science wire

Professor Anne Johnson receives damehood in Queen’s Birthday Honours

Grant Museum taken over by artists for Sculpture Season

Strategy for Francis Crick Institute unveiled at topping out ceremony
Sir Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, unveiled the organisation's strategy today at a ceremony attended by senior government ministers and heads of the institute's founding partners, including UCL's President & Provost Professor Malcolm Grant. The announcement coincided with the topping out ceremony for the institute, a key milestone in the construction process which sees the building reach its highest point.

Institute of Archaeology unveil monolith in Gordon Square

UCL Provost on refugee academics

UCL Institute of the Americas launches innovative international relations masters
The first degree in the UK to focus on inter-American and Latin/North American global relations has been launched by the UCL Institute of the Americas.

Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England questions central bank power
The former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England has highlighted the current power of central banks five years on from the financial crisis.

Engaging with academics: how research can strengthen open policy-making

Statutory pension change - Auto Enrolment
A statutory change in pensions will soon impact staff at UCL. The scheme is known as Auto Enrolment (AE).

10 June is the start of Men’s Health Week
UCL Occupational Health would like to remind UCL staff that 10 June is the beginning of Men's Health Week.

Avatar therapy helps silence voices in schizophrenia
An avatar system that enables people with schizophrenia to control the voice of their hallucinations is being developed by researchers at UCL with support from the Wellcome Trust. The computer-based system could provide quick and effective therapy that is far more successful than current pharmaceutical treatments, helping to reduce the frequency and severity of episodes of schizophrenia.

£7 million Infrastructure Business Model Centres to engineer future UK

UCL given HR Excellence in Research Award by the European Commission

UCL academic honoured by Indian government

Class of 2013: Leaving UCL - now what?

UCLPartners gets the green light to improve the healthcare of over six million people
Millions of people in London and the south east will see improvements to their healthcare following the decision by NHS England to designate UCLPartners as an Academic Health Science Network (AHSN).

UCL Festival of Volunteering

Grassroots women’s groups could halve maternal death rate
Women's groups can dramatically reduce the number of maternal and newborn deaths in some of the world's poorest communities, according to a new meta-analysis published in The Lancet .

Global health policy fails to address burden of disease on men
Men experience a higher burden of disease and lower life expectancy than women, but policies focusing on the health needs of men are notably absent from the strategies of global health organisations, according to a Viewpoint article in this week's Lancet .

Viking jewellery sheds light on dark period of British history
The presence of Scandinavian-style female jewellery in Britain has overturned the idea that the Viking conquest of England was an all-male affair, suggesting that in fact large numbers of women travelled over from the Scandinavian homelands.

Grant Museum wins Cultural Pros Award at Museums + Heritage Awards

UCL shares in £50m of new funding to help stimulate UK’s economy

Stress and unhealthy lifestyle increase risk of heart disease
People with job stress and an unhealthy lifestyle are at higher risk of coronary artery disease than people who have job stress but lead healthy lifestyles, according to work published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) by researchers from UCL's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.

Science and Engineering South Consortium (SES-5)
The most powerful cluster of research intensive universities in the UK are joining forces to form a new consortium to become one of the world's leading hubs for science and engineering research.

Mobile health technologies to rapidly test and track infectious diseases
Early-warning sensor systems that can test and track serious infectious diseases - such as major flu epidemics, MRSA and HIV - using mobile phones and the internet are being developed by a major new Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) led by UCL.

UCL considers alternative sites in Stratford for university quarter
University College London (UCL) and the London Borough of Newham (LBN) have today announced that whilst UCL remains committed to Stratford as the location for its new university quarter, it has not been possible for the two parties to reach an agreement regarding the Carpenters Estate.

UCL University Challenge team fall at the final hurdle
UCL's University Challenge team were narrowly beaten by the University of Manchester in the final of the popular BBC2 quiz show this week.

Bright Club: READING at the Bloomsbury Theatre

Herschel Space Observatory loses its cool
Europe's Herschel Space Observatory has exhausted its supply of liquid helium coolant, after almost four years of scientific observations. As none of the instruments can work without helium-cooling, Herschel's operational life is now over. The spacecraft itself will soon be placed in a parking orbit around the Sun, but the analysis and evaluation of the data will continue for years to come.

UCL Festival of the Arts: Q&A with Professor Jonathan Wolff
With the UCL Festival of the Arts running from 7 - 17 May, UCL News spoke to Professor Jonathan Wolff (UCL Philosophy), Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, about the festival, and the importance of celebrating the arts at the time when many courses at other institutions are under threat.

UCL and NYU Wagner announce pioneering joint Global Executive MPA

UCL Grand Challenges Small Grants awarded to 22 new projects
22 new research projects have been awarded funding of up to £5,000 through the 2013 UCL Grand Challenges Small Grants Scheme.

UCL University Challenge team prepares for final
UCL's University Challenge team have reached the final of the popular BBC2 quiz show, after producing a consistent winning streak this series.

Google search patterns reveal early signs of stock market movements
Patterns in Google searches for financial terms could have been used as early warning signs of stock market movements, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports . Researchers from UCL Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Warwick Business School and the Department of Physics at Boston University highlight the insights large data sets can give into collective decision making.

TEDxCERN simulcast at UCL

Learning disabilities affect up to 10 per cent of children
Up to 10 per cent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to 2 or 3 pupils in every classroom according to a new study.

Star factory in the early Universe challenges galaxy evolution theory
A team including Dr Mat Page (UCL Space and Climate Physics) has discovered an extremely distant galaxy making stars more than 2000 times faster than our own Milky Way. Seen at a time when the Universe was less than a billion years old, its mere existence challenges our theories of galaxy evolution.

European Commission must innovate to get value from €70 billion science funding programme
The European Commission needs to make some key innovations in its science funding programme if Europe is to enjoy the full benefits of the €70 billion to be spent on science research as part of the H

From Austen to French cinema: UCL celebrates the arts

UCL colleagues pay tribute to Dr Katharine Giles
Dr Katharine Giles was tragically killed in a cycling accident on Monday 8 April. Here, her colleagues in UCL Earth Sciences pay tribute.

Child heart surgeons access clearer picture of their success rate
For the first time, teams that care for children needing heart surgery have been able to review their short-term success rate better across all the different operations they perform. Graphic data charts, devised by analysts at UCL, now allow child heart surgeons to spot and investigate trends in survival and act promptly on any concerns.

Easter Eggs Live
Researchers at the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging (CABI) have embarked on a rather unique Easter egg hunt and have been scanning chicken eggs for a new Channel 4 programme called Easter Eggs Live.

UCL Friends of MSF charity run

Organisation trumps size in primate brain evolution
The evolution of anthropoid primates, including monkeys, apes and humans, over the past 40 million years was largely driven by brain reorganization, and not brain size, according to new research from UCL.  The study, which is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , found that around three quarters of differences between the brains of species of monkeys and apes are due to internal reorganization that is independent of size, dispelling the idea that variation in size is the primary factor characterising anthropoid primate brain evolution.

UCL PhD researcher strikes gold in Parliament
Joanna Brunker, a PhD student in the UCL Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, struck Gold at a competition in the House of Commons, for the excellence of her Biology research, walking away with a £3,000 prize yesterday.

UCL and Oxford unite to tackle challenge of sustainable medical innovation
UCL and the University of Oxford have come together to form CASMI - the Centre for the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation.

Studying brain-cooling for birth asphyxia
In high income countries brain cooling is standard treatment for neonatal encephalopathy - unexpected, devastating brain injury due to low oxygen and blood in the baby's brain at birth.

The Bartlett Postgraduate Open Day

Formal opening of UCL Academy

IERA event at UCL

Foreign Bodies: where does the familiar end and the foreign begin?

UCL Open Access Guidelines and Publications Guide
UCL guidelines on open access and a publications guide are available to UCL researchers. The  RCUK Policy on Open Access  introduces, with effect from 1 April 2013, new open access requirements for research papers funded by the Research Councils.

The Great Brain Experiment: New app to crowdsource data on how we think and act
A new mobile app developed by UCL scientists at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging will enable the team to carry out on an unprecedented scale experiments that previously could only be conducted on small groups of volunteers in the lab. The Great Brain Experiment will look at memory, impulsivity, what makes us happy, and how well the mind's eye can see, enabling the researchers to explore questions that are normally impossible to ask.

Most extraordinary materials on earth housed in new Institute of Making
This week the Institute of Making opens at UCL giving a permanent home to the Materials Library, a collection of the most unusual materials in the world, and the MakeSpace, the ultimate making workshop.  There is a special preview day on Friday 15 March for all UCL staff and students.

EPSRC announces new UCL Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering
Innovative engineering projects announced today, including a new Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering at UCL, will bring leading engineers and scientists together to address some of the major engineering challenges facing the world.

Exhibition explores different perspectives of Iraq war on 10th anniversary
An art exhibition opening this week at UCL brings together six works by artists from Iraq and Britain to explore different experiences of the Iraq war on the 10th anniversary of the invasion.

EU and European careers event

IERA event at UCL on 9 March

UCL project uncovering hidden gems in Slade Archive
A new project between the Slade School of Fine Art and UCL Centre for Digital Humanities is exploring and mapping hidden gems from the Slade Archive.  The project will trial various online platfor

UCL and IoE agree strategic partnership

Research team breakthrough in delivering drugs to the brain
Researchers at UCL have made a breakthrough in the way that drugs could be delivered to the brain.

Engineering the future of healthcare
Three creative engineering projects led by researchers at UCL have been awarded £2.8 million by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC).

UCL Careers Service needs your feedback

The Bartlett announces £110k worth of masters scholarships

UCL Spin-out Synthace awarded £500,000 Synthetic Biology Grant
Synthace, a UCL spin-out, has been awarded funding from the Technology Strategy Board for a collaborative project with UCL and the University of Manchester.

Flaxman Exchange offers new perspectives on UCL collections

Setting the European agenda on healthy ageing
UCL has reflected on the European research agenda relating to healthy ageing and independent living.  A workshop jointly organised by UCL and Imperial College London resulted in the League of European Research Universities (LERU) Declaration on Active and Healthy Ageing.

UCL contributes to new guidance on developing digital collections
UCL has played a leading role in new guidance developed by JISC for planning and developing digital resources.

Scientists to be recognised at Suffrage Science event

EIB and UCL to cooperate on new infrastructure finance course

Uncovering Britain’s hidden links to slavery
Historians from UCL have produced the first freely accessible database of Britons involved in slave-ownership.

Collaboration points way towards improved treatment for women’s cancers
UCL researchers have recently commenced an academic-industrial collaboration - EpiFemCare - to develop new methods for screening, diagnosing and personalising treatment of breast and ovarian cancers. The EpiFemCare project will develop blood tests that will enable new and improved means of cancer detection, as well as the evaluation of response to cancer treatment.

Participants sought for neuropsychology research project
Healthy young people (aged 5-16 years) are wanted to take part in a UCL research project: Neuroimaging investigations of language to aid paediatric neurosurgical decision-making .

City layout key to predicting riots
In the future police will be able to predict the spread of riots, and how they impact on cities, thanks to a new computer model.  Developed by researchers at UCL, the model highlights the importan

Improvement in child cancer survival rates threatened by lack of new drug development
Some of the biggest challenges to the improvement of cancer care for children and young people are set out in a series of studies published in today's Lancet Oncology.

Disabled at greater risk of violence and subsequent mental ill-health
People with disabilities are at a greater risk of being the victims of violence and of suffering mental ill health when victimised, according to research published today in the open access journal PLOS ONE . The research, led by Hind Khalifeh (UCL Brain Sciences) with colleagues from UCL and King's College London, is the first to assess the extent to which people with disabilities experience different kinds of violence and the associated health and economic costs.

UCL European Institute - second call for proposals
The UCL European Institute has funding available for projects that lead to or support collaborative research-based projects on Europe or the European Union.

Vote for the Petrie in Museums at Night competition

UCL staff invited to partake in study on ’leading and managing the civic university’
UCL is inviting staff to take part in an international study on the role of 'civic universities' and colleagues are invited to participate in a survey to gather data for a case study covering UCL's civic engagement.

Competition: Sounds of UCL
Do you ever stop and just listen to your environment at UCL? We are looking for people to record the sounds of UCL in labs, corridors, study spaces, accommodation and rehearsal rooms, inside and outside.

UCL joins forces with London Wildlife Trust

Animal model of evolution indicates thick hair mutation emerged 30,000 years ago
The first animal model of recent human evolution reveals that a single mutation produced several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands, an international team of researchers report. The team, led by researchers from Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fudan University and University College London, also modeled the spread of the gene mutation across Asia and North America, concluding that it most likely arose about 30,000 years ago in what is today central China.

A chance to say thank you

Help UCL Art museum in national BBC campaign

Photography exhibition explores faith in West London
A photography exhibition opening this week in Gunnersbury Park Museum in Ealing is the outcome of a remarkable collaboration between senior citizens from six different faith communities in West Ealin

Graphene appointed an EU Future Emerging Technology flagship
The European Commission has chosen the Graphene Flagship as one of Europe's first 10-year FET flagship projects.

Doctors ’should give lifestyle advice’ to cancer patients
More than 80 per cent of cancer patients' close friends and family think that doctors should give their cancer patients lifestyle advice on eating habits, weight-loss and exercise, according to a new study in the British Journal of Cancer . Cancer Research UK scientists at UCL asked over 1,200 people who knew someone close with cancer a number of questions to assess their attitudes towards giving cancer patients lifestyle advice.

Grant Museum of Zoology opens The Micrarium - a place for tiny things

New supplier and stalls for UCLU street food market

Diversity Month 2013 kicks off at UCL

£12.9m for UK Catalysis Research Centre
In an exciting joint venture, scientists from UCL will play a leading role in the development of a UK catalysis research hub.

ERC Advanced Grants fund exceptional research at UCL
Funding totalling £12.9 million has been awarded to researchers at UCL by the European Research Council (ERC) under the Advanced Grants programme, which supports research leaders to develop ground-breaking projects and support pioneering research with far-reaching impact.

11-year old Billy Farha raises thousands for UCL

Bartlett School of Planning centenary marked with postgraduate scholarships

Human Brain Project wins major EU funding
The Human Brain Project has been officially selected as one of the European Commission's two FET Flagship projects.

Creative writing inspired by UCL’s museums and collections

UCL Special Collections celebrate inaugural George Orwell Day

UCL plans new department at the interface between STEM and policy
UCL is opening a new department focused on the interface between science, technology, engineering, maths (STEM) and policy, as well as an associated interdisciplinary research institute, in September 2013.

Community pharmacies could be NHS ’third tier’
At the 2013 UCL School of Pharmacy annual lecture, Sue Sharpe, the Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), presented a blue-print for community pharmacies to serve as a 'third tier' in the NHS, alongside GP practices and hospitals.

Voting open for Current Archaeology Awards 2013

Take part in the MSF fun run

UCL well represented in the New Years Honours list

Yale-UCL Collaborative: 4D imaging transforms heart healthcare
Modern cardiovascular surgery is being transformed by virtual imaging, according to a talk given at the Yale-UCL Cardiovascular Device Innovation Summit.

€6 million for research in to fetal growth restriction
UCL researchers in a successful academic-industrial collaboration have been awarded an EU Framework Programme 7 Grant of almost €6 million to develop a therapy for fetal growth restriction.

UCL Winter Volunteering Fair on 17 January

UCL launches talent bank for graduates

Chipping away at the history of plaster in sculpture and medicine
A new exhibition about plaster and the casting process, highlighting the sculpture models of the neo-classical artist John Flaxman (1755-1826), starts at the UCL Art Museum this month.

’Faith in suburbia’ exhibition on display at UCL

Origin of life emerged from cell membrane bioenergetics
A coherent pathway which starts from no more than rocks, water and carbon dioxide and leads to the emergence of the strange bioenergetic properties of living cells, has been traced for the first time in a major hypothesis paper in Cell this week.