wun

A major global initiative to establish an international register that will improve the transparency of health research was launched today by Health Minister Lord Howe.

The Yorkshire African Studies Network is marking its launch at the University of York with a conference on democracy and power.

A NERC consortium grant worth nearly £3.3 million has been awarded to a network of researchers, co-led by the University of Bristol, to model the last interglacial sea level.

John Hearn and Alan Robson urge universities to refocus on the reality of individual missions, not rankings’ absurd lists

The University of York is forging close relationships with Afghan legal practitioners and academics to help equip the country’s future lawyers with the skills they need in post war Afghanistan.

The University of Sydney has been rated at or above world standard in all 24 of the broad discipline areas in which it was rated in the 2010 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) evaluation program.

The WUN announces the results of its fund for research development.

The University of York’s Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU), in partnership with the Institute for International Education (IIE) based in Washington DC, is to host a major international conference on the reconstruction of Higher Education in Iraq.

Researchers from the Oceans Institute within The University of Western Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) are to embark on a three-week field trip to one of WA’s most remote regions to investigate ocean circulation and its influence on the ecology of Camden Sound in the Kimberley.

By Professor Bruce Robinson. First published in the Sydney Morning Herald.

In my office recently I saw a patient with a large pituitary tumour. It was causing multiple symptoms, including partial blindness. The patient didn’t require surgery; his condition can be managed with medication and he will be cared for entirely as an outpatient.

Scientists have uncovered a rare insight into a war between genes to control the sex of a plant.

Researchers at the University of Leeds are exploring a greener, safer and cheaper way of using coal from deep underground seams as an energy source.

Contrary to the popular belief of many scientists and members of the public, new research confirms that Africa has two—not one—species of elephant.

Scientists at the University of Leeds are joining the global fight to eradicate polio by developing a new type of vaccine that can trick the body to develop immunity against the disease.

The energy and commitment of five postgraduate researchers helped make this year’s White Spaces research network conference a huge success, attracting more than 30 delegates for the three-day event.

The University of Western Australia Business School’s Tomorrow Starts Here fundraising campaign has been named a state winner in the Fundraising Institute Australia’s 2011 National Awards for Excellence in Fundraising.

Researchers from The University of Western Australia undertaking deepwater ocean trawls of the Peru-Chile trench off South America are believed to have discovered three new fish species.

Computerised training systems are getting an extra dose of reality, thanks to an EU-funded research project led by the University of Leeds.

The University of Western Australia and the philanthropic body Kimberley Foundation Australia have joined forces to protect the unique and spectacular rock-art of the Kimberley region.

On November 15 Prof. Dr. Don Nutbeam, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, received the honorary professorship from Nanjing University when attending the International Forum on Contagious Diseases and Public Health hosted by the Center for Public Health Research, Nanjing University.

The British Council and THET are pleased to announce a third round of funding for the International Health Links Funding Scheme (IHLFS)
IHLFS is offering project grants of up to £15,000 for one year to support existing links to develop and prepare a needs assessment, refine plans for a larger initiative or to pursue modest development programmes.

The report of the International Association of Universities (IAU) 3rd Global Survey on Internationalization of Higher Education is now available.

Universities UK announces Prof Eric Thomas, VC at the University of Bristol and Director on WUN’s Partnership Board, as President for 2011-2013.

International scholars will gather this week for a major symposium hosted by the University of York focusing on the role of education in recovery and development of crisis-torn societies.

One of Western Australia’s top young scientists who has been instrumental in leading research towards a cure for Floppy Baby Syndrome, a paralysing disorder that affects thousands of infants worldwide, has won the inaugural Western Australia Young Tall Poppy Science Award.

The University of Sydney this week cements its role as a leader in the area of voice research with the official opening of the state-of-the-art Voice Research Laboratory at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

New research on how sharks see may help explain the relationship between other aquatic life and their environments and provide a benchmark for the health of our oceans.

A new study by researchers at The University of Western Australia has provided a unique insight into how the same protein plays different roles in plant and animal cells.

A pre-school language intervention programme can significantly improve the educational lives of children with poorly developed speech and language skills, according to new research by psychologists at the University of York.

Researchers from across the world will come together at the University of Bristol to discuss past, present and future changes in sea levels and ice sheets, and the implications for human populations.

A major WUN workshop looks at the development of China in the second decade of the ‘Chinese Century’

The 3rd International History Postgraduate Intensive, hosted by the University of Sydney, has brought postgraduate research students from WUN universities Sydney, Bristol and Leeds, together with peers from Harvard, Birkbeck College, the École Normale Supérieure, Oxford and Australian National University.

After hosting a successful spintronics symposium at the Shanghai Expo, the University of Sydney has been chosen as the venue for the 2011 Worldwide Universities Network Spintronics Conference. The event will be held in November next year and will bring some of the world’s leading spintronics researchers to Sydney.

The University of Auckland has become the only New Zealand member of the Worldwide Universities Network, a network of leading universities focused on international research collaboration.

A new $63 million Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre based at The University of Western Australia will boost marine science capacity in Australia, according to UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson.

The University of Western Australia’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson has been appointed Chair of the Worldwide Universities Network
(WUN) board.

Students from WUN partner universities around the world came together in early April to put their entrepreneurial skills to the test at the inaugural WUN Stimulate Forum, hosted by the University of Sydney.

Student teams from York and Leeds in the UK, Alberta in Canada, and Nanjing in China joined Australian students from Western Australia and Sydney for the four-day forum, at which they were split into mixed teams to tackle a real business challenge –the emergence of e-publishing.

Students from WUN universities around the world will look at how the growth of e-publishing is creating business challenges and opportunities as part of an international forum at the University of Sydney. 

Twenty-five students from the universities of Sydney, Western Australia, Nanjing, Alberta, Leeds and York are taking part in the STIMULATE forum, organised by the University of Sydney in conjunction with the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN). 

Microscopy technology at The University of Western Australia that enabled an international team of researchers to locate ancient DNA in fossilised egg-shells for the first time has paleontologists around the world crowing.

Registration is now open for WUNSPIN10 – the third WUN International Conference on “Spintronic Materials and Technology” – which will take place at the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) from June 21 to 23.

Experts from Europe, USA and China, have established networks of field research stations to study the valuable services that soils provide to humanity. It is hoped these research stations will help experts find out how to protect soil against the threats posed by climate change and increasing food and energy demand from a growing human population.

The gene appears to orchestrate pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. When these are in correct balance, the body can fight the TB pathogen without harming itself. An imbalance causes problems.

The relationship between the urbanisation of the United States in the mid to late 19th Century and the landscape art of the period is the focus of research by Professor David Peters Corbett of the Department of History of Art.

Gases such as methane expelled by grazing animals make up roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Dr Alex Chaves, Senior Lecturer of Animal Nutrition in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, is working on ways to reduce these livestock emissions, which contribute to global warming.

Researchers at The University of Western Australia have found that not
only do some female dung beetles have bigger horns than males but they
also use their horns as weapons in competition with other females for
access to dung, which they then use in breeding.

WUN forges a new global alliance to examine the changing and challenging relations in the Asia-Pacific region.

A project led by The University of Western Australia will examine ways to motivate students to study science in the face of an anticipated worldwide shortfall in scientists.

Identifying victims of terrorism, mass disaster and criminal activity is crucial to prosecute offenders and bring closure to families – and the next generation of tools with the capability to improve forensic identification of remains is being developed.

The University of Cape Town is set to become the latest partner in the Worldwide Universities Network making it the first African member in this global network.

WunNursing at Sydney

On the 7th September 2009, The University of Bristol opened its Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information. This highly distinctive, £11 million building provides state-of-the-art specialised laboratories where vibration and acoustic noise levels are among the lowest ever achieved, despite being located in the centre of Bristol.

This group is looking at how young people are increasingly disaffected with traditional democratic politics and politicians.