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WUN recently held the first set networking workshops as part of its special program for early career researcher (ECR) entitled “Developing the next generation of research leaders for sustainable development.” The first two, of which there will be 17 in total, focused on SDG 13: Climate Action, and SDG 4: Quality Education, respectively. Click through for a summary and videos of the keynote talks.

The inVIVO Planetary Health network, which has its origins in a 2012 WUN Research Development Fund grant, pursues positive change that reflect the link between people and place. In a November 2020 publication in The Lancet, researchers from inVIVO appealed for health professionals to pledge their dedication ‘to the service of humanity, and to the protection of natural systems on which human health depends.’ We asked experts around the Worldwide Universities Network for their perspectives on the pledge and its effort to expand the interpretation of ‘first do no harm’ to reflect human connections to the planet. Click through for more.

Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, currently the deputy vice-chancellor for research and internationalisation at the University of Cape Town (UCT), has been appointed by Council as the new vice-chancellor of the university with effect from 1 July 2018. 

A grant of 3 million US dollars from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is enabling the University of Bergen professor Ole Frithjof Norheim and his research group to teach health priorities to Ethiopian students.

WUN New Year Newsletter available online

First stage of ongoing progress to develop a “one-stop-shop” for international data

WUN researcher to address International Forum on Migration Data Statistics in Paris

Professor Jill Walker Rettberg studies how humans use technology and what it means to us as a culture.

The Research Development Fund 2017 Round is open.

The Europe University Ranking 2017 by Times Higher Education.

The World Universities Network Global Africa Group launched its inaugural Strategic Research Workshop, hosted by the University of Ghana, in July 2017.

WUN announces the results of the 2016 Research Development Fund round.

International symposium involving MDGT group to be held in Bristol in March 2017.

We are delighted to announce that Renmin University has joined the Worldwide Universities Network. 

Large animals play a key role in mitigating climate change in tropical forests by spreading the seeds of large trees that have a high capacity to store carbon, new research has found. The research, co-led by the University of Leeds and published in the journal Nature Communications, sheds important new light on the role seed dispersal by animals plays in mitigating climate change, and how this role can vary in tropical forests across the world.

A top-class conference, one might say: four hundred academics from all corners of the world, spending a week debating subjects of interest for the whole world. Migration of course, but also health care, climate change and emerging economies.

Scientists from the University of Leeds have solved a 25-year-old question about how a family of proteins allow bacteria to resist the effects of certain antibiotics. Proteins of the ABC-F protein family are a major source of antibiotic resistance in ‘superbugs’ such as Staphylococcus aureus, a group of bacteria that includes MRSA. The findings, published in the American Society for Microbiology journal mBio, provide the first direct evidence of how this family of proteins ‘protect’ the bacterial ribosome, the protein makers in cells, from being blocked by antibiotics.

Environmental health science researcher Richard Peltier at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with others around the world, is launching a series of webinars and events for a Do-It-Yourself, citizen science campaign called “Air Sensors Everywhere.” It aims to bring small air pollution sensors to the developed and developing world “to empower people everywhere to use low-cost pollution sensors to reduce pollution-linked disease.”

Professor Hai-Sui Yu has been appointed as the University of Leeds’ first Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International).

A research team led by the University of Leeds has observed for the first time how HIV and Ebola viruses attach to cells to spread infection. The findings, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, suggest a new way of treating these viruses: instead of destroying the pathogens, introduce a block on how they interact with cells.

A group of drugs already in everyday use to treat psychosis or depression may also be used to defeat deadly and emerging viruses. Researchers from the University of Leeds found that common drugs in everyday use were successful in preventing a particular virus from infecting cells, by blocking the ion channels that regulate potassium levels in those cells.

The research community know little about the new types of immigration in the world. A new, international project seeks to find the answers to difficult questions in the migration debate.

A new test could help patients with advanced bowel cancer get the best treatment for their disease. A Cancer Research UK clinical trial, run from the University of Leeds and St James’s University Hospital, studied almost 1,200 patients at hospitals all over the UK with advanced bowel cancer.

University of Leeds researchers are part of a project to transform the UK’s pharmaceutical industry by introducing new digital design processes. The £20.4 million ADDoPT (Advanced Digital Design of Pharmaceutical Therapeutics) project is a major four-year collaboration between the Government, industry and universities. It is expected to reduce the development time and cost of innovative medicines and improve the competitiveness of the UK’s pharmaceuticals sector.

“Data Diplomacy” seeks to better understand the role that data sharing plays as an agent in social and political relationships around the world. Examples of data diplomacy can include: negotiations between two competing health systems to enable access to electronic medical records of shared patients; cross-national sharing of outbreak data, such as ownership of and access to information about people impacted by Ebola virus; or the impact on diplomatic relationships among nations due to systematic “leakages” of data, evidenced by the Edward Snowden case.

A team of researchers led by the University of Leeds is conducting a new and innovative training programme in Africa. The Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) project, led by Professor Melvin Hoare, seeks to provide people in the targeted countries with training to use radio telescopes. It also has an outreach programme to encourage young people to study the technological aspects of radio astronomy and pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. The project is funded by the Newton Fund – a novel initiative that aims to promote the economic development and social welfare of developing countries through scientific collaboration.

Around 7,000 colorectal cancer survivors in the UK struggle to cope with daily life years after their diagnosis, according to new analysis led by University of Leeds researchers. The study, recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and partly funded by Macmillan Cancer Support, shows that just under 1 in 6 (15%) people who survive a year to three years after a colorectal cancer diagnosis in England experience ‘social distress’, perceiving their daily social interactions to be severely negative or distressing.

Meet the UCT researcher discovering how parasitic worms can benefit human health.

A new £3.4 million programme will develop new tools to understand which interactions between proteins in the human body are relevant to disease. Currently, only a handful of drugs in clinical use work by targeting protein-protein interactions. The new project, which will launch on 1 February, 2016, will involve researchers from the University of Leeds, the University of Bristol and three drug discovery organisations: the Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Newcastle University; AstraZeneca; and Domainex.

Scientists have developed an innovative way of using one of the biggest problems facing health services—antibiotic resistance—to develop drugs to combat some of the most intractable diseases. The new study, from research led by Professor Sheena Radford from the University of Leeds and published in Nature Chemical Biology, outlines a way of using antibiotic resistance to find chemicals capable of stopping amyloid formation.  

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) announced today the results of the 2015 round of the annual Research Development Fund, marking a direct investment in international, interdisciplinary research of £156,213.

Four young scientists recently received over 80 million NOK from Bergen Research Foundation and the University of Bergen, making world class research possible.

A new report jointly written by University of Leeds experts reveals that the 6.8 million people who provide unpaid care for loved ones in the UK save the state £132 billion a year. The report for the charity Carers UK, Valuing Carers 2015 – the rising value of carers’ support, is the third in a series looking at the value of carers’ support to the UK economy. It shows a staggering increase in the value of carers’ support since 2001, almost doubling from £68 billion to £132 billion. Researchers attribute this rise to a dramatic increase in the number of hours people are caring for, combined with an increase in the cost of replacement care.

Researchers report that continued deforestation of the Amazon rainforest could diminish rainfall levels in the Amazon River basin, which may impact the region’s climate, ecosystems and economies.

A new study, published on Thursday 12 November in Geophysical Research Letters, predicts that by the middle of the century annual rainfall in the Amazon could be less than the yearly amount of rain the region receives during drought years if deforestation rates revert back to pre-2004 levels. 

The local and the global have become entangled in rural and peri-urban areas, not only in South Africa, but around the world. And understanding these entanglements is the aim of the the WUN-sponsored project Understanding Globalisation – Margins and Peripheries. This project, led by Associate Professor Ana Deumert, seeks to study globalisation in the so-called margins of the world system: areas never before considered to be heavily affected by globalisation, but which are increasingly shaped by larger social and cultural processes.

The Leeds Academic Health Partnership (LAHP) has been involved in an initiative to bring a centre of excellence in precision medicine to the city, the government has announced. Precision medicine uses diagnostic tests and data-based insights to understand a patient’s disease more precisely and so select treatments with more predictable, safer, cost-effective outcomes. The UK’s research and clinical expertise, combined with government’s major investment in relevant research infrastructure, has placed it in a leading position in this area. The Leeds centre, which will run alongside other similar centres in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and Oxford, was compiled by the LAHP, a consortium that brings together ten statutory organisations in Leeds — the city’s six NHS organisations, its three universities and Leeds City Council – into a formal partnership.

New research from the University of Leeds has revealed that some people are losing more than 15 day’s worth of sleep a year. The study showed that more than a quarter of the British population suffer from dangerously low levels of sleep – with many sleeping as little as five hours per night – and that it could harm their health. Despite aiming to undertake around eight – nine hours sleep a night, 30 to 50 year-olds were the most likely group for being in debt to their sleep body clocks. 

Scientists behind new research into the effects of transport infrastructure on biodiversity have developed much-needed approaches to protect wildlife. A Defra-funded study, conducted by a team from the University of Leeds led by Professor John Altringham, sets out best practice principles for assessing the impact of new roads and railways on bats, as well as the effectiveness of mitigation measures installed to help them cross safely. These new survey methods should improve the efficiency of planning processes, thereby benefitting both developers and wildlife. The researchers’ report also highlights the need for a more rigorous, evidence-based approach to protecting wildlife during development. 

Biologists arguing about whether the results of experiments by the man hailed as the father of modern genetics are “too good to be true” have been distracted from a more important debate. In a new paper in Science about Gregor Mendel, the 19th century Austrian monk whose experiments on peas revealed the basic principles of heredity, University of Leeds science historian Professor Gregory Radick suggests the time has come for a different perspective on the controversy, which over the years has encompassed allegations of fraud and Cold War political pressure.

New research suggests that the movements involved in fidgeting may counteract the adverse health impacts of sitting for long periods. In a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a team of researchers, co-led by the University of Leeds and UCL, report that an increased risk of mortality from sitting for long periods was only found in those who consider themselves very occasional fidgeters. They found no increased risk of mortality from longer sitting times, compared to more active women, in those who considered themselves as moderately or very fidgety.  

The first images of motor proteins in action were published in the journal Nature Communications on Monday 14 September 2015. These proteins are vital to complex life, forming the transport infrastructure that allows different parts of cells to specialise in particular functions. Until now, the way they move has never been directly observed. Researchers at the University of Leeds and in Japan used electron microscopes to capture images of the largest type of motor protein, called dynein, during the act of stepping along its molecular track. 

Patients with chronic whiplash experience long-lasting pain, but doctors and researchers struggle to explain the causes. Solbjørg Makalani Myrtveit wants to help these often misunderstood patients.

A new study, by scientists from the University of Southampton and National Oceanography Centre (NOC), implies that the global climate is on the verge of broad-scale change that could last for a number of decades.

Maastricht University (UM) has ranked among the top 10 in the Times Higher Education (THE) 100 Under 50 ranking for the third year running, making it the sixth best young university in the world.

Hot water could be the answer to stopping aquatic invasive species from “hitchhiking” around Britain on anglers’ and canoeists’ kit, according to a new study.
Invaders like the killer shrimp, zebra mussel and floating pennywort cause extensive environmental damage and have been previously reported to cost the British economy £1.7 billion per year to manage.
The new research, led by the University of Leeds and the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), has identified that eight of the UK’s worst aquatic invasive species die if they are submersed in hand-hot water for just 15 minutes.

The university leadership and several UiB researchers will participate at the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) conference in April 2015. Dag Rune Olsen wants to make more UiB researchers aware of the opportunities offered by the network.

As the world’s two most populous countries, India and China, battle it out for superpower status, the Indian Ocean is growing in prominence as a key geopolitical region. But human memory is short when compared with the history of humankind. Archaeological evidence has unearthed a number of insights indicating that this Indian Ocean connection has been a key region of cultural interaction and trade for approximately 2,000 years.

How did African plants and animals get to India? The Indian Ocean Archaeology Network is uncovering the long-term history of trade and interaction across this geopolitical corridor.

Scientists from the University of Southampton have found that ocean tides have changed significantly over the last century at many coastal locations around the world.

Researchers from the University of Southampton will play a major role in establishing a European Data Science Academy (EDSA) – a new online platform for training data scientists across Europe.

The University of Massachusetts has taken a large step toward advancing its international research capabilities, announcing in January that it would become one of a handful of schools in North America to join the Worldwide Universities Network.

From climate change to improving public health, the world’s 350 million Indigenous people share a number of urgent challenges in common. Yet while many Indigenous groups are actively involved in forging solutions to the issues they face, there are surprisingly few organisations dedicated to disseminating and sharing their insights.

What is the connection between parasitic infections and allergies? This question is at the core of a new University of Bergen-led research project, which has received seed funding from the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).

New evidence showing the level of atmospheric CO2 millions of years ago supports recent climate change predications from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Health literacy is a relatively young field of research which focuses on people’s ability to understand health information and make decisions about their own health care. By helping patients to become more health literate, researchers hope to find ways to improve public health outcomes across low, middle and high-income countries.

Students and researchers from Europe and North America moved the lecture hall to Greenland to learn more about climate dynamics.

As the world prepares to mark 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, an international exhibition looking at how Germany confronted the Holocaust is unveiled.

In the National Geographic article “Origin of Arts” published in January 2015, Professor Henshilwood and his groundbreaking research at the very tip of Africa, an hour’s drive from Cape Town, is featured in a very fascinating story about the invention of symbolic expression by the first Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals.

Since the adoption of the “go global” strategy in the early 2000s, China’s total outward foreign direct investment (FDI) stock has increased from US$30 billion to US$610 billion in 2014. The Economist estimates that the flow of Chinese outward investment will be US$264 billion in 2017 alone. Although China remains a relatively new player in outward FDI, this rapidly expanding flow of capital represents a host of opportunities and challenges for policy-makers, businesses and researchers.

The Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) at the University of Southampton has been awarded over one million pounds to develop students who will help tackle global marine and maritime challenges.

In three independent studies, scientists from the Universities of Southampton and Cambridge have identified how a simple chemical called nitrate, found in leafy green vegetables, can help thin blood ensuring oxygen can be delivered to all corners of the body efficiently. Reducing the thickness of blood may also decrease instances of dangerous clots forming and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks.

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) announced today the results of the 2014 round of the annual Research Development Fund, marking a direct investment into international, interdisciplinary research of £165,671 across 17 projects.

The University of Southampton is to join forces with the European Commission and the Japanese government to develop new technologies for high-speed networks in densely populated user areas.

New research shows that ocean heat uptake across three oceans is the likely cause of the ‘warming hiatus’ – the current decade-long slowdown in global surface warming.

A team of researchers from the universities of Southampton, Bristol and Liverpool have derived the first theoretical equation to demonstrate that global warming is a direct result of the build-up of carbon emissions since the late 1800s when man-made carbon emissions began. The results are in accord with previous data from climate models.

Caring for the growing number of patients with non-communicable disease is a challenge faced by policy-makers and healthcare providers across the world. To tackle the issue, a team of WUN experts in healthcare system planning have come together to share their unique insights from across Canada, the UK and Australia.

A study of ancient marine algae, led by the University of Southampton, has found that climate change affected their growth and skeleton structure, which has potential significance for today’s equivalent microscopic organisms that play an important role in the world’s oceans.

Researchers have discovered a mechanism linked to the brain damage often suffered by stroke victims—and are now searching for drugs to block it.

The University of Southampton is part of a new £120 million national network of Quantum Technology Hubs, that will put its cutting-edge research in quantum sensors at the forefront of future technologies to drive the UK’s economy.

While most medical research focuses on the quest for new treatments, much less attention is paid to how we can make better use of medicines that already exist. Yet up to half of patients don’t take long-term medicines as prescribed, which can result in serious harm or even death.

The Advanced Climate Dynamics Courses (ACDC) are yearly international research training schools for PhD students organized by the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen in collaboration with the Norwegian Research School in Climate Dynamics (ResClim).

Researchers from the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, believe the key to making future generations healthier could lie before the mother becomes pregnant.

Scientists at the Universities of Southampton and Cardiff have discovered that a globally warm period in Earth’s geological past featured highly variable levels of CO2.

Every day more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created, and its growing every day. What are the possibilities that could be unleashed by analysing and applying that data to solve some of the globe’s most pressing challenges? 

Scientists from the University of Southampton and National Oceanography Centre, Southampton contributed to the world’s first ever sub-sea carbon dioxide impact, detection and monitoring experiment relevant to Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) in sub-seabed storage reservoirs.

People around the world are living longer, but social policies to support their wellbeing in later life are lagging behind in many countries. This is according a new report by HelpAge International, developed in partnership with the University of Southampton.

Land-ice decay at the end of the last five ice-ages caused global sea-levels to rise at rates of up to 5.5 metres per century, according to a new study.

Geographers at the University of Southampton have developed a new way to measure the ‘health’ of poor regional communities.  They aim to improve the wellbeing of people by guiding sustainable development practices to help avoid social and environmental collapse.

Demand for better care by women linked with the expansion of basic services, rather than political pressure, has helped to improve midwifery services in low to middle-income countries, according to international research involving the University of Southampton.

Read the August 2014 edition of the WUN Newsletter. 

A rise in the number of reported floods in the UK over the past 129 years can be related to increased exposure, resulting from urban expansion and population growth, according to new research by the University of Southampton.

The University of Leeds has developed a three week online course exploring commercial innovation, how innovations emerge and, how ideas become reality.

The University of Leeds and Bionow have agreed a formal collaboration to support the UK life science sector in the North. Built around the University’s world-class strength in interdisciplinary biomedical research and Bionow’s industry network of over 1,000 biomedical companies, the partnership will offer opportunities across three key areas; collaboration; employment support and building influence.

A new academy has been launched by the University of Leeds’ specialised Care-Connect Sector Hub. The academy is a national programme of support to assist communities to gain a greater understanding of research through learning, provided by experts at the University.

The Data Science (Big Data) Exploratory Workshop will be hosted by the University of Rochester on 22 August 2014, and will provide an opportunity to explore where partners’ interests are sufficiently aligned to warrant deeper collaboration. WUN members will explore where WUN has the greatest impact in this burgeoning field of scientific exploration.

New research has identified areas of the Earth that are high priorities for conservation in the face of climate change.

Geographers at the University of Southampton have found a link between increasing average temperatures in India and a reduction in wheat production.

Scientists from the University of Southampton have helped to create a new map, which shows the impact climate change could have on the whole planet by the end of the century, if carbon emissions continue to increase.

A new device designed to sample and detect foodborne bacteria is being trialled by scientists at the University of Southampton.

The University of Southampton’s Professor Neil Wrigley has been presented with the Outstanding Impact in Business award by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for his research which has transformed thinking on food retail development and the future of UK high streets.

The University of Southampton is featuring in a UK-wide campaign next week to highlight the value and importance of university research to our everyday lives.

On 21st May 2014, the WUN Global China Group, together with the University of Chicago and the University of Sydney hosted a forum entitled “Feeding the masses: China-Latin America agriculture connections through time.”

WUN Newsletter – May 2014

New research at the University of Southampton into how animals keep time through their internal circadian rhythms could help us understand why we sleep and how we cope with jet lag.

Three scientists from the University of Southampton have been recognised for their contribution to the advancement of medical science by election to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

The University of Sheffield is pleased to announce that: we have been voted number one for student experience!

A University of Southampton oceanographer is working with experts from around the globe to warn against lasting damage to the deep-ocean, caused by fishing, oil and gas development, industrial-scale mining, waste disposal and land-based pollution.

Doctors and scientists in Southampton have completed their first hip surgery with a 3D printed implant and bone stem cell graft.

An international study led by the University of Southampton and the National Vector-borne Diseases Control Programme (NVDCP) in Namibia has used mobile phone data to help combat malaria more effectively.

The University of Southampton has launched a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to help people improve their research project skills and share ideas.

A new Cancer Research UK trial, involving the University of Southampton, investigating whether high doses of aspirin can help prevent permanent hearing loss, a common side effect among cancer patients given the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, launches today (8 May).

A multidisciplinary team from the University of Southampton has won a national prize for their innovative research into the future of sociology in the digital age.

12 of WUN’s 17 member universities were among the top 100 in the The Times Higher Ed’s World University Rankings of Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health Schools.

Professor Tim Leighton from the University of Southampton has been awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, it is announced today.

A WUN-funded research project aims to better understand the relationship between energy production and climate measures. The goal is to give decision-makers better tools to create climate policies that also take into account the world’s growing energy requirements.

Recently evaluated evidence suggests that organisms bred from different genetic lines have evolutionary advantages over more closely related members of the same species when colonising new environments.

Finding novel ways to address complex global issues such as climate change and public health was the recurring theme of this year’s WUN Annual Conference and AGM, held in Cape Town, South Africa from 28 March – 3 April 2014.

The following news story appeared on the front page of the University of Bergen’s news website on 3 April 2014.

Researchers from the universities of Southampton and Cambridge have discovered a new section of the boundary wall of the ancient Roman port of Ostia, proving the city was much larger than previously estimated.

Scientists have gained new insights into the molecular process of how some people get type II diabetes, which could lead to new ways of preventing people from getting the condition.

New research from the University of Southampton has identified a coral-eating flatworm as a potential threat for coral reefs.

As we preluded in October last year, WUN stepped into the world of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in late March with the launch of the Globalizing Higher Education and Research for the 'Knowledge Economy' course taught by Professor Susan Robertson of the University of Brsitol and Professor Kris Olds of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Research from the University of Southampton has shown a drug, used in combination with chemotherapy to treat advanced colorectal cancer, is not effective in some settings, and indeed may result in more rapid cancer progression.

Researchers from the University of Southampton are leading an international project to understand the effect of climate change on people living in deltas in South Asia and Africa, and how they respond.

Professor Cyrus Cooper of the University of Southampton has been awarded The 2014 ESCEO-IOF Servier Pierre D. Delmas Prize for his distinguished body of work in the epidemiology of musculoskeletal disorders.

In the first study of its kind, research undertaken at the University of Southampton has cast significant doubt over the use of biochar to alleviate climate change.

In a keynote address to newly elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago, the Rt Hon David Willetts encouraged a spirit of competition and collaboration in science and technology, and underlined the importance of researcher mobility.

A study led by the University of Leeds has shown that global warming of only 2°C will be detrimental to crops in temperate and tropical regions, with reduced yields from the 2030s onwards.

Research by the University of Leeds has linked drinking alcohol during the first three months of pregnancy to a higher risk of having a premature or unexpectedly small baby.

Scientists, practitioners, and representatives of community organisations, government bodies and industry will gather in Cape Town on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 March to discuss the challenges that lie at the intersection of public health and climate change and to discuss solutions that will have meaningful impact, particularly in Africa.

The University of Southampton is pleased to announce that Nick Jennings, Professor of Computer Science and a Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government, has been appointed as its first Regius Professor in Computer Science.

Scientists have found that a simple blood test, which can read DNA, could be used to predict obesity levels in children.
Researchers at the Universities of Southampton, Exeter and Plymouth used the test to assess the levels of epigenetic switches in the PGC1a gene – a gene that regulates fat storage in the body.

The study, from the Medical Research Council Units and the Universities of Southampton and Cambridge, showed that mothers’ activity levels differed depending on her level of education, number of children and weekly working hours. It also showed that many mothers were not meeting the government’s recommended amount of physical activity per week.

Professor Anna Scaife, from the University’s Astronomy Group, will join other UK scientists, engineers and industries in supporting the design of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the world.

The University of Southampton has launched a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), giving people the opportunity to explore Portus, the ancient port of Rome.

A University of Southampton researcher has helped to develop a wireless network of sensors that is set to revolutionise soil-based salinity measuring.

A new study to identify patients with undiagnosed lung disease is to begin in West Hampshire.

Music by a Jewish victim of the Nazis feared lost forever is being performed for the first time since the Holocaust, at the University of Leeds Clothworkers Concert Hall on Friday, March 14. Chad Gadya (One Little Goat), by Dovid Ajzensztadt, was uncovered in South Africa by a University of Leeds researcher.

The Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) at the University of Southampton has officially launched a joint laboratory in Singapore with the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) at A*STAR, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research, to focus on maritime and offshore engineering research and development.

WUN Global Platforms Researchers publish comment piece in ‘Nature’

Two multi-million pound grants will make the University of Leeds a major centre for ‘Big Data’ analysis – and a national resource that can be used by academics.

Leeds’ Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Professor David Hogg, says the University is poised to be a leader in Big Data research.

Professor Guy Poppy, of the University of Southampton and one of the UK’s leading experts on food systems and food security, has been appointed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as its Chief Scientific Adviser.

An online Masters degree in English Language Teaching is being launched worldwide thanks to a collaboration between the University of Southampton and the British Council.

A new publication from researchers at the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton highlights the importance of nutrients for coral reef survival.

WUN Newsletter – February 2014

First ‘university professor’, professor of Nanobiology Peter Peters, appointed at Maastricht University

University of Twente’s Tissue Regeneration research group, led by Prof. Clemens van Blitterswijk, moving to Maastricht

Pennsylvania State University, one of WUN's founding members, announced on Monday a new President to take the helm from 12 May, 2014.

Eric J. Barron will become Penn State's 18th President, taking over from Rodney Erickson who steps down after a two-and-a half-year tenure.

Research by the University of Southampton suggests new teachers could be better trained to help them promote health and lifestyle issues to children in schools.

Researchers from Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton in collaboration with the Mixed Reality Lab at the University of Nottingham are examining how people can relate to the concept of digital provenance of objects through the free ‘The Apocalypse of MoP’ ARG.

Scientists from the University of Western Australia and University of Leeds have teamed up to explore the process responsible for the ability of the vine to develop buds that can not only survive winter but can make the rapid transition to new life once the good weather returns.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, Sir Alan Langlands, has been appointed as the new Chair of the N8 Research Partnership.

Fertility experts at the University of Southampton and University of Warwick have found new insights into why some fertilized eggs can embed in a uterus and why some do not.

The study, led by the Berlin-based think-tank Global Climate Forum (GCF) and involving the University of Southampton, presents, for the first time, comprehensive global simulation results on future flood damages to buildings and infrastructure in coastal flood plains.

The University of Southampton has been awarded a rare professorship, bestowed by The Queen, to mark its excellence in the field of Computer Science.

Three WUN member universities have been recognised for their commitment and achievements in internationalisation in the Times Higher Ed’s ranking of the 25 most international universities in the world.

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts has announced the appointment of Professor Philip Nelson as chief executive and deputy chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Researchers in Southampton now have the benefit of a dedicated, brand new facility to develop and support pioneering research into patient safety and essential care.

The University of Southampton is part of an innovative £10m project, which has just received major funding to help reduce energy use in the home.

The Centre for Geobiology (CGB) is one of four Norwegian Centres of Excellence (SFF) at the University of Bergen (UiB). The centre is one of the world’s leading environments for basic research on the deep ocean layers.

New research by the University of Southampton has found a mechanism as to how corals use their pink and purple hues as sunscreen to protect them against harmful sunlight.

Research carried out at the Universities of Southampton and Edinburgh shows that sunlight alters levels of the small messenger molecule, nitric oxide (NO) in the skin and blood, reducing blood pressure.

New research from a global group of scientists and engineers, including from the University of Southampton, has been published in a special issue journal of the Royal Society. The work is in support of tidal power, which has the potential to provide more than 20 per cent of the UK’s electricity demand.

Tough limits on global emissions of greenhouse gases could avoid between 20 and 65 per cent of the damaging effects of climate change by 2100, according to new research contributed to by Professor Robert Nicholls and Dr Sally Brown of the University of Southampton, published in the journal, Nature Climate Change.

Postgraduate training at the University of Southampton in engineering and scientific fields, important to the UK’s economy, has received a major funding boost through three new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs).

Scientists have cast doubt on the widely held perception that there has been a global increase in jellyfish.The results of the study, which includes lead co-author Dr Cathy Lucas, a marine biologist at the University of Southampton, appear in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS manuscript # 2012-10920R).

Researchers from the University of Southampton looked at the records of over 200 patients** with a type of oesophageal cancer known as adenocarcinoma treated at Southampton General Hospital.

What will happen to the Greenland Ice Sheet if the Arctic sea ice covers disappears? To answer this question, researchers at the University of Bergen and Uni Research are to receive between NOK 50 and 60 million from the European Research Council (ERC) over a five year period.

The team, led by Dr Laura Grange, a researcher at University of Southampton, and Professor Craig Smith of University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, document their discovery this month in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

WUN member university Presidents joined with Presidents of other leading universities around the world to mark the 50th Anniversary celebrations of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) at the CUHK Golden Jubilee University Presidents’ Forum.

China scholars from around the world gathered at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on 5-6 December for the WUN Global China Group Conference on Family Transition, Ageing and Social Security in China.

On 26 November 2013, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and consumers gathered at the University of Sydney for the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Global Health Literacy Network’s second annual conference titled “Crossing Disciplines, Bridging Gaps”.

Researchers from the University of Southampton have identified regions beneath the oceans where the igneous rocks of the upper ocean crust could safely store very large volumes of carbon dioxide.

A new study, led by a University of Southampton scientist, highlights the potential for fish communities in marine reserves to resist climate change impacts better than communities on fished coasts.

Scientists have, for the first time, demonstrated that climate models are able to simulate past abrupt changes in the Earth’s climate – giving more confidence in predictions of future global climate change.

A team of researchers led by the University of Southampton has launched an online project to map detailed population information from countries around the world.

At the third plenum held earlier this month, the Chinese government announced reforms to further drive urbanisation in China. After already experiencing the largest human migration in history, what are the public health consequences of this mass movement from rural towns to cities?

Introducing solid food with breast milk after the 17th week of birth could reduce food allergies in babies, according to University of Southampton research.

New research has found that the number of pests and disease outbreaks in trees and forests across the world has been increasing.

Three University of Southampton academics have won a prestigious environmental award at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) Professional Awards, which celebrate professionalism, skills and knowledge right across the spectrum of waste and resource management.

The University of Leeds is spearheading the drive to recruit the next generation of environmental scientists.

Researchers from the ESRC Centre for Population Change (CPC) at the University of Southampton have identified key ‘turning-points’ in young adults’ lives which influence whether or not they return to the parental home.

Scientists at the University of Southampton have helped to develop artificial membrane pores, using Lego-like DNA building blocks, which could provide a simple and low cost tool for drug discovery and diagnostic devices.

The University of Southampton has been awarded €2.49 million (£2.1 million) by the European Research Council to study a large network of Roman ports stretching from Turkey in the east, to Spain in the west.

A team of scientists, led by the University of Southampton, has developed a new method to help the world’s coasts adapt to global sea-level rises over the next 100 years.

Inspired by the way dolphins hunt using bubble nets, scientists at the University of Southampton, in collaboration with University College London and Cobham Technical Services, have developed a new kind of radar that can detect hidden surveillance equipment and explosives.

Being at the forefront of higher education innovation, WUN member universities are plugged in to the MOOCs revolution.

Exposure to common air pollutants found in diesel exhaust pollution can affect the ability of honeybees to recognise floral odours, new University of Southampton research shows.

The University of Southampton has flicked the on-switch for the most powerful university-based supercomputer in England and the third largest academic supercomputing facility in the UK. ‘Iridis4’ will also enter the top ten of the UK’s elite supercomputers. (1)

A professor at the University of Southampton working with HelpAge International and an international expert group has developed the Global AgeWatch Index to help highlight the varying quality of life and wellbeing that older people experience in countries around the world.

Maastricht University has broken into the top 100 of the Times Higher Education’s (THE) World University Rankings 2013/14, rising from 115th to 98th place.

The University of Southampton is leading an international project to provide sustainable electricity supplies to rural communities in Africa.

Two University of Southampton students have been named as Science Students of the Year at the prestigious SET Awards, Europe’s most important awards for science, engineering and technology undergraduates.

The Open Data Institute (ODI) has awarded Honorary Founding Partner status to the University of Southampton in recognition of its exceptional contribution to the setup and development of the organisation. It comes exactly 12 months after its unofficial opening and move to its London HQ.

A pioneering project by the University of Southampton, which aims to improve energy efficiency in the home, has won the British Gas Connecting Homes Startup Competition.

Scientists from the University of Southampton have collaborated with Nokia on ground-breaking, proof-of-concept research into harnessing the power of lightning for personal use, an industry first that could potentially see consumers tap one of nature’s significant energy sources to charge their devices in a sustainable manner.

A free course launched by the University of Leeds forms the first wave of a new approach to online learning.

Fairness and Nature: When Worlds Collide is one of the first MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) offered in partnership with FutureLearn – a company built on the Open University's expertise in delivering online and distance education. The course focuses on why fairness needs to be part of natural resource management policy.

New research, led by the University of Southampton, has shown that people in debt are three times more likely to have a mental health problem than those not in debt.

Clinicians should be extra vigilant when prescribing antidepressants as they could pose a risk of type 2 diabetes, researchers at the University of Southampton have warned.

Researchers from the UK and Austria are working together to launch a project led by the University of Southampton which is set to revolutionise our understanding of ancient maps and geographic texts.

A study into the aerodynamic performance of feathered dinosaurs, by scientists from the University of Southampton, has provided new insight into the evolution of bird flight.

The University of Southampton today (18 September) launches its first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which will enable anyone to study online, for free, wherever they are in the world.

New research has shown that schemes that grant children with a life threatening illness a special wish have a positive impact on their and their family’s wellbeing.

Scientists at the University of Southampton are to study the 3D architecture of healthy human tissues down to the nanometre scale (one billionth of a meter), to develop regenerative cell techniques for musculoskeletal repair.

University of Southampton researchers are at the forefront of research into mechanobiology, an emerging field of science combining biology and engineering, which investigates the influence of mechanical forces on cellular and molecular processes.

A new study, from the CGIAR research programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which involves researchers from the University of Leeds, shows how decision-makers can sift through scientific uncertainty to understand where there is a general consensus.

A new study has showed that in about one-third of global cropland, temperature and soil moisture has a strong relationship to the yield of wheat and rice at harvest. And, for those two key crops, the model could predict crop failures three months in advance for about 20 per cent of global cropland

A University of Southampton Professor, in collaboration with colleagues at the BC Cancer Agency Research Centre, have discovered a novel way of killing cancer cells.

Health researchers from Southampton have been given £9million to help them tackle some of the South’s most pressing health problems.

An evolutionary ecologist at the University of Southampton, is using ‘grains of sand’ to understand more about the process of evolution.

Researchers at the University of Southampton, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Cambridge, have developed a technique to help treat fatal diseases more effectively.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong supports mobility of staff and students throughout WUN.

WUN today announced the 2013 round of the Research Development Fund (RDF).

WUN is seeking a Business Development Manager to take on responsibility for the development and funding of the research programs of WUN.

Cancer Research UK scientists at the University of Southampton are seeing positive results in a pre-clinical trial that could bring treatments for a particular aggressive form of childhood cancer closer to reality.

Using nanostructured glass, scientists at the University of Southampton have, for the first time, experimentally demonstrated the recording and retrieval processes of five dimensional digital data by femtosecond laser writing.

Researchers at the University of Southampton have completed a project that will enable surgeons to fit joint replacements with longer, optimised lifespans

Leading an international team, including University of Southampton archaeologist Dr Jacobo Weinstock, the Copenhagen researchers have sequenced and analysed short pieces of DNA molecules preserved in bone-remnants from a horse kept frozen in the permafrost of Yukon, Canada for the last 700,000 years.

Maastricht University has made it into the top 10 of the Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 Ranking.

University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor and member of the WUN Partnership Board, Professor Eric Thomas, was appointed Knights Bachelor in the 2013 WUK Queen’s Birthday Honours list. He was honoured for his services to higher education.

A Southampton scientist has worked with Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, to create the first ever virtual lab tour designed to help the public understand how new dementia treatments are developed

From reducing hip fracture rates to improving the health of mothers and children across the South, the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU), University of Southampton, is responsible for groundbreaking health research that affects our everyday lives.

The international WUN community returned to Washington DC in May 2013 for its annual conference and general meeting. The event attracted more than 200 delegates and provided an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the previous year and review WUN programs.

Scientists from the University of Southampton have developed a device which records the brain activity of worms to help test the effects of drugs.

A team of researchers from the University of Southampton have designed a new tool to intelligently combine nuclear radioactivity data in Japan. The technology harnesses the power of crowdsourced radiation data; an innovative resource which became available after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

A recent study involving the University of Southampton has investigated public perception of how waste disposal sites affect residents living nearby.

A professor from the University of Southampton has been awarded a highly prestigious Wolfson Research Merit Award by the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science.

The 8th Conference on Global Health and Vaccination Research and the 25th Anniversary of the Centre for International Health at The University of Bergen will take place in the middle of beautiful Bergen 16-17 October 2013.

New research from the University of Southampton has found that working or travelling on an underground railway for a sustained period of time could have health implications.

Variations in nutrient availability in the world’s oceans could be a vital component of future environmental change, according to a multi-author review paper involving scientists from the University of Southampton.

WUN Chief Executive talks to China Daily News about trends in higher education.

WUN Chief Executive talks to China Daily News about cultural differences from East to West.

The University of Southampton has been given £3.7 million to help train and structure career paths for young scientists in Europe working in mental health research.

University of Southampton biological scientists are leading a major research project aimed at making drugs more effective.

The Council has appointed Sir Alan Langlands as the next Vice-Chancellor of the University.

The impact of the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption had a significant but short-lived effect on the biology of the North Atlantic Ocean according to a team led by scientists from the University of Southampton – who were on a shipboard research expedition in the area at the time.

Led by the University of Southampton and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) on behalf of RCUK SSC Ltd, the new national aggregation portal allows institutions to both contribute to and access facilities and equipment data from a selection of UK universities.

The University of York announces the appointment of Professor Koen Lamberts as its new Vice-Chancellor.

Hosted by The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) as part of its golden jubilee celebration, the annual Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Conference and Exhibition is being held for the first time in Hong Kong, China. With the generous contribution from The Lanson Foundation, Dr. Alex K Yasumoto and a number of other sponsors and supporting organizations, CUHK is hosting the largest ever international education conference in the region from 11 March to 14 March 2013 at the AsiaWorld-Expo, bringing the territory into the spotlight in the global education arena.

Australia's first multidisciplinary research centre dedicated to tackling the nation's and region's biggest food security and environmental challenges, through the integrated study of carbon, food and water, has been launched today by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

A researcher at the University of Southampton, working as part of a team from the UK and USA, believes the global eradication of malaria could be achieved by individual countries eliminating the disease within their own borders and coordinating efforts regionally.

Researchers from the University of Southampton have received a £113,000 grant to explore a new form of hormone based treatment for prostate cancer.

The impact of the recession across Europe was the subject of the University of York’s James College Annual Lecture delivered this year by Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Sir James Mirrlees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The Bergen Summer Research School takes place 17-29 June 2013. The theme for this year s edition is “Food as a Global Development Challenge”.

Registration is now open for the 2013 WUN Conference and AGM taking place in Washington DC from 21-23 May 2013.

Recent natural disasters illustrate vulnerability of older people: majority of deaths from the Great East Japan Earthquake (2011) and Hurricane Katrina (2005) occurred among older people.

Coral reefs are predicted to decline under the pressure of global warming. However, a number of coral species can survive at seawater temperatures even higher than predicted for the tropics during the next century. How they survive, while most species cannot, is being investigated by researchers at the University of Southampton.

The University of Southampton has successfully bid for funding to launch a new project aimed at getting secondary school students enthusiastic about research.

The Boao Review recently published an article on higher education reform by WUN Chief Executive Professor John Hearn.

Researchers in Southampton now have the benefit of a dedicated, brand new facility to develop and support pioneering research into patient safety and essential care.

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) welcomed 2013 with exciting news – the joining of Maastricht University to the global network.

An international team of nuclear astrophysicists has shed new light on the explosive stellar events known as novae.

Scientists at the Universities of Leeds and York have discovered that the majority of ozone-depleting iodine oxide observed over the remote ocean comes from a previously unknown marine source.

Increasingly hot summer weather could cause a fall in crop yields over the next two decades unless farming techniques are improved more quickly, scientists at the University have found.