Campus News

Spotlight

October 15th, 2012

Award-winning author joins University

Award-winning novelist and short story writer, Jon McGregor, has been appointed as Professor of Creative Writing (Writer in Residence) in the School of English.

Honorary graduate Jon has been a guest lecturer but has now taken up a permanent Professorship one day a week. Jon said: “Being able to talk to students about what make a good piece of writing, why this is working, what the writer has done to get at this point and how they can apply that to their own writing, that’s really exciting. Universities are a fruitful and energetic environment in which to develop your own creative writing and to be exposed to different ideas of what writing is doing and what writing can be. They have the potential to be very generative for students and young writers.”

Pro-Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for the Faculty of Arts Professor Sarah O’Hara said: “Jon is one of the UK’s brightest literary talents. His creativity and experience will have a hugely positive impact on students and enhance the University’s reputation as a leader in Arts and Humanities.”

The development of a new literary journal for creative writing will be one of Jon’s key missions. The journal will allow students to get hands-on editing and collating experience and how to make a number of pieces of work function as a cohesive whole. Jon said: “It will feature the best of contemporary writers internationally and I will be drawing on my own contacts and the University’s global connections. If a student writes something which is good enough then that would be really exciting for them and a stepping stone in their career but mainly their role would be on the production side. If you can read a piece of work and understand the mechanics and what the writer has done to get to that point then you can bring that to bear on your own writing.”

Watch an interview with Jon at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO1HPIZDG7E

Diet could combat adverse side effects

Scientists at the University’s campuses in the UK and Malaysia say adverse side-effects caused by the anti-parasitic drug quinine in the treatment of malaria could be controlled by what we eat.

Research indicates that natural variation in our levels of the amino acid, tryptophan, has a marked bearing on how we respond to quinine treatment. It appears that the lower our levels of tryptophan the more likely it is that we would suffer side-effects. And because tryptophan is an essential amino acid the body cannot produce it — we get it from the food we eat.

Quinine is associated with a long list of side effects ranging from sickness and headaches to blindness, deafness and in rare cases death. This latest study, published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, could offer a cheap and simple way of combating our adverse reaction to quinine treatment and improving the performance of this important drug.

New hope in fight against breast cancer

Scientists have identified a protein which could help predict survival outcomes for women with the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.

Research funded by Breast Cancer Campaign could help predict survival outcomes for triple negative breast cancer and basal-like breast cancer — which affect up to 8,000 women each year in the UK. Triple-negative and basal-like subgroups, almost twice as likely to be diagnosed in black women than Caucasian women, exhibit aggressive behaviour and are more likely to spread.

New research led by Dr Stewart Martin investigated levels of proteins known as calpains in tumours from 1,371 patients. Results, published in Annals of Oncology, suggest that the amount of calpain-2 can identify patients with basal-like or triple-negative breast cancer that have a better or worse prognosis and can therefore be used to ‘stratify’ patients into different prognostic groups which indicate their predicted survival.

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University honours 12 of the best

October 15th, 2012

Baroness Amos is Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator for the UN. She has campaigned on human rights, social justice and equality, and has held various high-level government positions. From 2001 to 2003, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, with responsibility for Africa, the Caribbean, Consular Affairs, the Commonwealth and Britain’s overseas territories. She was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997.

Sat Bains is the internationally acclaimed chef/patron of Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms in Nottingham. He has two Michelin stars, the ultimate five AA Rosettes and nine out of 10 in the Good Food Guide. Sat has long championed the use of quality local produce on his menus. He has appeared at global congresses, securing the region’s place on the international stage. Sat is passionate about training and the industry and works with local colleges and universities.

June Spencer OBE was born in Sherwood, and went to Nottingham Girls’ High School. She studied Drama, obtaining an LGSM diploma in Performers’ Elocution before a season in Rep at Nottingham’s Little Theatre. She has worked for the BBC since 1943 and has played Peggy in The Archers for 61 years. Watch an interview at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nKJltm_3bI

Keith Hamill OBE graduated from Nottingham (Politics, 1974) and was SU President (1974-75), President of the University Council (2003 to 2011) and Treasurer and Chair of Finance Committee (1988-2003). A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, he became a partner with Price Waterhouse, Director of Financial Control of Guinness and Chief Financial Officer of United Distillers, Forte and WH Smith.

Ann Greenwood graduated from Nottingham (Joint Honours, Chemistry and Biochemistry, 1976). She stayed on and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1979, becoming an associate of the Institute of Taxation in 1981. In 1987 Ann became Financial Director with Campbell Scientific Ltd. Ann was a lay member of the Council of the University (1999-2011). She is a trustee of the SU and does voluntary work with Nottingham Workplace Chaplaincy and Young Enterprise. She is chair of audit for Principia Rushcliffe, an NHS group.

Robert Harris was born in Nottingham in 1957 and read English at Cambridge. In 1978 he became a reporter on BBC’s Newsnight and Panorama, and has worked on the Observer and the Sunday Times. In 2003 he was Columnist of the Year (British Press Awards). His novel, Fatherland, was published in 1992. His work has been translated into 37 languages. He is an Honorary Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Steve Holliday is Chief Executive of National Grid plc, a Non-Executive Director of M&S plc, chairman of the board of trustees at Crisis and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers. He joined National Grid Group in 2001 after a seat on the Board of British Borneo Oil and Gas. He voluntarily leads a number of skills, STEM and sustainable energy related activities for Business in the Community and chairs the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy. He is chair of The Technicians Council and the Young Offender Programme.

Prof Alexander MacKenzie Johnston OBE graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1968 and worked in a veterinary practice before joining the Royal Veterinary College in 1979, being appointed Emeritus Professor on retirement. He served as an independent expert on UK and EU scientific committees and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Desmond Wilson came to the UK from Jamaica at 17. He arrived in Nottingham in 1957, working as a miner, bus driver and precision engineer. In 1971 he took over a Radford cafe and gained an insight into the problems faced by the city’s black and ethnic minorities. His work culminated in the opening of the Afro-Caribbean Community Centre in 1978. He was also involved in the Racial Equality Council and the Joint Indian Pakistani Afro-Caribbean Communities project. He was a Labour city councillor (1991-2007), and Lord Mayor. He retired in 2007 to do community work in Jamaica.

Graham Cartledge CBE was born in Nottingham and joined Gordon Benoy & Partners in 1974, becoming Chairman in 1992. He has worked with UK government bodies to promote British businesses across the world. Benoy works closely with our School of Architecture. In 2007, the Cartledge family established the Benoy Foundation, a grant-making charitable trust that supports tangible, lasting projects using buildings, sustainability, community and education. He was awarded the CBE (services to architecture and charity).

John Knight CBE JP has had a 25-year career across the statutory and voluntary sectors. After graduating from Nottingham (Zoology, 1982) he worked at the Department of Health. He headed the Policy and Campaigns Department at Leonard Cheshire Disability for 16 years. He has advised and lobbied governments on disability and social policy and was a member of Advisory Bodies to the Ministers for Disabled People and Civil Society. He is a Board Member of the Charity Commission, founding member of the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group and once a Trustee of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations.

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Just a Gigolo

October 15th, 2012

Date: Tuesday 23 to Saturday 27 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: £15, £12 concessions, £9.50 restricted view

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Shakespeare Schools Festival

October 15th, 2012

Date: Thursday 18&19 October
Time: 7pm
Venue: Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: £8, £6 concessions

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Mother to Mother

October 15th, 2012

suitable for 14+
Date: Friday 12 October
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: £15, £12 concessions

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Inception and My Exile is in My Head

October 15th, 2012

suitable for 14+
Date: Thursday 11 October
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: £15, £12 concessions

 

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And The Girls in Their Sunday Dresses

October 15th, 2012

suitable for 14+ 
Date: Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 October
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: £15, £12 concessions

 

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Angela Hewitt (chamber)

October 15th, 2012

Date: Thursday 18 October
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Djanogly Recital Hall, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: £22, £20 concessions

 

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Seckou Keita (world)

October 15th, 2012

Date: Wednesday 17 October
Time: 8pm
Venue: Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: £15, £12 concessions, £9 restricted view

 

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Team Janet tribute flight

October 15th, 2012

The University of Nottingham’s hot air balloon took to the skies during the Chatsworth Country Fair this year in memory of Dr Janet Folkes who died earlier this year after a long battle with cancer.

Team Janet — Tony Hutchby, Denise Hallett, Paul Stephenson, Chris Rigby, Holly Wilkinson, Ian Warrington (Pilot), Tom Parker, Nicci Parker, Yvonne Wilkinson — wanted to pay tribute to Janet, the high flying academic from the Faculty of Engineering, who piloted the balloon for the University both in the UK and at venues across the world.

Having flown and crewed for Janet on many occasions Team Janet was officially formed at the same event last year when they knew it would be Janet’s last opportunity to fly.

Yvonne said: “We knew Chatsworth 2012 would be poignant but Team Janet felt strongly that we needed to see the Nottingham University balloon flying again after many months of hibernation and the Chatsworth Country Fair was the right place to do that”.

Having passed its annual airworthiness inspection with flying colours friends and family joined Team Janet to see the Nottingham Balloon take to the skies once again.

A Janet Folkes Memorial Trophy will be presented each year at the Chatsworth Country Fair for the pilot who flies the furthest distance whilst remaining on the Chatsworth Map. This year’s winner was Andrew Davidson, a great friend of Janet’s.

The East Midlands Balloon Group, who hosted the Chatsworth Balloon meet, selected Breast Cancer Care UK as their charity this year in memory of Janet, who died in January.

Images taken by Andrew Hallsworth of Marlow Photographic.

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