Campus News
Voices
March 8th, 2011
Date: Until May
Time: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Venue: The Institute of Mental Health, Sir Colin Campbell Building, Innovation Park
Admission: Free
Posted in Exhibitions, What's On | Comments Off on Voices
Igloo: Artists’ talk
March 8th, 2011
Ruth Gibson and Bruno Martelli
Date: Wednesday 16 March
Time: 6pm to 7pm
Venue: Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park
Admission: Free
Posted in Public Lectures, What's On | Comments Off on Igloo: Artists’ talk
Mass Spectrometry: From Avogadro to Zeptomole
March 8th, 2011
Dr Mick Cooper
Date: Thursday 17 March
Time: 6pm to 7pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre X1, School
of Chemistry, University Park
Admission: Free
Posted in Public Lectures, What's On | Comments Off on Mass Spectrometry: From Avogadro to Zeptomole
Dance4 presents nottdance
March 8th, 2011
Running until Sunday 13 March,
Lakeside Arts Centre, admission is £12, £9 concessions, £6 restricted view, unless
otherwise stated.
A range of events have been taking place across the city. Featuring artists from Australia, France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Acts have included the world premiere of Matthias Sperling and Rachel Krische’s Superdance, in which the dynamic duo “use their special skills as Lycra-clad dance artists to show that all performers are superheroes and that dance can save the world”. Also showcasing the UK premieres of The Guests Company – Yuval Pick, Samir Akika/Unusual Symptoms and Silvia Gribaudi. Full programme details can be found at www.dance4.co.uk.
Posted in events | Comments Off on Dance4 presents nottdance
Romeo and Juliet
March 8th, 2011
Presented by Pilot Theatre, in association with York Theatre Royal.
Directed by Marcus Romer and Katie Posner, the award-winning Pilot Theatre present a new vibrant production of Shakespeare’s timeless tale of star-crossed lovers. Suitable from age 11, the show runs from Tuesday 22 – Saturday 26 March with performances at 7.30pm (and 1.30pm matinees on 23, 24 & 26 March) at Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park. Admission is £15, £12 concessions, £9 restricted view.
Pre- and post- show resources and lectures are available from Tuesday to Friday during the run. Please contact Rachel Feneley on (0115) 8467180 or email rachel.feneley@nottingham.ac.uk for details.
Posted in events | Comments Off on Romeo and Juliet
Spotlight
March 8th, 2011
Universities’ framework for collaboration
The University of Nottingham and The University of Birmingham have announced a new framework for collaboration. The partnership will see the research-led universities working together for mutual success in areas including research initiatives, student experience, business engagement and internationalisation.
The universities have many complementary strengths and an established and successful record of research collaboration. Both share characteristics of scale, history, outstanding research, high quality student experience and international engagement. Creative approaches to developing intellectual capital are at the heart of the partnership, which will offer a distinctive approach to working together, where it is in both universities’ mutual interest. Prof David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, said: “This is an opportunity for us to send a much stronger signal about collaboration within our institutions – to build on existing links and develop new ones. There are significant opportunities to leverage each other’s strengths.”
Ethiopian Minister visits the University
A delegation of senior Ethiopian diplomats — led by the Education Minister of the Ethiopian government, His Excellency Demeke Mekonnen — visited the University to further strengthen the very strong relationship that has developed between the University and universities in Ethiopia over the past eight years. Nottingham graduate Dr Ignacio Villar is a lecturer at Addis Ababa University and Dr Pete Licence, Associate Professor and Reader in Chemistry at Nottingham, is Adjunct Professor in Addis. The Minister was accompanied by His Excellency Berhanu Kebede, the Ethiopian Ambassador to the UK, and senior figures from the Ethiopian embassy. Nottingham has set up five new scholarships for Ethiopian students and is to look at setting up twinning programmes.
I should cocoa!
A study which hopes to establish the health benefits from cocoa and vitamin C is looking for volunteers. Researchers needs healthy men – ten aged 18–28 and 30 aged from 65–75. The £270,000 Chocolate Orange Study, funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust, is being run by Beth Philips, a postgraduate research associate in the Department of Clinical Physiology. Each volunteer will have to have a health check before taking part and will receive a £150 inconvenience allowance.
Mobile ‘journalism’ is fast-moving
Mobile phones will dramatically shake up the global news industry, as they increasingly become a basic consumer essential and users upgrade their handsets with greater frequency.
Citizen journalists are expected to increasingly use their mobile phones to compete with the world’s biggest broadcasters, first for footage at news scenes and then in the race to get coverage transmitted. This growth is likely to be led by Asia, which has about half of the world’s cellphones compared to the estimated eight per cent in circulation in the US, according to respected international media analyst Prof Stephen Quinn of The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China (UNNC) in his book, MoJo – Mobile Journalism in the Asian Region.
UNNC is hosting an important conference on “China’s media in a global context” at its campus in Ningbo, Zhejiang, in May. The event has attracted some of the world’s top media scholars.
Dress for success
The Centre for Careers Development and the Students’ Union held a fashion show to demonstrate how to dress in a professional environment. Students also had the chance to chat with major employers about their expectations. For photos, visit: www.flickr.com/photos/uonottingham/sets/72157625921799149/
Tags: Addis Ababa University, Associate Professor and Reader in Chemistry, Berhanu Kebede, Centre for Careers Development, China’s media in a global context, Chocolate Orange Study, Citizen journalists, Department of Clinical Physiology, Dr Ignacio Villar, Dr Pete Licence, Dunhill Medical Trust, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Ambassador, framework for collaboration, MoJo – Mobile Journalism in the Asian Region, Students’ Union, t Prof Stephen Quinn, The University of Birmingham, vitamin C
Posted in media | Comments Off on Spotlight
Helping to B-eat illness
March 8th, 2011
The University’s counselling and eating disorder services have helped record numbers of students and staff in the past 12 months.
Mike Rennoldson, academic lecturer in Clinical Psychology, believes the increase in numbers is due to raised awareness and better treatment.
The perceived pressure to achieve and the perfectionist traits present in many in academia mean staff and students can be at risk, said Dr Rennoldson. He emphasised how important it was to have services on campus, adding that the age of students and the stress of leaving home for the first time were potentially significant factors in the development of disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
“Eating disorders can be thought of as a response to a series of personal and social pressures that leave a person feeling that they have not got a grip on life, or that they are falling short in some way,” said Dr Rennoldson.
“Food – either controlling it through restricting one’s diet, or ‘losing’ control by over-eating and experiencing a momentary pleasure and release – can be an intense alternative focus that can unfortunately gather an addictive quality in some people.”
B-eat is the leading UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families, saying that an estimated 1.6m of people in the UK are battling with eating disorders. The number of people asking for the University’s B-eat group for help has doubled since it formed in 2007, and the group is now asking for more volunteers.
Richard Armitage, of B-eat, said: “Eating disorders (ED) have always been a huge problem. Fortunately, they are now much more readily accepted as a true mental illness. Sadly, some people still believe EDs are ‘lifestyle illnesses’ only ‘suffered’ by young middle-class females. This is simply not the case.”
During term-time, B-eat meets every fortnight to allow people to discuss their feelings in a friendly, confidential environment. Email subeat@nottingham.ac.uk or visit www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/activities2/volunteering/studentprojects/beat. For details of the University’s counselling service, visit www.nottingham.ac.uk/counselling. For appointments, call 0115 9513695 or email counselling.service@nottingham.ac.uk.
Dr Rennoldson says anyone who thinks that food is becoming an issue should seek help. He said: “Services for people with eating disorders are getting much better. It is often a relief for people to be able to discuss their difficulties without being judged, and to discover that they are not the only one [affected by these issues].”
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
University’s flying high
March 8th, 2011
The University of Nottingham balloon has just celebrated its 3rd anniversary by returning to Switzerland and the event which saw its launch back in 2008.
Snow-clad mountains and blue skies provided a stunning backdrop for the 33rd Festival of Balloons at Chateau d’Oex. This annual competition is the leading Alpine ballooning event.
Because of its dramatic location and unique micro-climate, Chateau d’Oex, in the Swiss Alps, has become an international centre for hot-air ballooning.
Piloted by University of Nottingham engineer and record-breaking balloonist Dr Janet Folkes, the Nottingham balloon was one of 80 other balloons at the event.
Dr Folkes said: “Chateau D’Oex is an amazing place to fly with spectacular views and fantastic people. It’s been a privilege to have the opportunity to fly the balloon in such a location. It is recently back from the 10th anniversary celebrations in Malaysia where over 80 people managed to go up in a tether in the balloon – a unique experience and one that they will never forget.
“Flights of the balloon in the UK have seen it over the skies of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, as well as appearances elsewhere such as Gloucestershire and on a community day at the University where local children could test their piloting skills by trying out the burner.”
As well as helping to promote the University as an innovative and global university at events across the world, the balloon will also be used for research projects for academics and students.
Photographer Jean Pierre Girard, who lives in Annonay, said: “I don’t use any sophisticated equipment, just a good lens!
“My best friend is the most famous pilot in the world, Olivier Roux Devillas. I am lucky to travel very often with him for the diverse meetings of hot-air balloons around the world.”
Tags: balloon, Chateau d’Oex, Dr Janet Folkes
Posted in Features | Comments Off on University’s flying high
Big bonus equals hard work?
March 8th, 2011
Bankers may love them, but new research has claimed bonuses don’t actually make us work any harder.
According to a study by economists at the University, fines are more effective than bonuses when it comes to getting the most out of employees.
The finding emerged amid the continuing furore over the huge bonuses being paid to bankers in spite of global financial meltdown.
Downing Street won only modest concessions in its latest bid to stop banks giving an estimated £7bn in extra payments to staff this year.
Now research by the University’s School of Economics suggests bonuses don’t improve a worker’s productivity.
Experts in behavioural economics carried out a series of experiments to examine the effect of bonuses and fines on performance.
Study co-author Dr Daniele Nosenzo said: “There are many situations where authorities have preferences over individuals’ choices. Regulators want factories to observe rules, police want motorists to observe speed-limits, and employers want employees to work hard. Exactly how authorities induce compliance when individuals have incentives to deviate from the desired behaviour is a fundamental problem.
“To study this we set up a novel experiment – the first of its kind, as far as we’re aware – to compare positive and negative influences.”
The study, involving more than 100 volunteers, was carried out at the School’s Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics. Subjects were assigned the roles of employers or workers and randomly paired over a number of rounds. In each round a worker had to decide whether to supply ‘high’ or ‘low’ effort, while at the same time the employer chose whether to ‘inspect’ the worker or not. In some treatments the worker received a bonus for supplying high effort when inspected, while in others he was fined for low effort.
At the end of the experiments volunteers were paid a modest cash reward reflecting their performances and the bonuses and fines incurred.
Dr Nosenzo, whose work focuses on how “social comparison” information affects behaviour, said: “We found paying bonuses didn’t encourage more effort. Employers tended to reduce the frequency of their inspections when they knew they would have to pay a bonus for high effort.
“This has a negative impact on encouraging working, which offsets any positive effect of bonuses. In fact, our subjects shirked slightly more often when bonuses were present. On the other hand, introducing harsher fines encouraged working. Shirking almost halved relative to a scenario without bonuses or fines. So it’s fines, not bonuses, that enhance efficiency.”
In fact, the joint earnings of employers and workers were almost 19 per cent higher when fines were handed out than when bonuses were paid. However, while employers were better off when fines were introduced, workers earned less than in the scenario without fines.
Tags: Bankers' bonuses, Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, Dr Daniele Nosenzo, School of Economics
Posted in Research | Comments Off on Big bonus equals hard work?
Breaking the mould
March 8th, 2011
It’s the champagne of the cheese world and the gastronomic pride of the East Midlands but now blue cheese is under the microscope in a quest for the best quality.
Researchers at The University of Nottingham and The University of Northampton are working with a Nottinghamshire cheesemaker to examine what gives blue cheeses their distinctive taste, texture and smell.
The scientists hope to find out how micro-organisms in blue cheese work, which could lead to better quality, consistency and fewer defects in the manufacturing process. They are working with Stichelton Dairy on the Welbeck Estate in North Nottinghamshire, which produces a classic English unpasteurised blue cheese, similar to Stilton.
Micro-organisms, known in the trade as starter cultures, are added to milk in the manufacture of cheeses. But the final ‘flora’ of a cheese develops during ripening and contains many micro-organisms that have not been manually added, known as ‘secondary flora’.
Previous work at The University of Nottingham has shown that in complex cheeses like Stilton the secondary flora varies in different parts of the cheese (core, blue veins and rind) and that these organisms contribute to the flavour properties of the product.
Also, some of the organisms may enhance the cheese’s ‘blue’ characteristics while others may be undesirable as their anti-fungal properties can stop the mould growing and prevent the blue veins developing.
The research will look more closely at how secondary flora contributes to flavour and which microflora may need controlling to allow blue veins to develop. The identification of any natural antifungal compounds may have a range of applications both within the food industry and outside.
The East Midlands is famous as the home of Stilton production and the project could ultimately help local blue cheeses achieve a larger slice of the global market by making regional producers more competitive. The research findings will be shared with cheese producers across the UK.
Prof Christine Dodd, from Nottingham’s Division of Food Sciences, said: “We are very pleased to receive this grant from the Food and Drink iNet for our research, which will help us to progress our understanding of the way flavours develop in these complex cheeses and the contribution that the different microflora components contribute to this.”
The project has won one of five Collaborative Research and Development grants worth a total of more than £245,000 announced by the Food and Drink iNet, which co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands. Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund, the Food and Drink iNet is one of four regional iNets that has developed an effective network to link academic and private sector expertise and knowledge with local food and drink business innovation needs.
Tags: blue cheese, Collaborative Research and Development grants, Division of Food Sciences, East Midlands Development Agency, econdary flora, emda, European Regional Development Fund, Food and Drink iNet, microflora, Prof Christine Dodd, The University of Northampton
Posted in Research | 1 Comment »