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Latest University News
Satisfied students place Bangor University among top UK universities
Bangor University’s students have again given the University a resounding testimonial in the annual National Student Satisfaction survey, placing the University eighth among the UK’s non-specialist universities in the UK and second among Welsh Universities.
The news follows hard on the heels of the University’s recent success in being awarded a Gold Standard in the UK Government’s new Teaching Excellence Framework, the only Welsh university to achieve this standard.
Publication date: 9 August 2017
Landfill sites: not just a load of rubbish
Far from being a load of rubbish, landfill sites should be considered one of the great untapped resources in the search for new enzymes for biotechnology, and could fuel more efficient biofuel production.
A new research paper in mSphere (DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00300-17) by biologists at Bangor and Liverpool universities has for the first time identified the enzymes which degrade natural materials such as paper and clothing in landfill sites.
Publication date: 22 August 2017
Celebrating Women’s Work in Music
Two classical music concerts at Bangor University’s Pontio are set to be the highlight of the First International Conference on Women’s Work in Music (4-7 September) celebrating the achievements of women musicians. The Conference has been timed to mark the 40thanniversary of the death of Grace Williams (1906-77), one of the first professional Welsh composers of the 20th century to attain international recognition.
The concerts on Monday, 4 September in Neuadd Powis at 5.45pm and Wednesday, 6 September at 7.30pm in Pontio’s Theatr Bryn Terfel will feature Grace Williams’s music and also include world premieres by leading British composers Nicola LeFanu and Eleanor Alberga.
Publication date: 21 August 2017
Migrating birds use a magnetic map to travel long distances
Birds have an impressive ability to navigateThey can fly long distances, to places that they may never have visited before, sometimes returning home after months away.
Though there has been a lot of research in this area, scientists are still trying to understand exactly how they manage to find their intended destinations.
This article was by Richard Holland, Senior Lecturer in Animal Cognition, School of Biological Sciences, was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Publication date: 18 August 2017
Independent music labels are creating their own streaming services to give artists a fair deal
Music streaming services are hard to beat. With millions of users – Spotify alone had 60m by July 2017, and is forecast to add another 10m by the end of the year – paying to access a catalogue of more than 30m songs, any initial concerns seem to have fallen by the wayside.
But while consumers enjoy streaming, tension is still bubbling away for the artists whose music is being used. There is a legitimacy associated with having music listed on major digital platforms, and a general acknowledgement that without being online you are not a successful business operation or artist.
This article by Steffan Thomas, Lecturer in Film and Media, at the School of Creative Studies & Media was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Publication date: 18 August 2017
Bird-brained? Not at all: Reed Warblers reveal a magnetic map
We all marvel at those mammals, birds and insects who migrate long distances, and at their innate ability to reach a destination thousands of miles away.
Scientists are still trying to unravel all the mechanisms involved. Now, one group of scientists believe that they have revealed one system being used by some migrating birds, and it reveals a fascinating ‘world-map’ that many of us would marvel at.
Publication date: 17 August 2017
It’s fifty years since Sgt Pepper taught the band to play
This summer sees fifty years since Sgt Pepper taught the band to play as The Beatles released what is often cited as the first important concept album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; an album that is generally understood as truly ground-breaking, and as one of those moments which changed (and perhaps even created) an art-form.
It’s also fifty years (25-27 August 1967) since the Beatles visited Bangor, a visit which also proved to be a pivotal date in the history of the group.
Publication date: 16 August 2017
Prestigious Lecture Award to Prof Johnson
Professor Barrie Johnson of the College of Natural Sciences joins a prestigious list of internationally renowned scientist invited to present the UK Mineralogical Society’s Hallimond Lecture.
Prof Johnson is the only academic from Wales to have presented the lecture in the 46 years since its inception, and was nominated and selected by a panel for the Honour. His lecture will be published in due course in the Society’s Journal.
Publication date: 14 August 2017
Historic wrecks to assist Wales’ marine renewable energy future
Historic wrecks around Wales’ coastline, such as that of a German submarine sunk 10 miles off Bardsey Island at the tip of the Llŷn Peninsula on Christmas Day 1917, are to play a part in assisting Wales’ growing marine renewable energy sector.
Over the next two years, marine scientists from Bangor University will be surveying the coast of Wales as part of the ERDF-funded SEACAMS2 project led by the University in partnership with Swansea University. The researchers at Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences and Centre for Applied Marine Sciences are undertaking collaborative research, including marine surveys, to support the sustainable growth of the marine renewable energy sector in Wales.
Publication date: 14 August 2017
Welsh language media could hold the solution to Wales’s democratic deficit
This article by Ifan Morgan Jones Lecturer in Journalism, School of Creative Studies and Media was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Publication date: 11 August 2017
Emma Chappell is the Welsh Learner of the Year
It was a great pleasure to hear that Emma Chappell who attended Welsh for Adults classes at Bangor University and also works at the University in The Management Centre, is the Welsh Learner of the Year at the Anglesey National Eisteddfod this year.
Publication date: 10 August 2017
Forest conservation approaches must recognise the rights of local people
Until the 1980s, biodiversity conservation in the tropics focused on the “fines and fences” approach: creating protected areas from which local people were forcibly excluded. More recently, conservationists have embraced the notion of “win-win”: a dream world where people and nature thrive side by side.
This article by Sarobidy Rakotonarivo, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Stirling and Neal Hockley, Research Lecturer in Economics & Policy, Bangor University was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Publication date: 9 August 2017
Understanding our Oceans
Bangor University’s Schools of Ocean Sciences, Electronic Engineering and Computer Science in collaboration with company partner Tidal Lagoon Power are looking for a computer science student to help them build an autonomous vehicle that will answer questions that have bugged ecologists and fisheries scientists for years – how and where do fish swim? The new project being developed by SEACAMS, Bangor University and funded by KESS 2 aims to track small marine fish to understand where fish swim in a way that has previously only been applied to large sharks.
Publication date: 7 August 2017
‘Bodedern’s musical success
During the National Eisteddfod of Wales’s hymn-singing festival in Bodedern (Anglesey) broadcast on Sunday evening, August 6th, a former Bangor University School of Music doctoral researchers gained a resounding success.
Dr Godfrey Wyn Williams from Pontcysyllte (nr. Llangollen) was awarded the Eisteddfod’s prize for composing an original hymn tune. Following several successes in local and regional festivals throughout Wales (inc. Eisteddfod Llandegfan, Llanrwst, Treuddyn, Mynytho, Bancffosfelen, Powys & Lampeter), Godfrey’s talent was given national recognition and a truly memorable performance during the televised cymanfa ganu.
Publication date: 7 August 2017
The Official Launch of a Toolkit for Promoting the Welsh Language in the Community
On Thursday, the 10th of August at 10 o’clock on Bangor University’s Stand in the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, Bodedern; A Toolkit for Promoting the Welsh Language in the Community was launched in the company of Alun Davies, Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language. The toolkit was created by Dr Rhian Hodges and Dr Cynog Prys, School of Social Sciences, in co-operation with Mentrau Iaith Cymru. The toolkit will include practical examples of ways in which to promote the Welsh Language in the community. These examples were collected across 8 communities in Wales as part of a research project funded by the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.
Publication date: 2 August 2017
Bangor at the Ynys Môn National Eisteddfod
As the major provider of Welsh medium higher education, Bangor University is particularly active again in this year’s National Eisteddfod in Anglesey.
Full details and news about the University’s activities at the Eisteddfod is available on the University’s website at: www.bangor.ac.uk/eisteddfod
Publication date: 2 August 2017
Commemorating the centenary of the death of Hedd Wyn
Bangor University Archives & Special Collections is commemorating the centenary of the death of Hedd Wyn with an exhibition celebrating the life, work and legacy of the Welsh poet and soldier who died on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele on 31 July 1917.
The exhibition is on display from June 5th until December 15th 2017 in the Council Chamber Corridor of the Main Arts Building. Items from the Exhibition wil also be available to be viewed at Bangor University's stand at the National Eisteddfod 2017 on Friday the 11th August.
Publication date: 1 August 2017
“I am not comfortable speaking in Welsh”
“I am not comfortable speaking in Welsh” – The linguistic dynamic in a bilingual workplace and a bilingual school.
Arwel Williams and David Parry, two local research students in the School of Psychology at Bangor University are hosting a Welsh language event at Bangor University’s Stand at the National Eisteddfod at 10.00-11.00 on Monday August 7th.
Publication date: 1 August 2017
Auntie Glenda & her Dementia Friends – Launch Event
A new resource to raise awareness about dementia and created by school pupils at Ysgol Pentreuchaf, is to be launched as part of a celebration of the innovative ‘Auntie Glenda’ project. This takes place at Bangor University’s stand at the National Eisteddfod on Tuesday between 10-1.00.
Dementia is a major public health issue in Wales and the research and teaching at Bangor University is focused on increasing support to those living with the condition. It is estimated between 40,000 and 50,000 people in Wales are currently living with dementia. Symptoms can vary according to the type of dementia but the condition can affect daily tasks, communication, senses and memory.
Publication date: 1 August 2017
Sophie presents at a conference
Two years ago Dr Sophie Williams, a conservation scientist with Bangor University, fell ill with Japanese Encephalitis while on fieldwork in China. She suffered severe brain injury, was in a coma for six weeks and still relies on a wheel chair and artificial ventilation. However Sophie has been determined to get back to her great passions: science and plant conservation. This week she has defied the odds and returned to the global conservation stage by presenting her research at the International Congress of Conservation Biology.
Publication date: 25 July 2017
European Powerlifting Champion awarded Llew Rees Memorial Prize
Bangor University has awarded its annual highest sporting award, the Llew Rees Memorial Prize, to the 2017 European Powerlifting Champion. Chrystal Williams, 21, from Bolton has been awarded the prize as she has made the greatest contribution to raising the profile of Bangor University sport by her personal achievement at international level.
Publication date: 30 June 2017
M-SParc’s Emily wins Womenspire award
The Project Administrator for M-SParc, the Bangor University owned Menai Science Park, has won a Chwarae Teg Womenspire Award.
Publication date: 22 June 2017
Bangor science project wins EU award
BREAD4PLA, a green science and technology project in which Bangor University’s research played a significant role, has been awarded one of the two ''Green Awards'' as one of the best LIFE Environment Projects of the last 25 years.
Publication date: 19 June 2017
Dotty about Dot!
A Bangor University student’s music video heads for viral fame; at the time of writing, ‘Everybody Dances to Techno’ by Dot has had over 43,953 views on YouTube, with comments and messages of support from far afield.
Publication date: 13 June 2017
Bangor University assists development of 'dementia-friendly' church groups
Five groups of churches across North and Mid Wales have been allocated funding to develop dementia-friendly community projects and work towards becoming “dementia friendly”.
The funding comes from Bangor University’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA)* and has been awarded to Professor Bob Woods and Revd Dr Bob Friedrich. It follows a conference at Llangollen Pavilion where 78 delegates from Welsh churches gathered to hear how to create Dementia Friendly Churches.
Publication date: 19 May 2017
Bangor University Alumnus honoured with top geographical prize
The Royal Geographical Society has awarded one of its Royal Medals to a Bangor University Alumnus for his work in agricultural development.
Publication date: 12 May 2017
Urgency scientific expedition to assess climate induced death of coral reefs
A team of scientists led by a Bangor University professor have recently returned from a scientific expedition to the remote and largely uninhabited Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
Publication date: 12 May 2017
Student Led Teaching Awards 2017
The sixth annual Student Led Teaching Awards ceremony was held recently and celebrated the high standard of teaching and pastoral support in Bangor University.
Publication date: 11 May 2017
Bangor Awards Catherine Peer Guide of the Year 2017
Bangor University Peer Guides have been congratulated and awarded certificates in thanks for the vital role they have been playing in supporting their fellow students.
Bangor University runs one of the oldest and largest ‘Peer Guiding Schemes’ in any UK university. The trained ‘Peer Guides’ play a vital role in assisting new students to settle in to university life, helping with everything from the practicalities of moving in and finding their way around university, to assisting in supporting students in adapting to university life and signposting them to further information and support when necessary.
Publication date: 8 May 2017