Welcome to the Autumn 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

Farewell from Professor Steve Wilks

"In January 2011 I had the honour of being appointed as the inaugural Head of the College of Science at Swansea, tasked with creating an integrated College where students and staff could flourish. Four years to that date I will step down from this role to take up my new position as a Pro Vice Chancellor at Swansea. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the College and had the opportunity to learn about many disciplines outside of my own and meet many world leading scientist and social scientist conducting fascinating research in the College.

During my term I have been supported by a strong management and leadership team who have helped the College grow in scale, stature and success, underpinned by strong Departments who have worked collaboratively to deliver new multipurpose undergraduate teaching laboratories, growth in state of the art research facilities and an expansion of resources to enhance the experience of our students and staff. I feel I am leaving behind a legacy that can be used as a platform for future growth and success.

The College is poised for dramatic expansion with major projects on the horizon that will transform Science at Swansea: a new building for computer science through the computational foundry project, a new building for the Departments of Physics and Mathematics, and the potential return of Chemistry to the College.

I wish you all the very best in your future endeavours and I will watch with great interest the transformation of Science at Swansea under the leadership of the new head, Professor Matt Jones." 

STUDENT ACTIVITIES / STUDENTS IN THE NEWS

October Open Day success

College welcomes new international students

Creative Geography Students get out and about

The largest ever Open Day at Swansea University took place this October with each of our departments hosting record numbers of visitors! With an extra 20% increase in applications for 2014 entry on the back of a 42% increase in applications for 2013 entry, the University is well on its way to becoming one of the top 30 universities in the UK.

‘Very impressed, especially with the enthusiasm of the lecturers’.

‘Best talk and introduction I’ve seen in all 6 Uni visits’.

‘Everything was covered, wonderfully enthusiastic and friendly staff’.

We are delighted to welcome our new international students who started in September, taking the international student population in Science to over 160 in total.

The College now has students from over 50 different countries including China, Brazil, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Greece, Italy, France, Cyprus, Germany, Latvia and more.

Meet us in your Country

College of Science staff are attending events, visiting schools and institutions in a number of countries during October and November. Bulgaria was visited in October and staff will also be visiting China, Cyprus, Greece, Kuwait, Brazil and Nigeria before the end of November. We would love to meet you in your country.

To find out where you can meet our staff during visits to these countries, please contact: Philip Jarman – International & Postgraduate Recruitment Officer.

Students taking the second year undergraduate module on Creative Geographies went on an art and urban regeneration walk around Swansea with local arts organisation LOCWS International. They looked at the different ways in which public art is used in attempts to revitalise city centres and how art can create place-based identities.

Swansea University Students get the opportunity to boost their CV

Student satisfaction levels reach new high at Swansea University

Swansea University offers its students a wide range of paid placement and work experience opportunities.

The SPIN (Swansea Paid Internship Network), WOW (Week of Work) and Santander paid placement schemes give Swansea students the opportunity to boost their CV by providing them with the practical skills to secure their future graduate job.

The placement opportunities offered by Swansea University are a great way for students to gain these skills, providing them with work experience that they can add to their CV.

The latest National Student Survey (NSS) results show that satisfaction levels amongst students at Swansea University are continuing to rise, with 89% of students responding that they are satisfied with their course overall at Swansea.

Great news for the College of Science with 100% of Geography students at Swansea satisfied with their course and Zoology and Computer Science in the UK’s TOP TEN for student satisfaction (National Student Survey 2014).

Annual student symposium (9th, 10th and 11th December)

The whole Biosciences third year cohort will be showcasing their dissertations at this year’s student symposium at the Dylan Thomas Centre in December.  This year there will be 30 students at the Centre each day from 9am – 4.30pm talking about their dissertations.

Tuesday 9th December – Marine Biology students

Wednesday 10th December – Biology students

Thursday 11th December – Zoology students

For more information please contact Dr Ed Pope

Geology fieldwork in the Colorado Plateau

Ifan researches the Grand Canyon

Six Geography and Physical Earth Science students undertook two weeks of geological fieldwork in the awesome surroundings of the Colorado Plateau of southern Utah and northern Arizona in September 2014, collecting data for their final-year dissertation projects. 

BSc Physical Earth Science degree student Ifan Jones explores the Grand Canyon as part of his research thanks to financial support from Tir Mostyn and Foel Goch Wind Farm Community Trust, which contributed to 75% of the cost of his return flight.  In return for this kind gesture, Ifan will give a short presentation on the experience to Ysgol Cyffylliog his local village primary school.

Ifan said, ‘This financial support enabled me to conduct my dissertation research in one of the most amazing geological landscapes in the world.  I learnt so much about sedimentology which will help me massively in my dissertation and gained valuable hands-on fieldwork experience.’

All you ever wanted to know about sloths

Metro reports on Becky Cliffe, a PhD student at Swansea University, and her work with the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica.

Becky, who is studying for her PhD in the Department of Biosciences, is a British zoologist working at the sanctuary, which has about 10,000 visitors each year.

‘We have 156 hungry sloth mouths to feed at the moment and the recent bad weather means that we have been receiving new sloth casualties almost every day,’ she said. ‘We have 13 orphaned babies in our intensive care nursery right now that require round-the-clock attention, so we will probably be celebrating Sloth Week by feeding our smallest, most delicate residents with some extra hibiscus flower treats – a favourite food of all sloths.’ 

Sloth Week is hosted by US TV channels Animal Planet and Animalist. Find out more about these fascinating creatures:

Physics student flourishes at Centre for NanoHealth (CNH) event

The Centre for Nanohealth (CNH) held an event last month where suppliers got the chance to demonstrate their equipment to businesses ‘Business improvements through materials characterisation’.

Kathryn Welsby who is based in the Physics department with Professor Peter Dunstan, the Chair of the College of Science, is currently studying an interdisciplinary PhD in Raman Spectroscopy study of blood for disease diagnosis, prognosis and risk prediction. 

At the event she assisted in sample collection, discussing with the participants their material characterisation needs. She helped in explaining the plethora of equipment available at CNH so as to best direct the businesses to the most suitable technique to investigate their samples.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Swansea University inspires budding scientists at Summer School

Software Alliance Wales: Closing technology skills gap to help Wales SMEs compete

Soapbox Science in Swansea

Year 11 and 12 students from schools and colleges throughout South Wales spent a week taking part in science workshops at the S4 Summer School.

Students spent 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).  They stayed in the Halls of Residence where they immersed themselves in campus life and got the full ‘student experience’.

Software Alliance Wales (SAW) is a £13.4m initiative designed to help Welsh businesses maximise their potential for exploiting Information Communication Technologies (ICT).

Dr Neal Harman the Project Director at the Department for Computer Science here in Swansea University, said, ‘IT is critical to almost all parts of business – with many businesses being unable to exist without it. While the quality of education and the growing pool of tech talent already present here in Wales is encouraging, the widely acknowledged IT skills gap is set to get bigger as demand for skilled resources increases.”

He added: “The challenge remains for Software Alliance Wales to provide a platform for further growth and skills transfer; working with entrepreneurs, tech start-ups, IT companies, Welsh universities and other established businesses, to upskill our home-grown talent to meet the growing and fast-changing demands of the global market.”

Wales’ leading female scientists including many from the College of Science at Swansea University were recently showcasing science to the general public from their soapboxes.

The event took place on the 5th of July 2014 next to the 360 Beach and Watersports Centre and proved to be very popular with the public.

Twelve women scientists from various science disciplines took turns to stand on soapboxes and share their excitement about their research work.

Exploding volcanoes, a pumping heart and living maggots were just a few of the 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, Prof Siwan Davies from Geography, Dr Sofya Lyakhova from Mathematics and Dr Sophie Schirmer from Physics.

Year 10 Conference – South Wales

The Further Maths Support Programme Wales ran three successful conferences in June and July 2014 for Year 10 students from across South Wales.  The conferences were run at Pembrokeshire College, Swansea University and the University of South Wales.

The conferences provided an enriching and enjoyable day for 340 students from 20 schools from South Wales including 4 from Pembrokeshire and 4 from Rhondda Cynon Taf. 

The aim of the conferences was to demonstrate to students the depth and breadth of mathematics and to encourage them to consider studying Mathematics beyond GCSE.  All four conferences aimed to give the message that maths is a rewarding subject and opens the doors to a variety of exciting career opportunities.

South East Asian Arts Festival

Dr Amanda Rogers was part of a public panel on “Heritage and the Contemporary in South East Asian arts” as one of the opening events of the South East Asian Arts Festival, 25th September, in London.

SEACAMS supports BIOBLOCKs competition at Gorseinon College

Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay is supporting a team from Gorseinon College through the Engineering Education Scheme Wales (EESW) via STEM Cymru. The team is made up of 10 students, all of whom are studying biology amongst other A Levels. The challenge for the students is to design building blocks for the proposed tidal lagoon that incorporate recycled materials and promote the colonisation with marine life.

The SEACAMS project supported the development of biodiversity-promoting specialist units, called BIOBLOCK, for coastal defence structures. The general principals  are transferable, and Dr Ruth Callaway visited the STEM Cymru team and gave a presentation on man-made coastal structures, biodiversity promoting features and possible designs for BIOBLOCKS. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion with the students, who are going to develop their own ideas over the coming months and will present their designs in December 2014.

There is the opportunity to build prototypes of their BIOBLOCKs and test them in the natural environment. The project is encouraging students to consider links between engineering and ecology, and the BIOBLOCKs will advance long-term aspirations to design environmentally sustainable costal infrastructure.

TEACHING DEVELOPMENTS

New modules for teaching in the Department of Biosciences

We have newly appointed staff members delivering modules for the first time:

• Dr Sonia Consuegra teaching Molecular Ecology
• Dr Jim Bull and Dr Luca Borger teaching Ecological Data Analysis
• Prof Kam Tang will be teaching Oceans and Climate next term
• Dr Ines Fürtbauer has created a module on Animal Physiology: hormones and behaviour
• We have also welcomed Dr Carole Llywellyn as a new member of lecturing staff this term

RESEARCH IN THE NEWS

Autumnwatch zone in on Dr Dan Forman’s love of Otters

Adam Walton of BBC's Science Café visits Swansea University to meet the theoretical particle physicists investigating the fundamental structure of the universe

First positive siting of water vole in Swansea for over 40 years

Dr Dan Forman’s expertise on dietary analysis and behaviour with otters was explored on Autumnwatch last month (see link here, 21 minutes in). 

He also appeared on Autumnwatch Unsprung talking in more detail about these fascinating creatures (see link below, 5 minutes in).

The Swansea Particle Theory group which consists of Dr Maurizio Piai, Professor Gert Aarts and Professor Prem Kumar were interviewed by Adam Walton and discussed the general theme of research in theoretical and mathematical physics and how it is actually pursued and driven, whilst touching upon some of the specialized subject areas at Swansea. These include phenomenological aspects such as the physics seen at the Large Hadron Collider (CERN), computational approaches to the physics of Strong Interactions, and formal advances in the areas of Quantum Field Theories and String Theory.

The Department of Biosciences has found a unique rare species – a water vole has been spotted and photographed at Lower Lake at Penllergare Valley Woods, proving the importance of Penllergare as a green corridor for a diverse range of wildlife.

According to the Wildlife Trust, the water vole is Britain’s fastest declining wild mammal and has disappeared from many parts of the country where it was once common. It is threatened by habitat loss, but has suffered particularly from predation by the introduced American Mink.

Wood pellet magazine article highlights success of flue gas in growing algae

Researchers launch buoy to measure wave energy

Dr Jacqueline Rosette, Geography researcher at Swansea University, has been rewarded by the Royal Society with a University Research Fellowship

An article written by a member of the EnAlgae research team based in the Department of Biosciences at Swansea University has been published in a leading biomass magazine.

In the article, Dr Naomi Ginnever asks the question whether algae can provide the solution to the problem of what to do with NOx which is produced as a result of burning wood biomass, a matter of concern to governments who are trying to meet European emissions targets.

Read more on page 30:

The College of Engineering and Biosciences have been collaborating on marine renewable energy research for a number of years. As well as Engineering making extensive use of the Biosciences boat, RV Noctiluca, Dr Ian Horsfall has been working on the environmental impact of marine energy. This work has concentrated on improving site survey techniques using active acoustics and the potential impacts on fish and their predators.

Dr Jacqueline Rosette recently worked at NASA on carbon assessment in the USA and seasonal effects in the Amazon, and at Forest Research Northern Research Station on methods to improve our ability to monitor the UK’s public forests.

Jacqueline specialises in research involving the assessment of forest ecosystems using satellite and airborne remote sensing. In particular she uses lidar, a technology which captures a vertical profile of the forest canopy.  This can be related to important parameters such as the amount of carbon stored and can help to answer questions regarding changes to our forests in response to climate change, human or natural disturbance.

Postdoctoral researcher wins prize for innovative science

Dr Benjamin Jaeger, a postdoctoral researcher in the Particle Theory Group of the Physics Department at Swansea University's College of Science has won the prize for best poster in innovative science at the Annual Dirac meeting, held at Durham University on the 22nd of September 2014.

Dr Andrew King's sheepdog research reported widely in the press

Nanoscale NanoWizard!

The future of sea turtles in a warming world

Research conducted by Dr Andrew King shows that sheepdogs use just two simple rules to round up large herds of sheep - to collect the sheep when they’re dispersed and drive them forward when they’re aggregated. The findings could lead to the development of robots that can gather and herd livestock, crowd control techniques, or new methods to clean up the environment.

Professor Peter Dunstan, Department of Physics at Swansea University uses NanoWizard to study the properties of materials on the Nanoscale.

Lab Bulletin reports that the Nanowizard®, which is manufactured by JPK is being used by Professor Peter Dunstan of the Physics Department. His research utilizes state of the art techniques and instrumentation to increase the fundamental understanding of the structural, chemical, optical and electronic properties of materials on the nanoscale, and by doing so advances the future application of those materials.

Swansea University scientists have headed an international study published in Nature Climate Change recently examining the possibility of sea turtles becoming extinct due to climate change.

Professor Graeme Hays, Chair of Aquatic Biology at Swansea University and currently Chair of Marine Science at Deakin University, Warrnambool, Australia, and PhD student, Jacques-Olivier Laloë based at Swansea University’s College of Science, led the study which also involved researchers in the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic.

Shrinking Fish!

Dr Amanda Rogers’ Monograph published by Routledge

Research comparing prehistoric and contemporary salmonids indicates that fish size has decreased across millennia.

Professor Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, Department of Biosciences, Swansea University has co-authored a paper which has been published by Royal Society Open Science. The paper analyses the evolution of salmonid size by comparing prehistoric fish remains with contemporary samples to determine shifts in body size. More

A historical perspective on salmon size also appears in the National Geographic: "Salmon Were Once Huge. What Happened?" The article examines a new study which suggests that cavemen may have accidentally bred smaller fish by eating the big ones.

Dr Amanda Rogers' monograph Performing Asian Transnationalisms: Theatre, identity and the geographies of performance has been published by Routledge.

Amanda co-edited a Special Issue on racial politics and casting in the wake of The Orphan of Zhao controversy at the Royal Shakespeare Company with Dr Ashley Thorpe (Royal Holloway) for Contemporary Theatre Review. This also includes an open-access online site with the short film The Orphan of Zhao Redux that she commissioned and consulted on.

Research continues for Emeritus Professor Margaret Kenna of the Department of Geography

Professor Kenna has been carrying out further research on the Cycladic island of Anafi, and amongst island migrants in Athens.  She first visited the island in 1966 as part of social anthropological fieldwork for her PhD, and has studied kinship, inheritance, ritual, migration and the introduction of tourism to the island. Many of her articles are available on academia.edu. In 2006, to mark the fortieth year of her association with the island she was made an Honorary Citizen, and she is also an honorary member of the island migrants’ society.

On a visit in September-October of this year she completed a project to donate all the films and prints she has taken since 1966  – thousands of images - to the Benaki Museum Photo-Archive. Some of these pictures will be used to illustrate a book which is to be published in Greek and in English by the Academy of Athens Centre of Hellenic Folklore. The book is based on folktales, accounts of agricultural practices, songs and music, collected on Anafi in 1965 by Professor Stefanos Imellos, now an Academician. Photos from her 1966-67 fieldwork, which include many of Professor Imellos’s informants as well as of the agricultural practices detailed in his text, will be used.

OTHER NEWS AND EVENTS

Further increase in numbers taking the Further Maths A-level in Wales

This year’s Further Mathematics A-level results are again a cause for celebration in Wales.  Both Mathematics and Further Mathematics results have built upon last year’s increased entry with further rises.

Successful symposium event held in Kortrijk, Belgium

Around 80 delegates from all over Europe, Israel and South America came together recently for a day long symposium focused on the outputs so far from the EnAlgae project.

Funded by the European Union under the INTERREG IVB North West Europe programme, the project unites experts and observers from seven EU member states to determine the potential benefits of algae as a future sustainable energy resource.

A full programme of presentations by contributors to the project was enjoyed by delegates, and a full itinerary for the event can be found online:

Tech-Wales doubles revenues with IT accreditation

Port Talbot based IT solutions provider Tech-Wales has doubled its revenues and broken into new markets after landing a major contract.

The company has doubled its revenues, increased its employees by almost 50% and won a major contract with a car-part manufacturing company in Birmingham as a result of earning the CompTIA Accredit UK Truistmark+.  This IT industry accreditation was achieved with the support of Software Alliance Wales – an EU backed programme led by Swansea University.

The NUS Green Impact Excellence award scheme has made a bee-line for a Swansea University sustainability project

Technocamps secures £450,000 Digital Wales CPD programme

Software Alliance Wales and BCS Christmas Lecture 16th December, National Waterfront Museum

Swansea University is buzzing with excitement following the news that its SEACAMS team have won the NUS Green Impact 13/14 Excellence Award for its ‘BeeCAMS’ project.

The  project focuses on Bees and pollinators and has involved:

• Bringing bees to campus. For the first time in years beehives are now situated on Swansea University campus and there are now 6 hives which are owned by staff and external individuals.
• Creating a webpage on the University sustainability pages to highlight the work achieved and raising awareness of biodiversity/honey bees.

A £450,000 contract from Welsh Government that will upskill teachers in every secondary school in Wales in computer science has been given the go ahead.

Technocamps led by Swansea University has now teamed up with the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Glyndwr, the University of South Wales and Cardiff Metropolitan University to deliver this much needed project from next week.

Huw Lewis, Minister for Education and Skills said:

“Digital technology is only going to play an increasingly prominent role in all of our lives.  If our future generations are going to be fully proficient using this new technology it’s important that their teachers are equally comfortable with it.

Software Alliance Wales has once again teamed up with the British Computer Society for its Annual Christmas Lecture. This year Mike Edmunds an Emeritus Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University in Wales will talk about the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.

He will talk about the project to understand this incredible Mechanism, including news of a recent new dive on the shipwreck site. The talk will also link it to calendars ancient and modern and of course the most important aspect for children, the advent calendar.

Global Entrepreneurship week

Wednesday 19th November: Meet the Graduate Entrepreneur – Hints and tips on how to start a business - FREE event

12.00-2.15pm Robert Recorde Room, 205 Faraday Building, Swansea University

What happens when you graduate? Given it much thought?

Come along to this free lunch time event, and meet Graduate Entrepreneurs, who will be sharing their own unique start-up experiences. To register click on more:

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 Sian Jones