Bangor International Newsletter: April 2014

BANGOR INTERNATIONAL April 2014

Bangor’s ‘One World Gala’ Event The ‘One World Gala’ hosted annually by Bangor University’s International Student Support Office is a charitable event. This event has become an important date in the calendar for Bangor University and its international students. This year's Gala included a full programme of colourful and lively performances by UK and overseas students from Africa, Vietnam, Japan and many other countries.

The evening was not only a celebration of the amazing cultural diversity in our University but also a display of the generosity of the performers and the members of the public who helped us raise more than £200 for the Red Cross- Syria Appeal.

The event was drawn to a close by

Bangor University’s Welsh choir who sang Welsh traditional hymns and folk tunes accompanied by the piano and harp. With 18 performances, and with students from more than 20 different countries it was a truly international gathering.

A VIP reception was held before the event in the University’s Council Chamber, the reception was attended by Mr Chawla a representative of the Indian High Commission, the Lord Mayor and his wife, members of the Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr Rotary club, Rhys Taylor our soon to be Students Union President, Bangor’s Vice Chancellor, Professor John Hughes as well as some of our International Student Ambassadors.

In this issue of our newsletter... u u u

Clinical Placements at Bangor Culture Challenge 2014 Research and Collaboration News www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Research News 6 week Clinical Placements in Bangor Bangor Psychology to play major role in £1.1M MRC Research

for Students from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil

The School of Psychology at Bangor University is to conduct research into new pharmacological treatment for psychiatric illnesses.

Researchers at Bangor and Oxford Universities, and the University of British Columbia, have been funded by the Medical Research Council to evaluate the potential of a new drug to reduce the impulsive behaviours associated with alcohol and drug addictions, as well as mania.

Professor Robert Rogers, who is leading Bangor University’s involvement in the research commented: “Impulsive behaviours are a significant feature of addictions and other illnesses such as bipolar disorder, and impulsivity can complicate treatment, for example, by increasing the chances of relapse in people with alcohol or drug misuse problems. Currently, however, there are no effective interventions to help people cope with this aspect of these illnesses.

Bangor University will be making an important contribution to this experimental work which, if successful, will lay the foundations for subsequent clinical trials in patients.”

The total value of the funding is £1,113,146 and is funded through the Medical Research Council’s Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme.

Dr John Parkinson, Acting Head of Psychology said:

“The School is delighted to welcome Professor Rogers who recently joined us from Oxford University's Department of Psychiatry. Robert's research in psychopharmacology is a truly exciting addition to our portfolio, and his involvement in this MRC-funded research is the first of its kind for the School. It is particularly valuable in the context of the Welsh Governments strategic drive for Welsh Universities to capture this sort of funding.”

L-R: Maggie Parke from the International Education Centre, Professor Jane Noyes, School of Healthcare Sciences both of Bangor University and Professor Vitor Baretto from (UFPE) pictured in the impressive Main Arts library at Bangor

Professor Vitor Baretto from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil, and his wife Lana, visited Bangor on March 22-24 to tour the university, hospital, and in particular the facilities at the School of Medical Sciences. They also visited the School of Healthcare Sciences to discuss broader opportunities for UFPE students to come to Bangor. Medical students from UFPE will have an option of a 6 week clinical placement, and Bangor has also agreed to receive students from UFPE for year-long placements taking academic modules and clinical placement options as part of the Science Without Borders scheme, and full PhD students through the same scheme.

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science visits Bangor The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) visited Bangor University on 3rd March to inform Bangor University and Aberystwyth University Researchers about their Fellowship programmes. Prof. David Shepherd opened the event, with talks by Prof.

Kozo Hiramatsu (Director, JSPS London), Mr. Hideyuki Matsumoto (Deputy Director, JSPS London) and Ms Mitsuko Ando (International Programme Associate, JSPS London), giving details of their Institutional and Group Programmes and their Fellowship Programmes. Bangor University's Prof. Alan Shore then shared his experiences as a JSPS Fellow with the group.

The JSPS staff loved Bangor so much that they decided to stay a bit longer!

Prof. Kozo Hiramatsu, Director, JSPS London with Bangor University’s Vice Chancellor Prof. John Hughes

JSPS has a number of fellowship programmes for researchers at all stages of their career and in all fields of research, including the humanities and social sciences.

For more information see: http://www.jsps.org/

Contributing to Reclaiming and Transforming Degraded Land in Indonesia

In a partnership between Universities and commercial organisations both in Indonesia and the UK, Bangor University has secured a £10,000 grant from the British Council Indonesia to seed fund research projects that will help return disused former mining sites into productive land.

As a country rich in natural resources, Indonesia has undergone rapid economic development over the last 10 years with the growth of extractive industries, such as coal mining, contributing greatly to the economic development of the country. Of concern, however, are the environmental problems that can arise during, and particularly after mining has ceased, these may include soil and forest destruction, production of acid rock drainage, pollution of air, water and soil and the creation of harmful waste.

Universities and research organisations, in partnership with a state-owned mining company PT Bukit Asam have formed a consortium to tackle these problems and to develop and disseminate best-practice approaches that will benefit Indonesia and the region of south

east Asia.

An impressive partnership of nine Indonesian Universities are involved including six other Indonesian private, commercial and governmental organizations. The partnership will run projects relevant to the various environmental challenges faced in Indonesia which include improvement of soil and water quality and the development of agroforestry techniques. In addition the partnership will provide opportunities for academic exchanges between institutions and for PhD opportunities for Indonesian students in the UK. The first step of the partnership saw the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography staff (Professor Morag McDonald, Dr Paula Roberts and Dr Graham Bird) attend a workshop held at the Indonesian base of SEAMEO BIOTROP in Bogor West Java in late March 2014. The workshop was preceded by a visit to the PT Bukit Asam coal mine at Tanjung Enim, a 6.4 billion tonne coal reserve in South Sumatra. The group were able to view some of environmental problems as well as the approaches taken by PT Bukit Asam to tackle these.

Research News New International Research Collaborations

L-R: Dr Zhiyu Liu of Xiamen University, Prof. Tom Rippeth of Bangor University, Prof. Jianyu Hu of Xiamen University

Recent success in winning two new research grants from the UK’s Natural Environmental Research Council by the Ocean Physics group (in SOS) has resulted in the formation of two new International Research Collaborations.

A research project aimed at improving models for forecasting changes in the shelf seas around the UK, will see SOS’s Prof Tom Rippeth collaborating with Dr Zhiyu Liu of Xiamen University. As part of the project Rippeth and Liu will be compiling the world’s largest database of shelf sea turbulence measurements, collected in the seas around the UK as well as the South and East China Seas and the Russian Lapev and East Siberian Seas in the Arctic Ocean. This data will then be used to inform and test the development of new turbulence models for these regions.

Meanwhile a second project will see SOS’s Dr Mattias Green collaborating with Prof Kurt Polzin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the USA. In this project Green and Polzin will work together to improve understanding of the processes which drive the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a component of which is the Gulf Stream, a key ocean current in the determination of the UK’s weather and climate.

Bangor News Bangor University in top 200 World Rankings

Bangor University features among the world's elite institutions in a newly published league table. The University is listed in the top 200 universities for four of the 30 subjects featured in this year’s influential ‘QS World University Rankings by Subject’ ( w w w. t o p u n i v e r s i t i e s . c o m ) .

Bangor’s Professor welcomed

Vice-Chancellor, John G Hughes, the news saying:

“Bangor University really makes its presence felt around the globe. The University provides education and research of high quality which makes a valuable contribution both regionally and on the world stage.

This table reinforces our increasingly international reputation.”

Agriculture & Forestry, English Language & Literature, Linguistics and Psychology are the subjects at Bangor University that are listed among the top 200 worldwide. Both Agriculture and Forestry have been taught and researched at Bangor for over one hundred years, with Forestry celebrating its 110th anniversary this year. The subjects form key academic components of the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the University’s School of Psychology, has one of the largest student bodies in the UK and recruits research lecturers from among the best in their fields on a global scale.

Santander Rewards Students’ Bright Ideas

Pictured above are the judges, contestants and Bangor University’s Vice Chancellor Professor John Hughes Through a partnership between Bangor University and the international banking corporation of Santander, Bangor University recently held the finals for the first stage of the Santander Entrpreneurship Awards. Five undergraduate and five postgraduate students presented their new product ideas to a panel of judges, which included the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor John G. Hughes, with the hope of making it through to represent Bangor at the national Santander finals in July.

The winner of the award was Joshua Williams 3rd year BSc Product Design student.

Diane Roberts, Santander University Relationship Branch Manager, who was on the judging panel, said:

“I thoroughly enjoyed myself especially the ten pitches from the students, they had all worked very hard and there wasn’t one pitch that wasn’t a good idea.

That is down to the hard work of Bangor University’s B-Enterprising Team.

I feel very grateful to have been part of the fantastic event to recognise the talented students here at Bangor and I'm very proud to be a part of Santander Universities and the work that we do to support higher education.”

Lowri Owen, from the Bangor University B-Enterprising Team, said:

“The Santander Entrepreneurial Awards is a valuable opportunity for student and graduate entrepreneurs from Bangor University to showcase themselves and their ideas and enables B-Enterprising to highlight the support available to them.

“Commercial awareness and enterprise skills are sought after by employers so participating students will be able to demonstrate these traits to future clients and employers. All of the entrants and finalists will receive Bangor Employability Award xp for participating.”

Bangor University offers a range of career development opportunities for students through built-in work placements with industry, professionally accredited programmes, internships, careers advice and much more.

CCL Legal names Bangor Scholarship News University as its ‘Supplier of the 15 MSc Tropical Forestry (distance learning) Year 2013’ Scholarships Available

Pictured from left to right: Alan Edwards, Head of International Student Support - Bangor University; Dawn Humphreys, International Manager - CCI Legal; Dr Xinyu Wu, Director of the International Education Centre - Bangor University; Markets Piecuchova, Recruitment and Training Officer - CCI Legal

CCI Legal have named Bangor University as its supplier of the year 2013.

The award is aimed at recognising businesses and organisations who have provided the highest level of service to CCI over the past twelve months.

Three international students from Bangor University took part in the internship at CCI - Sanam Subhakaran, Vishal Jain and Ahmed Brigolin.

CCI has utilised the services of both the University’s Management Centre and the Careers and Employability Service. Each department has assisted in training and development as well as high quality recruitment. This has enabled CCI to continue to provide the highest quality International Debt Collection service in the UK. In addition, the company will continue to work closely with the Language Centre at the University, who were hugely helpful in enabling CCI to win a ‘Best Use of Foreign Language in Business Award 2013’.

Marketa Piecuchova, Recruitment and Training Officer, CCI Legal said: “Having the assistance of Bangor University has been a great benefit in the ongoing development of our employees, assisting with recruiting multi-lingual staff and therefore helping us in establishing a worldwide program of compliance. This award is a well deserved acknowledgment of the fantastic resource we have on our doorstep. With Bangor University on hand and readily available, it is a great asset whether it’s being able to take benefit of training courses for the ongoing development of our employees or assisting with recruiting staff that are multi-lingual.”

Dr Xinyu Wu, Director of the International Education Centre at Bangor University said: “I’m delighted to receive this Award on behalf of the University. It illustrates the many ways in which the University provides expertise, services and support to local, national and international businesses and companies.”

Bangor University’s School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography (SENRGy) is delighted to announce that the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) have agreed to fund a further 15 places for scholars from developing commonwealth countries to study on our MSc Tropical Forestry (distance learning) course. The scholarship includes international tuition fees, a travel scholarship to enable scholars to attend a Tropical Forestry Summer School in 2015, plus a small study grant to help scholars with distance learning study costs.

Dr James Walmsley, Course Director, said “We are delighted that the CSC has agreed to continue its invaluable support for scholars studying on our MSc Tropical Forestry (distance learning) course. These prestigious distance learning scholarships will enable outstanding applicants to study for their MSc, whilst living and working in their own countries, in circumstances that will enable them to directly and immediately benefit from their studies. We hope that, through studying this course, we can impart knowledge, skills and ideas to facilitate sustainable forest management in many developing commonwealth countries”.

Further information about the scholarships and how to apply can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/b584qcp

Research News Bangor Host Alumni Event at the Centre for Mental Health and Society Awarded British Council Grant

The School of Social Sciences is developing an important relationship with researchers in India.

Professor Rob Poole and Professor Catherine Robinson from the Centre for Mental Health and Society (cfmhas.org.uk) have been successful in obtaining a Knowledge Economy Partnerships (KEP) grant from the British Council’s Internationalising Higher Education (IHE) framework programme. Professor Raveesh BN from Mysore Medical College, Karnataka leads the team from India.

Agroforestry World Conference 2014

Bangor University recently hosted an alumni event for graduates of the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography (SENRGy), at the World Congress on Agroforestry in Delhi. Attendees came from all over the World, including Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Mali, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Mexico and Brazil. Dr's Fergus Sinclair and Rob Brook, and Graduate Teaching Assistant James Brockington met alumni during a cocktail reception and were representing SENRGy at the Congress with posters and an oral presentation on their latest research.

It was fantastic to hear where people have ended up since graduating and there was a wide range of research centres, certification bodies, and universities represented by the group; demonstrating how well everyone has done to further their careers in the subject areas they studied at university.

The project has arisen from the Mysore Declaration, which brought together senior members of the newly founded Indian Forensic Mental Health Association (IForMHA), the European Violence in Psychiatry Research Group (EViPRG), and Bangor University. (http://www.mysorecoercion.com/c o n t e n t / m y s o re - d e c l a ra t i o n ) .

It was an honour to have Dr Roger Leakey in attendance along with more recent graduates. Dr Leakey is an expert in tropical agroforestry who studied for a B.Sc. at Bangor in Agricultural Botany (1967-70) and more recently received a D.Sc. in recognition of his huge contribution to tree domestication research. His latest book Living with the Trees of Life: Towards the Transformation of Tropical Agriculture (http://www.rogerleakey.com/book-release/) was launched during the Congress.

The British Council grant will facilitate an exchange of knowledge and skills to develop research of international importance in the fields of coercion and human rights.

The outcomes will inform policy development in India, the UK and elsewhere. The program will include dissemination of skills and knowledge which have a direct impact on education and training in both partner institutions. Professor Raveesh BN will be visiting Bangor University in September 2014 to work with the team in North Wales.

China Study Abroad Forum One of Bangor Univesity’s students Amy Yan along with Prof. Carol Tully, from Bangor University’s Modern Languages Department both gave presentations in the 2014 Study Abroad Forum which was held in beijing.

The presentations given were on how to prepare for success when studying abroad, Amy spoke from experience about the benefits she has received from Bangor University in terms of the help given when preparing for her arrival, language support, useful workshops and the employability prospects it brings. Additional presentations were given at both the Beijing Foreign Studies University and Tianjin Normal University, China.

During their visit to China Amy was also interviewed by Tengxun Education about her experience of studying abroad.

Culture Challenge 2014

Research News Food Dudes research to deliver school-meals uptake A pioneering behaviour change programme developed at Bangor University is to become part of a major UK Department for Education initiative to improve school meal uptake in junior schools and improve healthy outcomes for children.

Pictured are all of the contestants and judges who took part in the Culture Challenge

On 26th February 2014, nine teams of Bangor University students took part in the Culture Challenge competition. The annual event was organised by the International Student Support Office and the Confucius Institute, and aimed to promote cross-cultural communication between students from China, UK and other countries.

The teams were tasked with delivering presentations on an aspect or aspects of their cultures to a panel of judges consisting of senior University staff. The presentations round was followed by a quiz round during which the teams had the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of history, arts and the culture of the UK, Wales, China and the rest of the world. The students had a great time working together, making new friends and learning about teach other’s countries.

The winning team consisted of Qinrui Zhang (China), Abigail Price (UK), WaiYu Cheung (Hong Kong) and Zahrah Khimani (Pakistan), who all won a 10-day trip to China that will take place between the16 and 26 April 2014.

During this trip, the winners will not only get an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful sites the country has to offer, but will also visit partner universities and promote Bangor in China.

Professor’s book launched in Hong Kong

The Bangor University spin-out social enterprise, the Food Dudes, provide programmes which help children to like eating fruit and vegetables, promoting healthy eating and preventing childhood obesity. They have been selected as part of a consortium to deliver the UK DofE School Food Plan to increase healthy school meal uptake in junior schools in the South East, South West and East of England.

The evidence based Food Dudes behaviour change programme has been highly successful in improving children’s diets in the UK, Ireland, Italy and the USA. It is the only programme in the UK that has been shown to bring about large and lasting changes in children’s eating habits.

The Food Dudes’ winning formula will now support the Government’s School Food Plan and help to ensure its success as part of the consortium with Children’s Food Trust.

Professor Suzannah Linton (3rd from right) at the booksigning

On 28 March 2014, the Bangor Centre for International Law and the Centre for Rights and Justice at the Chinese University of Hong Kong held a very successful joint event to launch Professor Suzannah Linton’s book on Hong Kong’s War Crimes Trials, published by Oxford University Press. Professor Suzannah Linton is the Chair of International Law at Bangor Law School.

The event began with a lively seminar about the book, featuring the Deans of Hong Kong’s top two Law Faculties, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Prof Chris Gane) and Hong Kong University (Prof Johannes Chan), as well as speakers from academia, publishing, the profession and the judiciary.

The Hon. Mr. Justice Kevin Zervos of the Court of First Instance officially launched the book at a champagne reception which followed.

Dr John Parkinson acting Head of the School of Psychology, Bangor University said: “We’re delighted that research developed at Bangor University’s leading School of Psychology is being used to effect real and positive changes to young people’s lives. At the heart of all university research is a desire to providing knowledge and understanding that benefits our whole society. We look forward to tracking the success of this project in the future” .

www.bangor.ac.uk/international

Country Representatives Bing Li

Sukhjinder Bhatti

Maggie Parke

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388207 Email: b.li@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 388874 Email: s.bhatti@bangor.ac.uk

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

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka International students in the UK

Argentina Brazil Canada Chile

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 382879 Email: m.rogerson@bangor.ac.uk

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Responsible for:

Brunei Russia Indonesia Singapore Kazakhstan Thailand Malaysia Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon

Bahrain Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Libya

European Union Countries

Mainland China Hong Kong Japan Vietnam

South Korea Taiwan Philippines

Oman Saudi Arabia Turkey UAE Qatar

Upcoming Visits for 2014 We shall be visiting the following countries during 2014: Bangladesh Bahrain Brazil Cameroon China Ghana Hong Kong India Indonesia Iraq

Kuwait Malaysia Nigeria Pakistan Saudi Arabia Singapore Thailand Turkey USA Vietnam

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

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

Colombia Mexico USA

Top 20 World University for Sustainability Bangor University has beaten hundreds of other universities from all over the world to make the top 20 in an international league table of sustainability.

Bangor University was placed 19th in the table, which ranks 301 universities from 61 countries on their environmentally friendly credentials.

Vice Chancellor Professor John G Hughes said: “I am delighted that Bangor’s demonstrated commitment to taking positive action in promoting sustainability and achieving continual environmental improvement is achieving international recognition.”

Meanwhile, the Students’ Union has made the final of a sustainability competition. A film produced by Bangor students is in the running for The Ecologist Green Impact Communications Challenge Award.

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