Arts and events

GATSSouthampton University Players get their flap on! – 17- 21 June

This summer, Southampton University Players celebrate their 50th anniversary with a unique production of The Great Gatsby! Book your tickets now at The Nuffield.www.nuffieldtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-great-gatsby#.U3NL3IFdVIE

 

 

Artist-Profile-SUSOHear our students join together as an orchestra – 7- 8 June

Join the University of Southampton Symphony Orchestra for their summer concerts.  In June you can hear this entirely student run organisation, the majority of whom do not study music, play large scale orchestral music. Book at www.turnersims.co.uk/events/suso-summer-concerts-3/

 

earlymodern8The Early Modern Image, Patronage Kings and People – Special Collections Gallery, Hartley Library – 2 – 27 June and 14 – 18 July 2014

Come to this unique exhibition which focuses on the images of the early modern world as they were employed by kings and princes in the 16th and 17th centuries.

www.southampton.ac.uk/archives

Media roundup

Welcome to the latest edition of the University media digest. This digest covers major media appearances for the University during the month of April. During that time, media appearances related to the University created over 100 million opportunities to view and hear stories via print, broadcast and online outlets. The advertising equivalent value of these appearances in print and via commercial broadcast media reached £319,752.

Below is a selection of stories which reached national and international audiences:

Simon-Boxall-150x128Missing Malaysia Airlines plane

Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall continued to give a number of interviews to global media outlets on developments in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. He spoke to BBC Breakfast, the BBC news, the BBC News Channel, the BBC World Service TV, ITN News, Channel 4 News, Sky (five interviews), CNN (four times), CBC (Canada), TV 2 Denmark, CTV (China), BBC Radio 4 and BBC 5 Live and his comments appeared on and in numerous TV, radio and newspapers around the world.

Dr Jon Copley, a senior lecturer in marine ecology, talked about deep-sea envioronments on the BBC’s Today Programme, BBC World Service and BBC Radio Scotland.

14_67 Newly discovered features at Ostia_1_Satellite imagery courtesy of Digital Globe IncNew city wall found for Roman port

News that Southampton archaeologists, led by Professor Simon Keay, have discovered that the Roman port of Ostia was much larger than orginally thought has been covered by press worldwide. The Huffington Post (US), French Tribune, The Province (Canada), Times of India, Times of Malta, El Pais (Spain) and 20 Italian outlets including Rai News and Corriere della Sera all carried the story. In the UK, The Independent, Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph newspaper and BBC Online also featured the discovery.

Read our press release.

Intelligent prosthetic liners

A new device, developed by the University of Southampton, which can help to relieve the pain and discomfort experienced by thousands of amputees as a result of poorly fitting replacement lower limbs, received widespread media attention. Outlets such asBBC Breakfast, BBC News Channel, Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC Radio 2 and 3, BBC 5 Live, over 20 regional BBC radio stations, BBC South Today, ITV News and the Daily Echo all covered the story.

Read our press release here.

 

healthHealth atlas

Professor David Coggon offered his expert comments on a new online map of England and Wales that allows people to enter their postcode and find their community’s risk of developing 14 conditions, such as heart disease and lung cancer. BBC News, The Daily Express, BMJ News, the Metro, BBC Radio Wales and the Daily Telegraph published his quotes.

 

14_49-Autumn-colour_webAutumn ends later

Research by Geography Professor Peter Atkinson using satellite data to examine seasonal vegetation growth in the northern hemisphere has shown our Autumn is ending later and Spring starting slightly earlier. The story was covered in the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Irish Independent, The Australian, the Daily Echo and by ITV Meridian and CBC public broadcasting in Canada. The research was also picked up by other numerous regional media organisations worldwide.

See our press release.

 

If you have a story, or are undertaking research that you think might be of interest to the press, please email us on press@soton.ac.uk. You can also view a more comprehensive listing of the University’s latest media coverage at www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/in_the_news/current.shtml

Staff profile

Staff profile

Name and job title

Dr Julia Wolny, Principal Teaching Fellow in Marketing at the Southampton Management School.

 

How long have you been at the University?

Three years.

Can you give us a quick overview of your job?

I am an industry-focused marketing academic and Programme Director for BSc Marketing and BSc International Marketing.

On the research side, I am Chair of the e-Marketing Special Interest Group at the Academy of Marketing, which brings together individuals and organisations with interest in digital and omni-channel marketing research and education internationally.

What makes the BSc Marketing and BSc International Marketing course so distinctive?

Our marketing degrees have been developed with practitioner input and have strong emphasis on data and digital marketing skills – this is where the industry is facing significant skills shortages.

This approach has contributed to our BSc Marketing course being ranked in the top 10 marketing degrees in the UK (Ninth in the 2014 Independent Complete University Guide), after being established for only three years.

Why are connections with industry so crucial in the work that you do?

Connections with industry give our courses credibility in the marketplace. One of the main challenges in my role is to deliver courses that provide skills and knowledge that will still be relevant in four year’s time, when students complete the course. This is why I am delighted the marketing programmes have recently gained accreditation by the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDDM) confirming that we are equipping students with professionally relevant skills.

You specialise in bringing marketing and creativity together. Why is this collaboration so important?

Today’s consumers are marketing savvy, they know when they are being fed marketing campaigns. As marketers, and as academics in fact, we need to be innovative and collaborative in the way we communicate and deliver value. In order to get noticed, marketers must create unique experiences, not just for, but with users/consumers. It is easy for the creative aspects of marketing to be overshadowed by ‘big data’ – but these aspects need to support and feed into each other.

Why do you think connections are important to our University?

Our connections with the past form crucial foundations for the University, however connecting with the future, especially in the digital age we live in, will help Southampton be a distinctive, global leader in education, research and enterprise.

What have been the most significant connections you have had in your career?

Throughout my career I have built relationships with non-academic stakeholders, private companies and public bodies, as well as students and faculty to integrate academia and practice. My most recent collaborations have involved adopting innovative approaches to researching the ever changing world of digital communication and user-behaviour. These connections have resulted in the sharing of collaborative and sole-authored research at over 30 conferences, including at Google and IBM.

I feel very fortunate to have worked with many brilliant colleagues, mentors and students over the years.

Malaysian Campus Open Days

Our Malaysia Campus will host the second Open Day of 2014 on 29 March and visitor numbers are expected to be over 80 people. 

There will be a campus tour to see the state-of-the-art teaching and laboratory facilities at the campus which is based at Educity@Iskandar, Nusajaya, Johor. 

There are also guided tours and presentations to find out more about the staff, courses, career opportunities, facilities and much more.  Visitors are offered a bus tour around Nusajaya, a visit to the International Student Village (ISV) and the 12,000 capacity sports stadium. 

There will be two more Open Days in 2014: 12 July and 16 August.  For more information, visit here.

Media Digest March 2014

Welcome to the latest edition of the University media digest. This digest covers major media appearances for the University during the period 21 February – 26 March 2014.

During that time, media appearances related to the University created 24.8 million opportunities to view and hear stories via print, broadcast and online outlets. The advertising equivalent value of these appearances in print and via commercial broadcast media reached £165,254.00.

Below are stories which reached national and international audiences:

floodNational flood comments
Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall featured across the BBC – from BBC One’s Breakfast TV programme and News at One to the World and UK News Channels – commenting on coastal erosion and new research revealing the record amounts of freshwater run-off following the recent wet weather in Britain.

 

 

Simon BoxallMissing Malaysian Airlines Jet

Dr Simon Boxall also appeared on many of the world’s major news outlets to offer expert insights into the search for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370. Simon was featured across the BBC News Network (including BBC One, BBC World News, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and every regional BBC radio station), CNN, NBC, Sky News and several other national and international broadcast channels. He was also quoted in a number of major newspapers including The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Independent.

 

_6JB5126World Wide Web @ 25
To mark the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Professor of Computer Science at the University and Professor Dame Wendy Hall gave interviews to Sky News and The Daily Telegraph about the web and its future. Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Head of the Web and Internet Science group, was interviewed by BBC Radio 5 Live, and appeared in TechWeekEurope.

In addition, Professors Berners-Lee and Shadbolt were named by The Daily Telegraph amongst the top 25 superstars who have made the Web what it is today.  

 

nurseImportance of nursing degrees
Research that degree educated nurses can reduce hospital deaths drew national media attention with ITV’s Daybreak coming to Southampton to broadcast live from the clinical skills lab in Health Sciences with Professor Peter Griffiths who was involved in the study and two nursing students, Alex Collyer and Katy Elliot. The story was also carried in over 70 UK regional newspapers thanks to the Press Association and featured in The Guardian, The Times and The Conversation, the new website featuring academic comment.

                                           Read our press release here. 

 

defibrilatorDefibrillator shortage
The Independent, Health Service Journal, Nursing Times, MSN News UK and the Press Association all carried news of a Southampton study showing that restricted availability of defibrillators, and poor understanding of how to use them, is helping to boost the number of deaths from heart attacks occurring outside hospitals.

Read our press release here.

 

FRANCE-INDUSTRY-FOOD-BNChemicals in food packaging
Professor David Coggon expert comments on research into the chemicals found in food packaging featured in The Guardian, Huffington Post UK, the Press Association, The Times and MSN News UK.

Read Professor Coggon’s comments here.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACoral bleaching
The diverse and challenging ecosystems of coral reefs was the subject of a feature by Professor Jörg Wiedenmann, Head of the Coral Reef Laboratory, in The Guardian. The feature coincided with a press release by Professor Wiedenmann on the importance of nutrients for coral reefs.

Read our press release here.

 

Law-abiding prisoners
Research from January showing that prisoners consider themselves as law-abiding as non-prisoners was the subject of a blog in The Economist in March.

 Aircraft engine

Heathrow noise
A study by ISVR researcher Dr Ian Flindell on Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources in England made headlines in The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail and Travel Weekly. The research showed that as many as one million people living near Heathrow suffer from aircraft noise – almost four times official estimates.

 

And finally . . . Software developed by Professors Tim Leighton and Paul White from ISVR and their MSc student Nikhil Banda featured on the BBC’s Sky at Night programme as presenters Maggie Aderin Pocock and Chris Lintott tested how their voices would sound on Venus.

Space debris expert Dr Hugh Lewis appears amongst the special features on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the Oscar and BATFA-winning film ‘Gravity’. Dr Lewis joins a host of world-renowned experts on the documentary entitled ‘Collision Point: The Race to Clean Up Space’.

southampton-uni-challengeAnd sadly, the long run by Southampton’s University Challenge team during the current series ended in the quarter-finals with a loss to the University of Manchester.

 

 

 

If you have a story, or are undertaking research that you think might be of interest to the press, please contact us on press@soton.ac.uk. You can also view a more comprehensive listing of the University’s latest media coverage at http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/in_the_news/current.shtml

Where’s Don – w/c 24 March

don_nutbeam_04On Monday 24 March Don attended a briefing meeting with local MPs prior to submission of a strategic economic plan at the Houses of Parliament.

On Tuesday he attended the UCEA board meeting at Woburn House, London.

On Wednesday, Don participated in Interdisciplinary Research Week by introducing, ‘Creating the Right Atmosphere: Why it Matters for Public Health’, a series of talks given by Dr Tracey Newman, Professor Guy Poppy & Dr Matt Loxham at Southampton General Hospital.

On Thursday and Friday he has a series of internal meetings before flying to South Africa on Friday evening to participate in the World Universities Network Conference and AGM. He returns on Friday 4 April.

And finally March 2014

Valley gardens-evoiceCelebrate Geography and Environment’s centenary by entering our photography competition. Geography is a broad subject with a wealth of sub-disciplines that have evolved and developed in interesting ways over the last 100 years.

We invite you to submit a maximum of two original photographs that best encapsulate your view of Geography. Each entry should be accompanied by a short commentary (maximum 150 words) that explains how the submitted photograph represents your view of Geography.

Find out more about the competition here.

Arts and events March 2014

LaramieNuffield Theatre – 10 April – 12 April
The Laramie Project tells of the tale of Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, who was brutally beaten while tied to a fencepost and left to die. The members of The Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of Laramie that form this deeply moving look at the American psyche.

 

 

choirThe Showcase series performance – Friday 28 March
The Music Department invites you to it’s Showcase Series, part of our established professional lunchtime concert series.  Come and watch advanced undergraduate and postgraduate performers gain professional experience and exposure. For more information on our Showcase performers, please email showcasemusic@soton.ac.uk

 

 

Brahms-RequimTurner Sims – Saturday 5 April
Southampton Choral Society perform Brahm’s Requiem, sung in English and accompanied by two pianos, as at the first performance of the work in England in 1871.

 

 

 

Bill LeavsonProfessor Bill Levason’s Retirement Symposium – Thursday 10 April
In order to celebrate the long and distinguished career of Professor William Levason, in Organic Chemistry at the University, we will be hosting day of seminars from his colleagues and collaborators. All are welcome!

 

Education and Research Manager interviewed in Malaysian newspaper

Our Education and Research Manager at the Malaysia campus, raised the profile of the University in Malaysia and that of her own work by appearing in The Star last month.

 In the article Dr Suhaila Mohd Sanip talks of her interest in Polymer science, the study of the physical and chemical materials as well as the development of new types of materials and of her work at the University, specifically in setting up the new campus.

Having been part of USMC’s core team from the start, Dr Suhaila shared that her experience of setting up the Malaysian campus was “overwhelming”.

Suhaila told the newspaper that, “We literally had to get the campus ready just a day before we moved in to have our first open day. There were many challenges that we had to overcome but it was all worth it when we saw our first batch of students walking into our campus in October 2012. It was like having your first-born, and all the labour of hardship in getting to that milestone was worth every minute,” she said.

She further shared with the publication that USMC aims to build a world-class research centre within 10 years, and position itself as one of the top research institutions in Malaysia.

To read the full interview in detail click here.

Education March 2014

Final year undergraduate students on the University’s BSc Education and BSc Education and Psychology were praised for the quality of their posters summarising their research.

Congratulations to child nursing student Natalie Brown who has been shortlisted in the 2014 Student Nursing Times awards for the ‘Student Nurse of the Year: Children’ category.

We will be launching our newest alumni branch for alumni living in the Southampton area on Thursday 3 April. Register today for the launch event taking place at The Bridge Bar on campus.