Professor Memmott receives ecology award23 June 2015Jane Memmott, Professor of Ecology in the School of Biological Sciences, has received the 2015 Marsh Award for Ecology.
Nocturnal airing for musical research18 June 2015Research by Arthur Keegan-Bole, a PhD student and assistant teacher in the University of Bristol’s Department of Music, will feature on Resonance104.4fm in a two-part broadcast to be aired on Tuesday 23 and Tuesday 30 June at 8pm.
Study shows how Ebola evolved during the outbreak in West Africa17 June 2015University of Bristol researchers have played a key role in a new multi-national Ebola study published in Nature. The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has been going on for over a year and there have been fears about the speed of virus evolution, and the corresponding effect on vaccines, diagnostics and treatment. The research team used blood samples taken from patients and compared changes in the genetic material of the virus from throughout the outbreak. They were able to show that the outbreak had a single point of origin and predicted that diagnostics and treatment would be effective on the current form of the virus.
One man’s defeat is another woman’s opportunity17 June 2015Stacie Allan, a PhD student in the University of Bristol’s School of Modern Languages, has contributed to an online exhibition curated by the University of Warwick on the run-up to the Battle of Waterloo, whose bicentennial anniversary is commemorated this year.
Tissue ‘scaffold’ technology could help rebuild large organs17 June 2015Scientists have developed a new tissue ‘scaffold’ technology that could one day enable the engineering of large organs. Research led by the Universities of Bristol and Liverpool has shown that it is possible to combine cells with a special scaffold to produce living tissue in the laboratory. It is hoped this can then be implanted into patients as a way of replacing diseased parts of the body.
From chicken to egg – Hennovation project launched17 June 2015Due to increasingly stricter legislation in animal welfare and sustainability of production, commercial animal husbandry has gone through tremendous changes in recent years. A new European project, led by the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences, aims through innovation networks to implement new practices in animal welfare and production in the laying hen industry.
Fish offer lessons in effective leadership 17 June 2015Good leaders needing to strike a balance between striving to reach goals and keeping their followers with them has deep evolutionary roots, according to a new study from the Universities of Bristol, Harvard and Princeton on schooling fish.
Composites researchers engineer new collaborative structures17 June 2015If presenting your research to a group of industry experts at the UK headquarters of a leading global aircraft manufacturer sounds daunting, think again. Researchers from ACCIS, the University’s cutting-edge centre for composites research and education, are pioneering new ways of working with industry partners to share their findings and maximise the impact of their research.
Festival explores what it means to be human 17 June 2015The University of Bristol is hosting a programme of events for Being Human 2015, the UK’s only national festival of the humanities. This involves talks, film screenings and exhibitions and has been made possible by a grant from the festival organisers, the School of Advanced Study, University of London.
MBE for computer science graduate Jenny17 June 2015A Computer Science graduate, whose fashion app has changed the way people shop online for clothes, has been awarded an MBE for her achievements - at the age of just 27. Jenny Griffiths came up with the idea for Snap Fashion while at the University of Bristol and has successfully developed it into an app which helps fashion fans find clothes using photographs.
Firestar aims to reach new heights17 June 2015Students from the University of Bristol are involved in the latest MARSBalloon mission, known as Firestar that will be floating into the Earth’s atmosphere today [Wednesday 17 June].
Sheep ensure Downs remains in public hands16 June 2015It’s the Year of the Sheep, and Bristol will soon be hosting the Shaun in the City public arts trail - but it was a little surprising to see real sheep grazing on the Downs yesterday. The University of Bristol, along with residents and school children, invoked their ancient right to graze sheep on Durdham Down to fend off developers from the land.
2015 Bristol Teaching Award winners announced16 June 2015The winners of the 2015 Bristol Teaching Awards, a joint venture between the University and Bristol SU (the Students’ Union), have been announced.
Squid inspires camouflaging smart materials15 June 2015Researchers from the University of Bristol have shown it is possible to create artificial skin that can be transformed at the flick of a switch to mimic one of nature’s masters of camouflage, the squid.
Ants have different ‘standards’ when it comes to choosing a home12 June 2015Ants use collective decision-making to select the best option when choosing a new home. Until now, the exact way in which they do this has puzzled researchers. A new study, led by the University of Bristol and published in Royal Society Open Science, found that while some are happy to slum it out in anything with a roof, others are so choosy that even the equivalent of a mansion will not satisfy them.
Bristol wins for research support 12 June 2015The University’s Research Development team triumphed at the inaugural ARMA Awards last week.
Deep thoughts: brain of ancient sea creature reconstructed by Bristol undergraduate12 June 2015The world’s first study into the brain anatomy of an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, has shed light on how the reptilian brain adapted to life in the oceans. The work, led by University of Bristol undergraduate Ryan Marek, is out this week in the journal Palaeontology.
‘Boxworks’ gets green light 11 June 2015Bristol City Council has granted planning permission for a ground-breaking new workspace development in which the University is a leading partner.
National teaching awards for Bristol staff11 June 2015Dr Jane Pritchard and Dr Trevor Thompson have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships by the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Bristol celebrates ethnography on film11 June 2015Bristol’s Department of Archaeology and Anthropology is co-hosting the 14th annual Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) Festival of Ethnographic Film, at the Watershed in Bristol from 16 to 19 June.
Catherine explains placenta research to take top thesis prize11 June 2015Postgraduate researcher Catherine Gilmore successfully summed up her research into the placenta to be crowned the University of Bristol’s winner of the Three Minute Thesis - a competition challenging postgraduate researchers to present their 80,000-word theses in just three minutes.
Researchers call for public’s help to share their experiences of domestic violence11 June 2015University of Bristol researchers are calling on the public’s help for a new project to improve support for women suffering domestic violence. The National Institute for Health Research-funded project, led by Dr Maggie Evans from Bristol’s Domestic Violence and Health Group in the School for Social and Community Medicine, is looking for women who are willing to share with them their experiences of current or historic domestic violence or abuse.
Exploring the deep-time roots of plant diversity11 June 2015Scientists have shed light on how the origin of vascular plants, more than 400 million years ago, changed the surface of our planet forever.
Finding hope in the dark10 June 2015Advances in stem cell transplantation and gene therapy have been pioneered in vision research. An international team of researchers from Bristol, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Montreal have identified a gene that could be responsible for some cases of human night blindness.
Go wild at the Festival of Nature8 June 2015Bristol is known for its famous Suspension Bridge and maritime history, but just how much of the city we see today was shaped by its rivers? Researchers at the University of Bristol will be uncovering the city’s hidden river history at the Festival of Nature Wild Weekend this weekend [13 and 14 June] as part of Bristol’s European Green Capital 2015 celebrations.
Bristol hosts top US students5 June 2015Students from the United States are spending a month in Bristol as part of the third annual Fulbright Summer Institute. The programme has been so successful that it has been extended by a further year, and the University will welcome ten more Fulbright students in summer 2016.
£3 million NERC award for research into melting ice sheet5 June 2015Scientists at the Universities of Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield and Aberystwyth have been awarded over £3 million by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for research into factors influencing the accelerated melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Defending the faith: a millennium of protection for St Mary’s Church, Berkeley 5 June 2015A series of defensive ditches designed to protect St Mary’s Church, Berkeley, that span nearly a millennium, have been uncovered by University of Bristol archaeologists digging at Berkeley Castle. There are five ditches in total, all running north-south to the west of St Mary’s Church.
Researchers reveal all at Bristol 3MT finals4 June 2015Ever wondered what kind of research postgraduate students are working on at Bristol? Find out when eight take to the stage next Wednesday (10 June) to present their 80,000-word theses in just three minutes.
LHC experiments back in business at new energy4 June 2015CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has started delivering physics data for the first time in 27 months. After an almost two year shutdown and several months re-commissioning, the LHC is now providing collisions to all of its experiments – including the CMS and LHCb experiments involving scientists from the University of Bristol – at the unprecedented energy of 13 TeV, almost double the collision energy of its first run.
Bristol undergraduate identifies Gloucestershire fossil as new species of ancient reptile4 June 2015Fossils found in a quarry in Gloucestershire have been identified by a student and her supervisors at the University of Bristol as a new small species of reptile with self-sharpening blade-like teeth that lived 205 million years ago. Part of the name chosen for the new species – Clevosaurus sectumsemper – takes inspiration from a spell cast in the Harry Potter books.
Report reveals adoptive parents in Wales unable to access support for their children – adoptive parents talk of their isolation4 June 2015Last year 5,050 children in England and 345 children in Wales were adopted out of care. Until now, little was known about how many adoptions broke down (disrupted) or how many children’s difficulties continued to make parenting extremely challenging. A new study, conducted by the Hadley Centre for Adoption and Foster Care Studies at the University of Bristol, which looked at adoptions disruptions in Wales, has revealed the extent to which adoptive parents are struggling to cope.
Botanic Garden getting set for busy weekend3 June 2015A floating Ballast Seed Garden family day, Get Growing Garden Trail and National Garden Scheme open day are three events the University of Bristol Botanic Garden is set to take part in this weekend [Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June].
Soapbox Science comes to Bristol3 June 2015The National Soapbox Science Festival comes to Bristol this Sunday [7 June], bringing 12 inspirational local female scientists to the streets to share their research, engage the public and inspire the next generation of scientists.
