Welcome to the Summer Issue of News Bites from the College of Science where you can find out some of the latest news and events. For more information about the College of Science visit www.swan.ac.uk/science

STUDENT ACTIVITIES / STUDENTS IN THE NEWS

College of Science student satisfaction levels reach new high!

Geography is TOP in the UK for student satisfaction.  Students at Swansea University have rated the Geography Department 100% for overall satisfaction in this year’s National Student Survey.

Computer Science and Zoology are both in the UK’s TOP TEN for student satisfaction.  Students rated the Computer Science Department 93% for overall satisfaction and students rated Zoology 94%.

Maths student wins PwC interview competition

Swansea City FC app development project

Homegrown seagrass NGO stems from research degrees

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently invited Swansea University students to take part in their interview competition with the chance to meet one of PwC’s directors and compete for a £500 cash prize. We are delighted that Amy Sutherland, one of our final year MMath students, was chosen as the winner and awarded this fantastic prize.

Swansea City Football Club and Software Alliance Wales have completed a year-long joint app development project. The project saw the football club utilise the IT skills of three of Swansea University’s computer science students, Bradley Coles-Perkins, Sam Lucas, and Jon Phillips to develop mobile applications that would enhance fan engagement. 

Leigh Dineen, Vice Chairman at Swansea City Football Club, said: “Software Alliance Wales and Swansea University are renowned for producing best-of-breed IT students so we were delighted to be able to utilise the enviable IT skills of three of their brightest students and at the same time give them some business experience for their CVs.”

During the research conducted for their MRes degrees in Aquatic Ecology and Conservation, Benjamin Jones and Richard Lilley discovered just how little people in the UK knew about seagrass, and the important roles that seagrass habitats play in coastal ecosystems.  Every hour, an area of seagrass the size of two football pitches is lost around the World. This rate of loss is equal (if not greater) to that occurring in tropical rainforests and on coral reefs yet it receives a fraction of the attention. With the help of their supervisor, Dr Richard Unsworth, the team joined forces to create Project Seagrass, an organisation dedicated to advancing the conservation of seagrass through education, influence, research and action.

Eye-Range app wins live Hackathon!

Bioscience Society Iceland Trip

Swansea Computer Science students won the Software Alliance Wales’s live Hackathon in June 2014.  The challenge was to create a commercially viable and innovative app.  James Alfei, Chris Parsons, Rodrigo Rogers, Robert Fletcher, Justina Onuigbo, Ellis James, Damon Jones and Gwion Davies created the winning Eye-Range for golfers app.

Members of the Bioscience Society spent a week full of exciting activities in Iceland over the Easter break.  Visits included the Blue Lagoon, a turquoise mineral rich geothermal lake set in a vast lava field and Gullfoss, a spectacular waterfall surrounded by sheets of ice.  They also went glacier walking and ice hiking, whale watching, and undertook some voluntary conservation work at Thingvellier National Park.

Great graduates in Mathematics!

As well as a record number of students graduating this year in the Department of Mathematics with a MMath degree (21), two thirds of these obtained a First Class degree.

Out of the BSc and MMath cohorts, over 50% were awarded First Class degrees!

Next generation of IT stars gather at Project Fair

Maths students enjoy end of year meal

Computer Science students visit maker conference in Berlin

The Department of Computer Science organized another successful Project Fair in June 2014 where prospective employers have the opportunity to discuss their business requirements with talented computer science students like Ryan Wong who has designed a mobile application for the Android platform.  Ryan’s app allows the user to record their location and then visualize the length and efficiency of their route. Students recognized for their hard work were:

• Winner of the best student project as voted by school students:  Kieron Jewell for Who’s Watching Me? The Little Brother Concept
• Winner of the best student project as voted by the IT industry:  Ryan Wong for Visual Assessment Boundaries
• Winner of best student project as voted by the academic assessors:  Matthew Poskitt for OSMOSIS: A Leap Motion Java Game

In May the Swansea University Maths student society SUMSoc organized a meal out at La Braseria for students and staff, which was a wonderful evening for everyone. For those students about to graduate, it was a lovely way of rounding off their time at Swansea University.  The final-year students took the opportunity to present the staff with a card, expressing their gratitude for the excellent teaching and support they have received.

We are deeply grateful for this show of appreciation, and we want to reciprocate by wishing all the best to those who graduated this year. We have really enjoyed teaching them, and we look forward to hearing of all their great successes in their careers.

After winning the Computer Science Maker Competition (see the Spring 2014 College of Science Newseltter) in December 2013, undergraduate students Callum Dicker, Lewis Edwards and Cameron Steer were invited to attend the first annual Things conference, held in May 2014 in Berlin. ThingsCon is a conference about the design and development of hardware within the maker and startup communities, with talks ranging from Internet of Things, wearables and connected devices to 3D printing and new manufacturing techniques.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Swansea University inspires budding scientists at summer school

At the end of July 2014 Swansea University's College of Science hosted Year 11 and 12 students from schools and colleges throughout South Wales at the S4 Summer School.  S4 (Swansea University Science for Schools Scheme), a Welsh Government-funded outreach programme, sees students spending a week on campus taking part in science workshops.

Students spend the week in workshops such as ‘Robotics with LEGO’ (Computer Science department), ‘Hunting for exoplanets’ (Physics), ’Myth-busting climate change’ (Geography) and ‘Animal adaptations’ (Bioscience). By staying in the Halls of Residence, students are also immersed in campus life and get the full ‘student experience’.

Swansea Computers' Second Life in African Schools

Soapbox Science in Swansea

Expert advice for BBC Countryfile

Through an initiative of Claudio D'Onofrio (Engineering), Natascha Kljun (Geography), and Anna Pigott (Geography, formerly SU Sustainability Team), the Department of Geography and the College of Engineering have donated 74 computers, 85 monitors, and lots of unused computer accessories to I.T. Schools Africa. This became possible when computers of two large student PC labs were upgraded with new equipment.

The charity I.T. Schools Africa made it possible that these computers are now being used in schools in Malawi (Chipasula Secondary School in Llongwe) and Zambia, rather than ending up in the tip.

Image: Children saying thank you, Chipasula School, Lilongwe

Wales’s leading female scientists, including many from the College of Science at Swansea University, recently showcased science to the general public from their soapboxes on Swansea seafront.  Exploding volcanoes, a pumping heart and living maggots were just a few of points of interest for passers-by.

The College of Science was well represented during this event by Dr Ruth Callaway and Dr Emily Shepard from Biosciences, Professor Siwan Davies from Geography, Dr Sofya Lyakhova from Mathematics and Dr Sophie Schirmer from Physics. 

In June 2014, Dr Dan Forman, a zoology expert in the Department of Biosciences, appeared on BBC Countryfile.

The programme reported on the wildlife of Port Talbot and Dr Forman spoke about the rare Pere David breed of deer in Margam Park.

Watch 53 minutes into the programme. 

Further Maths Support Programme Wales and Swansea University Mathematics Department host HEA Tackling Transition in Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research workshop

Swansea University Mathematics Department and Further Maths Support programme Wales hosted the HEA Stem (MSOR): Tackling Transition in Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research workshop in late March 2014. 

The issues the group identified included a lack of knowledge in some key areas of Mathematics and difficulties in adapting to new learning and teaching styles by degree students.  The workshop also highlighted the need to increase the numbers taking Further Maths as an A-level to help increase the breadth of subject knowledge, and suggested that schools and colleges help prepare their students for University by equipping them with a knowledge of and an ability to adapt to different learning styles.

BSG Ecology provide technical support to MSc students for Dartford Warbler Research

Successful Computer Vision Summer School 2014

Industrial past and renewables future

BSG Ecology is currently providing technical support to MSc students under the tuition of Dr Penny Neyland and Dr Laura Roberts of Swansea University for their ornithological dissertations.

Owain Gabb, of BSG Ecology’s Swansea office, initially approached the University with ideas about studying aspects of Dartford warbler ecology and distribution on the Gower Peninsula in 2013.  Following some discussion with academic staff, the topic was put to students on the 2014 MSc Environmental Biology: Conservation and Resource Management course as a potential research area.

The annual BMVA Computer Vision Summer School was hosted at Swansea University from 30 June to 4 July 2014. A total of 67 delegates from 14 different countries (21 from outside the UK) attended the 19th edition of this summer school. 17 speakers from both academia and industry delivered 19 lectures and two lab sessions.

EnAlgae hosted EU’s Committee of the Regions on a study tour to Swansea this Spring, focusing on its industrial past and its current status as a front runner in developing renewable energy techniques.  The event was hosted by the EnAlgae project based within Swansea University’s College of Science. This is a £12 million project funded by the European Union via the Interreg IVB programme. The project is developing algal bioenergy technologies, and the visit allowed committee members the opportunity to see progress on the project and also view other studies being undertaken on the campus.

Urdd Eisteddfod

The College of Science was well represented in the GwyddonLe (Science Tent) at the Urdd Eisteddfod again this year with stands for Biosciences, Geography, Mathematics and Physics. 

The Physics stand included the regular non-Newtonian fluid and Crookes’ tube experiments as well as a new display showcased this year which used a comb to break a laser beam connected to a speaker to make sound – perhaps this could be a new instrument for next year’s music competitions?!  Liquid nitrogen shows were performed on the stage in the tent twice a day drawing a good crowd.  Flowers were cracked, blu-tack nails were hammered into polystyrene and there was even a high temperature superconductor UFO flying back and forth along a magnetic track on the stage (kindly borrowed from the Materials Live group).

On the Mathematics stand there were a variety of activities for visitors to grapple with. Many enjoyed tackling the sudoku puzzles and trying to make cubes out of 6 given pieces - more difficult than it sounds as the edges of the pieces were not straight. A number of mathematical card tricks were also performed which visitors of all ages enjoyed. 

The GwyddonLe is always a great opportunity to engage with the public and to inspire the next generation of scientists.

Iowa students enjoy a sustainability day at Swansea University

The Department of Biosciences’ Swansea Ecology Research Team (SERT) welcomed a group of students from the University of Northern Iowa Sustainability Capstone on 21 May 2014.  The students were taken on a walk on campus based on the biodiversity trail.  These walks provide an opportunity to highlight the diversity of life that surrounds us all, permit the free and frank exchange of ideas, and to discuss often challenging dilemmas with regards to the conservation of biodiversity and human behaviour.  Read their blog to find out what they did: http://unisustainability.blogspot.co.uk/

The walk was part of the ongoing series of walks and talks that SERT provides for the University on themes relating to biodiversity, sustainability and conservation.  Iowa students visit each year as part of an exchange programme between our two universities and were hosted by the University Sustainability Team.  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENTS

New Tropical Marine Biology field course in Puerto Rico

The Department of Biosciences has introduced a new two-week field-based module to complement the existing marine biology field course.  Students will be based in the Isla Magueyes Field Station in Puerto Rico run by the University of Puerto Rico.  The marine station is located within a broad embayment protected by coral reefs and within close proximity to a wide variety of tropical marine habitats: large coral reef complexes, mangrove islets, extensive seagrass beds, rocky and sandy shorelines, a world-famous bioluminescent bay, sand and macroalgal plains, and hypersaline pools.

RESEARCH IN THE NEWS

Mycology against malaria

Another breakthrough for Swansea physicists

World’s longest green turtle migration recorded by satellite tracking

Professor Tariq Butt, a leading expert on entomopathogenic (insect-killing) fungi - particularly Metarhizium anisopliae, or green muscardine fungus – is involved with several projects aimed at developing new techniques that will help in the fight against insect-borne diseases, such as malaria.

Professor Butt’s work is featured in an article in Planet Earth (pages 18-20) and highlights how insect-borne infections take an appalling toll across much of the world, and they are turning up in new places.  

In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the ALPHA experiment at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator (AD) reports a measurement of the electric charge of antihydrogen atoms, finding it to be compatible with zero to eight decimal places. This is the first time that that the charge of an anti-atom has been measured to high precision and confirms expectations that the charges of its constituents, the positron and antiproton, are equal and opposite.  Professor Mike Charlton, Head of the Department of Physics, who leads the UK effort in CERN’s ALPHA experiment said "This is the very first study which has made a precise determination of a property of antihydrogen. This advance was only possible using ALPHA's trapping technique, and we are optimistic that further developments of our programme will yield many such insights in the future”.

Researchers from the Department of Biosciences at Swansea University, working with colleagues in Australia and the Seychelles, have announced the longest recorded migration for the green sea turtle, an endangered species. One of eight turtles which were tracked by satellite was found to have travelled 3979 km, from the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, to the coast of Somalia in east Africa.

Image by BS and RD Kirby

The College of Science scoops four prestigious Leverhulme Research Fellowships

Two female scientists in Swansea University’s College of Science have received Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships out of seven awarded this year by The Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science. Professor Tavi Murray, Department of Geography and Dr Sophie Schirmer, Associate Professor, Department of Physics fought off strong competition from around the UK. 

The College of Science has been remarkably successful this year as Professor Chris Allton and Dr Stefan Eriksson, both Department of Physics, also received Leverhulme Research Fellowships.

The fellowships scheme is designed to allow scientists to make major progress in their area of study by undertaking full-time research. Professor Murray has received her fellowship to research the interactions between ice and ocean at the margins of glaciers in southeast Greenland while Dr Schirmer is researching new paradigms for magnetic resonance molecular imaging via quantum control.

The fellowships will allow Professor Allton to concentrate on his research into how fundamental particles interact under extreme conditions, and Dr Eriksson will conduct the first ever laser spectroscopic measurement of the 1S - 2S energy interval in antihydrogen trapped in the ALPHA apparatus at CERN.

Swansea University Research Impact Awards

June 2014 saw the launch of the Swansea University Impact Awards, which celebrate the breadth and depth of the impact of the University’s research.  Out of six Award categories, two awards were received by researchers in the College of Science: for Outstanding Impact in Health and Wellbeing and for Outstanding Breakthrough in Research. 

Research Impact Award for Outstanding Impact in Health and Wellbeing

The Bloodhound Award for Outstanding Breakthrough in Research

Professor Harold Thimbleby, Department of Computer Science and the CHI+MED project team won the GEHealthcare Impact Award for “Contribution to Improvements in Patient Safety through Computer-Human Interaction for Medical Devices”.

Approximately 10% of deaths due to preventable errors in hospitals are due to computational errors. Corresponding implications on the healthcare system are estimated to cost the NHS over £600m per annum. Research into the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) issues behind medical error has led to a changing of attitude and practice within the healthcare procurement system, and a better understanding of the need to procure safer devices for hospitals.  The research has earned global recognition, leading to strong links and research collaboration with international partners such as the US Food and Drug Administration.

Professor Peter North, Dr Sietse Los, Dr Jackie Rosette and Dr Andreas Heckel, Department of Geography, won The Bloodhound Award for “Using land-surface satellite data to improve weather forecasts and climate predictions”.

Researchers at the Department of Geography’s Global Environmental Modelling and Earth Observation (GEMEO) group at Swansea University have used satellite data to improve weather forecasts and climate predictions. Swansea University has worked directly with two leading meteorological agencies — the UK Met Office and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) — to refine the way in which land is represented in their numerical weather prediction models.

Image (L-R): Chris Corcoran, Dr Jackie Rosette, Professor Peter North, Richard Noble OBE.

Prairies of the sea under threat

Quantum leaps forward at Swansea

Baboons in space!

Seagrass meadows are a globally important resource that is being threatened by a whole series of issues ranging from climate change and major weather events to poor water quality and coastal development.

Dr Richard Unsworth, Department of Biosciences, explains in a special issue of the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin entitled ‘Seagrass meadows in a globally changing environment’ that seagrass are marine plants and therefore need good water quality and an affable temperature to photosynthesise and grow.

Dr Sophie Schirmer’s passion for quantum mechanics led to the establishment of Qymru, a Welsh quantum technology network.  Dr Schirmer, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, said: “It was a paper entitled "Control of Quantum Systems: The Dream is Alive" that got me truly excited about Quantum Physics when I was a graduate student.”

“Quantum Mechanics is one of the most successful scientific theories ever developed, and the basis for many revolutionary technologies that we use every day such as computers, mobile phones and DVDs, all technologies that rely on quantum effects.”

All continents and countries are affected by human-wildlife conflict, but in Africa human-wildlife conflict is particularly prevalent. One of the most high-profile human-wildlife conflicts in Africa is the human-baboon conflict in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. In search of high-energy human foods or waste, the baboons raid homes, businesses, cars, and even people themselves. Members of SHOAL in the Department of Biosciences travelled to Cape Town in March of this year to set up the latest instalment of their collaboration with the University of Cape Town researching baboon behaviour.  The team, led by PhD student Gaëlle Fehlmann, has fitted eight male baboons (who are the worst raiders) with bespoke data-logging collars that provide high resolution GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer data.

Best of 2013 for Photon Parameterisation for Robust Relaxation Constraints

The Photon Parameterisation for Robust Relaxation Constraints paper by Ben Spencer and Dr Mark Jones, Department of Computer Science, has been selected as a notable article in computing in 2013. Computing Reviews’ Best of 2013 list consists of book and article nominations from reviewers, CR category editors, the editors in chief of journals, and others in the computing community. The complete list is here. The paper also won best paper at Eurographics 2013.

Zooplankton research reveals fuller picture of changes in our oceans

Zooplankton may be tiny creatures, but they support much of the life in the sea. Now scientists in the Department of Biosciences at Swansea University, studying their entire life cycle, have shown that zooplankton may not be coping as well as previously thought to higher levels of acidity in seawater. The team’s work will help give a fuller picture of what’s happening in the world’s oceans.

Ocean acidification has been described as “the other CO2 problem”.  Like its better-known counterpart, climate change, it is caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  Ocean acidification is already happening, yet we still know little about its impacts and implications.

Computer Science research helping to fight the rise of the app attackers

Funding boost brings Welsh-developed hi-tech diabetes aid a step closer to reality

Swansea scientists pioneer search for technology-based solution to diagnose COPD disease

As reported in the Spring 2014 College of Science Newsletter, Associate Professor Markus Roggenbach is undertaking research to counter cyber-criminals who are using malicious apps which can collude with each other to infect people’s smartphones.  Wales Online recently reported that “criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to hack into our phones trawling for bank details or information which can be used to drain money from people’s bank accounts”.  Markus Roggenbach said “Success in this project would mean a rare opportunity for the cyber-security community to stay ahead of an emerging threat, instead of reacting to a threat which is already prevalent.”

Research at Swansea University to develop a hi-tech diabetes aid which could save patients’ lives by sending an SMS alert to emergency personnel if they suffer a hypoglycaemia attack has received a further funding boost. The research to develop an easy to use, minimally-invasive, low cost continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system has been awarded a further grant from the Welsh Government, through its EU funded Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) programme. This follow on project involves scientists and the state-of-the-art facilities at the Centre for NanoHealth to develop this next-generation device.

Welsh-based Glyconics Ltd and Swansea University’s Centre for NanoHealth have set up a partnership to develop a hand-held miniaturised device to diagnose and predict the exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in patients.

Nanotechnology research could improve tests for bowel cancer

Dr Peter Dunstan, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics,  is involved in a new research project which could help improve diagnosis and treatment of bowel cancer – the third most common cancer in the world – by looking at how nanotechnology could be used to screen patients, with a simple blood test replacing the current tests.  The project, which has just been awarded £100,000 of funding by Cancer Research Wales, is led by Dean Harris, Honorary Professor in Swansea University’s College of Medicine, a colorectal consultant at ABMU health board.

OTHER NEWS AND EVENTS

Prime time for Plankton Modeller

Dr Aditee Mitra, from the Department of Biosciences in the College of Science has been awarded a British Science Association Media Fellowship to work with the BBC Countryfile team. 

Since 1987, the British Science Association (BSA) has awarded 10 fellowships annually to scientists. The aim of these fellowships is to enhance interactions between scientists and the media. This is the first time a researcher from the College of Science has been awarded this prestigious Fellowship.

Dr Mitra will be starting her 4-week placement with the BBC Countryfile in the last week of July under the aegis of Producer Matthew Gull who leads the Current Affairs team.

Dr Mitra will be reporting about her experiences on her Facebook page.

Huge increase in the Department of Mathematics’ position in the Guardian League Tables 2015

Welsh Crucible 2014

Honorary Professorship at University of Cape Town

Reflecting the huge progress we have made in enhancing student satisfaction for this year, we have jumped to 14th position in the Guardian League Table, putting us in the top quartile for the subject, and top in Wales.

Dr Stephen Lindsay, Department of Computer Science and Dr Luca Borger, Department of Biosciences, have been selected for Welsh Crucible 2014.  Welsh Crucible is an award-winning programme of personal, professional and leadership development for the future research leaders of Wales.  Previous successful candidates for the College of Science included Dr Sophie Schirmer, Department of Physics (2013), Dr Neils Madsen, Department of Physics and Dr Aditee Mitra, Department of Biosciences (2012) and Dr Parisa Eslambolchilar (2011).

Professor Matt Jones, Head of the Department of Computer Science at Swansea University, has been conferred with the title of Honorary Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Cape Town.  This appointment will strengthen the relationship already established between Professor Jones and the Science Faculty.

The College of Science is expanding!

Research Institute of Visual Computing (RIVIC) Graduate School 2014

As part of our commitment to enhancing student experience, we have recently made the following new academic appointments:

• Professor Carole Llewellyn, Chair, Biosciences
• Dr Philip Jones, Senior Lecturer, Human Geography
• Shengjun Zhu, Lecturer, Human Geography
• Dr Katherine Ficken, Lecturer, Physical Geography
• Dr Rhian Meara, Welsh Medium Lecturer, Geography
• Dr Aled Isaac, Welsh Medium Lecturer, Physics
• Professor Peter Dunstan, Chair, Physics
• Dr Gianmassimo Tasinato, Senior Lecturer, Particle Physics Theory, Physics
• Dr Ivonne Zavala, Lecturer, Particle Physics Theory, Physics
• Dr Randolf Pohl, Senior Lecturer, Atomic Molecular and Quantum Physics, Physics
• Dr O’Keefe, Lecturer, Atomic Molecular and Quantum Physics, Physics

The fifth annual RIVIC Graduate School was held 16-17 June 2014 in Swansea, setting a new record of 37 talks by students and researchers, with three keynote talks from Majid Mirmehdi (Bristol), Tim Weyrich (UCL) and Kurt Debattista (Warwick).

The event was arranged over two days with a wide range of talks in the topics of Vision, Graphics and Visualisation (Visual Computing).

The RIVIC Graduate School is an excellent opportunity for researchers across the RIVIC sites (Swansea, Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff) to meet up, discuss research projects, seek ideas and solutions, collaborate and generally see the active and varied Visual Computing research ongoing across Wales.

Foundation Degree in Computer Science exhibiting at Wales' biggest business exhibition, Introbiz

The event is taking place on Thursday 25th September 2014 at Cardiff City House of Sport, Leckwith between 8am and 4.30pm.

To read previous editions of the College of Science Newsletter:

For further details on any item reported above, please contact the member of staff concerned, or email Mrs Sandra Kramcha