News Archive

News Archive: May 2015

Bangor student Elis wins the Urdd National Chair

Elis Dafydd, a Bangor University student, is the winner of the 2015 Caerphilly and District Urdd National Eisteddfod chair.

Publication date: 29 May 2015

Mad Moses: beneath Max’s desert rampage is a classic Jewish odyssey

Originally published on The Conversation by Professor Nathan Abrams, School of Creative Studies and Media. Read the original article . What if Mad Max were Jewish? So asks Neil Pollack in American Jewish magazine The Forward. Certainly, on the surface, there is probably nothing more obviously gentile than a film set in post-apocalyptic Australia, featuring a series of war-mongers in souped-up cars, jeeps, trucks, rigs, motorbikes and so on, and in which no one ever seems to eat.

Publication date: 29 May 2015

Media coverage for International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership

Publication date: 29 May 2015

Kafka is the real ghost of Kubrick’s The Shining

Originally published on The Conversation by Professor Nathan Abrams, School of Creative Studies and Media. Read the original article .

Publication date: 28 May 2015

Signposts for improving cancer survival rates in Wales

The findings of a new in-depth study of cancer could pin-point ways to improve cancer survival rates in Wales. The results of the latest International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) study revealed today in the BMJ Open is the first to show that GP’s readiness to investigate for cancer – either directly or by referral to secondary care – correlates with cancer survival. In addition, the survey reveals that GPs in the UK and within Wales, were less likely in an on line survey using examples of clinical cases, to refer or investigate patients with possible cancer symptoms when they first present, compared with the other countries in the study: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Publication date: 28 May 2015

Funding boost for the National Centre for Population Health & Wellbeing Research

Bangor, Swansea and Cardiff Universities have recently won £2,249,927 funding from Health and Care Research Wales (formerly NISCHR) to lead the National Centre for Population Health and Wellbeing Research (NCPHWR), an all Wales Research Centre.

Publication date: 27 May 2015

Côr Glanaethwy through to the final of Britain’s Got Talent

Congratulations to Côr Glanaethwy on topping the public vote on Monday night's live semi final of Britain’s Got Talent . Following their success, the 160-strong choir will compete in the final of the ITV talent programme on Sunday evening.

Publication date: 27 May 2015

Drama Medal at the Urdd National Eisteddfod

Congratulations to School of Welsh graduate, Ffion Haf Williams, who won the Drama Medal at the Caerphilly and District Urdd National Eisteddfod 2015 for a play that she wrote during her third year at Bangor as part of her Scripting module.

Publication date: 27 May 2015

Beer, Bread and Better Health

Soapbox Science Swansea 6.6.15 There is apparently a connection between, beer, bread and better health- and that connection is yeast. Jessica Fletcher, a scientist from Bangor University, will be explaining to the public what that connection is in a Soapbox Science ’ event at Swansea University on Saturday 6 June.

Publication date: 27 May 2015

Further evidence of Bangor University’s increasing popularity

Bangor University achieved the second-highest improvement in overall rankings of UK universities in the results of the 2016 Guardian University Guide league tables, which are published today (Tuesday 26 May) by The Guardian.

Publication date: 26 May 2015

Bangor University lecturer's prestigious role at the Urdd Eisteddfod

Dr Rhian Siân Hodges from the School of Social Sciences, Bangor University and Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol has been chosen as the Master of Ceremonies at this year’s Urdd National Eisteddfod in Caerphilly.

Publication date: 26 May 2015

Early Christian Irish and Scots ‘first-footers’ in Iceland

The first Icelandic inhabitants were not Vikings or Scandinavians, but early Irish or Scottish people, newly published archaeological work reveals. The Icelandic people have long had an interest in the early settlers who founded their nation, one of youngest islands to be inhabited worldwide, and have held that their forbearers, the island’s first inhabitants, were Vikings. An article " Viking beaters: Scots and Irish may have settled Iceland a century before Norsemen " has been published on The Conversation (23/05/15) . It was written by Kristjan Ahronson.

Publication date: 25 May 2015

Raising a glass to the holidays

Asking people about what they drink on holidays and other special occasions shows we drink around the equivalent of 12 million more bottles of wine a week than we previously thought in England. Previous surveys on alcohol consumption have not accounted for all the alcohol that is sold. Research, funded by Alcohol Research UK and published in the open access journal BMC Medicine , appears to have found many of these ‘missing units’. Also published today, an article " England's missing booze: 12 million more bottles drunk per week than previously thought " has been published on The Conversation . It was written by Christine Griffin at University of Bath and Mark Bellis at Bangor University

Publication date: 22 May 2015

Congratulations to Lifelong Learning's new MA students

Eleven new MA's to graduate from Lifelong Learning

Publication date: 22 May 2015

Paralysed patient makes natural movements using robotics and the power of thought

Originally published on The Conversation by Ken Valyear, Lecturer in cognitive neuroscience at the School of Psychology. Read the original article . Erik Sorto, 34, has been paralysed from the neck down for the past 13 years. However, thanks to a ground-breaking clinical trial , he has been able to smoothly drink a bottle of beer using a robotic arm controlled with his mind. He is the first patient to have had a neural prosthetic device implanted in a region of the brain thought to control intentions. The technology created surprisingly natural movements and has the potential to work for multiple robotic limbs.

Publication date: 22 May 2015

No, the rise of the emoji doesn’t spell the end of language

Originally published on The Conversation by Professor Vyv Evans, School of Linguistics and English Language. Read the original article . The emoji has become one of the fastest growing forms of communication in history. But those who are worried that its growth could see the death of written language are wrong – emojis are being used to enhance, rather than replace words in our digital communications.

Publication date: 22 May 2015

Extreme athletes gain control through fear, and sometimes pay the price

Originally published on The Conversation by Tim Woodman, Professor and Head of the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences at Bangor University, Lew Hardy, Emeritus Professor, Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance at Bangor University and Matthew Barlow, Post-Doc Researcher in Sport Psychology at Bangor University. Read the original article .

Publication date: 22 May 2015

Bangor University students awarded prestigious Drapers’ Company medals

Bangor University students were presented with the Drapers’ Medals recently. The Drapers’ Company is one of the historic Livery Companies of the City of London, and now a philanthropic organization. The Drapers’ Company kindly donates two medals each year to be awarded to outstanding postgraduate students.

Publication date: 21 May 2015

Is sugar good for us after all?

Is sugar good for us after all? Scientists attending the COST IB CARB training school for Glycoscience think so. Experts in the field of Glycoscience gathered from all over Europe to discuss the science of sugar at Bangor University recently.

Publication date: 21 May 2015

University helps talented student to Gold Crest award

Local school pupil Daniel Blight from Ysgol David Hughes applied for a Nuffield Research Placement and was matched with a supervisor at the School of Chemistry at Bangor University for six weeks over the summer holiday.

Publication date: 21 May 2015

Student Led Teaching Awards 2015

The Student Led Teaching Awards returned bigger than ever for its 4 th annual ceremony, along with the much anticipated Course Representative awards

Publication date: 21 May 2015

Beer, Bread and better health

There is apparently a connection between, beer, bread and better health- and that connection is yeast. Jessica Fletcher, a scientist from Bangor University, will be explaining to the public what that connection is in a Soapbox Science ’ event at Swansea University on Saturday 6 June.

Publication date: 21 May 2015

Conference Compares Social Care in a Bilingual Context

Two lecturers at Bangor University, funded by the Coleg Cymraeg have travelled to Canada in May as part of a co-operative venture betwen the Coleg, Bangor University and Canada’s Consortium national de formation en santé to share information, develop a partnership and raise the profile of problems which exist when providing health and social care through the medium of Welsh.

Publication date: 21 May 2015

Bangor Law School recognised for its support of international students

Bangor Law School recently celebrated another night of teaching award success at this year’s Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTA).

Publication date: 20 May 2015

Emoji 'fastest growing new language'

A Bangor University professor has teamed up with mobile giant TalkTalk to launch a new national PR campaign to help understand emojis – the picture based language.

Publication date: 19 May 2015

Care home supports student nurse education

A care home in Colwyn Bay is leading the way in helping to educate new nurses working along experienced staff providing professional excellence in looking after residents.

Publication date: 19 May 2015

Will you vote for the Ugly Food Shop?

Did you buy some ‘Ugly Food’ at a ‘popup shop in Bangor recently? Did you think it was a great business idea?

Publication date: 19 May 2015

A tale of two nations: why the Scottish nationalists outperformed Plaid Cymru

Originally published on The Conversation by Dr Mari Wiliam, Lecturer in Modern and Welsh History and Dr Andrew Edwards, Dean of Arts and Humanities and Senior Lecturer in Modern History. Read the original article . Imagine the post-apocalyptic scenario, where the Welsh rugby team is thrashed 56-3 by Scotland. Amidst the doomsday spectre of an empty Millennium Stadium would be calls for the coach to be sacked, the team dismantled and the tactics radically overhauled.

Publication date: 19 May 2015

Menai Science Park makes planning progress

Bangor University is delighted that Menai Science Park Ltd has received outline planning approval from Anglesey Council for the bespoke M-SParc development.