighton and Hove Buses to pay tribute to Professor Fisher as an outstanding leader in the field of HIV medicine. The bus is illustrated with messages and illustrations designed to support awareness of the need for more HIV testing and the need to combat HIV stigma. Connected Futures played a pivotal role in the commercialisation strategy for the project. Taking the lead from the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) directive, Professor Karen Cham supported the consortium. Collaborations between Connected Futures and the Centre for Digital Media Cultures are set to continue as the EmERGE project moves into its fifth and final year.
Not only is the Horizon 2020 EmERGE project an outstanding example of innovation and international collaboration, it is a prime example of how small, local collaborations can lead to significant initiatives. Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust who lead the EmERGE
EXTRAORDINARY AND EVERYDAY UTOPIAS: SHAPING SHARED FUTURES Creative Futures hosted a one-day symposium on 11 July based around visions of a utopian future.
When We Talk About Rape; Sophie Lewis, feminist activist and author of Full Surrogacy Now and Miguel Amortegui, photographer, social commentator and author of Voices of the Jungle.
The event was entitled ‘Extraordinary and Everyday Utopias: Shaping Shared Futures’ and was co-organised by Dr Jessica Moriarty and Dr Matthew Adams.
Dr Moriarty and Dr Adams said: “The day was a great success, exceeding our expectations in terms of the variety of ideas, the impact of the keynote talks, the passion of our presenters, and the liveliness of the conversations. It was a privilege to be able to share a space for engaging with progressive and utopian ideas with our contributors and an engaged audience”.
The symposium brought together academics, students, writers, artists and practitioners from across the world, exploring in various ways how we can imagine better futures. The day was structured around two keynote presentations, and parallel streams incorporating a range of academic and artistic responses to the symposium themes in the morning and afternoon. Speakers included Sohaila Abdulali, activist and author of What We Talk About
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CARE(LESS): EXPLORING CARE THROUGH VIRTUAL REALITY
Lindsy Seers, ‘Every thought there ever was’, Care(less)
Lindsy Seers, ‘Nowhere less now’, Care(less)
Lindsy Seers, ‘It has to be this way’, Care(less)
collaborated with the university research teams to expand the public conversation about care, opening up a space to “explore the universal human dilemmas that we may all face but do not want to think about until they happen”.
Research that was co-produced by older people and academic researchers, and led by Dr Lizzie Ward from the Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, provided the inspiration for a virtual reality art project that addressed current public debates around care.
Dr Lizzie Ward said: “Public debate on care is typically limited by policy concerns about the economic costs of an ageing population and the anticipated impact on health and social care resources.
Care(less), produced by British artist Lindsay Seers, was exhibited at Fabrica in Brighton from 5 October to 24 November, before heading to Lincoln and Birmingham. The thought-provoking artwork was commissioned by the University of Brighton, University of Birmingham and University of Lincoln. These institutions are part of the OPCARE Commissioning Partnership, along with Fabrica, the Ikon in Birmingham and Lincoln’s Frequency Festival.
“It is also underpinned by an intrinsic fear and distancing from ageing inherent in our contemporary culture and the idea that independence and autonomy are to be valued above all else.” The OPCARE commission provided the focus for a public programme of education and participation activities, inviting viewers to reflect and draw on their own experiences about care. The goals of this programme were for it to be participative and to build relationships between the partnership researchers and arts organisations.
Funded by Wellcome Trust, Care(less) responds to new research that looks at the experiences of older people receiving care which they pay for themselves. The art piece, along with an accompanying programme of talks, discussions and activities, sought to explore the value and meaning of care in human relationships. Seers
Watch a short film about the exhibition.
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EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY INAUGURAL LECTURE SERIES Book your place for these free events. Open to the public, inaugurals are the first lectures delivered by a newly-appointed professor at the university. Lectures take place on Wednesdays at 6.30pm and each is followed by a reception.
20 NOVEMBER
27 NOVEMBER
Rob Morgan, Professor of Thermal Propulsion Systems at the University of Brighton, presents his inaugural lecture.
Bhavik Patel, Professor of Clinical and Bioanalytical Chemistry at the University of Brighton, presents his inaugural lecture.
Embracing the mess Constantly monitoring Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade Engineers are clever people who create ingenious solutions to practical problems. We deal with remarkable complexity every day but don’t like a mess. But the world is often messy and quite ill behaved. Despite years of effort, we still face multiple crises in protecting our health, climate, and prosperity. By ignoring the ill-ordered nature of the world are we over-simplifying the problem and missing the obvious solutions? Good engineering alone cannot solve the world problems, but can certainly help. Perhaps it is time for engineers to ‘embrace the mess’ to find new solutions to old problems?
The field of analytical chemistry focuses on developing instrumentation and methodologies to identify and quantify substances. Hence, scientists who have a passion for analysis are ‘constantly monitoring’. Measurement plays a pivotal role in our society and impacts all of us daily.
Drawing from his experiences in industry and current research, Professor Robert Morgan will illustrate how tackling messy complexity can lead to unexpected solutions. Examples will include how a tank of liquid nitrogen can be turned into electricity to balance the electricity grid and how a combustion engine can help solve climate change.
In health, there are many challenges in measurement that need addressing in order to aid our understanding of normal biological function, track the onset of chronic diseases and improve the efficacy of current treatments. From bench to bedside, measurement has a key role in the future within the new era of personalised healthcare and medicines optimisation. Professor Patel will draw on examples from his own research on the development and application of sensors for monitoring signalling molecules in the intestinal tract and central nervous system to understand changes with age and chronic diseases. He will also reflect on how constantly monitoring is just as pivotal to enhance the student learning experience.
All events start at 6.30pm, finish at 7.30pm and are followed by a networking session. To reserve places, please go to www. brighton.ac.uk/openlectures Listen out for podcast interviews with each professor prior to their inaugural lecture for a sneak preview of their topic. Podcasts are available on the staffcentral hub, along with our regular podcast interviews with members of staff throughout the university.
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EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME WORKSHOPS
WRITING FOR THE CONVERSATION There will be a new series of workshops about writing for The Conversation organised primarily for colleagues from the Centres of Research and Enterprise Excellence (COREs) starting in November.
Research and Enterprise Development Programme workshops support research and enterprise active colleagues by helping them to enhance their skills, research knowledge and personal development.
Find out more about sharing your research with a global audience. Researchers can book their place on the one-hour workshop or tailored one-to-one sessions in this series. The first two dates are now available for booking through the links below:
Sign up to the scheduled workshops below or consult the Research and Enterprise Development Programme Sharepoint site for more information. You’ll find an up-to-date version of the programme online. Keep in mind that the majority of workshops are available on request – if you are able to bring together at least six participants who are interested in one of the topics, you can liaise with Research Services to schedule in a session tailored to your needs.
20 NOVEMBER 2019
City Campus: Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, Centre for Design History, Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics, Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories. Book your place on Eventbrite.
See a list of available workshops [pdf]
26 FEBRUARY 2020
Falmer Campus: Centre of Resilience for Social Justice, Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender, Centre for Digital Media Cultures and Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics. Book your place on Eventbrite.
REF2021 UPDATE MEETINGS Find out more about REF2021 at update meetings at each campus.
29 APRIL 2020
Moulsecoomb Campus: Advanced Engineering Centre, Centre for Aquatic Environments, Centre for Change, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Devices, Centre for Secure, Intelligent and Usable Systems, Centre for Stress and Age-Related Disease
These briefing sessions are an ideal opportunity to hear from senior research and enterprise leaders about preparations, including tasks to complete before the census date (31 July 2020) and how we will be selecting outputs to include in our submission. Dates for the next meetings are: 2 March 2020 Falmer Campus – Westlain 219, 1.30 - 3.30pm
12.30pm – 1.30pm workshop event; 1.45pm - 4pm one-to-one sessions
4 March 2020 Moulsecoomb Campus – Watts 507, 12-2pm 20 March 2020 City Campus – Grand Parade M2, 12-2pm 25 March 2020 Eastbourne Campus – Hillbrow 116, 1-3pm Booking links will be available closer to the time of the events. Discover more about REF2021 by visiting the REF section within RESP staffcentral.
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SOCIAL MEDIA HEALTHY FUTURES ENTREPRENEURS’ CAFES
THE STORY BEHIND THE TWEET: 280 CHARACTERS EXPLAINED IN 280 WORDS
A study led by Prof Heike Rabe at BSMS has found that delayed, rather than early cord clamping may reduce the risk of death before discharge for babies born preterm. #research #cordclamping #birth #health Read the full story http://bit.ly/2IusOxB
The Entrepreneur Café event is the latest initiative from the university’s Healthy Futures Entrepreneurs Network which was launched 11 months ago to “set the vision for the Greater Brighton region as a beacon of innovation for a healthy life”.
A new study led by researchers at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) finds that delayed, rather than early cord clamping may reduce the risk of death before discharge for babies born preterm.
Representatives from the Greater Brighton Economic Board, Brighton and Hove City Council, charities and industry are among those attending the Café. Jonathan Sharrock, Chief Executive of Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We’re excited to see a national profile for the excellent and uniquely innovative industries in health innovation here in the Greater Brighton area, where the university and the business sectors are working very closely together.” Ben Huckle, External Collaborative Lead at Glaxo Smith Kline, said, “The initiative really helps us gain an awareness of the industries in and around the Brighton area and how we can work together and share resources and expertise particularly as we’re neighbours. I think that’s really exciting.”
The study, published by the Cochrane Review Library, set out to determine if delayed cord clamping or umbilical cord milking improves the health outcomes for babies born before 37 weeks’ gestation. These interventions were compared with early cord clamping. Babies born before 37 weeks, or preterm, have poorer health outcomes than babies born at term, particularly if they are born before 32 weeks. They can experience problems with the functioning of many of their major organs and have a greater risk of dying or having long-term problems such as cerebral palsy. Heike Rabe, Professor of Perinatal Medicine and Honorary Consultant Neonatologist at BSMS, who led the study, said: “Early clamping of the umbilical cord has been standard practice over many years. It allows the baby to be transferred very quickly to care from a specialist team of doctors. Yet, delayed clamping for half to three or more minutes allows continuing blood flow between the mother and her baby, and this may help the baby to adjust to breathing air. Squeezing blood along the umbilical cord towards the baby (milking the cord) can boost the baby’s blood volume, and this may improve the baby’s health.
This event facilitated delegates to work together to develop collaborative funding applications, notably for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Healthy Ageing Trailblazer call. A proposal is being scoped following positive engagement at the event. Researchers involved in health research might be interested in the following events: • Friday 20 March 2020, 9.30am - 12.30pm. Venue to be confirmed. • As part of the Healthy Futures Showcase event Wednesday 10 July 2020, 9am - 5pm, Huxley Building, University of Brighton.
“Our study found that delayed, rather than early, cord clamping may reduce the risk of death before discharge for babies born preterm. “ Researchers collected and analysed 40 published studies, which provided data on 4,884 babies and their mothers, mostly in high-income countries and the births were in hospitals which practiced early clamping.
Events are by invitation only - if you are interested in attending, please contact Susannah Davidson at S.L.Davidson@brighton.ac.uk For more information, visit the Healthy Futures webpage.
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DOCTORAL COLLEGE UPDATE DOCTORAL COLLEGE INDUCTION DAY
NEW DIRECTOR OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES Dr Ioannis Pantelidis has taken on the role of Director of Postgraduate Studies, with particular responsibility for recruitment.
The Doctoral College welcomed over 50 new postgraduate research students at Induction Day on 9 October in Edward Street.
He is currently working with colleagues to develop a recruitment strategy that enables the Dr Ioannis Pantelidis university to recruit the right quality candidate for the right supervisory team and also aims to increase supervisory capacity. His first aim is to ensure that the right strategies are in place so that everyone can complete their supervisory interests in Pure, a task he regards as essential to launching the new recruitment strategy.
Director of the Brighton Doctoral College, Professor Andrew Church, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), opened the day by introducing attendees to some of the research activities and upcoming events of the university’s COREs and Futures. Students gained an insight into the key stages of the research degree at Brighton and heard how the Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme (PRDP) could equip them with research and professional skills to support them on their doctoral journey and beyond. Dr Mark Erickson facilitated a lively discussion session in which students rose to the challenge of explaining the research project of their neighbour.
He said: ‘I am thrilled to take on this exciting new role. We have a lot of work ahead of us but we have an amazing team of passionate supervisors, excellent postgraduate research coordinators and a doctoral college team devoted to improving the student experience and both the quality and quantity of our research student applicants.’
Research topics included the role of social influencers in the beauty industry, a novel centred on a reluctant drag performer and an exploration of how rewilding can change perspectives on nature. Throughout there were ample opportunities for students to meet their peers, supervisors and Doctoral College staff. The day concluded with a social event, a meal at the Palm Court Restaurant on a rain-lashed Palace Pier.
Have you completed your Supervisory interests in Pure? This is the best way for academics to make a clear statement of their interests to benefit prospective PhD research students.
Karen Sargent, studying in the School of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences (PaBS) said, “I found the induction day extremely helpful and encouraging. We were given a warm welcome, all the staff were very friendly and it was great to meet the other new PhD students. I learnt a lot during the day and by the end I felt far more reassured about my PhD journey that lies ahead”.
For more information about completing supervisory interests in Pure, see the article on Making the most of Pure in this issue or visit the Pure information pages within Sharepoint.
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DOCTORAL COLLEGE UPDATE ESTHER OMOTOLA AYOOLA PRESENTS ON BEING BLACK IN ACADEMIA
KRISTIN O’DONNELL WINS COMPETITIVE SCHOLARSHIP
PhD student Esther Omotola Ayoola gave a talk about her experience as a black woman in academia at the Black in Academia event.
Kristin O’Donnell has been awarded a prestigious scholarship for her research into the centenary commemorations of the First World War.
Ayoola, who is a member of the Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics, gave a 10-minute Esther Omotola Ayoola talk entitled ‘From ADHD to PhD: A Black Woman’s Guide to Embracing Intersectionality in Academia’ at Black in Academia: Live.
O’Donnell will spend two years visiting Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, an institution with a Kristin O’Donnell reputation for exploring complex societal issues. She is among only 10 PhD students across the UK to secure one of the placements.
Black in Academia is a national campaign launched by education initiative Leading Routes which aims to “further the conversation about the representation and experiences of black students and staff in universities in the UK”.
O’Donnell said: “I am absolutely delighted to be awarded a Cumberland Lodge scholarship and really excited to contribute to the important conversations they facilitate. “Having recently attended the ‘Difficult Histories & Positive Identities’ event I’ve seen first-hand the way that Cumberland Lodge can create meaningful connections between scholars, activists, and policymakers working towards the betterment of society.
Of her talk, Ayoola said: “It focused on my personal journey through education so far. I also discussed my ideas on how to narrow the BAME attainment gap and gave advice to students who are considering applying for Masters or PhD funding.”
“This scholarship will provide me with incredible opportunities to meet a wide range of people working towards social justice issues as well as providing me with training in public speaking and mentoring in intellectual leadership.”
Ayoola also presented her new social enterprise, KANICE, which aims to support BAME students interested in careers in social sciences. Of the importance of Black in Academia, Ayoola said: “This event is the genesis of a new movement which will change how black students see themselves in the academic sphere.
O’Donnell is a Techne AHRC-funded doctoral student based in the Centre for Memory, Narratives and Histories. Her research engages with the intersections of history, memory, and art, with a particular focus on identity and the politics of war commemoration.
“Mobilising members of society, regardless of race and ethnicity, to challenge dominant and damaging discourses is the key focus of this event and I hope that being provided with a platform to discuss my experiences will encourage others to undertake postgraduate qualifications.”
In her research project, entitled ‘Participatory Practices of Memory: Memorialising the Great War in Britain during the Centenary Moment’, O’Donnell explores the relationship between communication, identity formation and nationalism which she hopes will inform inclusive ethical commemorative practices in the future.
School of Applied Social Science Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics
School of Humanities Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories
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CHALLENGING HOMELESSNESS ARTICLE RECOGNISED
INSIGHT INTO AUTISM FICTION COMMENDED Linguistics PhD student Gemma Williams’ work of fiction based on her research into – and experience of – autism has been recognised in an international competition.
Bruno De Oliveira’s article ‘On The News Today: Challenging Homelessness Through Participatory Action Research’ was singled out for recognition by an editorial team in the 2019 Emerald Literati Awards.
Williams’ ‘We’re All Strangers Here’, described as a work of Gemma Williams “(auto) ethnographic fiction”, was awarded an ‘Honourable Mention’ in the Society for Humanistic Anthropology’s 2019 Ethnographic Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Prize.
His paper was originally published in the journal Housing, Care and Support. Bruno said the article argued that: “involving people who are homeless in participatory action research (PAR) is one strategy to provide a space where people experiencing marginalisation can contest their marginalisation. Bruno De Oliveira
The piece explores Williams’ experience as an autistic researcher and what that means within research into autistic language use. It forms part of her PhD thesis and will be published next year in the Anthropology and Humanism journal.
He added: “This paper shows that such an approach can have a significant impact on empowering people with direct experience of homelessness to challenge prevailing social discourses, particularly in terms of how the local media presents homelessness as a social issue.”
Williams will travel to Vancouver in November to attend the awards ceremony, which is included within the American Anthropological Association conference.
The Emerald Literati Awards help to boost the profile and reach of commended researchers and their work.
Of her entry, Gemma said: “It tells the story of the first day of data collection for my PhD research – which sounds quite boring on the face of it, but it describes it from three perspectives; mine, as the researcher, and the imagined perspectives of two of my participants.
De Oliveira said the recognition was extra special due to his unorthodox route into academia in the UK. Having moved to Brighton from his native Brazil, he was encouraged to pursue an MA and then PhD after relishing his time as an undergraduate student.
“These perspectives are composite characters based loosely on two of the participants I had, with other characteristics borrowed from others. “My research investigates autistic communication and I myself am autistic. I wanted to experiment with a more evocative way of conveying the nuances of the different ways autism manifests itself in different personalities.”
“It is a great personal achievement because of how the research was delivered, my background and the institutional support,” he said. School of Applied Social Science
School of Humanities
SHARE YOUR RESEARCH STUDENT NEWS The university has a number of ways in which postgraduate research students can communicate their work to wider audiences. We seek out stories and student perspectives to feature on the Brighton Doctoral College blog and can advise about the potential for further internal and external coverage. Email L.Slater@brighton.ac.uk to share your news.
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DOCTORAL COLLEGE UPDATE MY PHD JOURNEY: JAMES GATHERAL existence marked by highs and lows of equal intensity, caffeine-fuelled bursts of productivity, and the occasional recourse to alcohol! A particular highlight was a research trip to the United States in 2016, where I visited archives in New York, Washington D.C., Princeton, and South Carolina, and spent the summer semester as a Visiting Scholar with Dr Karen Karbiener at Columbia University. In addition to gathering a wealth of new material on the Bohemians from the archives, the opportunity to engage with the city of New York brought me closer than ever to the subjects and scenes of my historiography. The manager of a Broadway deli invited me to explore the cellar of his establishment, which in the late 1850s served as a subterranean beer cellar and the headquarters of the New York Bohemians. The Columbia University seminar series brought me into contact with a vibrant network of Whitman scholars, and led to my recital of lines from the Whitman’s oeuvre at an anniversary event held underneath Brooklyn Bridge (pictured).
The New York Bohemians depicted at Pfaff’s Beer-cellar on Broadway in an 1864 newspaper
Today the term ‘Bohemian’ is commonly used to characterise the kind of unconventional creativity and permissive atmosphere for which the City of Brighton and Hove has become famous.
As my research has progressed I have developed a dual sense of responsibility: to a transnational academic community for whom the project fills an important gap in the scholarship, and to the historical actors with whom I have developed a close familiarity and a deep empathy. It has been a privilege to have the opportunity to depict the experience of the first Bohemians accurately, to recapture something of the dynamism of their worlds, and to engage modern readers with their cultural legacy. Some of the most rewarding moments of my journey have been in archives, where I have been able to rediscover unknown and long-lost periodicals, plays, private diaries and letters. The new material has enabled me to propose a radical reassessment of mid-nineteenth century Bohemianism. Rather than parochial, it was international. Rather than romantic, it was commercial. Rather than marginal, it was central. And rather than exclusively homosocial, women were both present and influential.
But in the mid-nineteenth century ‘Bohemian’ was a proper noun, used to identify those journalists, writers and performers who chose to align themselves with Bohemianism, a new artistic construct born in Paris. The term derived from the common French word for gypsy – bohémien – which erroneously identified the province of Bohemia, today part of Czechoslovakia, as the place of origin of the Romani community. The first self-proclaimed Bohemians identified themselves as the persecuted gypsies of the commercialised cultural marketplace, collectively defined by rootless mobility, performative creativity, and a defiant self-exile from and resistance to the nascent codes of bourgeois morality which were shaping the development of modern ‘civilised’ society.
Bohemia has hitherto been characterised as an exclusively French phenomenon, echoing the views of its original and most famous Why has Bohemia engaged so many critics James Gatheral reciting lines chronicler, Henry Murger, who declared that and commentators, from Karl Marx to Walter a Bohemia outside Paris was an impossibility. from the Whitman’s oeuvre at Benjamin to Pierre Bourdieu? And why does it an anniversary event held My research has uncovered the establishment underneath Brooklyn Bridge continue to fascinate modern audiences and of successive Bohemias in London, New York, readers? It is because this nebulous cultural and Melbourne, an international network with phenomenon and artistic identity represents the Parisian prototype at its hub. Charting for the first time something quintessentially modern. Bohemia epitomised the cross-Channel, trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific migrations the antithesis to the ordered surfaces of nineteenth-century of Bohemianism, my thesis chronicles the development of a societies, and in their liberal attitudes, religious scepticism, ‘Bohemian Republic’ of interconnected satellite communities egalitarian ideals, transgressive pleasures, and commercial which exerted a powerful influence on popular culture in the cultural legacy, the Bohemians resonate more with today’s mid-nineteenth century. society than with the contemporary societies from which they exiled themselves. Mirroring the experiences of the mid-nineteenth Bohemians, my PhD journey has involved extensive travel, the cultivation School of Humanities of collaborative international networks, a prince-to-pauper
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SUCCESSFUL DOCTORAL CANDIDATES 1 JULY – 31 OCTOBER 2019 The following students completed their research degrees between 1 July and 31 October 2019. We give them our congratulations and wish them all the best with their future plans.
BRIGHTON AND SUSSEX MEDICAL SCHOOL Dr Amy Pashler The role of exoribonucleases in human cells using osteosarcoma as a model Supervisors: Professor S Newbury, Dr PG Bush, Dr C Jones
BRIGHTON BUSINESS SCHOOL Dr Motaz Alsolaim Barriers to survival for small start-up businesses in Saudi Arabia Supervisors: Professor M Cowling, Dr C Matthews
SCHOOL OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCE Dr Nicholas Marks An exploration of the effects of learning technical skills in a social environment on mental health recoveries Supervisors: Dr M Erickson, Dr CJ Walker
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN Dr Giovanni Marmont Nanopoetics of use: Kinetic prefiguration and dispossessed sociality in the undercommons Supervisors: Dr DJ Taylor, Professor J Chapman
SCHOOL OF COMPUTING, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS Dr Orestis Mavropoulos Apparatus: A design and analysis security framework for IoT systems Supervisors: Professor H Mouratidis, Dr AG Fish, M Panaousis Dr Tobias Mulling Embracing the gesture-driven interface: design and evaluation of a mid-air gestural approach based on manipulation Supervisors: Dr DG Covill, Dr L Pemberton
SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY Dr Abbas Al-Ameeri The effect of climate change on durability of existing concrete structures: A comparison between the United Kingdom and Iraq Supervisors: Dr MI Rafiq, Dr O Tsioulou, Dr O Rybdylova Dr Tania Wiseman Leisure in 21st-century later life Supervisors: Dr PM Gilchrist, Professor AP Church, Professor N Ravenscroft
SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES Dr Fawzia Zaidi Decision making of experienced midwives responding to obstetric emergencies Supervisors: Dr NR Dunne, Professor S Cooper, Professor J Scholes
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SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES Dr Melayna Lamb On order and the exception: a philosophical history of police Supervisors: Professor B Brecher, Dr AJ Knott, N Power Dr Joel David Roberts The problem of the road: The road and the street in the twentieth century American Road Novel Supervisors: Dr J Wrighton, Professor P Lloyd
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND BIOMOLECULAR SCIENCES Dr Niall Walkden Attitudes towards vertebrate scavengers in South Africa’s North-West and Gauteng provinces Supervisors: Dr AS Rott, Professor DM Scott, Professor AP Church
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE IN FOCUS FEATURED CORE: THE CENTRE FOR APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS AND ETHICS The Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE) is the oldest of the university’s research centres and one of the most forceful voices for change. It focuses on fostering a supportive environment for radical thinking and research expertise across philosophy, critical theory, politics, and other disciplines, with an emphasis on applying radical thinking to wider public contexts and global issues.
with several then continuing in the department as teachers and researchers. CAPPE’s commitment to enlightenment extends beyond the university, where CAPPE has innovated schemes for local outreach such as Philosophy in Pubs and Brighton Speakers’ Corner. They I came to Brighton to work with the Brighton do my PhD because of CAPPE – it’s a great and Sussex Medical place to be. School, charitable organisations such as Jacopo Condo (PhD student) Medact, and Hydrocracker, one of the foremost, critically acclaimed site-specific theatre companies working in the UK. Through these kinds of rigorous interventions in the public arena, CAPPE is succeeding in its aim to extend the practice of philosophy beyond traditional As Confucius put it academic boundaries. It is a long time ago, ‘If an exciting community to language is not used be involved in, with a sense correctly, then what of having an impact on a is said is not what is range local, national and meant; if what is said international issues.
CAPPE thrives on its provocations and puts difficult subjects at the forefront of its activities. The well-attended annual series of seminars and lectures has brought international names to the university to examine questions and issues such as: why charity?; what’s the big deal about democracy?; what (and who) are universities for?; the cultural shifts following 9/11; the Arab Spring; the ideological impact of neoliberalism; and Britain’s complicity in torture since the 1940s. In journal articles and monogr aphs, the academics and postgraduate students who are members of CAPPE are disseminating internationally the ir research into global issues such as the ethics of torture, contemporary slavery, anti-imperialist solidarities and #spycops policing. Their lists of guest speakers come from prestigious departments worldwide, sometimes spending longer at the university for highly-productive collaborations as academic visitors, and building the relationships that allow CAPPE colleagues to take debates and new knowledge to universities overseas, including Spain, Japan, Denmark, Finland, Poland, the USA and Argentina.
The CAPPE welcomes everyone to its many events and is pleased to hear applications for membership from all interested university staff and students, and associate membership enquiries from those outside the university.
is not what is meant, then what ought to be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will be corrupted... [and] ... justice will go astray...’ Professor Bob Brecher
Contact the Director, Professor Bob Brecher: R.Brecher@brighton.ac.uk
Academics at CAPPE have worked regularly with sixth form colleges and schools; their enthusiastic undergraduate cohort move regularly through to masters and PhD level,
Visit the website of the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE)
JOIN A CORE We have 14 Centres of Research and Enterprise Excellence (COREs). They all welcome new members from academic staff and research students from any part of the university and also invite external associate members. ®® ®® ®® ®® ®®
Advanced Engineering Centre Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics Centre for Aquatic Environments Centre for Arts and Wellbeing Centre for Change, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (CENTRIM) ®® Centre for Design History ®® Centre for Digital Media Cultures
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Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Devices Centre for Secure, Intelligent and Usable Systems Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics Centre for Stress and Age-Related Disease Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender Centre of Resilience for Social Justice
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE IN FOCUS RESEARCH IN FOCUS: DR RAYMOND WARD ON HIS RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND THAILAND’S VULNERABILITY TO STORMS, FLOODS AND COASTAL EROSION His research has taken him to mangroves in Brazil, Iran, Vietnam, and Nigeria, salt marshes in the UK, Arctic and Argentina, and Seagrasses in the UK and Estonia, to study the responses of coastal environments to global change as well as their climate change mitigation potential.
Nakhon-Si-Thammarat, Thailand, photo by Dr Suparee Boonmanun
Lead researcher, Edge Hill’s Professor Cherith Moses, said: “We aim to establish the links between climate change, coastal erosion and flooding, and use this information to assess the interaction of natural and social processes to enhance coastal community resilience and future sustainability.
Dr Raymond Ward from the Centre for Aquatic Environments, is part of an international research project to protect Thailand’s coastal communities from natural disasters which cause the loss of 30 square kilometres of shoreline every year. The £592,000 study will improve understanding of Thailand’s vulnerability to storms, floods and coastal erosion which affect 17 per cent of the country’s population or more than 11 million people.
“Our collaborative team of natural and social scientists from UK, US and Thai research institutions, have complimentary, cutting-edge expertise and will work closely with Thai Government and UK and Thai industry partners to ensure that results are relevant to both policy development and practice.
Thailand’s Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning predicts the sea level will rise one metre in the next 40 to 100 years, which will impact at least 3,200 square kilometres of coastal land at a potential cost to Thailand of almost £70m.
“Thai-coast research will benefit government and policymakers, who need to plan for potential impacts caused by climate change and develop resilient strategies to deal with their impacts on natural-social systems.”
The project, financed by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Thailand Research Fund through the Newton Fund (Thailand), aims to boost the resilience of coastal communities and to use scientific research to inform more robust and cost-effective solutions.
We asked Dr Ray Ward some quickfire questions in relation to the project.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING/ REWARDING ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT?
The three-year study is being led by Lancashire’s Edge Hill University in collaboration with the University of Brighton and experts from Thailand’s Mahidol, Chulalongkorn and Thammasat universities; University of Sussex; Brighton environmental assessment company Ambiental Technical Solutions; the US’s National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Thailand Government.
The most rewarding aspect of the work has easily been working in the species rich mangroves and seagrasses of Thailand and teaching and learning from Thai researchers.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF THE PROJECT?
Dr Ward will be lending his expertise in physical geography to the project. He completed his PhD on modelling the impact of sea level rise on coastal wetlands, research funded jointly by the university and the EU. Dr Ward said: “This research in Thailand is urgent: earlier this year tropical storm Pabuk cost the country’s economy millions of pounds and led to thousands of tourists having to flee.”
The project is in its initial stages but we have already identified areas of concern, for instance, we have pinpointed areas with elevated erosion rates and high probability of mass movements, such as landslides.
WHAT’S NEXT? Next on the agenda is to develop a localised high-resolution climate prediction model and combine this with a flood risk model to identify which areas are likely to be most under threat from hydrometeorological hazards.
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ENTERPRISE IN FOCUS: FREDS – BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY process. Due to the ease of obtaining qualified results, the professional can use the tool to compare different building concepts with different materials, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) plants and set-points. Two successful funding applications to the university’s Innovation Awards enabled Professor Marengo to make further progress on the platform interface and website, implement testing, and develop a business plan and a payment system.
Researchers at the university are developing a tool that can assess and rapidly calculate the most energy-efficient way to build and heat buildings already at the concept and design stages, making a positive social, environmental and economic impact.
Professor Marengo said: “The Innovation Award from the University of Brighton has allowed us to build up a significant material database with a large set of building types and uses. The proprietary database is a tangible product of the Award, helping to increase the value of the spin-off company and to accelerate the market entry of FREDS.”
Led by Professor Marco Marengo, from the Advanced Engineering Centre, researchers from the University of Brighton have developed a web platform, which works as an accurate energy dynamic simulation tool for use during the architectural planning of new buildings, retrofit and refurbishment projects, or for use by energy managers to assess the energy quality of existing buildings.
Working closely with an industry partner, the team has been able to apply research and test the potential efficiency of how buildings use energy, and look more closely at how their building concepts and design have a direct impact on indoor comfort and environment. Preparations are now underway to ratify a licensing agreement that will allow the platform to launch commercially as a spin-off.
The platform, named FREDS (Fast early-stage simulator of energy consumption and comfort in buildings), produces an accurate energy and power simulation of buildings of different typology, geometry, use and components allowing an estimation of building heating and cooling loads in a timeframe that works alongside the design
Innovation Award activities Funds for Innovation Award activities are made available through the portion of the university’s Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) block grant that is provided to help universities deliver the government’s Industrial Strategy. They are designed to encourage and enable staff to take forward new ideas that drive innovative economic and social development, diversify routes to commercial outcomes, and support the potential to generate impact of value to society. If you would like to find out more about the Innovation Awards, please contact Judith Badger at J.Badger@brighton.ac.uk.
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SPOTLIGHT ON A RESEARCHER DR DMITRY SAVOSTYANOV WHO HAS INFLUENCED YOU MOST IN YOUR CAREER AND WHY?
WHY DID YOU BECOME A RESEARCHER? As a child, I liked to play games, and at that time computers came along offering probably the most exciting, visual and dynamic entertainment children could dream of. I was amazed by the power and flexibility of these mystical machines. My curiosity got the better of me and I asked my mum, a computer engineer, “How do computers think?”. She brought me a book full of maths and computer code, and thirty-three years later, I am still learning more about computational mathematics every day.
DESCRIBE A TYPICAL WORKING DAY I start by rebooting the printer (the only one I can use from my Linux desktop needs a gentle shake to wake up properly in the morning). And then, I’m into my routine: printing problem sheets for the class, teaching, marking, reflecting on progress and planning the next sessions. If I am very lucky, there is also some time to do a bit of writing (I keep my current paper permanently open to catch those precious moments), and perhaps even to develop new code and run calculations to test some new ideas. I keep my research server busy for 24 hours each day, while I can have a break to read and review a new paper, apply for a conference or a grant, or meet with colleagues.
If I have to choose one person, it would be Professor Donald Knuth – a computer scientist and mathematician who gave us The Art of Computer Programming, the joy of digital typography with TeX, and an example of how mathematics, programming and scientific rigour can help us to solve real-life problems in the most unexpected, beautiful and elegant way.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE TO BE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU HAVE EVER UNDERTAKEN? In my twenties, I was involved in organising a summer school for talented children back in Russia. Sure, fighting the three-headed hydra of teaching, research and administration can be tough at times, but have you tried living for three weeks, offgrid co-ordinating classes, meals, entertainment and caring for the wellbeing of about a hundred brighteyed teenagers?
IF YOU COULD INVITE ANY THREE PEOPLE TO DINNER (PAST OR PRESENT), WHO WOULD THEY BE? Ada Lovelace, for a poetic discussion about technology; Cédric Villani, because he knows how to dress for the occasion; and Paul Erdős, to make my Erdős number 1*.
WHAT’S THE BEST BIT OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED (WORK OR PERSONAL)?
constants to one hundred correct digits. It was not easy because these values are high-dimensional integrals, and the curse of dimensionality is, perhaps, the main challenge for computational mathematics of the twenty-first century. We managed to significantly improve the results of Professors Jon Borwein and David H. Bailey, who are particularly famous for calculating the 40000th digit of π for Marge Simpson back in 1993, among many other CPU-hot discoveries. It feels like a baton worth carrying!
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO ANYONE CONTEMPLATING A CAREER IN YOUR FIELD? Dare to take on the impossible, use the best tools available, constantly develop your skills. And think about your reader.
WHAT WOULD BE THE RESEARCH PROJECT YOU’D MOST LIKE TO WORK ON? Since my thesis, I have been working on extremely difficult highdimensional problems and it feels like one exciting, long and sometimes convoluted journey. Already, I have explored a bit of quantum chemistry, fractional calculus, spin dynamics, quantum control, stochastic differential equations, and even a tiny bit of theoretical physics. I have met many interesting people, sharing great experiences on the way. I am grateful to be working on this current project and look forward to new discoveries. * An Erdős number describes a person’s degree of separation from the late Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős; his immediate collaborators could claim an Erdős number of 1.
Think about your reader.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT? We just published a new paper, in which we applied a completely new mathematical algorithm and managed to calculate important physical
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If you have interesting answers to these same questions and would like to feature on this page, or would like to suggest a colleague, please contact researchcommunications@brighton.ac.uk