Latest University News

WhatUni Awards Success for Bangor University

Bangor University has been chosen as the best in the UK for its Students’ Union Clubs & Societies as well as its Student Accommodation in this year’s WhatUni.com Student Choice Awards. The University was also placed third in the UK in the University of the Year category and second in the UK for Courses and Lecturers.

Publication date: 20 April 2018

Major Coffee chain’s interest in Biobased and compostable plastic coffee cup lids

With 2.5 billion takeaway coffee cups being used in Britain each year, there are almost as many plastic lids being thrown away.

Scientists are working with industry in to develop a new compostable plastic, which will withstand the hot liquids and can be specially moulded for coffee cup lids.

Publication date: 20 April 2018

Conservation through religion? Scientists confirm that sacred natural sites confer biodiversity advantage

Sacred natural sites (SNS) are found all over the world. They are thought to play an important role in conservation but until recently there was little systematic investigation of this claim. Now, new research published in the journal Biological Conservation by an international and multidisciplinary team, led by the University of Ioannina and including Bangor University, has shown that there is a notable conservation benefit to SNS. The researchers of the project, known as THALIS-SAGE, chose for their study the region of Epirus, in north-western Greece, that is host to numerous sacred groves protected through religion for hundreds of years.

Publication date: 20 April 2018

Can a brain injury change who you are?

Who we are, and what makes us “us” has been the topic of much debate throughout history. At the individual level, the ingredients for the unique essence of a person consist mostly of personality concepts. Things like kindness, warmth, hostility and selfishness. Deeper than this, however, is how we react to the world around us, respond socially, our moral reasoning, and ability to manage emotions and behaviours.

This article by Leanne Rowlands, PhD researcher in Neuropsychology at the School of Psychology was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 20 April 2018

Learned Society of Wales appoints four Bangor Fellows

The Learned Society of Wales has this year named four academics from Bangor University among the new Fellows elected to the Society from across the arts, humanities, sciences and public service sectors.  Election to Fellowship is a public recognition of academic excellence, and LSW Fellowship is keenly competed. Fellows are elected following a rigorous examination of their achievements in their relevant fields.

Publication date: 19 April 2018

How do you cut back in order to save up?

The interest we can get on bank accounts is key to our ability to save up, according to financial expert, Dr Gwion Williams from Bangor University's Business School.

In 2017, families across Britain only managed to save up 3% of their monthly income on average, the lowest rate in half a century. On the whole, one in four families managed to save only £95.

Publication date: 19 April 2018

Flushed with success: How the National Trust plans to stop energy going down the drain.

Over the past 18 months the National Trust has spent almost half million pounds at Penrhyn Castle on projects to create sustainable energy and hot water - yet much of this energy goes to waste - simply flushed down the drain.

To combat this the team at Penrhyn Castle, in collaboration with Bangor University and Trinity College Dublin, are embarking on an exciting new heat recovery project to make use of the huge amount of hot water that usually goes, quite literally, to waste.

Publication date: 17 April 2018

The muse returns at Harvard

Many students at Bangor University’s School of Welsh have taken advantage of the University’s international partners in order to study abroad. One of their Professors has followed their example.

Publication date: 16 April 2018

Supercontinent formation may be linked to a cycle of supertides

Earth’s crust is made up of fractured slabs of rock, like a broken shell on an egg. These plates move around at speeds of about 5cm per year – and eventually this movement brings all the continents together and form what is known as a supercontinent. The last supercontinent on Earth was Pangaea, which existed between 300-180m years ago.

This collection and dispersion of the continents is known as a supercontinent cycle, and the world now is 180m years into the current cycle. It is predicted that the next supercontinent will form in about 250m years, when the Atlantic and Pacific oceans both close and a new ocean forms where the large Asian plate splits. 

This article by Mattias Green, Reader in Physical Oceanography at the School of Ocean Sciences was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 12 April 2018

Hen Blant Bach wins Silver in International Film & Television Award

A programme, of which Bangor University was an integral part, has won a Silver Award in the 2018 New York Festivals International Film and Television Awards.

Hen Blant Bach, a production by Darlun production company won the Award in the Community Portraits documentary category. The series was a new factual format for S4C, and followed the social experiment which brought older people and nursery children together to share their day care. The programmes documented the transformative positive effects that can be brought about by bringing these two groups together.

Publication date: 12 April 2018

Bangor University Student successes in LifeStart challenges

Two Bangor University students have been successful in recent ‘LifeStart Challenges’, winning substantial sums of money and valuable experiences.

Bangor University is one of only 12 universities taking part in LifeStart – a new challenge platform developed by 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: 10 April 2018

Macsen gets more talkative

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is getting more intelligent by the day. By now many people in Wales have devices such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Now that can answer spoken questions about the weather, news, and other useful facts. They can even respond to a voice asking them to turn on the light, switch on the power, or similar skills. Unfortunately, these only work if spoken to in English, but we are a step nearer getting a similar system in Welsh with our own digital personal assistant Macsen, due to work done at Bangor University, aided by a grant from the Welsh Government. To begin with Macsen could only respond to simple commands, but now it can answer questions, and go to the most popular articles in the Welsh Wikipedia to find relevant information. It can read out the first paragraph of an article, or the news headings, using a Welsh synthetic voice. 

Publication date: 10 April 2018

FfitCymru and Bangor University getting the nation fit and healthy

Bangor University’s expertise will be seen on S4C over the next few weeks as an innovative new show, FfitCymru, is broadcast. The show will follow 5 member of the public as they introduce significant changes to their lives in order to lose weight and develop their fitness. What sets this show apart from countless other similar programmes is that viewers will be able to choose and follow whichever participant they identify with the most and then follow the same fitness regimes and utilise the same recipes so that they too benefit.

Publication date: 10 April 2018

New styles of strikes and protest are emerging in the UK

The image of strikers picketing outside factory gates is usually seen as something from the archives. Official statistics show an almost perennial decline in formal strikes. In the month of January 2018 there were 9,000 recorded working days lost due to strikes – a tiny fraction of the 3m recorded in January 1979.

This article by Emma Sara Hughes, PhD Candidate in Employment Relations, Bangor University and Tony Dundon, Professor of HRM & Employment Relations, University of Manchester was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 10 April 2018

Internationals Go Green! – Beach Clean 2018

A team of 50 international students from all over the World took part in a Beach Clean in Cricieth recently. This was organised by the International Student Support Office at Bangor University as part of their Sustainability Project: Rhyngwladol Wyrdd!/Internationals Go Green! together with The North Wales Wildlife Trust.

Publication date: 9 April 2018

Tesni wins Bronze!

Tesni Evans, a Bangor University Local Athlete Bursary winner, has added a Bronze medal to Wales’ tally at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, beating Nicol David of Malaysia in a thrilling encounter on the Gold Coast.

Publication date: 9 April 2018

AI like HAL 9000 can never exist because real emotions aren't programmable

HAL 9000 is one of the best-known articifical intelligence characters of modern film. This superior form of sentient computer embarks on a mission to Jupiter, along with a human crew, in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is currently celebrating its 50th year since release.

This article by Guillaume Thierry, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Prychology was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

For more on Stanley Kubrick and 2001 read: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/latest/stanley-kubrick-s-films-all-had-one-thing-in-common-jewishness-36122

Publication date: 9 April 2018

‘Bangor team’ member wins Wales’ first Commonwealth Gold

Wales’ first Gold medal in the Commonwealth Games has just been secured by one of Bangor University’s Commonwealth Games team.

Gareth (Gaz) Evans, a member of Bangor University staff working at the University’s Canolfan Brailsford, has just secured gold in the men's weightlifting in the 69kg category, lifting 299kg. 

Publication date: 6 April 2018

Bangor University wins Welsh Language Award

Bangor University has won a national award for the best use of Welsh in Human Resources.

The Award, sponsored by Cymraeg Gwaith, was presented at the Wales Cymru HR Awards at a glittering black tie event, organised by the Wales HR Network.

Publication date: 5 April 2018

The English language is the world's Achilles heel

English has achieved prime status by becoming the most widely spoken language in the world – if one disregards proficiency – ahead of Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. English is spoken in 101 countries, while Arabic is spoken in 60, French in 51, Chinese in 33, and Spanish in 31. From one small island, English has gone on to acquire lingua francastatus in international business, worldwide diplomacy, and science.

This article by Guillaume Thierry, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the School of Psychology was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 4 April 2018

We're mapping wartime shipwrecks to explore the past – and help develop green energy projects

Wartime shipwrecks such as the USS Juneau – recently discovered in the Pacific Ocean by philanthropist Paul Allen and his team – are of great interest to both military historians and the general public. 

Many such wrecks lie in extremely deep, relatively clear waters and are the legacy of naval battles fought far out to sea. But some of the technologies and methods that are being used to locate and identify such sites are now being employed by scientists in shallower, sediment-rich UK waters for similar – and very different – purposes.

This article by Michael Roberts, SEACAMS R&D Project Manager, Centre for Applied Marine Sciences, at the School of Ocean Sciences, was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 27 March 2018

Women in Science Scholarships Awarded

Two ‘Women in Science’ Scholarships have been awarded to outstanding Bangor University students – Hannah Davies and Lily Stokes. Both were undergraduate students at Bangor and graduated with First Class Honours in July 2017. The scholarships, which cover the full course fees, will enable the talented and enthusiastic students to continue their studies and the recipients of these scholarships are now enrolled in postgraduate research courses at Bangor.

Publication date: 26 March 2018

A great year for signed languages in film – and what we can learn from it

Looking back at the films released in 2017, and those honoured at the Oscars, it is quite remarkable to note the prominence of signed languages. Three lms in particular stand out for their sensitive portrayals of signed languages as bona fide languages: Baby Driver, The Shape of Water and The Silent Child. Two of these films, Baby Driver and The Silent Child, also make an important contribution – both onscreen and off – towards recognising and respecting Deaf culture, identity, and community; they both have Deaf actors playing characters that demonstrate the importance of signed languages in their everyday lives.

This article by Dr Sara Louise Wheeler, Lecturer in Social Policy (Welsh medium) at the School of Social Sciences was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 26 March 2018

Hot baths help to prepare Team Wales for the heat of the Australian Commonwealth Games

With temperatures predicted to exceed 30°C on the Gold Coast of Australia the Commonwealth Games will place considerable heat strain on competing athletes.

In preparation for the heat, Team Wales athletes have been plunging into hot baths after their usual training. Rob Condliffe, a physiologist at Sport Wales Institute who is helping to prepare Team Wales athletes for the Commonwealth Games says, “The hot bath is an extremely practical evidence-based approach to heat acclimation”. 

Publication date: 26 March 2018

Bangor University to turn red for Team Wales

On March 23, Bangor University’s Main Arts building turns red to show support for the Welsh athletes competing at the Commonwealth Games in Australia next month.

Publication date: 22 March 2018

Anthill 23: Bursting the Bitcoin bubble

Bernardo Batiz-Lazo, Professor of Business History and Bank Management, at the Bangor Business School was interview for this article, which was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 15 March 2018

Working to safeguard the public against viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria

Scientists working to reduce risk the risks to the public from exposure to viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria in the water environment are meeting to share their research and discuss next steps today (14 March at the Royal Geographic Society, London).

Publication date: 14 March 2018

Russian spy attack: how toxic chemicals can cause widespread contamination

This article by Vera Thoss, Lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry, at the School of Chemisty was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 14 March 2018

Shakespeare’s Globe to perform in Pontio during their only visit to Wales this Spring

During Spring 2018, Shakespeare’s Globe will be going on tour stopping at Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre, Bangor 7-9 June for their only performances in Wales during the tour.

Publication date: 14 March 2018

Three scholarships for a new course

For the next three years, a company providing office equipment to Bangor University will be awarding a students from the School of Welsh with a scholarship for a brand new degree course.

Publication date: 14 March 2018

A Hat Trick for Bangor at the Inter-Collegiate Eisteddfod 2018

Following a weekend of competition, Bangor University were victorious at the Inter-Collegiate Eisteddfod 2018, winning for a third time in a row.

Publication date: 12 March 2018

Stanley Kubrick’s films all had one thing in common: Jewishness

This article by Nathan Abrams, Professor in Film, at the School of Creative Studies and Media was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 12 March 2018

Distinguished Bangor Alumnus leaves generous legacy to Agricultural Botany

John Trevor Williams (PhD Agricultural Botany, 1962) made an enormous contribution towards conserving the genes of the world’s food crops and has now ensured his legacy goes even further by leaving a £75,000 bequest to support Agricultural Botany at Bangor University.

Publication date: 8 March 2018

Bangor Uni on 8 Shortlists for Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2018

Bangor University has been shortlisted for 8 of 12 Awards in this year’s Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2018, with the nominations based on the excellent reviews and opinions of the University’s own students.

Publication date: 7 March 2018

'Fighting for' the Arts

Sioned Young's work is no easy task, however it brings her "great pleasure". Sioned from Penygroes near Caernarfon, has embarked on a ten-month internship with Arts and Business Wales at Bangor University’s Pontio Arts and Innovation Center, looking for new ways of fundraising for the arts.

Publication date: 17 January 2018

Another successful Student Christmas Market

The B-Enterprising team at Bangor University hosted the 7th successive Student Christmas Market in PJ Hall before Christmas.

Publication date: 7 December 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