News Archive: October 2016

Bangor University collaborations with businesses nominated for three awards

Bangor University has been nominated for three awards in publishing company Wales Business Insider’s Business and Education Awards, to be held in Cardiff on 3 November. The awards shine a light on collaborative work between Wales’ education institutions and the nation’s economy.

Publication date: 31 October 2016

Hitachi-GE, Imperial and Bangor University developing UK and Welsh BWR expertise

Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd. (Hitachi-GE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Imperial College London and Bangor University, enhancing its commitment to support Welsh and British expertise.

Publication date: 31 October 2016

Minister breaks ground for ground-breaking development

Menai Science Park ( M-SParc ) took a leap forward in the construction of Wales’ first dedicated Science Park this week, with the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, Minister Ken Skates attending the site on Anglesey to break the ground.

Publication date: 31 October 2016

British Ambassador to China and Vice-Chancellor attend Opening Ceremony of CSUFT-Bangor University Joint Research Center & of Bangor College, CSUFT 2016

British ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward and Vice-Chancellor of Bangor University, Professor John G Hughes attended the opening ceremony of CSUFT-Bangor University Joint Research Center & Bangor College, CSUFT 2016 in Changsha, China recently. Also present there were the British Consulate-General Guangzhou, HM Consul-General, Matthew Rous, Vice-Director of Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Hunan Province, Qiu Aihua, etc. The CPC General Secretary of Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Hu Changqing held the ceremony. Barbara Woodward, John Hughes and President of CSUFT, Liao Xiaoping delivered a speech respectively.

Publication date: 28 October 2016

Bangor Professor appointed to UK Research Council’s Science Board

Professor David Thomas, Head of the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University, has been appointed to the Science Board of the Natural Environment Research Council ( NERC ), the UK's largest funder of independent environmental science, training and innovation, delivered through universities and research centres.

Publication date: 27 October 2016

Bangor University Research Excellence Awards 2016

Bangor University is to highlight and celebrate the high standard of research at the University in a new Research Excellence Awards event to be held for the first time this December, and has just announced the Awards Shortlists. The inaugural Awards will shine a spotlight on some of the University’s outstanding research teams and individuals. The winners will be announced at an Awards dinner in Pontio on 5th December 2016.

Publication date: 26 October 2016

Potential 'hot-spots' for sea ice melting identified in the Arctic Ocean

The Arctic region is warming up twice as fast as the rest of the planet. This rapid temperature increase has caused record-breaking seasonal retreat in Arctic Ocean sea ice in recent years. The latest minimum recorded was set in September 2012, while the sea ice cover in September 2016 tied with 2007 for the second lowest extent ever recorded. And it’s not just coverage that’s the problem, sea ice is also thinning, with a current average thickness of 3.2m in the Central Arctic .

Publication date: 26 October 2016

Can Kiefer Sutherland be US president, please?

This article by Gregory Frame , Lecturer in Film Studies Bangor University was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article . To many, the 2016 campaign for the US presidency has been dispiriting and miserable, featuring the two most unpopular candidates in history. Thanks to the fascistic buffoonery of Donald Trump, it has been characterised by a tone that has swung wildly from facetious to obnoxious to disgraceful and back again.

Publication date: 24 October 2016

Child migrants taken to Britain: now they need support and psychological care

This article by Leanne K Simpson , PhD Candidate, School of Psychology | Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance, Bangor University was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article . Hundreds of unaccompanied child asylum seekers are being taken to Britain, moved from a camp in Calais, northern France, as its closure begins . There were 387 unaccompanied minors in the French refugee camp known as “the Jungle” with links to the UK and they are arriving in England in groups of 70.

Publication date: 24 October 2016

Pharmaceutical companies are profiting from rare diseases

Incentives intended to stimulate the development of more treatments for rare diseases are being exploited to boost the profits of pharmaceutical companies, new research led by Bangor University shows.

Publication date: 22 October 2016

Supporting ‘Brass for Africa’ in Uganda

Brass for Africa is a UK based charity which uses brass music and music education as a route out of poverty for Ugandan orphans, ex-street children and other vulnerable children and young people living in and around Kampala. Brass for Africa works closely with M-Lisada, which is a Ugandan orphanage and child support organisation, whose motto is ‘Music to the Rescue’. This summer Fiona Macdonald, Lecturer in Social Work in the School of Social Sciences, was able to spend some time in Kampala volunteering with both these organisations for the second year running.

Publication date: 21 October 2016

Could wild mangoes solve the world's chocolate crisis?

This Article by S ayma Akhter , Bangor University ; Morag McDonald , Bangor University , and Ray Marriott , Bangor University was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article . Theobroma, the genus to which cacao, or “cocoa” as we know it, belongs, translates from the Latin as “food of the gods”. Ask any serious chocoholic and they would agree that this is an apt name to be used in relation to the sweet treat that many worldwide enjoy.

Publication date: 21 October 2016

New study aims to give children with autism the best start in life

A ground-breaking new study has been launched understand how to support families affected by autism as soon as they receive their diagnosis. The trial funded by autism research charity Autistica , will test whether offering the Incredible Years® parent supporting programme to families very soon after their child is diagnosed can result in long-term benefits.

Publication date: 20 October 2016

North Wales students become business champions

Bangor University’s Business School recently hosted an event in conjunction with The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) that saw sixth form students work together on an exciting business challenge.

Publication date: 20 October 2016

Professor John Turner, New Dean of Postgraduate Research

Professor Turner has been appointed to a newly created post at Bangor University, that of Dean of Postgraduate Research. In this key role that is set to support and develop the University’s already vibrant postgraduate research community, Prof Turner will lead the Doctoral School . The Doctoral School aims to provide high quality standards of training and support, ensure an excellent postgraduate student experience, attract new funding initiatives, and increase the number of postgraduate students at Bangor University.

Publication date: 20 October 2016

An Evening in Conversation with writer Guto Dafydd

On Wednesday, 26 October at 6.00 o’clock in PL2 in Pontio, Guto Dafydd will be discussing his award-winning nofel, Ymbelydredd . The novel was awarded the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize in this year’s National Eisteddfod and highly praised by the adjudicators. A graduate of the School of Welsh, Guto will be in conversation with his former lecturer, Professor Angharad Price, who is herself a successful novelist. The evening is hosted by Bangor University’s School of Welsh and entry is free – tickets are obtainable from Pontio box office. This event will be through the medium of Welsh.

Publication date: 19 October 2016

BEACON Wales is co-founder of new alliance launched to support the growth of the UK bioeconomy

Bangor University is delighted to be part of a new UK alliance – BioPilotsUK , launched to support the growth of the UK bioeconomy. The University’s BioComposites Centre is a partner in the award-winning BEACON Wales project, itself one of five established R&D centres across the UK coming together to form the new alliance. This alliance will seek to position Britain as a global leader in biorefining technology development and bio-based product manufacture – two key elements of the bioeconomy.

Publication date: 18 October 2016

Bangor Photography and Poetry Competition

The School of Social Sciences is hosting a Photography and Poetry Competition as part of the ESRC’s Festival of Social Sciences. There are two categories: 14-18 years and 18+. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, 1 November 2016.

Publication date: 17 October 2016

I bet you wish this story was NOT about you: cheating in sport

What drives professional sportspeople to break the rules of their sport in the hope that they won’t get caught – and in the hope that it will bring glory to them and their team? It’s all down to character type, according to researchers at Bangor University’s Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance (IPEP).

Publication date: 16 October 2016

Saving millions by giving babies in Wales the best start in life

Investing in programmes and services promoting the best start in life for our infants and children could deliver financial savings over the short and long term in Wales. So argue health economists at the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation ( CHEME ) at Bangor University in their report “Transforming Young Lives – The Economic Argument for Investing in Early Years” launched today (13th October 2016). CHEME is part of the University’s School of Healthcare Sciences and contributes to the Bangor Institute for Health & Medical Research (BIHMR) which brings together health research across the University.

Publication date: 13 October 2016

Why we should bother saving Britain’s only venomous snake

This article by Anita Malhotra, School of Biological Sciences , appears in The Conversation , read the original article .

Publication date: 13 October 2016

School of Electronic Engineering ranked 2nd in the UK for Teaching Quality

Bangor University's School of Electronic Engineering has been ranked second in the UK for Teaching Quality by the 2016 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide.

Publication date: 12 October 2016

Successful Jobs Fair

A very successful Jobs Fair was held in PJ Hall at Bangor University recently(28/09/16). There were over 45 stalls with representatives present from graduate employers, local companies and voluntary organizations.

Publication date: 11 October 2016

Cutting-edge Bangor University Spin-Out company opened by Minister

Julie James, Minister for Skills and Science officially opened Suprex, a cutting-edge technology company and joint venture between Bangor University and Phytovation Ltd recently (Monday 10th October).

Publication date: 11 October 2016

Ffordd Pawb/ Coherent Connections- an innovative project comes to Bangor

Psychology students at Bangor University are getting involved in an innovative international project which could provide creative new solutions for complex modern problems faced in Bangor, as well as by other communities.

Publication date: 11 October 2016

Two Finals places for Bangor in CIWM Sustainability & Resource Awards

Bangor University is among the high flyers with not just one but two places in the prestigious Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) finals of this year’s Sustainability & Resource Awards.

Publication date: 10 October 2016

School of Environment Natural Resources and Geography awarded Athena SWAN Bronze Award

The School of Environment Natural Resources and Geography (SENRGy) is celebrating being awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU).

Publication date: 7 October 2016

Law School welcomes 200 Legal Wales Delegates

On Friday October 7th, Bangor Law School hosts the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, to headline the Annual Legal Wales Conference 2016, along with over 200 members of the senior Judiciary of England & Wales. Leading Constitutional Law Experts as well as the leading lights of the Legal Profession and Professors from around the United Kingdom, will gather to participate in a range of Plenary and Breakout specialist sessions on the theme of “Convergence or Divergence between English Law and Welsh Law”.

Publication date: 6 October 2016

Digital platforms offer the Welsh language a new medium

New digital platforms which we use frequently these days, offer an opportunity for the Welsh language to play a wider role in everyday life. Researchers at Bangor University are interested to find out how people use the language within digital platforms, and are therefore carrying out two surveys that are available to the public.

Publication date: 5 October 2016

Bangor student makes Nurse of the Year Awards 2016 shortlist

School of Healthcare Sciences student Stephanie Morris is a Royal College of Nursing Nurse of the Year Awards 2016 Nurse Student Finalist.

Publication date: 5 October 2016

First North Wales Welsh Baccalaureate Conference

Around 90 school teachers attended the first ever North Wales Welsh Baccalaureate Conference organised by Bangor University recently. The event, held in the University’s Pontio building, focussed on the individual project component of the revised Welsh Baccalaureate qualification, which all schools and colleges in Wales have to deliver as part of their curriculum.

Publication date: 4 October 2016

What Theresa May could learn from Ted Heath about how to respond to a humanitarian crisis

In the first seven months of 2016 more than 3,000 people died seeking asylum in Europe and refugees are still seeking sanctuary from war-torn countries such as Libya, Syria and Iraq. This article by Peter Shapely , Reader and Head of History, Welsh History and Archaeology, Bangor University and Marc David Collinson , PhD researcher in History Bangor University appears in The Conversation , read the original article .

Publication date: 4 October 2016

Creating dementia supportive communities in North Wales

People living with dementia, their family and carers are being invited to join with professionals who support people with dementia in the health service, commercial and third sectors and with experts researching the condition, in a new network of groups across North Wales. The newly established groups intended to provide support, information and an opportunity to share information and experience.

Publication date: 4 October 2016

Graduate hopes to ease the pain of a bad back

Back Care Awareness Week 2016 3rd – 8th October 2016 A Bangor University PhD graduate in Health Economics, Ned Hartfiel, hopes to reduce back pain and sickness absences in the UK through a ‘ Healthy Back Programme ’ which is being rolled out by his recently established company.

Publication date: 3 October 2016

Community-led marine reserve sees lobsters thrive

The first and only fully-protected marine reserve in Scotland is proving highly beneficial for marine conservation and fisheries, with lobsters more than doubling in numbers and increasing in size. Conducting potting surveys over four years in Lamlash Bay, Firth of Clyde, Scotland, scientists from the Universities of York and Bangor monitored populations of European lobster ( Homarus gammarus ), brown crab ( Cancer pagurus ) and velvet swimming crabs ( Necora puber ).

Publication date: 3 October 2016

Daredevil circus and non-stop brass rhythms at Pontio

On 4 and 5 November, French circus company Circa Tsuica makes its Welsh debut at Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre, Bangor with the hit show Opus 7, a feel-good blend of daredevil acrobatics and ripping brass rhythms. Giving the show some local flavor, Circa Tsuica’s eight acrobat-musicians will be joined on stage by Band Jazz Tryfan, the jazz band of Ysgol Tryfan.

Publication date: 2 October 2016

Leading dance theatre company balletLORENT makes their first visit to Wales with new fairytale production Snow White at Pontio

balletLORENT are making their first visit to Wales this November, bringing their latest dance theatre fairytale production, Snow White, to Theatr Bryn Terfel in Pontio, Bangor’s new Arts and Innovation Centre, on 11th-12th November. balletLORENT’s 11 professional dancers will be joined by a cast of 12 local children, aged 6-9 years old.

Publication date: 2 October 2016