News Archive: November 2017

Bangor University students get ready for the LifeStart challenge

Bangor University is one of only 12 universities taking part in LifeStart – a new challenge platform developed by Virgin Money and Virgin StartUp. LifeStart aims to help students find their edge and achieve greater career and financial success by helping them learn critical enterprise and financial skills through participation in prize-winning Challenges.

Publication date: 30 November 2017

Five star reviews of performances and CD releases by the Head of Performance

Richard Craig's cd VALE was released in July on the Metier label and has since been reviewed by Gramophone magazine, as well as other blogs and social media sources.

Publication date: 28 November 2017

MA graduates find success on BBC and ITV

Two recent MA graduates from Bangor University have found success on primetime TV.

Publication date: 28 November 2017

The future of agriculture in Wales: the way forward

Dr Prysor Williams, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management at the University’s School of Environment Natural Resources and Geography is one of the authors of a report on the vision for Welsh agriculture, launched by Welsh Government today (27 November 2017). Amaeth Cymru the future of agriculture in Wales: the way forward, has been authored by Amaeth Cymru, a group whose membership covers a spectrum of interests, including farming unions, levy bodies, government, academics and industry experts.

Publication date: 27 November 2017

A study tour to the heart of the European Union

Students from Bangor University’s Business and Law Schools visited some of the key institutions of the European Union and the Council of Europe in Brussels (Belgium), Luxembourg and Strasbourg (France) last week.

Publication date: 24 November 2017

Exploring the economics of sight-saving technology

Over two million people in the UK are living with sight loss. This will double to nearly four million people by 2050 as the population ages and underlying causes like obesity and diabetes increase. This places huge pressure on NHS eye care services. The 2016 Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) report highlighted that sight loss is estimated to cost over £28 billion to the UK economy. Research into new sight-saving technology could improve the lives of people at risk of sight loss and provide saving to the NHS and wider economy. Two researchers from Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation CHEME, are co-investigators on the optical coherence tomography (OCT) study, which has been awarded £1.3 million of funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme.

Publication date: 23 November 2017

Exercise alone does not lead to weight loss in women – in the medium term

This article by Hans-Peter Kubis, Director of the Health Exercise and Rehabilitation Group, School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article .

Publication date: 23 November 2017

Languages in schools mentoring scheme honoured with Chartered Institute of Linguists accolade

A unique mentoring scheme, designed to encourage language learning amongst young people in Wales, has been awarded the prestigious Threlford Cup by the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL). The Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Mentoring Scheme , which is led by Cardiff University’s School of Modern Languages, is funded by Welsh Government as part of its Global Futures plan which aims to improve and promote the take up of modern foreign languages in schools. In partnership with Swansea, Bangor and Aberystwyth Universities, the project undertakes a nationwide approach to increasing inter-cultural understanding and promoting language learning at key stages.

Publication date: 22 November 2017

Different types of alcohol elicit different emotional responses

Different types of alcohol elicit different emotional responses, but spirits are most frequently associated with feelings of aggression, suggests research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

Publication date: 22 November 2017

Successful NRCF application for 21 radiocarbon dates

Dr Kate Waddington has been successful in obtaining a NRCF (NERC Radiocarbon Facility) grant for 21 radiocarbon dates to provide a detailed chronological sequence of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age hilltop enclosure of Meillionydd (this relates to the Eastern Area Excavation, Seasons 2010-2014).

Publication date: 22 November 2017

‘Can the UN trump Trump?’: Chair of UNA-UK gives public lecture at Bangor University

In the context of an increasingly polarised world, is the UN more or less important? How vital is multilateralism in facing current global issues? In a revealing public lecture to be delivered on Friday, 8 December at 5.30pm in the Eric Sunderland Lecture Theatre, Main Arts Building, Bangor University , Lord Wood, Chair of the United Nations Association (UK), will discuss the relevance of the UN at a time when it is increasingly being attacked and misunderstood. The lecture is entitled ‘Can the UN trump Trump?’ , and it will be followed by a question and answer session. The speaker will be introduced by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Hughes.

Publication date: 22 November 2017

Insights from the House: Welsh MP discusses ‘Brexit Britain’

Mr Hywel Williams, MP for Arfon Constituency, recently visited Bangor Law School as part of UK Parliament Week to deliver a guest lecture, 'Insights from the House: The Role of a Welsh MP in 'Brexit Britain'.

Publication date: 22 November 2017

Flying start for Menai Science Park

The first tenants moving into the £20m Science Park on Anglesey have been revealed, with a diverse spread of businesses and projects from start-ups to large SMEs, all wanting to innovate and grow. Menai Science Park ( M-SParc ), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bangor University, currently has 11 companies ready to move in when the Park opens in early 2018.

Publication date: 22 November 2017

Bangor hosts second annual 'popular' digital fiction writing competition

The first ever UK competition to find the best new examples of popular digital fiction enters its second year through a partnership with Bangor University and local publisher Wonderbox. The Opening Up Digital Fiction Writing Competition , run by Bangor University and Wonderbox Publishing , funded by a Bangor ESRC Impact Acceleration Award, is inviting entries from people all over the world and in two languages - English and Welsh.

Publication date: 21 November 2017

Bangor scientists sign letter to humanity

Bangor University scientists are among the 15,364 scientists from 184 countries world-wide who have signed a ‘warning letter’ to humanity about the dire situation that we face.

Publication date: 17 November 2017

A First Class Sustainable University

Bangor University is among the top 30 universities in the UK to receive a 'First Class Honours' degree style classification for the University’s sustainability credentials. This latest table sees the University, rising nine places, and going from a ‘2:1’ to a ‘First Class Honours degree’. The University achieved its highest score ever with an increase of nearly 8.5% and also scored a perfect 100% in 4 of the 13 categories. The University League is drawn up by People & Planet and is the UK's only independent ranking of the sustainability of all public UK universities. It is assessed on a wide range of environmental, social and financial sustainability criteria.

Publication date: 16 November 2017

Bangor University opens the first nuclear research institute in Wales

The first nuclear research institute in Wales has opened at Bangor University. The Nuclear Futures Institute has been established with funding from the Welsh Government’s Sêr Cymru programme, which is helping to attract world leading researchers to Wales, with funding also coming from the European Regional Development Fund and from the University.

Publication date: 16 November 2017

Exercise training alone does not lead to weight loss in females in the medium term

New research from Bangor University has shown that exercise training alone does not lead to weight loss in women.

Publication date: 15 November 2017

World War One U-boat partnership project gets green light from Heritage Lottery Fund for Wales’ Year of the Sea, 2018

The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced a grant of £409,700 for the Royal Commission’s partnership project: Commemorating the Forgotten U-boat War around the Welsh Coast, 1914-18 . Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, over the next two years the project will use the latest imaging techniques to reveal underwater wrecks from the Great War, and will support coastal communities around Wales to tell their previously untold stories about the Great War at Sea.

Publication date: 15 November 2017

Blue Planet II: can we really halt the coral reef catastrophe?

The third episode of the BBC’s Blue Planet II spectacularly described a series of fascinating interactions between species on some of the most pristine reefs in the world. These reefs, analogous to bustling cities, are powered by sunlight, and provide space and services for a wealth of marine life. This article by John Turner , Professor & Dean of Postgraduate Research, School of Ocean Sciences was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .

Publication date: 15 November 2017

Projects which Get Creative with Cymraeg announced

£425,000 has been awarded to 26 innovative projects that promote Welsh in the community and Welsh language technology, the Minister for the Welsh Language and Lifelong learning, Eluned Morgan has announced.

Publication date: 15 November 2017

Lecturer Alys Conran’s debut novel named Wales' Book of the Year 2017

Creative Writer and Lecturer Alys Conran is the stand- out winner at this year’s Wales Book of the Year / Llyfr y Flwyddyn, winning a hat-trick of Awards, scooping not only the one of the main prizes, the English Book of the year Award, a specially commissioned trophy designed and created by the artist Angharad Pearce Jones, and a £4000 prize, but also winning the Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award English fiction Award and the People’s Choice Award, all for her debut novel Pigeon .

Publication date: 14 November 2017

New project to provide synthetic Welsh language voice for those in danger of losing their speech

The Language Technologies Unit (LTU) at Canolfan Bedwyr, Bangor University, has won a grant of £20,000 to develop a programme that will record the voices of people who are in danger of losing their ability to speak because of throat cancer or other health issue, and produce a synthetic naturally sounding version of their own voice. At present this service is only available to English speakers, but this will for the first time allow patients to continue to speak Welsh with their own voice, rather than a generic, synthetic voice that sounds robotic or like someone else. The LTU will work with health authorities and speech therapists to offer the service throughout Wales.

Publication date: 14 November 2017

Wrexham psychiatrist given lifetime achievement award

A Wrexham based psychiatrist has received a lifetime achievement award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists for his tireless work to improve mental health services for deprived and marginalised people.

Publication date: 9 November 2017

Why Holocaust jokes can only be told by a Jewish comedian

When Larry David joked about chatting up women in Nazi concentration camps recently he caused a minor storm of outrage . David has joked about the Holocaust before. In the comedy show he co-created, Seinfeld, an entire episode is devoted to Schindler’s List . In his own show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, he plays Wagner (a favourite composer of Adolf Hitler) to a co-religionist who accuses him of being a self-hater. He invites a cast member of the reality show Survivor to meet a Holocaust survivor and they proceed to argue over who had it worse off. Many suggested David’s jokes weren’t in good taste, that he had crossed a line this time. But had he? This article by Nathan Abrams , Professor of Film Studies at the School of Ctreative Studies & Media was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .

Publication date: 9 November 2017

Melting ice sheets will have global impact on ocean tides

Whilst it is widely accepted that sea level is rising because of the melting of the massive sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica, a new paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017JC013109/abstract ), by scientists at Bangor University in collaboration with Harvard and Oregon State Universities in the US, and McGill University in Canada, shows that the impact of the melting of these ice sheets will go far beyond just changing water levels. It could have further reaching impacts on global climate. The new results show that sea level does not increase uniformly across the globe in response to melting of the polar ice sheets. In fact, sea level changes in response to ice loss are highly spatially variable, especially close to the retreating ice sheets. The new results, which are obtained with a numerical model of the global tides, show that the tidal changes due to ice sheet collapse and associated sea level changes will be highly variable and affect a number of different important processes.

Publication date: 8 November 2017

Computer science PhD work to be exhibited in Paris Art show.

An unusual event for Computer Science, PhD student Zainab Ali Aboodd from Iraq recently completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr Franck Vidal at Bangor University and her work on Evolutionary Art is going to be on display in an art gallery in Paris the work will be exhibited in an art gallery in Paris (Gallerie Louchard, http://www.galerielouchard.paris/ ).

Publication date: 3 November 2017

Performance from Chongqing boosts Wales-China link

Building on Wales’ link with Chongqing in south-west China, Bangor University’s Confucius Institute brought the Chongqing Performance Company to Holyhead’s Ucheldre Centre earlier this week (1 November), enthralling audiences with a stunning performance of Chinese music and dance.

Publication date: 3 November 2017

Research from Bangor presented at the premier Data Visualization Conference

Professor Jonathan C. Roberts and Dr Panagiotis (Panos) Ritsos, from Computer Science, represented Bangor University at the IEEE Visualization (VIS2017) Conference, held in Phoenix, Arizona, USA this month.

Publication date: 3 November 2017

Want to become self-compassionate? Run a marathon

Unsurprisingly, running a marathon is tough. It takes months of training before runners even make it to the starting line and this preparation can, at times, feel like punishment. The marathon runner in training can often be found limping around with blisters, sore muscles and blackened or lost toenails. Not, perhaps, an image we might naturally associate with the idea of “self-compassion”. A relatively new concept, self-compassion has been hailed as a more robust alternative to self-esteem . While compassion refers to the demonstration of sympathy and concern for others in times of suffering, self-compassion entails showing this same understanding to ourselves . T his article by Rhi Willmot , PhD Researcher in Behavioural and Positive Psychology, at the School of Psychology , was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .

Publication date: 3 November 2017

Be amazed at Brambell Natural History Museum, Bangor University

Bangor University’s Brambell Natural History Museum, will be open to the public on Saturday, 4th November as part of the Welsh Museums Festival. The theme of the day is ‘Animals in Welsh Mythology’. Using specimens from the Museum as inspiration, workshops on drawing from specimens to create imaginative collages, prints, narrative and illustrations with be held with artist Jŵls Williams.

Publication date: 1 November 2017