Arts and Events February 2014

Spring_AwakeningNuffield Theatre – 25 March – 5 April

A Spring Awakening comes to the Nuffield. Unnerving, entertaining, funny and dark, Wedekind’s definitive play about youth caused riots when it exploded onto the stage in 1906 and has lost none of its provocative power.

 

Artist-Profile-Naturally-7

Turner Sims – Friday 14 March

Who needs instruments when you have seven voices and seven bodies? The inimitable a cappella group Naturally 7 play a special show at Turner Sims, having opened for Michael Buble at his recent ten-night O2 Arena residency. Building on the heritage of gospel with a style described as ‘vocal play’, the group performs its own original material as well as its inventive arrangements – which incorporate scratching, drum kit, harmonica, brass, electric guitars and bass all produced, naturally, with the human voice.

susan-hiller_nightwatch

John Hansard Gallery – 28 – 29 March

Interested in learning more about aspects of art history and contemporary art? Join us for a special two part course at the John Hansard Gallery and SeaCity Museum for the third in the series of informal adult short courses which provides an introduction to contemporary art practice within the context of art from the past.

 

zumba classTheano Zumba – 7 March

Free Zumba class for everyone! Come and join us and party yourself into shape in The Cube on Highfield campus from 12pm for 45 minutes.

 

 

Made in ItalyMusic Department – 7 – 9 March

“Made in Italy” – The Music Department presents an Italian Festival, a weekend celebration of the music of Italy, performed across the city by University’s staff and students. Admission to all events is free!

 

Equipment sharing needs your stories!

The University’s Research Facilities and Equipment Database which ultimately feeds into ‘equipment.data’, the national equipment portal for UK HE research facilities and equipment has been up and running for 10 months and is gaining great momentum.

Following the launch of the RCUK Equipment Guidelines requiring greater sharing and collaboration, which resulted in the launch of the national equipment portal, the team would be keen to hear from colleagues within the University who have experience of collaborating and sharing equipment and facilities. Whether it’s been internally, locally within our region or nationally across the UK, they want to hear about your experiences. All feedback would be greatly appreciated and will contribute to EPSRC reporting on the sharing landscape. Please contact Louise Payne.

News from Malaysia

Malaysia studentLast month, we went to interview a prospective student who attended the Malaysia Open Day. Below we found out his thoughts of the Open Day, what he wants to study and why he would choose Southampton.

Q: What is your name and where are you from?

My name is Nimalan Rajakupal. I’m from Johor Bahru, to be precise Bukit Indah.

Q: What attracted you to visit the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus?

Knowing that the University is renowned worldwide is something to be considered greatly. Studying and later graduating from there will be such an honour and may be a good solid start to my life.

Q: Were you impressed with the day’s events?

Yes I was. Seeing the facilities and what it may hold for me really got me excited.

Q: Can you describe the atmosphere of the day?

It was pretty intense as I did not expect there would be such a crowd. The professors were really friendly and warm.

Q: What do you hope to study and why?

I hope to study mechanical engineering because I’ve always had an interest in engines and would really like to work with cars in the future.

Q: Do you now consider Engineering a good career choice, and if so, why?

I do. Based on many lecturers there, jobs are available as soon as I graduate. That really is something to appreciate now due to the fluctuating economy.

Got a question for the V-C?

Over the coming months, Don will be holding informal sessions at which you can talk with him about the things that matter to you. There will be no script, no agenda, no presentations, just an opportunity for you to ask questions and discuss the answers with him.

Space is limited to 15 people per session, and the first session will be held on 11 March, 3.15pm –  3.45pm. To book your place, please click here.  

Other sessions are coming up, so keep an eye on SUSSED if you aren’t able to get a place at this event.

Flooding in February

_72953883_winchesterAs the rain continued to fall this month, Winchester School of Art was tested to the limits as the River Itchen burst its banks and we all battled the weather to get into work.

Despite the downpours, we have been busy launching new initiatives, such as the University’s very first Sustainability Action Awards, which you can enter here, and a new initiative from our V-C, who invites you to join him in an informal session to ask him any questions. We also celebrated the 10th Anniversary of our very own Jubilee Sports Centre with a day of competitions and activities.

Read about what’s going on over the coming month at the University, in arts and events, new research and funding and education news and find out what happens in a day of the life of a Faculty Academic Registrar.

Media Digest January 2014

Read about the major media appearances for the University during the period 9 December 2013 – 20 January 2014. During that time, media appearances related to the University created 51.3 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 £432,172. Below are examples of some of these stories:

Guy Martin Speed with Guy Martin
Over 1.81 million viewers enjoyed Channel 4’s New Year series which featured Dr Alex Forrester and the University’s Human Powered Aircraft team during episode three. The programme was filmed last summer with scenes the Highfield Campus and at Lasham Airfield near Alton in Hampshire last summer.

The programme is available to view via Channel 4 On Demand

 

Vitamin DVitamin D Link to Strong Muscles
Children are likely to have stronger muscles if their mothers had a higher level of vitamin D in their body during pregnancy, according to new research from the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU) at the University. The story received national and international coverage in the media including BBC News online, ITV News, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, the i Newspaper and The Daily Express. It also featured on many health and science websites as well as news websites in the USA, Indonesia and India.

Read the press release here.

 

Eelco coast image 2Sea-level rise
Research using geological evidence of the past by the University of Southampton working with the Australian National University shows that the rise in sea-level since the Industrial Revolution has been fast by natural standards. The story was broadcast by Australia’s  Channel 9 with NBC TV in the USA providing online coverage. Further interest came from India, China and a number of other global news outlets.

Read the press release here.

 

Early hominin hand axeNutrition in Early Humans
Geographer Tony Brown’s research into how early hominin diet helped make a small number of places their main habitats in Northern Europe resulted in a major feature in the Independent newspaper amongst a host of other national and international media.

Read the press release here.

 

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 here.  

And finally

January 2014

get fitShake off those January blues, put your gym kit on and join goFIT.

 

Just go to http://gofit.soton.ac.uk to keep informed about the Challenge and how to participate.

Sign up has begun with the Challenge starting on 7 February. Fabulous prizes are available too and you’ll get the opportunity to tell us what YOU would like for prizes.

Flexible Learning at Southampton: New minor subjects a great success

The Major / minor initiative launched last year has so far proved to be a great success, with over 70 first year students registering onto one of the 23 minor subjects.

As of 16 January 2014, 75 students have registered to take a minor throughout  the course of their degree. The most popular subjects are Psychology, Criminology, Applied Economics, History and Spanish.

The Major / minor initiative was launched in November 2013 to enable current first year students to graduate with a degree in both their main discipline and a minor subject. The minors are based in the Faculties of Humanities and Social and Human Sciences plus one inter-disciplinary minor, Sustainability, run by our award-winning academic Simon Kemp. Subjects on offer range from Archaeology and Creative Writing to Japanese and Social Policy.

In this, the first year of implementation, the minor subjects were open to students on eligible programmes in Humanities, Education, Geography, Social Sciences and Physics. Students were invited to open sessions in November during which they could ask questions and learn more about the minors scheme.

For more information, click here for more information.

Where’s Don – w/c 24 February

don_nutbeam_04Don returns from annual leave on Wednesday and will attend the University Senate in the afternoon.

On Thursday he travels to the Open University (OU) at Milton Keynes. He will give a presentation to their Senior Management team as part of their Strategy Day. His presentation will provide a campus based perspective on achieving success and will reflect on potential threats and opportunities for the OU.

On Friday he has internal catch up meetings before catching a flight on Saturday morning to Jakarta, Indonesia. Don is joining the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minster for Universities and Science visit to Indonesia and Singapore.

Ben Jones, Aerospace Collaboration Manager

ben-jonesWe went to interview Ben Jones, Aerospace Collaboration Manager, in Research and Innovation Services to find out what his job involves and what his average day consists of.

 

A description of Ben’s job:

My job is to consolidate aerospace activities, to win more funding for the University and raise the profile of aerospace internally and for the University in the aerospace sector.

My average day:

08.30 – after driving in from Chandlers Ford, I fire up my emails and take a look at what is on the agenda for the day.

09.00 – my day is currently taken up with heading up two key projects. The first is organising an event in February which will see key speakers, industry partners and academics come together to develop new collaborations and partnerships for aerospace. The second project is working with Clean Sky 2, an ambitious European aeronautical research programme, to decipher what level of involvement Southampton should have.

12.30 – lunchtime, I pop over to SUSU shop for a sandwich.

13.30 – afternoons are often busy networking with industries. Last year I was regularly out of the office, building partnerships with companies such as Rolls Royce, Airbus, Boeing and with SMES at Chilworth Science Park.

15.30 – if I am not out of the office, I will regularly be networking with people across the University and will be visiting colleagues to seek out new collaborations. I am particularly interested in multidisciplinary collaborations – so if you think your work may in some way link with aerospace let me know!

17.30 – I leave work and try not to take my work home with me!

Evening – I have recently bought a new house, so my evenings are currently spent refitting my kitchen!

To get in touch with Ben and find out more about his work email B.Jones@soton.ac.uk and to find out about Ben’s Autonomous and Advanced Systems Showcase event on Monday 3 February click here.