Channel 07/2009

Nurturing the seeds of innovation From drugs to mental health:

Counting the costs of isolation and prejudice

Parliamentary ethics: Dr Bob Brecher joins the MPs’ expenses row JUL | AUG 09

Editor Rebecca Haroutunian Communications manager Assistant editor Emma Blundell Communications officer

Contact details Channel Marketing and Communications Mithras House Lewes Road Brighton BN2 4AT +44 (0)1273 643022 communications@brighton.ac.uk

Channel magazine is published every two months by Marketing and Communications.

Send your news to communications@brighton.ac.uk.

Channel is available online at www.brighton.ac.uk/channel.

Front page image Stephan Britt by Andrew Weekes.

Alongside this publication is our online newsletter. eChannel is produced monthly at http://community.brighton.ac.uk/ echannel.

Print and reproduction

By DSI Colourworks, registered to environmental standard ISO 14001. This magazine was printed using inks made from vegetable-based oils and without the use of industrial alcohol.

Ninety-five per cent of the cleaning solvents were recycled for further use and 94 per cent of the dry waste associated with this production will be recycled.

For the latest news about the university, please see www.brighton.ac.uk/news.

For an insight into research conducted at the university, see www.brighton.ac.uk/research.

Next editions of Channel September–October Copy deadline 24 August Distributed on 28 September November–December Copy deadline 26 October Distributed on 30 November

Contents Regular features News

12–15

04–07 Round up News from across the university

16–17 Research briefing News and grant awards

Lead features 12–15 Lead article Nurturing the seeds of innovation

18–19 Research feature From drugs to mental health: Counting the costs of isolation and prejudice

Regular features

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08–09 Department in focus Unsung heroes: a look at the university’s reprographics department 10 Opinion Parliamentary ethics.

Dr Bob Brecher joins the MPs’ expenses row

11 Opinion Confronting the future.

Professor Andrew Lloyd discusses the future of science and engineering 20 Why I became…

A sports journalist

22 On campus Dr Chris Joyce uncovers the hidden Brighton including lizards, foxes and falcons 23 Work diary A working week in the life of community liaison officer, Kevin Mannall

21 Design in brief The archivist’s story

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 03

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

Comment

By Professor Julian Crampton Vice-Chancellor With a community of more than 20,000 students and 2,300 members of staff, the University of Brighton has many staff and student successes to report. This issue of Channel celebrates some of those achievements.

We have long recognised that innovation and entrepreneurialism are key drivers to fuel the future of the country’s economy. Over the past 15 years our innovation awards have rewarded staff, students and graduates for their brightest business ideas. This year’s winners shared a prize fund of £20,000 for their successes and the university also introduced a new category which acknowledges the transforming research taking place across all schools and faculties.

Many of our successes are achieved in partnership with other organisations. Dr Kath Browne has carried out a four-year research project – Count me in Too – which looks at the needs of the local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT). Working with Spectrum, the local LBGT forum, the project’s findings were displayed in a public exhibition at the Sallis Benney theatre.

Our graduation ceremonies are also a fitting occasion to take stock of all our achievements, and you can find a full report on these events in the August issue of eChannel.

The university attracts great loyalty and commitment from its members, and it was a great pleasure to recognise David Farmer for his long and distinguished service as an independent member of the university’s Board of Governors between August 1999 and July 2008, and Professor Richard Vincent, the founding head of the university’s Postgraduate Medical School.

We are always delighted to welcome back our alumni and at this year’s London fashion show, former student and designer Julien MacDonald OBE, was among a line-up of international figures in fashion to select the prize winners at the event. This September we also mark the centenary of the School of Education – the first in any UK university to have achieved an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted across the full range of primary, secondary and postcompulsory teacher education. We are already in touch with more than 50,000 of our alumni and are hoping to welcome even more back to the university’s community to help celebrate this centenary and other university events through the year.

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UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON Academies plan is one step closer Plans for two new state-of-the art academies in Hastings have moved one step closer to reality after the government signalled the green light for the next stage of the process.

The university is the lead sponsor for the project which will see two new academies replace Hillcrest, The Grove, and Filsham Valley schools in 2011. The university will now work with East Sussex County Council and BT on finer details of the proposals in a feasibility period.

A crucial part of the next stage will be the consultation that will be carried out with parents, staff, pupils and the wider community in Hastings in September and October.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart Laing said: “The university is already committed to the delivery of education at University Centre Hastings, the home of the University of Brighton in Hastings.

Using our unique areas of expertise we look forward to contributing further to the individual achievements of the students in Hastings, as well as bringing about regeneration in the borough.”

FACULTY OF ARTS New Faculty of Arts consolidates Brighton’s arts provision The university has consolidated its practical, theoretical, and critical arts provision in one faculty, the Faculty of Arts.

The creation of the Faculty of Arts, under the leadership of Anne Boddington as Dean, sees academic provision for media studies, English language and linguistics, literature and media, and language teaching and learning join the faculty’s existing range of visual and performing arts, design, architecture, history of art and design, and humanities opportunities.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Julian Crampton said: “The Faculty of Arts will provide a focal point for the university’s academic provision in the arts and enhance opportunities for staff and students to benefit from the wide range of resources available in the faculty and encourage collaboration across the broad spectrum of the arts.”

CHELSEA SCHOOL Sir Bobby Charlton pledges support Sir Bobby Charlton, Manchester United and England football legend, has joined the university’s ground-breaking Football for Peace (F4P) project on its latest visit to Israel to train young Jewish and Arab footballers. Joining Sir Bobby for the special football coaching session in July were coaches from Manchester United Foundation.

Now in its ninth year, the university’s sport-based project F4P continues to break down barriers and bring communities together in Israel through the medium of football. The latest visit to Israel brought together more than 600 youngsters aged 10–14 who participated in 11 football and multiactivity camps across Israel.

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN Advising on architecture Architecture academic programme leader Richard Patterson, has been appointed as the ex-officio member of the Architects Registration Board Prescription Committee.

This is a further development of Richard’s position as Independent Adviser. In this new appointment, he will take part in determining judgements regarding prescription. This is the only appointed position that can be occupied by a registered architect.

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY An engine revolution A revolutionary low carbon engine, being researched by engineers in the Centre for Automotive Engineering at the university, could be ready for demonstrating to major automobile companies by the end of the year.

The research group, based at the School of Environment and Technology and headed by Professor Morgan Heikal, believe the 2/4 stroke engine could prove a significant step forward in a market which is keen to go greener.

A Jaguar XF Saloon has already been delivered to the consortium so they can fit it with the innovative technology and test its commercial potential.

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Poet Laureate of the future?

SCHOOL OF SERVICE MANAGEMENT Students in pole position Four lucky students, studying for an Events Management BA(Hons), recently undertook work experience at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain.

Besides being in the thick of the action at the event, the students picked up skills relevant to their courses. On arriving in Bahrain they carried out intensive training to prepare them for the busy four-day event.

Amy Hooper was one of the students who travelled out to Bahrain for the event. “The highlights were visiting amazing venues and clubs and meeting so many different, interesting people.

This gave us a huge insight into logistical event management.

There was a lot of organisation required with transport to and from different venues, making sure all clients were where they are meant to be and at the right time.”

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN Julien MacDonald heads fashion pack Graduates and the glitterati came together at the university’s fashion show and awards, held in London.

Julien MacDonald, OBE, was among a line-up of leading international figures in fashion to judge at the event in June.

Joining Julien on the judging panel were Anne Tyrrell MBE, international design consultant and chair of the British Fashion Council – Colleges Council, Avsh Alom Gur, celebrated designer and Fred Butler, London-based designer of props and accessories.

Julien presented the Catwalk Fashion Award. Once a Brighton student himself, Julien graduated from the university in 1996 and then took an MA in Knitwear at the Royal College of Art before setting up his own company which debuted at London Fashion Week. This was the fifth year that the university took its independent fashion show to London.

Sir Bobby Charlton on his visit to the Football for Peace (F4P) project in Israel.

The School of Education has begun its search to find young poets from across Sussex to contribute to an anthology of children’s verse. Marking the beginning of the school’s centenary year, Poetry from the Partnership, will be launched this October to coincide with National Book Week. Helping to judge the entries from pupils will be former children’s laureate Michael Rosen, one of the best-known figures in the children’s book world renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and scriptwriter.

SCHOOL OF SERVICE MANAGEMENT Major conferences hosted at university The School of Service Management is hosting two international conferences.

The annual Centre for Tourism Policy Studies (CENTOPS) conference is now in its seventh year and takes the theme travel and tourism in the age of climate change. The second is the conference for the Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) which encourages partnership with industry.

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 05

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

FACULTY OF ARTS Archiving the Artist A study day at Tate Britain this June brought together artists, archivists and art historians to explore artists’ archives. It sought to address the interpretation of the sketchbooks, ephemera, recordings and other materials that artists leave behind and when, if ever, the artist’s archive becomes an art work itself.

The morning session, chaired by Catherine Moriarty from the Faculty of Arts included presentations by the artists David Batchelor, Jamie Shovlin and the researchers Anthony Hudek and Thanasis Velios working on the archive of John Latham (1921–2006).

The event was organized by Tate in collaboration with the Art Libraries Society and supported by Arts Council England.

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING, MATHEMATICAL AND INFORMATION SCIENCES Heritage in 3D Establishing 3D documentation as an affordable, practical and effective mechanism to record our physical cultural heritage is one step closer thanks to a European research project, 3D-Coform.

Led by dean of the Faculty of Management and Information Sciences, David Arnold, the four-year project includes 19 partners from the V&A, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich (Switzerland), University of Bonn (Germany), to the Centre for Documentation of Cultural and Natural History (Egypt).

The project’s sector advisory board had its first meeting at the Louvre in February where representatives from a who’s who of European museums, advised on their anticipated 3D technological requirements.

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Professor Stuart Laing and Cupp’s David Wolff with the Green Gown Award.

ESTATES AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Managing university estates during the credit crunch The importance of universities’ estates in attracting students and staff was the theme of the keynote address at a Times Higher Education conference by Rod Mallinder, the director of Estate and Facilities Management.

He examined commercial issues associated with the current economic climate and potential opportunities and risks arising from the credit crunch. Rod, who is secretary of the Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE), was speaking at the Commonwealth Club in London. He referred to the uncertainties in terms of government funding and how the criteria for allocation of capital funding would change.

He said the Capital Investment Framework would still be used by HEFCE for this purpose but there would be greater emphasis on carbon reduction and better management of space.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON Green Brighton The university’s Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp) has been highly commended at the national Green Gown Awards 2009.

The programme, which seeks to reduce social inequalities in local communities, was highly commended in the Social Responsibility category at the prestigious event. The awards recognise exceptional initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across Britain to become more environmentally and socially sustainable.

The university’s Students’ Union was also shortlisted for an award in the Student Initiatives category for their innovative student champions scheme which sees students trained as advocates of sustainable development in education. The scheme was set up after students expressed interest in increasing the sustainable development content and principles in their courses.

UNIVERSITY ROUND-UP

FACULTY OF ARTS Supporting Mozambique

CHELSEA SCHOOL FIFA and corruption

Sequential Design and Illustration MA student Margarida Botelho fought off competition from over 2,000 candidates to secure an award from the Portuguese government to undertake an art community project in Mozambique with Unesco. Margarida, a Portuguese student will work at Unesco learning centres in different regions in Mozambique for eight months. The project is based in her collection of picture books called Encounters, which involves communities in the creative process.

Corruption in FIFA was the topic of discussion when Alan Tomlinson, Professor of Leisure Studies, gave the closing plenary at the third annual Political Studies Association Sport and Politics Study Group conference.

CHELSEA SCHOOL The science behind sport explored Professor Jo Doust, head of the Chelsea School, is to become one of the vice-presidents of the Scientific Committee for the 2010 World Summit on Interdisciplinary Sport Medicine in Austria. The conference will bring together the world’s leading professionals as well as students in sports medicine.

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY How do you travel in the city?

Geography and environment students have spoken to thousands of residents from Brighton and Hove this summer to find out about their travel choices. The students were employed by Brighton & Hove City Council as travel advisers for the Personalised Travel Planning Project.

Now entering its fourth year, the city-wide initiative aims to encourage more diverse and sustainable modes of transport in the city. The students have been active in developing advice and guidance for people and in a range of awareness activities including managing stalls during Bike Week and offering ‘doorstep’ information and advice. For more information, visit www.journeyon.co.uk.

The conference was attended by 120 people, including academics and policymakers, and was co-organised by research fellow, Paul Gilchrist.

Professor Tomlinson is renowned for his challenging research around FIFA. He co-authored In FIFA and the Contest for World Football – the first full-length study of FIFA and its role in framing and controlling world football.

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY Handling the bruises A final-year student has won a top design award for finding a way to stop bikes crashing to the ground when leant against walls.

Jamie Douglas has designed the Ninety Bicycle which has a 90-degree rotating handlebar that flattens the bike’s profile into a single linear form, making it more secure when propped up. Jamie said: “The new design tucks the handlebars flat. It prevents many collisions and stops bikes falling over. I ride the bike all the time and it works.”

Jamie won the New Designs Virgin Atlantic Airways Red Hot Design Award at the New Designers 2009 exhibition in London. The judges described the Product Design graduate as a designer with flare and one “focused on improving the user-experience and making life better”.

Jamie won a placement with The Virgin Atlantics’ team designing a new cabin, plus two Virgin flight tickets. He said he intends to fly “somewhere exotic”, possibly Tokyo or New York, before looking for employment.

The Plug Paul Stenner, Professor of Psychosocial Studies, has co-authored a new book entitled Psychology without foundations: history, philosophy and psychosocial theory.

Written with Professor Steve Brown of the University of Leicester, Psychology without foundations will be published in August 2009. The book seeks to overcome the differences between the various strands of modern social psychology by proposing a process-oriented approach to the psychological based on the study of events or occasions. Aimed at both undergraduate students and more advanced readers, it is described as an exciting gateway into a new understanding of the rich, historical discipline of psychology.

Research Fellow in the Chelsea School, Mark Perryman’s edited book Breaking Up Britain: Four Nations After a Union was published early this year. May 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of the first elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. This was the beginning of a decade of change – which now includes the restoration of powers to Stormont – that is showing every sign of being an irreversible process.

Breaking Up Britain is a unique collection of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish contributors, featuring key political activists from the nationalist parties, commentators and campaigners, academics and journalists. Each writer explores the change that the break-up demands in their own nation, but also discusses its impact upon the whole.

David Stephens, Professor of International Education, has edited Higher Education and International Capacity Building, Twenty Five Years of Higher Education Links.

For the past 25 years UK higher education institutions have forged research and teaching partnerships with their counterparts overseas. Many of these links were funded by the British government and managed by the British Council’s Higher Education Links Scheme.

This book takes an informed and critical look at issues and trends in global higher education over the past 25 years with an in-depth and often personal account of how these links were managed and led. It will be of particular interest to those working in higher education and international development generally, as well as students, researchers and professionals engaged in bilateral and multi-lateral development assistance programmes.

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 07

DEPARTMENT IN FOCUS

Unsung heroes

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We use recycled paper for every job that we can. It’s just something we’ve always done – if we can do it, then we will do it

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DEPARTMENT IN FOCUS

IN FOCUS...

Reprographics Pretty much everyone in the university will have come across Reprographics at one time or another. Channel has a chat with Dave Carver, Reprographics manager, and finds out what they have to offer.

September 1979 saw a fresh-faced Dave Carver begin his career at the university. He has witnessed huge changes in the institution since then. When he first started there were two reprographics units – one for admin services in Mithras and one set up

by Learning Resources to support teaching and learning. Dave came in to run the teaching and learning service with the intention of staying for a couple of years while deciding what he really wanted to do next! With an old Rotaprint printer and a Xerox copier he set about making the best of things and quadrupled output in no time. In the mid-80s the two units merged and Reprographics moved into its new Cockcroft home.

Thirty years later Dave is still here along with Colin Anderson who ran the admin services unit.

Reprographics remains a stalwart presence at the heart of university life and together with his team of five experienced print workers, Dave is looking to the future.

Above: Reprographics team (left to right) – David Bradley, reprographics offset litho operator; Denise Carter, reprographics service assistant; Alex Allan, reprographics operator; Colin Anderson, senior reprographics operator; Paul Kerr, reprographics operator and Dave Carver, reprographic services manager.

Far Left: Heidelberg printing press Left: Dave Carver

Sustainability is another important consideration for Reprographics. Dave is the Information Services representative on the sustainable development policy committee, chaired by Stuart Laing. For the last five years all university stationery has been printed on EP4, a brand of paper with 80 per cent recycled content with the remaining 20 per cent sourced from sustainable stocks. The digital printers and copiers also use this paper, as do library and computer pool printers. More complex jobs requiring a higher quality paper, for example the newsletters produced

by Marketing and Communications for prospective students, use Revive100 which is 100 per cent recycled. And where it is not possible to use recycled paper then stock from FSC-certified sustainable sources is used.

All of the printing inks are vegetable or soya-based, and the printing process is alcohol-free, leaving a lot less harmful waste to be disposed of. What waste is produced is taken away by an EU-registered company to be recycled where possible.

New technology means that seemingly ordinary digital copiers can produce a booklet straight from a pdf file, or are capable of a fully customised and personalised mail merge, and inkjet printers can produce A2-sized photo-quality posters. All of which can be done inhouse in Reprographics.

The guide to Reprographics has recently been updated and there are some changes to the way that some of the more popular services are handled.

Check out www.brighton.ac.uk/is for more info.

Dave is very focused on customer service, aiming to give the best possible price for each job and doing his best to iron-out any problems that may occur. The motto is ‘if we can do it we will’ and with a number of printing machines from one and two-colour Heidelberg printing presses to black and white, and colour digital copiers, they can cater for most of our requirements. And if they can’t, Dave will do his best to find someone who can from his vast array of contacts, or another printer from the print roster.

The Forestry Stewardship Council is an independent, world-wide organisation established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations.

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 09

OPINION

PARLIAMENTARY ETHICS?

BY BOB BRECHER The row about MPs’ expenses reflects several facts of political life in the UK: frustration at the cynical hypocrisy of some politicians; desperation about a lack of democratic accountability; and the increasing personalisation of politics.

That’s why Stephen Fry regards it as a moralistic sideshow: the real issues are Iraq, Afghanistan, the 2006 Terrorism Act, identity cards and increasing inequality, to name just a few. Like the sex-lives of some politicians, their fiddling expenses is neither surprising nor terribly important, and the hype about ‘unethical’ expenses claims only masks the serious issues. In short, politics, as Machiavelli insisted, has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with realities. While politics concerns public matters, morality is private. The personal is not political, in either the original sense of the remark or its present inversion. I’m sympathetic to that view, at least to the extent that MPs fiddling expenses is just a symptom of a much deeper issue – and one that goes beyond merely politician’s actions.

Some MPs are indeed venal, self-interested and devoid of either principle or scruple, whether political or moral: New Labour’s depoliticisation of politics has seen to that. And of course the people they most closely resemble in that regard are the bankers, those financial geniuses who not only screwed up, but who had to be paid fortunes to do so – lest the ‘best brains’ find somewhere else to exercise their talents. As with the bankers, so with the MPs: it’s their response to being found out that 10 Channel Magazine July | August 2009

matters. “It was in the rules,” they say. So it was. Never mind that it was MPs and bankers alike who made up those rules themselves.

More important is their response: it was in the rules”. That response is evidence of two things. First, it shows the moral blindness – or on some accounts, the culpable stupidity – of those who try to justify their milking the system by playing the rules so as to make a profit by switching second homes and mortgages, ‘forgetting’ that they’d actually paid off a mortgage, or, in more traditional mode, getting us to pay for cleaning their moats.

Second, it shows just how easy it is to use today’s preoccupation with codes of conduct in the service of political expediency, and to morally corrupt ends. Perhaps they really thought that what they were doing was okay because it was in the rules; perhaps not. I’ve no idea.

Either way, the rules became the excuse, since that’s their function, whatever the intentions of particular individuals. For as political life becomes increasingly immoral – and neo-liberalism is without question deeply immoral – so codes of conduct and codes of ethics are brought in to hide the fact.

Economic neo-liberalism requires ‘ethics’. No wonder everyone and everything starts claiming to be ethical: there’s even a local company describing itself as ethical

parking management, for instance (and no, I didn’t make that up).

It’s the immoral conduct that codes of ethics and other such sets of rules permit, and the fact that they permit it, that’s the real problem.

That’s the main lesson of the MPs’ expenses debacle. And of course it’s a lesson for us as academics.

The law is another set of rules.

So consider the law requiring universities to act as agents of the border police. It’s morally iniquitous, of course. But is Universities UK going to obey the law nonetheless, to play by the rules; or will it take collective action and refuse? And are we as individuals going to play by the rules, like so many MPs, or will we refuse to follow an immoral law?

OPINION

Confronting the future

BY PROFESSOR ANDREW LLOYD The world is facing enormous and complex problems, from climate change and energy supplies to the global economic downturn and the eradication of poverty. The expectations on science and engineering to find sustainable solutions to these problems, many of which are interlinked, appear to grow daily, but how can we best meet these challenges?

to create a low-carbon engine.

The faculty also supports local business and industry through placements, short courses, contract research, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and consultancy.

For the Faculty of Science and Engineering, the answer lies in a broad-based approach which encompasses everything from working in partnership with business to encouraging more young people to consider a science career.

The faculty’s partnerships are not just UK-based; in recent years we have actively sought to develop our international research partnerships, for example, with universities and companies in India, Malaysia, China, Japan and the US as well as European research networks. We are also building long-term relationships with alumni both nationally and internationally and looking to use these links to provide opportunities and support for current students.

Providing an innovative and creative learning environment and curriculum is critical to the future of science and engineering at the university. As part of a recent public lecture at the university, the Nobel Prize Laureate, Professor Sir Harry Kroto, spoke of the need to empower educators worldwide and appealed to the younger generations to focus on sustainability to safeguard our survival into the next century.

Many of our courses are the result of collaboration between the university and outside partners in industry or the public sector.

The recent Excellence with Industry programme, for example, provides a two-year integrated programme for select students on engineering and construction management courses to work with the local water industry and helps students move from a studying to a working environment. The faculty also works with healthcare professionals across the university and in the Brighton and Sussex Medical School to provide the

kind of courses which best equip students for work outside the university. Our Applied Biomedical Sciences degree, for instance, includes integrated clinical placements at NHS laboratories.

In addition to educating students in science and engineering, the faculty seeks to embed education for sustainable development within all its courses. Students are also encouraged to become active citizens and to engage with local communities, businesses and schools through voluntary work and student placements.

It is not enough, though, just to educate the students that choose to come to the university. Future generations need to be inspired from an early age to take up a career in science and engineering.

Through STEMSussex, the faculty works with schools, for instance, by sending student ambassadors to work with teachers. It also works in partnership with FE colleges to widen participation in science and engineering and reaches out to the general public through public lectures and events throughout the year.

The faculty’s research is also helping to build on the sustainable futures agenda. Our research expertise and reputation has grown exponentially over the past

five years, with the value of our external research grants rising from £2.7m to £5m a year. Some 84 per cent of our work is now deemed of international standing.

This research is not just about traditional blue skies science, but about seeing a project through to its practical application and applying real solutions in the real world. From finding ways to make technology greener to exploring ways of ensuring our land and landscape is not infected or contaminated – our research is highly successful in producing applied and translational research with high uptake from industry, government departments and civil society.

Although much of the faculty’s research is underpinned by fundamental science and engineering, there is a good deal of collaboration with researchers in the social sciences and health psychology. It is this kind of crossdisciplinary research which will provide the innovation needed to tackle the complex, multi-layered challenges the world now faces.

The faculty has also built up longterm partnerships with industry to support the commercialisation of technology. For example, it is working with Ricardo, the automotive design consultants,

All of these partnerships are vital for ensuring that the Faculty of Science and Engineering builds on the sustainable futures agenda. Future plans such as the integration of the School of Computing, Mathematical and Information Sciences into the faculty from January 2010 can only enhance and broaden our academic portfolio and ability to more effectively engage with this agenda.

The faculty recognises that it is not just through influencing individual students or research projects that its work will have the most impact. It is through sustained collaboration and partnership with others that we can best play our role in confronting the challenges of the future.

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 11

LEAD FEATURE

12 Channel Magazine July | August 2009

LEAD ARTICLE

NURTURING THE SEEDS OF

INNOVATION July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 13

LEAD ARTICLE

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Stuck in traffic jams almost every working day for 90 weeks would drive most motorists to despair but for Stephen Britt the ordeal proved an inspiration.

Sitting in his car, whiling away the minutes between the next mini-move forward, the former computer science student came up with an award-winning innovation to transform a pedal cycle into an electric bike.

Stephen, a technician at the School of Education at Falmer, said: “It came to me while stopping and starting in long lines of traffic while a bridge was being built at Beddingham roundabout near Lewes.

“My drive to work during the time of the congestion took over an hour and parts of the journey were uphill. I thought – how could I beat the traffic and ease the struggle of climbing hills on a bike?”

Stephen’s innovation could provide just the solution. Powered by batteries, the system has a motor and a gearbox to continuously propel the bike for a maximum distance of 10 miles before the batteries need recharging.

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The lightweight mechanism allows the full range of gears to be used, making it efficient and easily capable of climbing hills. The propulsion system can be added to any bike in less than 15 minutes.

Stephen took home the Graduate Innovation Award as part of this year’s universitys’ Research and Innovation awards. The awards celebrate the best and the brightest business ideas from Brighton staff, students and alumni as well as researchers, with a £20,000 prize-fund on offer.

Chief Executive of British Design Innovation, Maxine Horn who sat on the panel of judges, said: “Stephen was a runaway winner not only due to the product innovation itself but the way in which he had developed a total business proposition including research, rationale, routes to market, costs and production time scales.

Such high quality presentation enables a much higher level of engagement with an industry partner to bring this product to market.”

Stephen also won a second prize in the competition, the first time two prizes have gone to one person. He shared the Entrepreneurship Award with business studies students, Lauren Goggs, Matt Hacker, Ioanna Zacharis and Emma Brand for their pay-as-you-pedal scheme, which offers a green solution to the city’s congested roads by providing bikes for hire for students.

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Matt Hacker said: “The cost of transport, particularly for first year students, is a pressing issue due to the distance between university campuses and lecture theatres.

“Pay-as-you-pedal offers people who can’t afford to buy a bike the chance to cycle to and from different locations with no worries about storage or security.”

Matt said: “It was a fantastic reward for all the effort and time we put into the project. As a group, we experienced many late nights in the library making sure we produced the best possible business plan.”

A new award category was introduced this year to recognise the transforming research taking place across the university. Sharing the Research Group award was Professor Morgan Heikal, Dr Steve Begg and Nicholas Miche, for their work in developing a new type of engine which can switch between a two-stroke and a four-stroke system. The innovation promises to cut fuel consumption.

Two other members of staff to take home the Research Group Award were Professor Marian Barnes and Dr Lizzie Ward for a study called Cheers. It looked at an area neglected by previous research, specifically how alcohol use might relate to people’s life journeys as they get older, and the issues that they face.

LEAD ARTICLE

Right: Stephen Britt, winner of two awards for his retro-fit cycle propulsion system.

AWARD WINNERS

Below right: Professor Adrian Bone with Dr Wendy Macfarlane (left) and Dr Moira Harrison (right) – winners of the interdisciplinary research award for Diabetes: Causes, Complications and Cure.

STAFF Joint winners for group research: 2/4/ Switching Engine Professor Morgan Heikal, Dr Steve Begg and Nicholas Miche (4) Cheers!?

Professor Marian Barnes and Dr Lizzie Ward (7) Winners for Research with Student Involvement: Activity Buddies Professor Ann Moore, Professor Peter Burns, Dr Raija Kuisma, Lisa Hodgson and Mike Ellis-Martin (6)

Qualitative research explored the circumstances in which older people drink and the meaning and impact that drinking has on their lives, positive or negative. The researchers developed a participative approach by involving older people in the design and carrying out of the research.

Winners for interdisciplinary research: Diabetes: Causes, Complications and Cure Professor Adrian Bone, Dr Wendy Macfarlane and Dr Moira Harrison (8)

Other winners to impress the judges included Professor Ann Moore, Professor Peter Burns, Dr Raija Kuisma, Lisa Hodgson and Mike Ellis-Martin, who received the Research with Student Involvement Award for Activity Buddies.

The programme pairs an elderly person with a student activity buddy and the latest project, Fitness for Health, sees physiotherapy students and older people taking part in exercise and activities while educating the elderly about healthy living. Activities vary from line dancing to boules to circuit training.

Finally, the winners in the Interdisciplinary Research Category were Professor Adrian Bone, Dr Wendy Macfarlane and Dr Moira Harrison from the Diabetes Research Group for their research into diabetes, investigating its causes, complications and, hopefully, a cure for the disease.

The research group has found that a common family of viruses (enteroviruses) may be the trigger for the development of many cases of diabetes, particularly in children. The world’s largest human vaccine manufacturer is now discussing the future development of the work with the group.

Heart disease is an added complication for diabetics. Medical interventions for blocked arteries have saved many lives. One of these is the use of angioplasty and stents but sometimes these become blocked and the chances of this happening are greatly increased in people with diabetes.

STUDENT AND GRADUATES Innovation A Retro-fit Cycle Propulsion System Stephen Britt (10) Entrepreneurship joint winners: A Retro-fit Cycle Propulsion System Stephen Britt (10) Pay As You Pedal Lauren Goggs, Matt Hacker, Ioanna Zacharis and Emma Brand (1)

The research group has collaborated with the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust to find out why. All members of the Diabetes Research Group regularly present to local diabetes patient and carers groups across the south east informing people about the disease and the latest research findings.

Commenting on the awards, the university’s entrepreneurship manager, Clare Griffiths, said: “The business services team was delighted with the awards ceremony this year, and thought the innovative research and entrepreneurial spirit of the staff, students and graduates shone through, making the night a really special occasion, I’m looking forward to working with the winners in the future and see them take their products and services to market.”

Social enterprise Online Catalogue of Wood Recycled Products Aneta Smaga, Alasdair Walmsley, Richard Mehmend and Stewart Walton Judges also highly commended Adopt a computer service Edward Kipngeno (5)

GRADUATE ENTREPRENEURS 1st prize Dr Hal.co.uk Dr Hal Sosabowski (9) 2nd prize Exhibit Printing Zoltan Rutter (2) 3rd prize Silver Lining Design Maria Allen (3)

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 15

RESEARCH BRIEFING

FORD PRISONERS ON TRACK TO RECYCLE PRISON’S COOKING FAT The university is working with offenders at Ford Prison, West Sussex, to recycle the vegetable oil from prison kitchens to produce vehicle fuel.

The scheme, the first of its kind in the UK, aims to reduce carbon emissions, cut fuel costs and retrain offenders, and is hoping to receive further funding. It has been shortlisted as one of the most innovative ways to tackle climate change, by National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).

The project has received £20k of funding from NESTA to pilot this approach and if successful the plan is to roll the operation out across the prison network regionally and nationally.

The School of Environment and Technology is carrying out a feasibility study to look at the current and potential supply of cooking oil

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across the prison network and to design and build a reactor to produce the biofuel. It is also contributing to the development of the training opportunities.

The Prison Service caters for a large number of offenders and as a result it is the second biggest user of vegetable oil in the country, behind only the Ministry of Defence. The resulting bio fuel will be used to help power the prison network’s fleet of vehicles. Clare Cherry, who works with Work This Way, a social enterprise business which funds offender training and organises employment and work experience at HMP Ford, says: “The Prison

Service and National Offender Management Service are both keen to actively reduce carbon emissions. This form of bio fuel, unlike that produced directly from crops, is using a waste product in a virtually carbon neutral way to produce a high quality fuel.

“We have been looking at ways of raising income, which at the same time will offer the offenders work experience opportunities that can lead to employment. “Employment is one of the main influences on reducing reoffending, so it is a good investment if we can improve offenders’ chances of getting a job.”

RESEARCH BRIEFING

THE VIRTUAL HOSPITAL

NEW STUDY REVEALS THE SCIENCE OF THE FAINT-HEARTED When Scarlett O’Hara swoons into the arms of Rhett Butler, it is likely to be because the part of her brain that processes emotions is a little on the small side.

The university is co-investigating the development of a virtual hospital to help patients with learning disabilities understand treatments and to feel more at ease.

Professor Valerie Hall of the School of Nursing and Midwifery is one of four experts studying the initiative which also aims at providing medical staff with a toolkit to better assess a patient’s capacity to give consent to treatment.

A 3D simulation of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton is being developed and 20 volunteers from the Grace Eyre Foundation, a Brighton charity supporting people with learning difficulties, will be testing it in October.

The hospital is being built in Second Life, an online world in which people participate in the form of virtual representatives or avatars.

Each patient is directed to a waiting room before being taken by a nurse to a bed where they will lie down and have their blood pressure taken before going to the anaesthetic room and then into the operating theatre.

The programme contains a storyboard scenario, that represents the patient’s experience and is ready to be triggered by the patient or their helper.

A real person sits close to the volunteer to answer any questions and a week later the patients will be asked how much they remembered and understood.

Under the Mental Capacity Act, patients have to give consent for treatment and hospitals have to be sure patients with disabilities have the capacity to do so.

The research will be carried out at the Grace Eyre Foundation in Montefiore Road, Hove.

Professor Hall is working with the foundation’s Eva Jarvis, Dr Suzanne Conboy-Hill, consultant psychologist with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Dave Taylor from Imperial College, London.

The independent study has been commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research under its Invention for Innovation Programme. There are hopes the virtual hospital could bring savings by enhancing decision-making, improving treatment compliance and potentially leading to early diagnosis with no increase in readmission rates.

New research by Brighton and Sussex Medical School has found that people who faint, which is about a third of the population, have a different brain anatomy to non-fainters. Neuroscientists used MRI brain scanning to examine brain anatomy in people with histories of fainting, and those who had never fainted. They found that the fainters had smaller regions of the brainstem (medulla and midbrain), which control blood flow to the brain.

Fainting is caused by a dramatic reduction in blood flow to the brain and can be as a result of illness, causing blood pressure to drop.

But it is also sometimes triggered by purely emotional factors, such as the sight of blood.

The researchers also found that those prone to blacking out in such situations also have smaller volume of the brain region, caudate nuclei, which is thought to be involved with emotional processing and anxiety disorders.

Researcher Dr Felix Beacher, who is based at the Trafford Centre on the University of Sussex campus, says: “Fainting, which affects up to 35 per cent of people at least once in their lives, involves an interaction between the mind (as in fainting at the sight of blood), the brain, which regulates blood flow, and the heart. Previous research has shown a connection between blood flow and the brain as a cause of fainting, but this is the first study to highlight differences in brain anatomy.”

Fainting is thought to be a survival mechanism that evolved in mammals to counter the effects of blood loss. Animals are likely to lose less blood if lying down still. However, humans are particularly prone to fainting because, unlike most other mammals, they stand upright and therefore it is harder for the body to pump blood to the brain.

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 17

RESEARCH ARTICLE

From drugs to mental health:

counting the cost of isolation and prejudice Recreational drug use by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is much higher than drug use in the general population, a survey has found.

The survey, part of the innovative Count Me In Too community university partnership project, found 66 per cent of LGBT people had used cannabis compared to 8.7 per cent of the general population; 45 per cent had used cocaine, compared to 2.4 per cent of the general population; and 48 per cent had used ecstasy, compared to 1.6 per cent of the general population.

Many of the 847 people surveyed for the report were concerned about their alcohol intake, with 19 per cent being binge drinkers, similar to the statistics for the general population. However, very few LGBT people had accessed drug and alcohol services.

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The researchers say this shows a need to look at more targeted services for this population.

Becky De Sancha from CRI, a leading drug service in the city, said her organisation would be reviewing their service provision in view of the findings.

Meanwhile, those who did not drink alcohol tended to report more mental health and social problems. Dr Kath Browne said: “We found that within the LGBT community alcohol is tied up with social networking which means that if you don’t drink it is difficult to engage with the LGBT scene.� She called for further research into this area.

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The survey shows how the Count Me In project is bringing direct results to the community.

Indeed throughout the project the research team has worked with community, statutory and voluntary sector stakeholders to ensure the findings had an impact on the ground.

The project, begun in 2005, is a community – university partnership between Dr Kath Browne of the School of Environment and Technology and Spectrum, the local LGBT community forum. It is unusual not just because of the partnership element, but because LGBT people were involved in every step of the research, which has been published as a series of six reports, three of them written with Dr Jason Lim. They not only took part in focus groups, but also gave their views on the direction the research was taking and what subjects they thought warranted more attention.

Other reports published by the project have focused on areas such as mental health, domestic violence and disabilities.

The findings suggest Brighton is viewed as a fairly easy place to live in, particularly compared to other places. Even so, three quarters of those surveyed said they had experienced hate crime due to their sexuality or gender in the past five years and a third felt isolated.

Although 74 per cent told researchers that they were happy living in Brighton & Hove, 76 per cent thought it was better than other places they had lived in and most said they felt comfortable in straight venues. Many, particularly those from vulnerable groups, felt unhappy and isolated. These included people with mental health problems, disabilities, physical health problems such as HIV, transgender people, people from ethnic minorities and those with a history of abuse.

People with mental health problems found it five times harder to live in the city than the sample as a whole.

The project has recommended greater integration of services to help LGBT people and training to increase awareness about issues affecting LGBT people.

The research was funded by Brighton & Hove City Council, Brighton & Hove Primary Care Trust and Brighton and Sussex Community Knowledge Exchange. The next two years of the project will be funded by the South East Costal Communities Project and will focus on work to improve services for LGBT people in the local area.

The reports can be read in full at: www.countmeintoo.co.uk/downloads.

To celebrate the success of the project, an exhibition displaying the projects findings was opened at the Sallis Benney Theatre and was featured in the LGBT research tent at Brighton Pride.

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 19

WHY I BECAME

WHY I BECAME…

A sports journalist Rob Steen has enjoyed a 25-year career in sports journalism. Having started out at the Hayters sports agency, Rob went on to work for numerous national titles including the FT and Observer Sport Monthly.

Now a senior lecturer in sport journalism at Chelsea School, Rob talks about his career.

In your opinion, how has the journalism industry changed in the last 25 years, either good or bad?

Technology has changed it enormously, for good and bad. On the plus side, filing copy, thanks to email and mobile phones, is far more straightforward and far less time-consuming.

On the downside, the growth of websites, and the lack of professionalism that goes into their production – which in turn stems from a desire to produce them on the cheap – has brought standards of literacy tumbling down. And now that the industry is in recession, the first people on the chopping-block at newspapers have been the sub-editors, the people who maintained those standards of literacy.

What was your biggest scoop as a journalist?

One that wasn’t published. A few years before cricket’s match-fixing crisis became public knowledge, an Australian reporter, who also happened to be a friend, informed me that two Australian cricketers, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, had been fined for selling information to a bookie. Unfortunately, my friend’s source, an Australian selector, was not willing to go on the record.

One Saturday, after we thought we had persuaded him to change his mind, I wrote the story for The Sunday Times only for my friend to ring me just before deadline to say that our source had changed his mind. I had a choice: ignore him and reap the plaudits or do the honourable thing. I chose the latter option and told my editor to pull the story. Friendship and ethics meant more to me than the scoop.

About a year later, another Australian journalist broke the story but I still have no regrets.

What was your biggest career break?

Playing in the same colts cricket team as the son of Reg Hayter, who ran the best sports news agency in the country.

What has been your most memorable assignment during your career as a journalist?

Three spring to mind. The first was the 1993 Women’s World Cup, which I reported for The Independent. This involved travelling around some beautiful venues in the Home Counties following the England team, who ultimately won the final at Lord’s.

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What does your job as a senior lecturer involve?

On one level it involves teaching undergraduates the basics of journalism – reporting, feature-writing, sub-editing and so on – while educating them in the nature of the industry, and ensuring they have a sound and broad grasp of sporting knowledge (and not just football!). I also serve as a remedial English teacher.

That they should have done so during a summer that saw their menfolk thrashed in the Ashes series made it all the sweeter.

The second most memorable assignment was covering the 2001 Baseball World Series in New York for The Guardian, a few weeks after 9/11. On successive nights at Yankee Stadium I saw the New York Yankees pull off a last-gasp victory with all the odds – and history – stacked against them.

Leaving the stadium as the tannoy played Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”, and joining in with all the locals as they sang along, was the most exhilarating moment I have experienced as a reporter.

The third was far more personal – interviewing Laura Nyro, the wonderful American singersongwriter after whom I named my first child, not least since she died soon afterwards.

What has been the highlight of your career as a lecturer?

On a purely selfish level, the time one of my journalism students won The Guardian Student Columnist of the Year. More important, I feel enormous pleasure every time I see an article by a student in the third year.

You have published numerous books regarding sport – what’s your latest project?

I’m working on a PhD by publication, a study of campaigning journalism built around a collection of my own writing, provisionally entitled Outsiders and Underdogs – Sporting Causes 1984–2009.

DESIGN IN BRIEF

DESIGN IN BRIEF:

The archivist’s story The university’s Design Archives comprise 18 collections that include records of some of the world’s most important design organisations and the designers who worked alongside them.

Dr Catherine Moriarty, curatorial director, talks us through them.

Can you give us an overview of the archives?

The way the archives work together is what makes this resource unique. The archive of the Design Council came to the university in 1994 and my role has centred on the building of a coherent group of associated archives that really adds to the picture of design in the post1945 period. The archive of the International Council of Graphic Design Associations came to us in 2003, and that of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design in 2006. Those of individual designers include key figures in this period and it’s the role they played within the design profession and in education that is as important to us as their design work.

How are they used?

Visitors include our own students and staff, and those from academic institutions worldwide. We also work with museum staff, picture researchers and members of the public.

Archives are places where university expertise can really engage with a wide field of users and because design embraces the everyday it’s hugely inclusive.

Can you tell us about partnerships with other institutions?

We work with a broad range of institutions and we have some firm allies. I really believe that strong relationships are a vital part of both individual and institutional research successes: it’s how you build projects, and bids, and learn from others. We’re part of the Archives Hub, the main portal for university archives, and our relationship with the Visual Arts Data Service is longstanding. Our forthcoming project with the Joint Information Systems Committee means we’re really in the middle of the action when it comes to the electronic delivery of

resources. They’re creating an unrivalled online image library that will be available from summer 2010. Closer to home, I’ve been working with colleagues from several faculties thanks to a Research Innovation Award and we’ve been fully behind the Brighton Photo Biennial since its inception.

What inspired you to get into this field?

Working with archives is the most exciting kind of historical research. There’s limited mediation, just you and the raw material, and it’s up to you to activate it. It’s this that underlies their tremendous potential for creativity and inclusivity: everybody takes away a different story and places emphasis on different things.

I worked in the archives sector and a national museum before moving to the university. That word ‘sector’‚ is very telling because archives, libraries and museums used to be very distinct.

Now there’s a real move to work together and it’s in the university environment where some of the most exciting projects are happening.

The University of Brighton recognises this and as part of the Centre of Research and Development in the Faculty of Arts we have strong support from its director, Professor Jonathan Woodham, and our dean, Anne Boddington.

Is the use of digital and etools a growth area in maintaining archives?

Absolutely, the digital revolution has a lot to do with the dissolving boundaries I’ve just described. Having a strong collection group means that the content for digital projects is of a high quality, yet however substantial project funding might be, the value of a dedicated team with expert knowledge of the collections and technical standards is priceless. We know that it is through the web that we’ll reach new audiences and it is in this exciting space, the interface between the university and the rest of the world, that we see so many opportunities. www.designarchives.ac.uk

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 21

ON CAMPUS

BIODIVERSITY

Lizards, foxes and falcons: uncovering the hidden Brighton

Did you know that lizards bask in the sunshine on the Moulsecoomb campus? Or that a rare orchid species grows on the Falmer site?

Nature in all its diversity is burgeoning around the university, but more needs to be done to make staff and students aware of it and to encourage more wildlife, even on the more urban campuses.

The university’s Biodiversity Action Plan is the first step to achieving these aims. It was carried out by ecologists at the School of Environment and Technology as part of the university’s sustainable development policy. It began last summer with the ecologists asking staff and students to submit their observations of nature around the university. “Some people had spotted foxes, or nesting thrushes, or lizards or even a peregrine falcon,” said Chris Joyce, principal lecturer in environmental geography and co-author of the plan. Some of these are either protected species or ones where there are conservation concerns.

These observations, part of an attempt to involve people more in wildlife issues, were augmented by a habitat survey which involved Chris and colleague Maureen Berg walking over every bit of land owned by the university and surveying every habitat. All the information has been spatially referenced to form a biodiversity database. This can be used to track any changes in the future.

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Chris says he found the lizards at Moulsecoomb one of the more interesting discoveries. “They are living in the grass and scrub on the Watts bank, but they come out to bask on the tarmac,” he said.

“Some were spotted in the drained fountain next to the Cockcroft building.”

There were other highlights, such as the chalk grasslands of Falmer and the mature elm trees at Moulsecoomb and Eastbourne. Brighton and Hove has national collection status for elm conservation. While Chris had expected Falmer to have a lot of biodiversity to offer, given its position on the edge of the Downs, he says that Grand Parade in the city centre also had scope for wildlife development. “There is a garden and a pond there,” he said.

“There is scope for introducing native species and making it more wildlife friendly.”

The plan differentiates between areas with potential to be more diverse and those where there is good existing biodiversity which needs better management, for example, less frequent mowing would allow a bigger range of plants. It will be used by the estates management team to make improvements on campuses

and incorporate wildlife friendly features into new developments.

It will also help to encourage staff and students to get more involved in protecting and extending the university’s biodiversity. Chris and colleagues have rewritten the plan in smaller campus-based sections which will be disseminated to the various Environmental Action Network (EAN) groups. Already EAN members are going on wildlife

rambles at Moulsecoomb and Falmer. The hope is that in the future the sites of special interest can be signposted and students encouraged to do research there.

The Biodiversity Action Plan is available on the web at http://staffcentral.brighton.ac.uk/ sustainable_development.

STAFF IN FOCUS

IN FOCUS...

Kevin Mannall Kevin Mannall, the university’s community liaison officer, has been in post for two years. Most recently he has been appointed to Universities UK steering group along with colleagues from the universities of Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leeds to advise on good community relations.

MONDAY Feel great, first thing Monday morning have to accompany environmental health officer to visit a resident who lives near one of our halls of residence. The tenant has complained about being kept awake by noisy students. Meeting actually goes well, reassure resident that the university will take steps to address the problem and that we will cooperate fully with the environmental health department. Tenant is pleased that I have come along because they wanted to explain how they are affected. The resident reports that our security staff do very good job. Back to the office to pick up emails etc.

Lunch time meeting in east Brighton, this is a regular monthly meeting at the local vicarage.

The police chief inspector for Brighton is present, as well as the local councillors for the area, and the community manager for Brighton and Hove Albion is also there. Useful for developing and maintaining contacts with the local community. Talk quite a bit with the manager of the Trust for Developing Communities; she is interested in working with Active Student and Cupp.

Back to office where I remain until I leave for a resident meeting in Eastbourne that starts at 7pm, do my bit explaining who I am and what I do to newcomers. Positive as there are no complaints about the university or students.

business officers) conference I am to be part of a panel of experts.

Partner has joked that I must feel very important and must have made it! Finish the day off with a meeting with the Students’ Union. Explain to them that I have been invited to attend a meeting at the police station on a regular basis (operation Regan and Columbus) that deal with attacks on foreign/students and the LGBT community.

TUESDAY Late start today, go into office and then onto an afternoon meeting at the university of Sussex. Meet with the head of the University of Sussex residential services and head of department. Local councillors for east Brighton are also present. Main topic of discussion is the publication of the report concerning the inquiry into studentification. Also talk about the two universities plans for housing students in the future.

WEDNESDAY Complaint from Eastbourne resident received this morning.

They have already been in touch with the environmental health department, so they also will be contacting me soon. Agree a course of action with resident. Will write to and visit the students if noise issues continue.

Office for the rest of morning preparing a presentation for the CUBO (college, university

THURSDAY Spend the morning in a meeting with environmental health at their offices. Also present are the University of Sussex and BIM (Brighton Institute of Music) it is encouraging to see a lot more joined up working going on.

Afternoon spent catching up, but receive telephone call from Sussex Cricket Club, (they did not know who else to contact at the university). They have a number of coaching jobs and volunteer vacancies over the summer. Put them into touch with the careers service.

FRIDAY Office in morning catching up again. Then off to sunny Eastbourne in the afternoon to attend a JAG meeting (Joint Action Group) senior council officers, head of the council, councillors and police present.

All quiet as far as the university is concerned.

July | August 2009 Channel Magazine 23

Events KEY EVENT Start of autumn term / new academic year Date

Monday 28 September

ALUMNI EVENT School of Education alumni reunion Date Venue

Saturday 12 September Falmer Please email alumni@brighton.ac.uk

SPECIAL EVENT MA Photography exhibition 2009 Date Venue

22–25 September Gallery Foyer, Grand Parade

SPECIAL EVENT International student orientation Date Venue

18–25 September More information and booking can be found at www.brighton.ac.uk/orientation

NEW STUDENT EVENT Family welcome weekend Date Venue

26–27 September Brighton and Eastbourne

SPECIAL EVENT Beyond Biba An evening with Barbara Hulanicki Date Venue

29 October Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade

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Top to bottom: International Student Orientation.

Family welcome weekend.

Barbara Hulanicki, Brighton graduate, fashion designer and founder of the iconic clothes store Biba.