Contents
birnbeck Pier by ahisgett, Flickr.jpg

Postgraduate Howard Richardson is developing a new type of service to remotely monitor the pier and use the data to find out exactly what is happening to its structure.


QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:

"Men are Heaven's piers; they evermore
Unwearying bear the skyey floor;"
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer

 

Weather forecast

University Updates

18 September 2009

Research

Science could help to safeguard Birnbeck Pier
The future of Weston-super-Mare’s Birnbeck Pier is closer to being understood, thanks to new technology which will reveal the precise state of decay of the Victorian structure. Howard Richardson, a postgraduate student (Architecture & Civil Engineering), is working as an intern on the monitoring and assessment project through a Graduate Experience Scheme funded by the government. The scheme includes expert input from his academic supervisor, Dina D’Ayala.

‘Strictly Come Dancing’ tempts young men on to the dance floor
Sportsmen who take part in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ are encouraging young men to take up ballroom dancing and be more flexible about their masculinity, researcher Craig Owen (Psychology) has found.

Sending science down the phone
Ed Feil and PhD student Fadaa al Own (Biology & Biochemistry) have collaborated with Imperial College to develop new mobile phone software that will help epidemiologists and ecologists working in the field to analyse their data remotely and map findings across the world without having to return to the lab.

Novel way to deliver electricity
Furong Li and her team in Electronic & Electrical Engineering have been shortlisted for a Times Higher Education award for coming up with a new way of delivering electricity that could save £200 million and help reduce energy bills.

Parasitic cuckoos may drive their own extinction
Parasites and their hosts are in a constant evolutionary arms race, evolving ever-more ingenious ways to try to outwit each other. But researchers led by Oliver Krüger (Biology & Biochemistry), in their intensive study of cuckoos, have found that although this behaviour can have its benefits, it also comes at a price if the host evolves a defence the cuckoo cannot overcome.

Man bites mosquito
Bath mathematician Ben Adams has worked with University of Hawaii researcher Durrell Kapan to examine commuting patterns and mosquito-borne diseases. The resulting paper highlights how daily commuting patterns in mega-cities may be a critically overlooked factor in understanding the resurgence of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, which infects 50-100 million people annually.

Change needed in political attitude to end-of-life care
Allan Kellehear (Centre for Death & Society), an international expert on death and dying has warned that, unless there is a major change of political attitude toward end-of-life care policy in the developed world, “we will see a return to the widespread social neglect of the dying we first witnessed in our hospitals after [the second] World War”. He delivered a lecture at the Forum on End of Life in Dublin, Ireland, which was reported in the Irish Times.

Being selfless is sexy
Freya Harrison (Biology & Biochemistry), has conducted experiments which showed that men reported to indulge in selfless behaviours were found more attractive to women as both potential long-term partners and, to a lesser extent, for 'flings'. Dr Harrison shared her findings at a conference of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour at Oxford University, which was reported in the Telegraph.

Trailer trouble?
A new study, titled 'An Experimental Investigation of Car-Trailer High-Speed Stability', has recently been published. Researchers in Mechanical Engineering found the three most significant factors affecting trailer stability were sway, towball weight and trailer axle position. It was found that the total weight of the trailer wasn't a significant stability issue but weight distribution was critical. The research was reported on Western Australia Today.

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People

Bath professor chairs European Studies assocation
Richard Whitman (ESML) has been elected the new chair of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies. He will head the organisation, which promotes research and teaching, and provides an independent forum for debate on the subject. (The news was reported in the Times Higher Education.)

UKOLN research officer wins Remote Worker Award 2009
UKOLN research officer Marieke Guy has won the Remote Worker Award organised by Remote Employment in association with BT Business. The winning individuals/companies had demonstrated how remote working had created the greatest positive impact on their work life. Marieke said: "I want to thank my employers UKOLN and the University of Bath who have endorsed the work I do and encouraged me throughout."

Former Irish President becomes honorary graduate
The Honourable Mary Robinson, former President of the Republic of Ireland, received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University on Wednesday 16 September, in a ceremony at Bath Abbey.

Student completes cross Channel swim challenge
Chemistry PhD student Rob Archer has managed to complete the 21-mile swim from Dover to Calais in memory of his uncle who died of prostate cancer.

Michael Rose, 1937-2009
The Times Higher Education has published an obituary of Mike Rose (Social & Policy Sciences) who died of a heart attack on 18 August.

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Campus news

University of Bath ranked 11th in UK in The Sunday Times 2010 Guide
The University has been ranked 11th overall in the latest UK league table published by The Sunday Times. The league table also ranked the University second in the UK for the percentage of its students in graduate level jobs; eighth for highest graduate starting salaries and ninth in the UK for competition places. The Vice-Chancellor praised the hard work of University staff: “Every day colleagues across campus are making real efforts to improve the quality of the student experience here at Bath, and I am delighted that their efforts have once again received national recognition.”

Another well-attended Open Day
Our Open Day yesterday was as busy as ever. Corporate Communications have made a video of prospective students talking about their first impressions. Thanks to everybody who contributed to the Open Day in any way - they are clearly an important deciding factor for many prospective students.

ParkingPlus and car park changes
A number of questions have been raised about the proposed introduction of ParkingPlus. A webpage to explain certain issues together with the revised Questions & Answers, which answers specific queries, will hopefully clarify the situation. If you have further questions, please email parkingplus@bath.ac.uk or attend the next 'surgery' at 12.15pm on Friday 16 October in 5 West 2.1. (There is also a meeting specifically for members of the campus trade unions taking place on Wednesday 23 September at 11.15am in Wessex House Level 1 Lecture Theatre.)

Get the most out of the new 4West Café!
To help guide you through 4W Café, Hospitality has published a running order from 8am to 7pm covering the separate food service areas.

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Information

Explore life at the University in pictures
The Web Services team undertake an annual Get Creative project to explore different ways of working together. The result of this summer's project is a new inPictures site, which has been designed to be intuitive and easier for Web Services to manage. Staff & students can now browse or add pictures using the prompts and, by subscribing to RSS feeds, you can keep up-to-date with latest additions.

BUCS help form: upload a screenshot to help explain your problem
The BUCS team have added a file upload option to their online help form to make it easier for users to describe their IT problem with the help of screen shots or text files.

Ongoing work on Individual Mitigating Circumstances (IMCs)
The IMC-Transition wiki contains information about changes that could be made to the University's procedures relating to Individual Mitigating Circumstances and assessment. By following the links on the wiki, you can find background information on how a final decision will be made.

Purchasing Services launch new, interactive website
As well as containing familiar information, the new site has a wiki where you can read/leave feedback about contracted suppliers, as well as comments about the service of Purchasing Services.

New version of University PowerPoint presentation now available
The University has updated the template for PowerPoint presentations that can be used and adapted by staff and students giving lectures and talks. The presentation contains facts and figures agreed by Executive recently as both correct and representative of the University’s work. The template presentation can be downloaded from the Corporate Communications website. Staff and students can then adapt the text and images for their own purposes.

Consultation on Corporate Plan
Members of the University community are invited to comment on proposed text relating to the vision, purpose, objectives and values of the University which will feed into the new Corporate Plan for 2009/10, which is currently being drafted. Please send your comments to Nicky Kemp by 9 October.

Jobs
Vacant posts: www.bath.ac.uk/jobs

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In the media

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Training & development

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Forthcoming lectures & conferences

New lecture series on researching human behaviour in engineering & computer science
Over many years researchers from the Social Sciences and Management communities have developed robust techniques by which to research human behaviour. However, research in the domain of developing technology from areas such as engineering, computer science and even management often struggle to implement and make best use of these techniques. This lecture series aims to transfer knowledge across disciplines to improve research rigour.

Bath Biosensor Network Wednesday 23 September
The first Bath interdisciplinary meeting on Biosensors will be held on Wednesday 23 September, 11:50am - 5:30pm, in the foyer and lecture theatre of 3WN. Please register your interest.

Cancer Research Symposium Wednesday 30 September
Registration is now open for the first CR@B (Cancer Research at Bath) Symposium. It is open to all academic and clinical staff and students with an interest in cancer research.

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Research volunteers wanted

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What's on

More details - www.bath.ac.uk/whats-on/

Monday 21
19:30 PM Plant genetic resources for the future

Wednesday 23
19:30 PM Poetry for Children

Friday 25
20:00 PM Latin Dance Party

Arts

Concerts and Performances 

Singularities: Attab Haddad  Oud  Music Room, University Hall | Thursday 8 October, 8pm
Attab Haddad brings a new approach to the age-old traditions of the Oud, an Arabic instrument that precedes the lute. He infuses elements of flamenco, Middle Eastern classical, jazz, classical and experimental music to create spell-binding rhythms. 

Classes

ICIA runs classes and workshops in music, dance and visual arts for all levels. Classes open to all include:
Music: DJ Skills
Dance: Contemporary, Street Dance, Jazz Dance, Ballet, Flamenco, Tap
Visual Arts: Ceramics, Drawing, Painting, Life Drawing, Stained Glass, Creative Sculpture, Botanical Illustration, Creative Digital Art, Photography, Portrait Studies, Mixing 2D Media

Classes start the week of 12 October - Check out www.bath.ac.uk/icia for further details.

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Sport

Netballers to face Australia and New Zealand on home court
TeamBath’s England netballers say they can’t wait for the opportunity to tackle the top two teams in the world on their home court. England take on world champions Australia on Tuesday 13 October and Commonwealth champions New Zealand on Thursday 15 October in Co-operative International Netball matches at the Sports Training Village.

University to host international badminton match
International badminton comes to Bath next month when the Sports Training Village hosts a Team England match against Japan. The match, which gets underway at 6.45pm on Friday 16 October, is the first international badminton fixture to take place at the University.

Graduate helps create a national youth netball league in Zambia
Naomi Taylor, a super league netballer and 2008 Sports Performance graduate, has been working alongside the Netball Association Zambia to help create a national youth league. Purposefully sent to Zambia to share her expertise with netball coaches, the British netball specialist hopes to give players the opportunity to continue playing netball beyond the school experience.

Disappointment for Bath rowers
There was disappointment for Bath graduates Adam Freeman-Pask and Marcus Bateman at the World Rowing Championships in Poland. Freeman-Pask had to settle for eighth place (an improvement on his 13th at last year’s World Championships). And Bateman's GB quadruple scull had to withdraw due to one crew member being injured.

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