Bangor International - September 2015

Bangor International September 2015

Top 10 UK University for Teaching Quality Times University League Table 2016

Top 3 in UK for Student Accommodation

Bangor Business School now offering the CFA Level 1 Pathway The CFA Level 1 pathway is the most respected and recognised professional qualification in finance in the world.

Accommodation on our ‘Ffriddoedd Site’ Bangor has been awarded the number 3 spot in the ‘Student Crowd 2015, Best Halls Uni Awards.’

Bangor University has a great choice of accommodation on campus with students calling it clean, modern and of good quality.

Students can choose from en suite and standard accommodation and there are options for varying budgets.

At Bangor Business School you will now have the opportunity to follow the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) specialist pathway as part of your Master’s programme and acquire the skills to complete the CFA Level 1 examination.

The Chartered Financial Analyst qualification is highly sought after both by industry professionals and ambitious students preparing for their careers. A CFA qualification is recognised globally as a mark of

Halls are located within walking distance to lecture buildings, which makes it easier for getting to the early 9am lectures! With a warden system as well, there is support available for any issues students may have throughout the year and whilst settling in, which students have praised Bangor for. To top it off, Bangor offers incredibly competitive prices, with all utility bills and even gym membership included in the price of accommodation! www.bangor.ac.uk/international

distinction for professionals in the investment industry. Holders of the CFA charter typically go on to have careers in areas such as risk management, financial analysis and advisory, portfolio management and consultancy.

The CFA Level 1pathway is available for both September and January intake students in our Bangor campus as well as our London centre. For further information and to see what programmes the pathway is available on, please visit this link: www.bangor.ac.uk/business/ CFA-pathway

Research News Bangor University welcomes new £17m project to grow world-class scientific research in Wales

Bangor Students spend three months out in the field in South Africa

Economy and Science Minister, Edwina Hart, announced on 9 September) more than £17m funding to bring up to 90 new research fellows from across Europe to grow Wales’ world class scientific research.

Beating off competition from across Europe, the Welsh Government has secured £7m from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND scheme, which is part of the EU Horizon 2020 programme. The Welsh Government, in partnership with Welsh Universities, will provide £10m match-funding and these fellows will work with the best researchers in Wales based at Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor Universities, as well as the University of South Wales.

This project is building on the success of the £50m Sêr Cymru programme which brought leading international scientific talent to research chairs at Wales’ universities and created three new national research networks.

The research fellowships are aimed at candidates with 3-5 years postdoctoral research experience who wish to work in Wales.

Professor David Shepherd, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Bangor University commented:

“This is a fantastic opportunity to increase research capacity in Wales and builds on our demonstrated research success and strength.”

Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/ research/bangor-universitywelcomes-new-17m-project-togrow-world-class-scientificresearch-in-wales-23853

Thea Henderson an MRes Ecology student at Bangor University spent nearly three months out in the field in South Africa along with another two students, Kathleen Fincken and Declan Murphy, gathering data for their Masters projects.

Read about their experience in Thea’s own words...

“Who knew that studying beetles could be such an adventure? In order to research a small population of Colophon stag beetles, myself, Declan and Katie had to go to great and exciting lengths. Colophon is an alpine genus, and each species is endemic to a single mountain peak or range in South Africa’s Western Cape.

We spent nearly three months in a small hut on Matroosberg Mountain, making daily hikes to the summit at 2200m to gather data on the habitat preferences, activity, behaviour and morphology of two species- C. haughtoni and C. kawaii.

Our weekly grocery shop involved driving down the mountain in a 4x4 on a steep and rugged off-road trail, and for our evening entertainment we swam in a nearby mountain stream, searched for scorpions at night using UV torches and listened to our neighbouring troop of baboons barking into the valleys.

Researching Colophon wasn’t all for the fun and games though. All species are rare, montane endemics, and as such are highly prized on the black market. They are endangered further by climate change and habitat destruction, but their remote distribution, elusive nature and the paucity of information on their nature history impedes the effective management and conservation of Colophon beetles.

It is hoped that our projects will provide a foundation for future research, aid and stimulate conservation action, and increase awareness of the genus.

Our research would not have been possible without the support and guidance of our supervisor, Dr. Matthew Hayward, and Bangor University, the Coalbourn Charitable Trust and Craghoppers, who provided essential funding. “

MSc Forestry Graduate Received Award in Ghana

L-R: Dr Ernest Foli, Deputy Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Dr James Walmsley, Course Director and Lecturer in Forestry, James Brockington, teaching associate (distance learning) of Bangor University and Samuel Asirifi

Bangor University has been running highly successful postgraduate distance learning programmes in forestry since 2001, helping scholars from many different countries study for a well respected MSc degree and progress their careers, whilst remaining 'in post' and in their country of residence. To date, students from over 30 different countries have registered for and graduated from these programmes.

Yet given the distances and associated costs, it is unusual for overseas distance learning graduates to be able to attend the prestigious official graduation ceremony in Bangor in person.

Fortunately for one graduate, Samuel Asirifi from Ghana, staff and students were in his hometown of Kumasi as part of the tropical forestry summer school in July 2015. Hence they were able to present him with his official degree certificate in person.

Dr Ernest Foli, Deputy Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), was invited to present Samuel with his Bangor University MSc Forestry degree certificate at the FORIG headquarters in Kumasi,

Ghana. Also present were Dr James Walmsley course director and lecturer in forestry and James Brockington, teaching associate (distance learning); both of Bangor University.

Samuel is part of the first cohort of Commonwealth Scholarship Commission scholars to graduate from this degree programme and the first to receive his degree certificate in person.

Bangor University staff and students were in Ghana for a two week residential summer school; a compulsory component of the MSc Tropical Forestry (distance learning) programme.

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission has been providing between 10 and fifteen distance learning scholarships to enable international scholars from developing commonwealth countries to study MSc Forestry and MSc Tropical Forestry every year since 2011. Bangor University hopes to secure more scholarships for September 2016 entry, for more information please see: www.bangor.ac.uk/senrgy/courses/ distancelearning/

‘Food Security in the Changing Environment MSc by Distance Learning’ course at Bangor University

The University’s Advanced Training Partnership delivers on-line Masters level courses in Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture. This course has started to attract a good selection of students from overseas.

We have 3 students from African countries, one of whom is moving into her dissertation stage, a Canadian and a group from EU countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy.

Enrol on the course and you will have up to 5 years to complete plus you can study at your own pace and pay as you go along.

There are three intakes per year, January, May and September.

For further details, visit the website: www.bangor.ac.uk/senrgy/ postgraduate-courses/foodsecurity-in-the-changingenvironment-msc-distancelearning or contact: absc1d@bangor.ac.uk

Bangor University host Alumni Events...

Alumni Reunion in Bahrain Senior members of staff from Bangor included Professor Phil Molyneux, College Dean of the Business School, and Sheila O’Neal, Director of Development. BIBF’s Director, Solveig Nicklos also attended the event. Bangor President Professor John G Hughes presented H.E. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj with a commemorative pen to mark the partnership between Bangor and BIBF.

H.E. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj and Professor John G. Hughes at the event in Bahrain

H.E. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain and Chairman of the Specific Council for Vocational Training (Banking Sector) of the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), was recently welcomed to a special alumni reunion in Bahrain by Bangor University’s President, Professor John G. Hughes. Over 170 attended the event on Tuesday evening to celebrate the partnership between Bangor and BIBF. The reunion took place a day after the annual graduation of BIBF, which this year saw over 50 Bahraini students receive their Bangor-validated degrees. The partnership between the British university and BIBF began in 2004 with the first cohort of students graduating in 2007. Since then more than 500 students have graduated with this programme, many of whom have travelled to Bangor to study.

“Bangor University has a key interest in supporting Bahrain’s economic vision by producing graduates prepared to contribute to the country’s productivity and global competitiveness,” said Professor John G Hughes. “This year’s graduation and reunion was a great success and we look forward to returning next year.”

Bangor University is a renowned traditional British university and is among the top 100 universities in the world for its international outlook. Its business school is ranked in the top 20 in the world for Banking Research (RePEc, as of January 2015), and the Times and Sunday Times places Bangor in the top 50 universities in the UK. Bangor University was also the first in the UK to offer an MBA in Banking & Finance and has many partnerships with countries in the Gulf, including BIBF and the Emirates Institute of Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS).

Bangor University alumni enjoying the reunion

Alumni events in Ghana and Uganda recognising its alumni in the two countries with get together events, which is a rare gesture from Universities globally.”

"The evening events were a fantastic opportunity for past and present students to interact with one another, network, and reminisce over fond memories of Bangor."

Genevieve Lamond of Bangor University presenting gifts to Daniel Ofori, Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG)

Staff from Bangor University's School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography organised and hosted two evening events for Bangor University graduates, current and prospective student, on Friday 31st July and Saturday 8th August 2015.

The first event took place at Kosados hotel in Kumasi, Ghana, and marked the end of a two week study tour for distance learning MSc Tropical Forestry students. A total of 65 people attended, including one of our older alumni from the early 1980s, Samuel Kwabena Nketiah, now Programme Director of Tropenbos International Ghana. The director of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Dr Daniel Ofori, was invited and made a welcome speech.

Forestry Resources Research Institute (NaFORRI), also attended alongside current students. The prominent positions of our alumni serve to highlight the continued international impact of Bangor University’s degree programmes and are a great inspiration for our current students.

During the events a few people made some speeches, the following are the highlights of some of the points made during the speeches in both countries:

"The excellent academic atmosphere at Bangor University and the welcome and caring attitudes from the staff, students and the community in Bangor generally where at the top of the list of memories."

"The alumni are proud of Bangor University for providing them with solid academic foundations."

The get together events were symbolic of the fact that Bangor University is keen to partner with its Alumni. This could be strengthened through further linkages with alumni and their institutions in various activities such as hosting field training, supervision of distance learners and joint research projects.

"Gratitude to Bangor University for

The second event was held at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, with over 20 people in attendance, including Professors Philip Nyeko and Jacob Agea who lecture at the university and completed their PhDs at Bangor. Dr Clement Okia, former PhD student and now the Country Representative for the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Uganda, and Dr Hillary Agaba, the Director of the National James Walmsley and Genevieve Lamond from Bangor University with Deiniol the Dragon

Ban

Research News

Nitrous oxide from urine patches – it’s no laughing matter!

Bangor University to work with Clinical Academics in South India

The monitoring equipment carried by the sheep will look similar to this

Commonly known as ‘laughing gas’ and currently used both in anaesthetics and as a ‘legal high’, nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful greenhouse gas produced in the soil by micro-organisms, es pecially so on land grazed by animals.

Researchers from Bangor University are to lead an international team to explore the interaction between sheep grazing behaviour, urine composition and subsequent nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from urine patches, which are ‘hot spots’ for N2O production and emission. The results will provide an important element in understanding the UK’s overall greenhouse gas production.

Professor Dave Chadwick from Bangor University’s School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography will be leading the team of researchers from Bangor University, Rothamsted Research, Swansea University (in collaboration with Texas A&M University-Kingsville) and Leicester University in the Natural Environment Research Council funded 3 year research project.

Read the full story here: www.bangor.ac.uk/news/ research/nitrous-oxide-fromurine-patches-it-s-no-laughingmatter-23812

Mysore City A social psychiatrist from Bangor establish a sustainable programme University is leading a team of so that 100 general doctors in two psychiatrists and social scientists to hospitals in Mysore will be able to work with colleagues in South India assess people who have harmed to prevent deaths by suicide. themselves, and then arrange treatment for mental illness where South India has one of the highest appropriate. suicide rates in the world. Although

clinical services exist to help people with mental health problems, cultural and other factors mean that people who have harmed themselves often are not assessed for treatable mental illness. This means that they are more likely to go on to kill themselves.

Professor Rob Poole and Professor Catherine Robinson co-direct Bangor University’s Centre for Mental Health and Society. They bring clinical and social science skills together in addressing complex health problems. They have been awarded a prestigious grant from the Tropical Health Education Trust’s Health Partnership Scheme, which is funded by the Department for International Development.

The £60,000 award will support an educational programme in India focussing on training-the-trainers to

Professor Poole explains: “This project has been designed with our colleagues in Mysore to meet a need that they have identified. We are working as a true collaboration, and sustainability beyond the life of the project is a key element. We will be conducting a rigorous evaluation, and if the programme can be shown to be effective, we hope to roll it out to other groups of doctors and other areas of the country.”

Writing to congratulate the team on the Award, Rt. Hon. Grant Shapps MP, Minister of State for International Development said: “You and your organisation will be helping to improve health systems in countries where support is greatly needed… partnerships such as your own… do an important job delivering tangible benefits and improving health outcomes in some of the poorest parts of the world.”

Chevening Scholars visit Bangor University

Research News Micro-hydropower electricity generation could save the water industry millions New research findings from Bangor University and Trinity College Dublin have highlighted the potential for further cost savings from micro-hydropower.

Savings of up to an additional £1m a year in Wales alone could help keep water bills down.

The scholars started the weekend with a visit to Penrhyn Castle

On Friday 31 July, Bangor University hosted a group of 20 Chevening Scholars on our first overnight event; a weekend of culture and outdoor activities in one of the most stunning and dramatic parts of the UK. The group learned about the history and culture of Wales before visiting the beautiful Penrhyn Castle and trying the traditional folk dance, the Twmpath.

The following day, the group set off early to ascend the heights of Mount Snowdon. Despite the challenging weather conditions, a group of hardy scholars managed to reach the summit for stunning views of Snowdonia National Park and the isle of Anglesey across the Menai Strait.

Scholar Dana Baddar commented: 'After 3 excruciating hours we finally reached the Copa Summit of Mount Snowdon! I was exhausted and out of breath but I felt exhilarated!

Happiness took over me and it all made sense. It is really interesting to see how much stamina, strength and perseverance one can have.

Now I get to go back home and say 'I climbed the highest mountain in Wales!' – Not too bad for a first time hiker.'

If you like the sound of this trip, why not apply for to study at Bangor University, where you can spend a year in North Wales. Applications are now open on the Chevening website: www.chevening.org/apply

The Scholars making their way up Mount Snowdon

The water industry consumes a vast amount of energy due to the need to treat, pump and distribute water and wastewater around the country. This results in large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions as well as significant costs that can add to consumer water bills as the price of electricity increases.

A €1 million ERDF Ireland-Wales Programme (INTERREG IV)funded research project investigated whether placing hydropower turbines within the water system could save the water industry, and water customers, money. The research looked at the current efficiency of water supply system, the best technology and how much it might cost, the environmental benefits, and which groups need to collaborate to enable the water industry to reap the greatest benefits from installing micro-hydropower into their systems.

“The Hydro-BPT project has been insightful to say the least”, said

by Dr Prysor Williams, the project lead and Co-Investigator at Bangor University’s School of Environment, Natural Resources & Geography. He added: “we hope to continue working with Trinity College Dublin, the water industry and other relevant stakeholders from across the EU in further projects that build on this work. There’s no doubt that the water industry is demonstrating an awareness of energy efficiency, and the work of the Hydro-BPT team can help them achieve a more sustainable future”.

www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Karen Jones

Ali Khan

Maggie Parke

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388207 Email: k.m.jones@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388874 Email: a.khan@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388416 Email: maggie.parke@bangor.ac.uk

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Mainland China Hong Kong Japan Philippines

South Korea Taiwan Vietnam

Bangladesh India Indonesia Malaysia Nepal Pakistan

Singapore Sri Lanka

Argentina Brazil Canada Chile

Colombia Mexico USA

Sarah Jones-Morris

Noor Al-Zubaidi

Michael Rogerson

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388843 Email: s.jones-morris@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382879 Email: n.al-zubaidi@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 383648 Email: m.rogerson@bangor.ac.uk

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Brunei Kazakhstan Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon Central Asia including Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Thailand Ukraine International students in the UK

Bahrain Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Libya

European Union Countries

Oman Saudi Arabia Turkey UAE Qatar

Upcoming Visits for 2015 We shall be visiting the following countries in October and November 2015: Brazil - October Canada - October China - October Hong Kong - October

Malaysia - October Pakistan - October Singapore - October Taiwan - October

USA - October Vietnam - October Thailand - November Nigeria - November

Please do contact us if you would like one of our international oďŹƒcers to visit your school or if you need any advice.

W: www.bangor.ac.uk/international E: international@bangor.ac.uk

www.facebook.com/BangorUniversityInternational

For further details about country visits please contact the relevant Country Manager.