School of Economics grand total

Sport Relief 2012 was a big event for the School of Economics. What started as a rather rash “Why don’t we both take part in the run?” type conversation  (possibly after a glass of wine) between the UG admissions officer and her Economics professor husband, escalated into something a bit more substantial.

On Friday 23 March, about 8 or 9 of the best bakers in the School put on a massive cake sale in the School, drawing customers from across the university and raising £247.

And on Sunday 25 March, around 35 undergrads, postgrads, academic and admin staff took part in a one-mile, three-mile or six-mile run along Nottingham’s Embankment. The weekend raised a spectacular £1,157. Well done to all who took part and thank you to all those who supported the effort.

Visit strengthens links with Ethiopia

The University’s links with Ethiopia have been strengthened by a high-level visit, led by His Excellency Berhanu Kebede, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Education and the University reached an agreement on providing for the development of higher education in Ethiopia through jointly-funded scholarships, by the provision of joint Ethiopian Ministry of Education and University of Nottingham Developing Solutions Scholarships. Five full tuition scholarships will be provided for young Ethiopian academics over the next five years, under the University’s Developing Solutions programme. The scholarships are targeted at outstanding researchers who will undertake research programmes in areas that will help to advance the development of their own country.

Clinical trial into tinnitus test

A clinical trial is to test whether a pocket-sized device that uses sound simulation to reboot faulty ‘wiring’ in the brain could cure people with the debilitating hearing disorder tinnitus.

The CR® neuromodulation device delivers specific sequences of sounds to disrupt the pattern of neurons firing in the brain. It is believed that conditions such as hearing loss can cause neurons in the brain to fire simultaneously instead of in a random pattern which can cause an overload and lead to a ringing or buzzing in the ear, the classic symptom of tinnitus.

The study is being led by the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing (NBRUH) which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), a partnership bringing together expertise from researchers at The University of Nottingham and the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing with leading clinicians from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

New centre of  excellence opens

A new research centre at The University of Nottingham will develop the next generation of electrical machines for transportation, energy and industry.

The Cummins Innovation Centre in Electrical Machines is a centre of excellence to develop world-leading research that will help with renewable energy generation, electric vehicles and other technologies.

The Faculty of Engineering has a long history of working with Cummins Generator Technologies, the largest electrical machines manufacturer in the UK, on projects including electromagnetic and thermal modelling of generators, high speed machines for turbochargers and other high-performance applications. Cummins has established an Innovation Centre at the University with projected funding of around £2m over the next five years. The Centre is also being supported through a prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering senior research fellowship.