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THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL MAGAZINE//AUTUMN 2013

SPHERE:WATCHING OUTFOR YOUR HEALTH

THE RED PLANET:A DRY RUN

BRISTOL:

A LOVE LETTER


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Autumn 2013esuch//Autumn 2013

noneAutumn 20

EditorNick Riddle

ContributinFreya Sterlin

Contactnonesuch@b

Advisory GDavid Alder Director of Cand Market

Jill CartwrighHead of Pu

Relations Of

Dr Lorna CoHead of ResDevelopmen

Hannah JohPress Office

Dr Maggie LHead of thePublic Enga

Dr John McPublicity anRecruitmen

Dick Penny Managing DWatershed

Tania Jane Director of Cand Alumni

Professor JPro Vice-Ch

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Produced Public RelatSenate HouTyndall AvenBristol BS8 T: +44 (0)11

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In pictures

Snapshots 7Taken 20

Regulars

Alumni in the news 2

Bristol and beyond 11

Bristol in pieces 24

What happened when... 18

Autumn 2013

Contents

Listings

Events 28Alumni in memoriam 29

there were gorillas, then Banksy,his summer Bristol was in the

national spotlight again for thenishingly successful Gromitashed (p7). And so it is veryopriate that we have includede letter to the city by Rachelaer (BA 2013); a blog post thatved more than 10,000 sharesacebook this July (p18).

ugh we clearly share a deep affectionstol, I dont recognise some of the cityel describes so well. But then, she justated this year, and I graduated in 1975.gh said! I do hope you enjoy Rachelsnd that you will share your own thoughtsBristol on our LinkedIn alumni webpage.s academic year has got off to andous start with alumni events as faras Cambridge, Dubai, Tokyo and, ofe, Bristol. We will be showcasing someUniversitys newest buildings at our nextni Weekend, 4 6 July 2014. I hope tou there: please gather your Bristol

s together now, and save the date.

ay(BSc 1975)man of Convocation,ls Alumni Association

[email protected]

A knighthood is, I think, aptly namedan honour. After learning of my own

this summer, I have been happilysurprised by how exciting anddelightful the experience has been.

My service to higher education includeschairing Universities UK, a medical academiccareer, and writing a Government White Paperon philanthropy. But my primary service forthe last 12 years has been to the University ofBristol, which is ranked consistently among thetop 100 global universities, and where studentplaces are some of the UKs most sought after.

The whole Bristol community its staff,students and alumni make this Universitygreat. Examples abound in this magazine.

A Bristol alum is now Prime Minister of Malta(p2); another is a potential NASA astronaut (p3).One PhD student examines war-torn Sri Lanka(p21); another develops morphing airplanewings (p25). Bristol academics are empoweringpeople with health conditions to live at home(p11), and exploring green energy sources (p4).What an extraordinary community of achievers!

Bristol Universitys mission of learning anddiscovery is realised through the work of ourstudents, staff, alumni and friends. So of courseI am proud to accept a knighthood, and I also

consider it an honour shared with you.

Professor Eric Thomas(Hon LLD 2004)Vice-Chancellor

ol.ac.uk/alumni

lcome

7

12

8

A senseof wellbeing

A brushwith medicine

21The fight for funding

2

11

Features

Ground force 4

The human factor 8

Where the heart is COVER 12

Bristol, give me a signal 16

The fight for funding 21

Boldly going 25

Nonesuchmagazine//Autumn2013

PrintedonCocoonSilk 50

Emissionsreducedthroughcarbon

offsetting:16,700kgof CO2 saved


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ulars

mni in the news.ac.uk/alumni/news

ndangered:eware of wildlifevision

McCann(BSc 2004) has been rubbing shoulders with the worldsest and Baddestanimals, as part of a six-part wildlife documentarys first aired this summer.

ollowing McCanns debut in 2011 wherehe presented the hit documentary Lostn the Amazon, hes been travelling toe locations around the world in search ofnters with some of the most fearsomels on earth. The series, which aired onimal Planet channel this year, showsnn being charged at by a tiger andng with anacondas, crocodiles and

hogs in order to look at the roots of their

cts with the human race.

Leading MaltaPolitics

Joseph Muscat(PhD 2008) was elected asMaltas second youngest Prime Minister in theMarch 2013 general election.

As leader of the Labour Party, Muscat had implementedextensive party reform, including changes to the partysformal name and emblem. Muscat, aged 39, wonwith a margin of 36,000 votes, which is considered alandslide in Malta and represented a major shift from theNationalist Party, who had been in power for 15 years.

Aint no mountain high enoughSports

In August, six mountaineers from the Universityof Bristol achieved a world first by conquering theDjangart mountain range.

The team, made up of Bristol alumni and students, climbedseven ascents on the Djangart mountain range, which is onthe border between Kyrgyzstan and China. Three of thesemountains were over 5,000 metres high, and previousattempts by other mountaineers to scale them had all failed.

Current fourth-year students Harry Kingston, HarryBloxham and Alistair Docherty met graduates RossDavidson (MEng 2013), Clay Conlon (BSc 2011) and GeorgeCave (MEng 2011) at the University of Bristol ExpeditionsSociety (UBES) and the University of Bristol MountaineeringClub (UBMC). With many European alpine trips and remoteexploratory mountaineering in the Russian Altai alreadyunder their belts, this trip was their first major attempt at new,challenging, alpine-style routes in an unexplored region ofthe world.

Alumnibreakingground

Achievements

Professor Tessa MSuzuki (ne Morris(BA 1972), a scholar ostudies, has been awa prestigious Japaneinternational award, tFukuoka Prize, for oucontributions to acadarts and culture in As

Dame Victoria Sha(LLB 1978) has been from the High Court tof Appeal. She is onewomen of the 38 Lorof Appeal and has rissecond most senior English legal system four years on the ben

Stephen Briggs(BSdirects the conservatproject Alvecote Woowas recently awardeprize in the Royal ForeSocietys Small WooExcellence in Forestr

for its outstanding plaregeneration of oak topen days and use owoodland produce.

Ed Woodward(BA Manchester Uniteds

Vice-Chairman, nowresponsibility for the fclub. Woodward wasto the top operationaOld Trafford in a boarrestructure this summthe retirement of CEO

Away with wordsJournalism

Nishtha Chugh(MSc 2011) has beenshortlisted in the prestigious GuardianInternational Development JournalismCompetition 2013.

Chughs news feature Donkey power:changing lives one battery at a time was amongthe final 12 drawn from nearly 600 featuresentered into the competition, the highestnumber in its six-year history. The competitionaims at highlighting many crucial issuesfacing the developing world, which are oftenoverlooked or underrepresented by the media.

Chugh was flown to a fully sponsored foreign

assignment in Rwanda to explore and writeabout changing male attitudes towardswomen and domestic violence in Rwanda,alongside Women for Women International,an organisation that empowers women inwar-torn countries.

With other finalists, Chugh will see her articlepublished in aGuardiansupplement, after theannouncement of the winner at an awardsceremony in November 2013. Chugh said:What I studied in Bristols School of Sociology,Politics and International Studies has immenselyhelped me hone my expression and deepen myunderstanding of the global development andsecurity issues, which inspired me to write.

But biologist McCann has been nostranger to danger in the past. After studyingzoology at Bristol, he voyaged across the

Atlantic in 2007, covering 3,000 miles in arowing boat. He has climbed in the Alps,cycled the highest road in the world, skiedacross Greenland and canoed downthe Yukon river. McCann has devotedover 12 years to advocating conservationprogrammes for some of the most critically

endangered animals on our planet.

Reachingfor the starsScience

Anne C McClain(MSc 2005) was announcedas part of NASAs new team that will help theagency to push the boundaries of exploration.

From over 6,000 applications, NASA chose eight astronauttrainees, including Major McClain (MSc 2005) who works asan OH-58 helicopter pilot for the US Army. NASA said: Half ofthe selectees are women, making this the highest percentageof female astronaut candidates ever selected for a class.

The group will receive a wide array of technical training at spacecentres and remote locations around the globe to prepare formission explorations in space, including an asteroid and Mars.Will Bristol alumni one day be represented in 160+ countriesglobally and other planets too?

Turning for gold:the 2014 SochiParalympic GamesSports

Anna Turney(BSc 2002), Paralympic skiracer, will represent GB in the 2014 SochiParalympic Games.

In 2006 Anna Turney broke her backsnowboard racing. Determined not to bedefeated, Turney decided to become aParalympic ski racer, and after three yearstraining she propelled to success,coming sixth in the VancouverParalympics and fourth overallin the Europa Cup 2013.

Now Turney has her eyes fixedon gold at the next Paralympicsin Russia in March 2014. Turneysaid: I compete in the samedisciplines as Olympicski racers. On the sameruns, and the samecourses. But I do itwithout the use ofmy legs. For me,gold at the WinterParalympics 2014would be a hugepersonal success,and for all of usanother decisivevictory overadversity.Illu

strationAlbertoAntoniazzi


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ure

Ground

force

Its late afternoon and the falling suncasts a warm blanket across thebleached landscape. There are no cars

and no skyscrapers, only a few modestmud huts and several small herds of cattle,

yet there is a deafening roar in the air.Dr Juliet Biggs, Lecturer in the School of

Earth Sciences, is standing a few yards froma geothermal well located in the caldera ofthe Alutu volcano in Ethiopia. A tower ofhigh-pressure steam is erupting out of the

well head, the plume rising some 30 feetinto the air. But this unleashed power isonly a taste of the potentia l that lies below.

The well descends 2.3km into theEarth, where it taps into an aquifer with atemperature of around 320oC. The steamis created when the groundwater is heatedby the surrounding rock, which has itselfbeen heated by magma seeping up throughcracks in the Earths crust.

The grass and trees surrounding thewell head are coated in crystals, formedwhen dissolved hydrothermal mineralsin the steam precipitate out in the air.This steam also car ries the hope of reliable,clean, renewable energy, which coulddeliver power to the 85 per centof Ethiopians who dont currently haveaccess to affordable power of any kind.

Fractured earthThe potential for geothermal energy isgreatest in areas of geological turmoil,where tectonic forces create fractures thatallow magma to intrude into the Earthscrust. The East African Ri ft zone is onesuch area: a 6,400km trail running through

Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania,along which Africa is splitting apart bynearly an inch each year. Nearly 100volcanoes have formed here over the last10,000 years, and although some are stillactive today, others have been assumed tobe dormant.

Biggs started studying this region in2005 as part of her PhD studies. A seriesof small earthquakes in the area promptedher to use satellite techniques to try tounderstand the underlying geologicalprocesses behind the seismic activity.

What we saw from those initial images,says Biggs, was that it wasnt just a few smal l

the controversy over frackingmbles on, attention is turninganother, cleaner undergroundergy source: geothermal.

its greatest potential is inas where drilling can be risky.Juliet Biggsis investigatinge such area: the East African

in Ethiopia.

By Nicola Temple earthquakes, but an extremely large event.A 60km long, 10m wide wall of magmawas penetrating into the Earths crust.

If a major event such as this couldvirtually go unnoticed, was other activityin East Africa being overlooked? Biggs usedradar satellite imagery from the last twodecades to look for deformations inflationsand deflations of the Earths surface. Shefound that some of the volcanoes may not beas dormant as once thought.

Monitoring unrest

Typically before a volcano erupts it maybegin to inflate, there may be a series ofsmall earthquakes, and it can start to releasegases. All this activity causes the Earthssurface to lift and subside. By comparingradar satellite images taken at differenttimes, Biggs tracked these deformations inthe Earths crust. She found that the Alutuvolcano had two large uplift episodes, rising15cm in 2004 and 10cm in 2008.

It is this unrest that has brought Biggsto Ethiopia to set up ground-based GPSequipment on Alutu and nearby Corbetti,the two volcanoes in the region thathave shown the most activity. There areno records of either of these volcanoeserupting, but thick deposits of ash andcraters, which span 10km or more, areevidence of an eruptive past. Biggs is oneof several members of Bristols VolcanologyResearch Group who have projects here,examining the geophysical processes thatare causing these deformations.

There are nine GPS stations altogether,spread across the two volcanoes; eachis equipped with an antenna and datarecorder powered by two solar panels and

a car battery. The recorders collect a GPSsignal from the satellites every 15 seconds,and this data is incorporated into thecontext of the rif ts overall movement.

The results will help fil l a void ofinformation about the potential hazardsassociated with these volcanoes and shouldassist the Ethiopian government in itsemergency planning for the thousands ofpeople who farm these flat and fertile lands.

Informing industryThe teams findings will also be of greatinterest to the geothermal industry. TheAlutu-Langano Geothermal Plant, based

Geothermalenergyexplained

The Alutu-Langano GPlant is known as a bindue to its use of a secoin the generation of el

The steam from the wcarried to the plant alpipes. At the plant, this used to heat a secofluid, which has a mu

boiling point. This secfluid then vaporises, steam that turns the tgenerate the electric

The global capacity fogeothermal energy prin 2012 was 11.4 GW, wPhilippines, and Indothe top three global pEthiopias current capranks it 20th among gproducers, but the excurrently underway cquickly bring it into the


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Snapshotshermal unleashed

ure

n the caldera of Alutu, was established98, and the plant is now ready fornsion, with deep borehole drillingted to start on both Alutu andetti within the next year. The newenerated by the Bristol team could nothelp target areas of high geothermaluction, they could also provide usefulhts into the effects the drilling activitiesving on the region.

We know from the fracking industryhese activities can put stresses in thend, and cause micro-earthquakes

hanges in the circulation patternsgroundwater, says Biggs. So werested to see what effects the drilling

he increased geothermal productionhave on the natural system thatready know is experiencing bigmations.ggs and her colleagues have beening with the Ethiopian Elect ric Poweroration, who run the geothermalon Alutu, and with Reykjavikhermal, an Icelandic companywere awarded a licence to carry outermal exploration at Corbetti andate that the field could become one

SnapshotsLife and work at Bristol

Clockwise from top left:

FAB GEARS//The first natural exaof a functioning gear mechanism hadiscovered in the hind legs of a com

//bris.ac.uk/news/2013/9736.h

IMAGINE THE ECHO//Mega-cauncovered beneath Greenland by aled by Bristols Dr Jonathan Bambe//bris.ac.uk/news/2013/9688.h

PENGUINS LAND IN BRISTOL/

The worlds penguin experts camein September for the eighth InternatPenguin Conference.//bris.ac.uknews/2013/9686.html

OVERSEAS SERVICE//The Univgraduation celebration in China dre200 students from across the coun

//bris.ac.uk/news/2013/9297.h

DOG ALMIGHTY//Julie VernonsGromit, one of 80 statues installed aBristol and the region for Gromit Unkeeps watch outside the Victoria Ro

//bristol-culture.com/gromit-u

In picturesDr Elias Lewi (left) from Addis Ababa University and Dr Juliet Biggs setmonitoring equipment at the Alutu-Langano Geothermal Plant

PhotoNicolaTemple

InsectgearsBurrows/Sutton//Mega-canyonJonathanBamber//

PenguinPaulPonganis//GromitNickRiddle

of the worlds largest geothermal sites.There is an obvious synergy betweenthe datasets and logistics collected by thegeothermal industr y and the work weredoing, she says, so the relationship hasbeen beneficial on both sides.

Full steam aheadThe United Nations EnvironmentProgramme estimates that the East AfricanRift has the potential to produce somesix GWe (GigaWatts of electricity) or more,raising the hope that geothermal energy

may help lift Ethiopia and its neighbouringrift countries out of poverty and helpprovide inexpensive, clean energy to itspeople, as happened in Iceland during theprevious century.

Its data from researchers like Biggsthat could help direct the most expens ivecomponent of geothermal development the drilling to hotspots of geothermalenergy. Its a good example of how build ingstronger links between industry andresearch can ensure geothermal energyis developed in a cost-effective way, withbenefits for industry, developing countries,and the planet.

The Universitys Cabot Institute and theNatural Environment Research Council(NERC) hosted a two-day workshopin August that brought togetherresearchers working on volcanoesin the East African Rift with membersof the geothermal energy industry inEthiopia, Kenya, Iceland, and the UK.

The event was an opportunity forparticipants to share information aboutwhat data are being collected and howthey can be used to improve geothermalproduction and reduce risk anduncertainty associated with geothermaldevelopment in these areas.bristol.ac.uk/cabot

Bringing Ethiopiato Bristol


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Autumn 2013

Feature

Every October, our Philosophy and English studentsare joined by around a dozen medical students.They arent just sitting in theyre taking a one-yearBA that requires them to step aside from theirclinical training and become students of literatureand philosophy. All of our students show athoughtfulness and commitment to their work,but these medics bring an extra dimension.

The diagnosisMedicine was one of the great success stories of the20th century, but many began to feel that the roots ofthat success the great advances in knowledge hadbecome problematic. Knowledge threatened, cuckoo-like, to push out the teaching of the more spir itual,ethical, and imaginative aspects of medical practice.

Many universities, including Bristol, responded toa call from the General Medical Council for a greaterrole for the humanities and more options for self-chosenstudy. Many short courses were introduced. At Bristolwe went further, and launched a whole-year course, theintercalated BA in Medical Humanities (iBAMH).

At the core of the degree, which first ran in 2006-7,is the academic study of medicine and its influence, viathree topics: the philosophy and history of medicine;the philosophy of natural and social science; andliterature and medicine. The students also write a

dissertation on a medical humanities subject.Alongside this runs a series of seminars and projectscalled the Oakhill programme. This, importantly, islooser in structure and not subject to examination.It features seminars demonstrating how art is usedtherapeutically (for instance, using music to helptreat autism, cerebral palsy, and other life-limitingconditions), plus a pastoral element, in which thestudents reflect on their experience of the humanities,medicine and medical practice.

Responding to treatmentThere is, of course, some irony in all of th is: what is theprescription for overworked medical students? Morework. But is the prescription working?

Putting literatureinto practice

The students, at the end of their year, generallythink so. The feedback is overwhelming ly positive.And I have never received so many complimentsfrom colleagues about how rewarding it is to teacha particular group of students.

Why might this be? Its partly because seminarstend to benefit from having students with different

backgrounds but common points of interest. Butits more than that. The typical iBAMH studentseems to make different demands of literature.One student I was supervising for her dissertationhad worked in a hospice. She was very impressedwith the hospice workers understanding of grief,and their continued ability to show compassion topatients and their families. She wondered whethershe could do the same, and whether she couldendure, over many years, experiencing the griefof others. She wrote her dissertation on dramatictragedy. Might tragedies be a resource for thehealth professional having to deal with griefon a day-to-day basis?

iBAMH students tend to write dissertationsthat explore how literature might be of practicalvalue to them. They relate their reading to theirlives, which is what I would like all my students todo, but iBAMH students seem to do it to a greaterextent and, often, more successfully. Asking medicalstudents to work at a final ists level in English andPhilosophy within a year is a very tall order, butthey do very well. In two of the last four years , forinstance, an iBAMH student has either won outrightor shared the prize for the best dissertation in English.

A new prescription

This practical and personal attitude towards literatureis, Im sure, partly responsible for their academicsuccess that, and the Oakhill programme, whichstudents consistently mention as being central totheir experience of the year.

The latter has been the biggest surprise to me.After all, Oakhill is a non-assessed component withno direct link to the academic programme. Butperhaps we have more confidence in our studentsabilities, and should be a l ittle more inventive inmaking space for learning that has no obvious aimsor clear outcomes. The problem is that it is hard toargue for such spaces in advance and yet such aneducation seems to deliver the aims and outcomesthat, we all seem to ag ree, we want.

Dr John LeeSenior Lecturer in the Departmentof English, and iBAMH Director

Clinical is a word with baggage. We want our doctors to bethoroughly versed in clinical skills, but not to be the other kindof clinical: cold, detached, aloof. The intercalated BA in MedicalHumanities gives medical students at Bristol an opportunity tocomplement their practical skills with an awareness of the humancondition as expressed in philosophy, literature, and art. Here threepeople describe the programme from their own perspectives.

Illustrationpelotondesign.co.u

k

Thehumanfactor


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cal Humanities

ure

Bristol and beyond

Regulars

Ive always been fascinated by thetechnical side of stage productions,particularly sound.At school I was theone sitting at the side of the hall operatingthe PA system for all manner of events, fromPTA meetings to the annual school musical.So when I came to Bristol to do a degree in

electronic and electrical engineering, I quicklysigned up to the Stage Technicians Association(STA), which looks after the technical aspectsof University performances.

The STA surrounded me with like-minded, passionate people and gaveme the experience I needed to apply myskills in the real world.For major Universityproductions we hired in sound and lightingequipment, giving me my first experienceof dealing with outside suppliers andnegotiating terms.

In 1998 an opportunity arose to getinvolved with a brand new BristolUniversity Radio Station: BURST FM.I jumped at the chance and found myself settingup a studio in St Pauls Church, Clifton, andrigging a radio link back to the main transmitteron the roof of the union. Since then, BURSThas gone from strength to strength.

During my final year at Bristol, I hada work placement with the BBC.I experienced everything from research anddevelopment to maintenance engineering. Myfirst job at the BBC was with World Ser vice radioas a studio engineer. Over 1,000 applicationshad been received for six places. Ive no doubtthat my Bristol degree and involvement withSTA and BURST helped me to secure it.

Later, I transferred to work in televisionand was asked to lead the soundteam for BBC Sports coverage ofLondon 2012.My job was to design the soundand communication facilities at the InternationalBroadcast Centre and to manage a team ofsound staff. We built a temporary broadcastingcentre in the Olympic Park just as complicatedas a permanent BBC building.

on as our medical students arrive at Bristol,sk them whether they have done a humaniti esel. A good third raise their hands. Medicine,all, is both an art and a science.The art ofcine is represented by a strand running throughoutre curriculum, but for some the ca ll feels moreng. The iBAMH helps them to an swer it.

what does the course have to offer of value tooctors of tomorrow? First of al l, theres context,ially that of history the evolution of the hospital,ample. Looking at history tends to encourage an humil ity, as we unpick the political forces thathaped todays institutions.

hen theres cultural awareness. Literaturedes potent points of reference for the study ofcine, whether its the emergence of the professiondlemarch), its dark side (Frankenstein), or thelexities of patienthood (Gwyneth Lewisspital Odyssey). Contact with great writing guidesnts towards a better sense of the human situationhey will meet daily in the clinic.nally there is the notion of critique of usingols of philosophy to ask hard questions: Whattutes evidence, and how do we justify our claimsvalidity? How do we judge quality of life?ing the philosophy of science helps our studentsme better questions and to become more criticalrs of published research.ur students do very well in this programme.enjoy it immensely. Whether they are betterrs as a resu lt is hard to prove but if, as Plutarch

e, the mind is not a vessel that needs filling,ood that needs igniting, these students arenly smouldering.

ture, contextd critique

evor Thompsoner in Healthcareation and a Bristol GP

I hadnt done English A-level, and Id never exploredliterature before, so I loved the idea of spending a

year studying it. Wed just done two intensive yearsof pre-clinical medicine, with a high volume of thingsto learn.I found I was depersonalis ing a lot of what Iwas learning, just to get through it. The BA gave mea chance to regain the human perspective.

The iBAMH was a different learning environment we had to contribute to tutorials, in quite smallgroups, and our opinions mat tered a lot. I wasnt veryfamiliar with the concept of writing an essay about anovel or a poem, but I loved the process of researchingit and weighing up the arguments.

I did my dissertation on shellshock in modernistliterature, focussing on the character of SeptimusSmith in Virginia Woolfs Mrs Dalloway. Woolf hadquite a progressive take on shellshock that conflictedwith the orthodox view at the time she describedsomething a lot closer to what we now cal l PTSD.Her own experience of mental illness probablygave her that insight.

The Oakhill programme was a great highlight.It tied together a lot of different things wed beenreading and related them back to medicine. We talkedabout what wed learned and how it made us reflect onthings that wed experienced in the small amount ofclinical placement wed had.

Coming back to medicine, I felt rejuvenated; I hadsome new tools. Id been a bit concerned that clinicalwork with patients might be quite ha rd emotionally,but the BA gave me ideas for processing it in a differentway. I did a psychiatry placement in my third yea rand really enjoyed that. But Im still keeping myoptions open.

New tools

Katie HallFourth-year medical student

nesuch//Autumn 2013

From Bristol tothe BAFTAsFreya Sterling interviewsPeter Bridges (MEng 1998),BBC Sound and Communications Engineer

My work at the Olympics won mea Television Craft BAFTA earlierthis year, one of the highestaccolades in the industry. It wasa heart-stopping moment to hearmy name announced as the winner.

Since the Olympics, I havemoved to another BBCdepartment focused on the planning,design and delivery of the technologythat supports programme makers.Im also assisting with the design of theBBCs facilities for next summersCommonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Broadcast technology, used by bothprogramme makers and audiences,is changing faster than ever before.Its a really exciting time to be involved inthe industry. Having a solid theoreticalbackground is fundamental tounderstanding any technology properly.Ive Bristol to thank for that.

HAVING A SOLIDTHEORETICALBACKGROUND

IS FUNDAMENTALTO UNDERSTANDINGANY TECHNOLOGYPROPERLY

OMING BACK TO MEDICINE,ELT REJUVENATED

PortraitStephenShepherd


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Autumn 2013 //esuch//Autumn 2013

We need new ways of thinking abouhealthcare. And where better to do than a new institute that brings hearesearchers and practitioners togewith engineers, chemists, and otheexperts to tackle pressing issues inhealth and medicine? The ElizabethBlackwell Instituteis doing just thisthrough one of the Universitys flagprojects, SPHERE, a pioneering mixof technology and medicine that cotransform the way people deal withlong-term health conditions.

Cover feature

Where theheart is


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Autumn 2013 //esuch//Autumn 2013

hing out for your health

er feature

Consider the situation. On the onehand is a set of complex socialproblems: an ageing population;

ng incidence of obesity and diabetes;ing numbers of people living alone;king healthcare budgets. On the

is an array of striking new innovationsctronics and engineering: sophisticatedrs, wireless networks, energy harvesting,toring software, video analytics, datang. What if these technologies couldrnessed to address those problems?was with this question in mind thatssor Jeremy Tavar, Director of theute, and Professor Ian Craddock, acal imaging expert in the Departmentctrical and Electronic Engineering,sed how they could use the

d-leading research in the Faculty ofneering to address major 21st-centuryhcare problems. Shortly afterwards, theneering and Physical Sciences Researchncil (EPSRC) issued a funding call fordisciplinary research centres, includingcal health sensing the very area thatdock had identified. The two of themed a successful bid for a 12 mil lionthe largest ever awarded to Bristol

e EPSRC.hristened SPHERE (Sensorrm for HEalthcare in a Residentialonment), the project is now beginninge shape: the development of a digital

e health assistant that would operated the clock, monitoring someone withth condition and watching out forcal warning signs.

ERE of influencea long-term condition like diabetes,h can involve taking medication thatme patients can cause their blood sugar

dangerously low. This is a state thatlways easy to detect, especially by the

nt, and it frequently comes on at nightng detect ion even harder. But lowsugar gives rise to certain physical

changes in the way someone moves,

The Elizabeth BlackwellInstitute is named after a publichealth pioneer well known in

the United States but muchless well celebrated in the cityand country of her birth.

Elizabeth Blackwell was bornin Bristol in 1821 and becamethe first woman to receive amedical degree in the USA andthe first woman to be enteredinto the UKs medical register.

The Elizabeth BlackwellInstitute for Health Research,co-funded by the Wellcome

Trust and the University ofBristol, follows her lead bybringing together leadingresearchers from verydisparate disciplines tocollaborate on projects thatcan help deliver better healthfor the public. The Institute willalso help foster collaborativeapproaches with patients,funding bodies, the NHSand industry.

bris.ac.uk/blackwell

SPHERE is an interdiresearch collaboratioby the University of B

and the Universities oSouthampton and Reworking in partnershBristol City Council, IToshiba, and KnowleMedia Centre. Its direis Professor Ian Crad

SPHERE has been awa grant of 12 million bEngineering and PhySciences Research C

for example and a sensor system couldregister these and raise the alarm. In thesame way, a sensor system could detect anovernight stroke by detecting small changesin the behaviour or facial expression of thepatient on waking. The system could thenautomatically alert a carer or the patients

GP to the problem.

Home helpCertain criteria were agreed at the outset:firstly, the aim would not be to developbrand-new sensors, but to adapt devicesalready on the market. Think of thecomponents in gaming consoles or smartphones devices that can sense movement,track velocity and angle, and monitor allkinds of subtle changes in appearance andbehaviour. The SPHERE research willwork towards something similarly all-in-one: a system with one set of sensors thatcan be configured according to need.

Our aim is to come up with algorithmsthat can extract meaning from video,such as emotional or physical states , saysCraddock. The algorithms would be ableto figure out who the person is, what statetheyre in, how mobile they are, and so on.

The foundations for this work havealready been laid by research groups inthe Faculty of Engineering: innovationsincluding technologies for networks ofsmall, self-powered, wireless sensors, aswell as a range of methods for extracting

data from video, including gait and facialexpression. SPHEREs requirementsoffer these groups a fresh challenge: howcan sensors get clear enough data in thecomplex, cluttered environment of thetypical home, whose residents arentstanding obligingly in front of the sensorsall day? Solving these technical challengeswill extend the field of health sensing,to the benefit of UK industry not tomention the patients.

Sensing and sensitivityConsidering the patients viewpointis another important prerequisite.

We wanted to make sure that theconversation with patients, carers andthe public happens from the word go, saysTavar, not in five years time when wevepulled all these wonderful gizmos togetherand patients sudden ly say Oh no, werenot having that.

One can understand peoples concern atthe prospect of being monitored inside theirown homes, but no images would be sentanywhere, only the data extracted fromsignificant footage. The involvement ofBristol City Council, Knowle West MediaCentre and the local NHS services notto mention a film commissioned fromAardman Animation is ensuring thatpatients and their carers are informed andconsulted about important details like this.

Its not about doctors spying on theirpatients, but about people being able togenerate information that they can thenuse, with our help, to improve their health,says Dr Sarah Purdy, Reader in PrimaryHealth Care in the School of Social andCommunity Medicine, and a GP in thewest of Bristol.

Purdy joined the SPHERE projectthrough her involvement with BristolHealth Partners (BHP), a collaborativegroup set up by the University of Bristol,the University of the West of England andthe citys NHS organisations. Similarlyconcerned with bringing differentdisciplines to bear on pressing problems,

BHP has developed Health IntegrationTeams, consisting of academics, clinicians,social workers and others, pooling theirexpertise to improve health care. Purdyleads one such team, tasked with trying toreduce the number of people admitted tohospital unnecessarily. The overlap withSPHEREs mission is obvious.

The standard telehealth approach talking to the patient on the phone hashad a mixed review in terms of howhelpful it is in keeping people with long-term conditions out of hospita l, says Purdy.Our team concluded that its probablymore effective for health professionals to

get monitoring information that they canassess and respond to. SPHERE takes thatconcept to the next level.

Private eyesEarly dialogue with the public, carried outby Knowle West Media Centre and other

partners, has indicated a high deg ree ofinterest in the project among patients andtheir families, with many asking to becomeinvolved in any research concerning theircondition. For someone with long-termhealth problems, says Purdy, SPHEREbrings the prospect of reassurance: If youhave a condition that could go into crisisat any moment, then a sensor system couldallow you to continue living in your ownhome, which is hugely important. It alsogives you the confidence that if somethinggoes wrong, the alarm will be raised andsomebody will come and check on you.

The anxieties about invasion of privacyare still present, of course, but the SPHEREpartners are determined to tackle theissue head-on. I think people are capableof making decisions about the costs andbenefits of invasive technologies, butthey need to be informed decisions, saysCraddock. This is something we haveto get to grips with as a society the useof pervasive, internet-enabled sensortechnologies just as we had to copewith the advantages and drawbacksof the automobile, for example.

As SPHERE gets into gear, andconnections continue to be made acrossdisciplines at Bristol and its partnerinstitutions, Tavar is looking ahead toother projects for the Elizabeth BlackwellInstitute to help co-ordinate. Theres astudy on sleep and brain imaging ; a plan fora large-scale stock-take of tens of thousandsof new molecules invented by the UKschemists, some of which could lead to newdrug discoveries; and a project looking atthe health effects of future climate change.

Weve made a good start w ithSPHERE, says Tavar, but nowthe hard work begins.

do people feel about the SPHERE approach to healthcare?-based Aardman Animations, together with Knowle West Media Centre, asked

bers of the public, and Aa rdman used some of their answers to create a short film.uk/blackwell/animation

ck Riddle

In the future this kind of technology will be such a naturalpart of our lives, that we wont worry about it beingswitched on, well worry about it being switched off.

Why ElizabethBlackwell?

SPHEREin a nutshell

ElizabethBlackwellportraitcourtesyofArchivesandSpecialCollectionsonW

omeninMedicine,

MedicinalCollegeofPennsylvania//AnimationstillsAardmanAnimations//IllustrationJeffreyBowman


10/17

Bristol.City of squats whose graffiti is amore famous landmark than its cathedral, whohas a bakery ca lled Bread an Ting, a home-ware store called Happytat and a stationeryshop called Paper Gangsta; even your shopnames have a sense of humour. Whose nativeBrizzle drawl involves referring to inanimateobjects as he or she and tacking a randoml on after words that end in vowels, as thoughthe very dialect is trying to turn every word intoBristol, a football fans chant: Bristol, Bristol.

You crazy bloody minx.

This is a city that met the everyday occurrenceof a new Tesco opening with riots andfirebombs: a stoned city, perennially laid back,outraged into action by the affront of the blue

and red commercial beast squatting on itsparade of independent businesses, its beatingheart. They stretch all the way from HorfieldCommon down to the Attic Bar where StokesCrofts sweet orgy of colour and life meetsthe dual carriageway the longest parade ofindependent shops in Europe.

So what did you do? You set up the PeoplesRepublic of Stokes Croft. This is an area that isin essence just one long road, but youve got aPeoples Republic now. You, and China. Andyour own currency, the Bristol Pound, to keepmoney within local businesses (the fiver hasa pretty shady looking tiger on it). Youre a cityof people who looked at the Bearpit, the uglyhollowed-out concrete eyesore of an underpassslap bang in the city centre, and stuck a statue ofa bear in it, spray-painted the walls into cartoonoblivion and stencilled paw prints along theconcourse. Now its the only underpass Ive everseen with a ping pong table and an organic fruitand veg stall. Seriously, Bristol, what are you like?

And I cant explain quite why Ive got so muchlove for this off-kilter West Country city, home toInkie and Banksy, Massive Attack and the Stig,

but I know that when I walk up Dighton Streetfrom the city centre until I hit the looming milesof street art and I feel like Im walking through acomic book, Im home. I love your absurd pridearound cider, the way that the legendary Cori

Tap is famous for serving its exhibition ciderin half pints cos its just that fucking potent andthat even though Im from London and Ive livedin New York, you still have the best goddamn

nesuch//Autumn 2013 Autumn 2013 //

Rachel Schraer (BA 2013)is a bloggerwho penned a love letter to the city ofBristol following her final exams in July.Do you recognise Rachels Bristol?Join the conversation with other alumniat bristol.ac.uk/alumni/linkedin.

You can read more of Rachels inspired blog atthemajestyofsmallness.wordpress.com

Alumnas blog

nightlife Ive ever seen. Even if your eclecticmusic scene does sometimes draw bands thatdescribe their sound as the relentless soundof torrential drumming. Torrential drumming. Itwas quite an apt description actually, but youknow what, once Id accidentally stumbledin there, wincing at the relentless torrentialdrumming, an old man taught me how to playthe spoons and Ive never looked back.

And on those crazy nights, those rogueoccasions when you just dont fancy relentlesslytorrential drumming, you can whoop yourway from the earthy gin-soaked gloom of theMothers Ruin all the way to Motion, whosenights dont pass out til 7, and you can queuepast the concrete slab of a courtyard, rolls of

barbed wire and sniffer dogs and feel like yourein a post-apocalyptic border town at the end ofdays. Or throw caution to the winds and truckit up to Lizard Lounge, a club smaller than yournans kitchen, owned by the improbably namedJohn Lounge, whose walls sweat and whosetrademark lurid cocktail has no name other thanthe colloquially whispered, the Green Shit.

I love that youre harmlessly, gloriously mad.I love that when the Highbury Vaults wasgraffitied with a tag featuring the wordvandalism with a heart for the v, the pubsmanager was quoted as saying its very nice,it highlights an otherwise white building. I lovethe old woman who, on a rainy day, marchedpurposefully up to me, fighting with a recalcitrantumbrella against the wind, and said squarely tomy face Ooh I ates brollies before carrying onher way. The heavily dreadlocked man at 10 amin Sainsburys who came up to my friend andshouted mmm BREEZERRR in the thickestrhotic drawl youve ever heard. That I onceordered a vodka and coke in a hole-in-the-wallbar only to be told we dont do cocktails here,my babber. And that your resident dj, DJ Derek,is a 70-odd-year-old man who still spins the

sweetest reggae sets youve ever bumped to apparently Massive Attacks Daddy G is a fan.

Its a city that still bears the scrawled markingsof its slave trade past: the main shopping centrenamed after a dynasty of slave owners, theharbourside thrumming with a history thatechoes of sugar, tobacco and human traffic inthe shadow of the old Frys chocolate factory,

and you can stroll down Black Boy Hslopes gently into Whiteladies Roadbeing facetious, thats an actual geofact). But youve taken your historic twisted and writhed from it in happy

It might be that for now, Londons caits sensible career choices and temparental accommodation, and surethat with my glottally stopped-up Lo

youll always sound like pirate farmeBristol. Ill come back and visit you. Amy way through bashment dives til dsit on Brandon Hill and watch the suand in the cold grey light Ill look dowmishmash, inked Georgian splendoshout at the top of my lungs

Bristol, give me a signal.

TopDancing Jesus by Walt JabscoAboveBristol Harbourside

Illustrationpelotondesign.co.u

k//Dancing

JesusphotographFreyaSterling//BristolHarboursideAnthonyBrown


11/17

Autumn 2013 //nesuch//Autumn 2013

Fuchs was taking up an invitation from the Gunnfamily, who had heard of his plight from their aupair, a girl engaged to Fuchs cousin. The Gunns,

who were related to the Wills family, introducedhim to the young Professor Nevill Mott. Mott hiredhim as a research assistant a formative step in acareer that led to Fuchs playing a key role in the Alliesdevelopment of the atomic bomb, not to mentionachieving infamy as a Soviet spy.

Fuchs had fled Nazi Germany after his openlyCommunist sympathies made it too dangerousto remain; others, including many of his scientificcolleagues, were Jews who had also seen the writing onthe wall. Several of them followed the path to Bristol,with important consequences for the University andfor the history of modern physics.

City of refuge

As a result of the ris e of Hitler to power in 1933,recalled Professor Arthur M Tyndall, Head of thePhysics Department and Acting Vice-Chancellor ofthe University (1945-6), many physicists there foundthemselves out of their posts and in d ire need.

The British Academic Assistance Council had askedUK universities to find employment for some of thesescholars. The Physics Department had already invitedWalter Heitler, a physicist at Gttingen University, tospend six months at Bristol, under a s cheme to attractpromising researchers from overseas. In replying toaccept the invitation, Tyndall reca lled, he said that ithad arrived by the same post as the intimation that hehad been dismissed from his University post.

Heitlers considerable reputation justified the offerof a permanent position in the Physics Depar tment,and he stayed at Bristol for eight years. Tyndall, Mottand their colleagues, feeling strongly that they shoulddo more, used a fund from the Rockefeller Foundationto enable two German students of whom Fuchs wasone to complete their PhDs at Bristol. Subsequentlya number of highly promising, Jewish Germanphysicists began to arrive: Herbert Frhlich; HeinzLondon; Kurt Hoselitz; future Nobel laureate HansBethe (briefly); and Hans Heitler, who joined his morefamous brother Walter in 1938 (and who was routinelyreferred to by staf f as Heitlers brother, a bit of fr iendly

deprecation that he bore, it is said, with good humour).

The U problemMany academics in the Physics Department wereinvolved in military work of one kind or another. Tocall this research sensitive would be an understatement;the race was on to develop an atomic bomb. TheFrisch-Peierls memorandum, written in March 1940by two German physicists working at BirminghamUniversity, stated that an atomic bomb could beconstructed using about one kilogramme of fissionableuranium-235. Although it took another year fortheir paper to reach the United States, its finding swere soon being discussed extensively in the UKphysics community.

TopWalter HAboveHerb

That same year, the Nazi invasion of Franceprompted a government crackdown on enemy aliensin the British Isles. On 12 June, Tyndall wrote toGP Thomson, head of the committee for the Britishatomic bomb project:

Bristol and its surroundings have been declareda protected area and consequently, unless a specialpermit is given, certain German Jew refugees in mydepartment must leave Bristol by Friday this week.

He pointed out the special interest that the likes ofHeitler, Frhlich and London had i n the U problem(uranium fission for an atomic weapon), and theimportance of the Bristol laborator ys research innuclear physics that was feeding directly into thecommittees work. Tyndalls urgent request forintercession concluded: I need hardly say that I amperfectly satisfied as to the integrity and loyalty of allthese men. Thomson did not share his outlook, as his

reply demonstrated:I think that it is very important that as few of the

German refugees as poss ible should be concerned inthis work, as in the present state of things I do not,to speak frankly, feel too confident of any of them.

The refugee physicists were duly excluded fromthe Bristol area. But worse was to come: by lateJune, Heitler and the others were sent to Prees HeathInternment Camp in Shropshire.

Notes from campTheir brief letters to Tyndall from the camp expressedgratitude to him for continuing to campaign on theirbehalf, as well as a cheerful pragmatism. Hoselitz, forexample, wrote on 10 August:

Although it is, of course, my greatest wish to be ableto return as soon as possible to Bristol and to continuemy work, I hope just the same, that, if it is continuedby Dr Potter, he can find his way through my notes.

Their internment proved short: in early September,they began to be released, although not all at once.Mott writes that the most junior came out first, andthe others one after another at intervals of a few weeks,and finally understandably rather cross, the senior andmost distingu ished of them. Instructions for WalterHeitlers release were delayed until 10 October, a fullmonth later than that of his less eminent brother Hans.

Back to workOn their return, most of the refugees were grantedpermission to continue working in the PhysicsDepartment. They stayed on for varying periodsbefore moving on to prestigious posts elsewhere.

And what of Klaus Fuchs (PhD 1936)? He hadmoved to Edinburgh University in 1938 and was sentto an internment camp in Canada. But in 1950, afterworking at the Manhattan Project and Los AlamosLaboratory, he became infamous as the atomic spy,having passed secrets to the Soviets. After serving nineyears in Wakefield Prison, he moved to East Germanyand led a highly successful scientific career until h isdeath in 1988.

Regulars

Eighty years ago, in September 1933, a Germanphysics student namedKlaus Fuchs(left) steppedoff the boat at Dover with what remained ofhis possessions and travelled on to Claptonin Gordano, a village just west of Bristol.

Archive macourtesy ofSchool of PWith thanksDr Brian PoM

ainimageTheArchitectandBuildingNews,c.

1930

What happened whenthe German physicists came to stay

Correspondence concerningmans internment included a curtd and a number of release letters

mageThe HH Wills Physicsory in the early 1930s

By Nick Riddle

m the archives


12/17


Featuren

Eye on Shanghaieen Stoneham (BSc 1962)has donated her fatherstographs and papers around one thousandem to the Department of Historys Historicaltographs of China project.

Jack Montgomery served in the ShanghaiMunicipal Police from 1924 to 1938, when theBritish-dominated International Settlementwhich it policed, and the city as a whole, faceda revolution, a major civil war, and two traumaticphases of the Japanese invasion of China.

Shanghai was not an easy city to patrol.Jack was one of 300 Britons serving alongside2,500 Asian personnel during a period whenthe city caught the worlds imagination asa free-wheeling paradise of adventurers,and as a site of ghastly conflict.

Some photographs were taken by Jack,

while others were purchased or commissioned.Amongst the latter are striking images of thestruggles of communist revolutionaries, suchas the workers militia (above) shown in March1927, victorious after seizing control of partsof the city. Within weeks these men had beenbetrayed by their erstwhile allies, led by ChiangKai-shek, and massacred.

The collection shows, too, the catastrophichuman consequences of full-scale warfareand modern aerial bombing that laid waste toswathes of China in 1932 and 1937.visualisingchina.netJack Montgomerys Shanghai bus pass

Bristols PhD students push the boundariesof knowledge with world-changing results as Gilberto Algar-Fariaswork on war-tornSri Lanka demonstrates. But the costsassociated with postgraduateprogrammes are rising, and traditionalfunding sources are drying up. Frommedical breakthroughs to environmentaluncertainty, can we really afford to puta price on postgraduate research?

The fightfor funding


13/17


ure

ay be that when the history of post-conflictolution and reconciliation is written, Gilbertoar-Farias name features prominently among

e offering solutions to nations emerging fromCurrently in the first year of his PhD at Bristolsol of Sociology, Politics and Internationales, Algar-Faria is analysing the fallout fromvil war between ethnic factions that plaguednka for 25 years. His research looks at civily, civil resistance and liberal peace-buildingods and he is one of few Westerners to study th isct which, when compared to Iraq, Afghanistan

he post-Arab Spring, does not get the attention itbly deserves.though at the outset of his doctoral studies,

-Faria already sees implications for other conflictution situations. There are lessons to be learnedSri Lanka across the world, he says. There wouldle point doing the research if there wasnt. Sria is in a post-insurgency environment. Whatens when violent resistance has been crushed?civil society emerge again? These are interestingons, not just for Sri Lanka but for other nations

milar positions.gar-Faria is a highly capable PhD candidate, buttoo. He receives a generous Alumni Studentship

ncludes course fees, a grant, and research expenses.by working as a supervisor in the Universityshe also receives discounted accommodation.ever, many others are struggling: competition foris fierce but funding is often hard to come by.

his is particula rly true for Masters and otherraduate Taught (PGT) candidates. Budget cuts toesearch council grants and economic stagnationsome sources of funding have almost completelyup. Employers who may have sponsored andual find they no longer have the money to doudents now have to make a hard choice betweenng themselves or continuing in full-time work.may consider a part-time course not alwaysal way of study ing at a high level. And if youreng for funding in the arts or human ities, you may

oking forever.

hourthere is the undergraduate factor, a potentialhole for future postgraduate funding. We haveup of undergraduates who will graduate withr debts than their predecessors, says Angela, Bristols Director of Student Recruitment andssions. What no-one knows is what they wil labout another financial commitment. There wills be students who can fund themselves or findsources, but many others are aware of the debtng over them. This is potentially a very big issuecruiting graduates to postgraduate qualifications.

he situation is somewhat easier for candidates

for doctoral training already tends to be concentratedtoward research-intensive universities like Bristol,and the trend towards awarding larger grants to fundcentres or partnerships for doctoral training mayfurther reduce the geographical spread of opportunityfor PGRs in some disciplines. The research councilsand other funders are encouraging universities tocollaborate more to mitigate this , but the competitionto secure these large doctoral grants those that fundcohorts of students is s evere. Bristol has been verysuccessful in securing such grants and hosts centresthat are training the next generation of researchers inareas as diverse as nanomaterials, composite materials,neuroscience, social sciences (in collaboration withthe Universities of Bath and Exeter) and food securit y(in collaboration with Rothamsted Research and theUniversities of Bath and Exeter).

Bristols Doctoral College will facilitate and supportdoctoral training and researcher development acrossthe University, as well as strategic positioning in anincreasingly competitive environment. As fundingstreams have changed, our thinking has had tobecome more strategic to cope with new complexities,adds Heslop.

Depending on their country of origin, internationalstudents can find it easier to access funding andBristols global reputation means there is no shortage ofpostgraduate candidates from abroad. Alex Boughton,Bristols International Recruitment Manager, saysrecruitment from overseas is healthy, with manycountries including a growing number in SouthAmerica happy to welcome home PhD graduateswith Bristol-facilitated research.

Like all universities, were looking for the brightestand the best, says Boughton, but today academia istruly global. A talented international student withfunding can go anywhere in the world. Bristol cannotafford to be complacent. That said, we do have world-class research institutions and excellent links withindustry. Bristol is a very attract ive prospect for theinternational student.

In the balanceBristol is, of course, one of the UKs most cultura lly

vibrant cities, making it an appealing dest ination foryounger postgraduate candidates too. But its popularitycomes at a price. Jon Lightfoot, the Universitys interimStudent Funding Manager, says Bristol is seen as anexpensive city, particularly for accommodation.Rents can be high, he says, and this is one of thebiggest costs students face. Even with a grant, it canbe a challenge.

As UK students find it harder to access funding,the balance has shifted towards international students,who often have generous support from their owncountries, says Angela Milln. While we welcomeinternational students with open arms , we wouldntwant them to come here and find few British student son their courses. One of the key rewards of a un iversity

fight for funding

om Henry

looking for Postgraduate Research (PGR) positions,as the government (through the research councils)provides the bulk of funding. Ongoing funding atPGR level is good news for Bristol, which has anoutstanding reputation for high-quality, challengingresearch, including pioneering advances in heartsurgery, prevention of cot death and environmentalmonitoring in danger zones.

Bristol was firmly on Algar-Far ias PhD radar, afterhe became interested in a particular line of researchwhile studying a Masters in Defence, Development andDiplomacy. But when he first applied to Bristol andother universities there wasnt any funding available.I had applied for a number of PhDs but although Ireceived offers, none had funding attached. Friendsadvised me not to attempt a PhD without funding.

Funding at Bristol did l ater become available, but itwas only when another candidate withdrew that Algar-Faria secured the award. What would have happened ifhe hadnt received full funding? Id have had to makesome hard decisions, he says. I dont think I could

have committed to a PhD in a part-funded capacity.I might have continued working full-time and waited,but theres no doubt that stepping down from a full-time salary to being a part-funded, or unfunded, PhDstudent would have been very difficult.

Stiff competitionResearch is vital to Bristol, says Professor Sally Heslop,Academic Director of Graduate Studies and Directorof the new Bristol Doctoral College. There is far moremoney available for home PGR students than homePGT students, but research councils have faced budgetcuts so there are still challenges.

A big issue for home PGR candidates is that accessto such funding is highly competitive. The money

AboveThrough postgraduate students and research,Bristol is able to face and address global challenges

PhotosDanRowley//PhDdiagramwasoriginallycreatedbyMattMight

andisexplainedinfullathttp://matt.m

ight.net/articles/phd-school-in-pic

tures/

Pioneering inventions and solutions to worldproblems all begin at universities. Each level ofhigher education demands a greater degreeof specialism and its only at PhD level thatstudents begin to impress upon, and eventuallyre-draw, the boundaries of human knowledge.

Human knowledge

education is meeting people from all walks of life, butif funding difficulties in England and Wales continue or worsen this may happen less.

There are signs that the government is taking noticeof these funding is sues. In July, the Universities andScience Minister, David Willetts, announced that anextra 125 million will be available to support studentsfrom disadvantaged backgrounds in postgraduate study.But are such initiatives enough? Hopes are pinned ona strong economic recovery and the promise of greaterinvestment, but there is still growing concern thatfuture generations of undergraduates will choose full-time employment over postgraduate education.

Certainly, talking to Algar-Faria, one cant helpbut admire his tenacity in pursui ng his passion, despitefunding chal lenges. I am driven to undertake researchthat engages with real-life situations, he explains.

Through my academic work, I am able to engagewith individuals on the ground in post-war andpost-insurgency environments. In my v iew, workingwith these people is vital if I am to make a meaningfulcontribution to peace and conflict resolution in anacademic and real world context.

SchoolBachelorMasters dPhD

How a PhD pushes boundaries

RESEARCH IS VITAL TO BRISTOLProfessor Sally HeslopAcademic Director of Graduate Studiesand Director of the new Bristol Doctoral College


14/17


Ashley Daleis a PhD student in the

Faculty of Engineering, working onew generation of morphing windesign. But he is also an astronausort of and an advocate for a manmission to Mars. This summer headded to these credentials when hwas selected to attend the InternaSpace University, and ended up adsenior NASA officials on not to pfine a point on it saving civilisatiothe effects of a solar superstorm.

Feature

Boldly going

ulars

ol in pieces

In the cityThe University in Bristol

The origins and processes of these high-energy particles, whichcontinuously bombard the Earth, are still not well understood. A large-scale international collaboration is studying the rates at which especiallyhigh-energy showers of these pa rticles occur, and HiSPARC, whichbegan as an initiative at Radboud University in Nijmegen, enablesschools to contribute to the study.

The detectors are delivered as DIY kits with either two or fourdetectors; the pupils build the systems themselves, and all the schoolneeds to provide is power, a PC, an internet connection, and a spoton its roof to install the box.

HiSPARC lets pupils conduct original research that can bepublished, says Dr Jaap Velthuis, Senior Lecturer in the School ofPhysics, who co-ordinates the project in the South West. Four schoolsin Bristol and two in Bath currently have detectors installed, and moreare coming online soon.

bristol.ac.uk/physics/research/particle/public/hisparc

The High School Project on Astrophysics Research withCosmics (HiSPARC) introduces A level pupils in Bristol andelsewhere to real-world physics research by supplyingtheir schools with cosmic ray detectors.

min and Stealin:cal Borrowing in

Hop Justin Williamsher taking an old dancefor a breakdancing battle,g from a famous speech,

mpling a 1970s funk song,op borrows overtly from theDr Justin Williams, Lecturersic, presents the first book-study of musical borrowinghop, using examples fromEminem, and others.

rovides a framework foring hip-hop music andcultural trends.rsity of Michigan Press)

Paralysed with Fear: TheStory of PolioGareth Williams

For much of the 20th century, polioinspired terror as the morningparalysis which could disable orkill a previously healthy person.Gareth Williams, Professor ofMedicine, tells the compellingstory of mankinds struggleagainst polio, which became abattleground between good andbad science. Williams explores theprofoundly moving experiences ofvictims alongside the medical andscientific landmarks in the historyof the disease.(Palgrave Macmillan)

The ThingJez ConollyDismissed on its release,

John Carpenters The Thinghasbecome one of the most highlyregarded examples of the bodyhorror genre. Jez Conolly, ArtsFaculty Librarian, looks backto the films antecedents andforward to the changing natureof its reception and the workthat it has influenced. The book istopped and tailed by a fullplot breakdown and anappreciation of its notoriouslydownbeat ending.(Devils Advocates series,

Auteur Publishing)

Tenebrae / Piano Concerto /Sea Change John Pickard

This CD features threeorchestral pieces composedby John Pickard, Professorof Composition and AppliedMusicology, and performedby the Norrkping SymphonyOrchestra conducted by MartynBrabbins. BBC Music Magazinedescribed it as one of themost important contemporaryorchestral CDs of 2013.(BIS Records)

e plugNew books (and a CD)

InthecityphotocourtesyoftheRedMaidsSchool,Bristol

Left Pupils from the Red Maids School assemble the detector


15/17


shley Dale

ure

Strange environments are to beexpected in space travel, and Iverecently worked in a couple of very

ent ones. The first was a barrencape of red cliffs and desert; thend was a series of rooms filled withnauts and NASA directors.

e on Mars11 I applied for an engineeringon at the Mars Desert Researchn (MDRS), a facility run by the

Society in close collaboration withA and the European Space Agency, dedicated to developing field tacticsrotocols for human expeditions toAs a lowly first-year PhD student,ehow managed to clear the hurdlesred for getting a spot on this small,y qualified, international crew,h included a NASA astrobiologist,ogist/psychologist, an ESA artist,A industrial designer, and a NASApace engineer.he station is located in a very remotef the high-altitude Utah desert.two weeks, whilst constantly being

observed remotely, we conducted research,fieldwork, and hardware testing in asimulated Martian environment, and werealso subjected to psychological studies,assessments of crew-selection procedures,and even tests to determine the best kindof foods for Mars explorers. My role as thecrew engineer was to maintain the HabitatModule, greenhouse, spacesuit systems andthe quad bike all-terrain vehicles, whilealso serving as an ext ra set of hands forvarious projects.

It was an unforgettable and intenseexperience that has forever shaped me andit gave me a kind of calling card when theopportunity arose for another bit of space-themed exploration.

My God, its full of starsOne winter morning in 2013, I came acrossa poster advertising the National StudentSpace Conference, hosted by the Schoolof Physics. I contacted the organisers tosee if I could share my Utah experience.They quickly opened a slot for me in theconference, where I met a professor fromthe International Space University (ISU)

Only in recent years have we just how vulnerable our electbased infrastructure is to theof our nearest star.

In 1859, the Earth happened topath of a solar superstorm knoCarrington Event. The Northerwere visible as far south as Haworlds telegraph systems luonly electronics we had back twere set alight by the surge of eIf such an event were to happe

the collateral impact would redthe word disaster in the mindswho survived. With ice-core reshowing Carrington-level evenoccur on average every 150 yeis no idle concern. Two senior Ndirectors who attended the cowere greatly interested in our gwork, and we developed a doc explaining the problem, why wshould care, and what we shouabout it which is being dissemto governments, policy-makerindustry players around the wo

The Sunsdangerous moods

in Strasbourg. Id never heard of it, but hisdescription made it sound like Star TreksStarfleet Academy.

I was sceptical, but some researchconfirmed that the ISU is a genuine,prestigious organisation. Every summerthey hold a two-month programme, inwhich young professionals from around theworld are selected to participate in an intensecrash-course on the space industry, led by theworlds experts. I applied, and to my surpriseI was invited by the UK Space Agency to aninterview, for a scholarship to attend. Nextthing I knew, I was on the programme. Sothat put the PhD on hold again!

When I arrived in Strasbourg, I snuck

into the back of a low-lit lecture theatrewith around a hundred very internationaland well-dressed thirtysomethings, allmaking notes on various electronic devices,while an ageing American man held forthabout the International Space Station(ISS). When he started talking about hisexperiences in microgravity, it dawned onme that he was a former ISS astronaut. Mydoubts vanished immediately, and I beganscribbling notes of my own.

The weather up thereMy main project at the ISU, along withabout 30 other participants, concernedradiation in space and the damage causedto satellites. I led two groups not anentirely new experience for me, butdelegating tasks to the likes of a professorfrom the Chinese Astronaut SpaceCentre, a US fighter pilot and a successfulaerospace entrepreneur put things ona whole new level.

My first group identified the gaps inknowledge about space weather, thenature of the Sun, and its magnetosphericrelationship with the Earth (see panel); the

second tested a methodology I came upwith for reducing the amount of radiationan astronaut or sensitive spacecraftinstrument would receive. My proposalinvolved tailoring the interior architectureof a spacecraft to match the radiationprofile associated with the specifics of themission. In collaboration with InspirationMars, a group planning to send astronautson a flyby mission around Mars in 2018,we found that this approach reducedthe estimated radiation dosage for theirastronauts by 36 per cent. If adopted morebroadly in a space mission design process,this methodology could also, for example,

increase the life expectancy of a satelliteor reduce a spacecrafts mass (and thereforethe cost of launching it).

The calibre of the ISU programme wasbeyond my wildest dreams, and I made a verystrong network of contacts around the world.Had I not spotted that NSS conferenceposter, none of this would have been possible.My best to whoever put it there!

The British are comingIll soon be returning to Mars thesimulation study, that is when I lead a crewof scientists and engineers on another two-week expedition early in 2014. Having putout a call to British universities for project

proposals, in an effort to help build tiesbetween the UK and the MDRS, I eliciteda great deal of interest, and will have someBritish PhD students coming with me.

Well be field-testing a robotic Marsrover, a solar-powered drone built to flyin the tenuous Martian atmosphere, someautomated sample collection hardware,and some exciting prototype spacesuittechnologies. Well also be conductinga feasibility study on making rocket fuelfrom the desert soil, and ext reme weathertesting of candidate micro-organisms forterraforming the Martian environment tosomething more hospitable for us.

The choiceWhy so gung-ho about a manned Marsmission? My PhD is on future aircraftdesign, but while doing the researchand looking at trends in the growth ofcivilisation, I quickly came to realize that weface a problem. Its a very obvious problem,really: the planet we live on is finite, andits resources are limited. Pursuing ways tomake aircraft greener is commendable, butits not a long-term solution.

We must find the right balance betweendealing with near-term and long-termproblems. With the world spendingseven times more on cosmetics than on itsspace agencies, I quest ion whether weveachieved that balance.

We are faced with a critical branch pointin our history: to survive, unless we spread perhaps to Mars we must devolve backto our pre-stone-age existence, back toliving in lock-step with our environment.What we decide to do now will powerfullyaffect the destiny of our descendants. Sohere is the choice: grow, or stagnate and die.I think we should g row.

IT WAS ANUNFORGETTABLEEXPERIENCE

Main imageTwo members of the crew in the Martianlandscape of Utah AboveSuited to Mars: Ashley Dale

AboveThe Habitat Module

MainimageAshleyDale//HabitatModuleCharlottePoupon

final frontier

MarsDistance from Earth(depending on orbits)

Closest

34,000,000 miles

Furthest

249,000,000 miles


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ngs

ts

alendarNovember 2013 July 2014ess otherwise stated, more information and booking detailsavailable from bristol.ac.uk/alumni/eventsor by calling(0)117 394 1046. The events programme is always beingated, so keep an eye on the website for the latest event news.

ember

rday 16 Novemberers Training Corps

ual Dinner//Bristol

lumni Association of theUniversity Officers Traininginvites all former Bristol

bers and their guests to theAnnual Dinner, AGM andreception.

ember

sday 5 Decemberocation Annualption and Studentrds//Bristol

more about currentnt life at Bristol from ournding students, members

nvocation and seniorrsity staff.

y 6 Decemberute of Greece, Romehe Classical Traditionre//Bristol

s annual lecture, Bristolrsitys new Professor ofShane Butler, will presentnating talk on the subjectep Classics.

Monday 16 DecemberLondon Branch CarolService//London

The London Branch of Universityof Bristol Alumni is organisingan inaugural carol service to beheld in the magnificent City ofLondon Church, St Vedast (aliasFoster). Traditional carols willbe interspersed with seasonallessons read by notable alumni,including the Chancellor of theUniversity. The service will befollowed by a drinks receptionat a nearby wine bar.

January

Saturday 25 JanuaryMidlands Branch lunchand AGM//Solihull

The University of Bristol MidlandsBranch of Convocation invitealumni based in the Midlands to

join them at their annual lunchand AGM. For more informationand to book, please contact

Tim Drakeford (BA 1966) [email protected].

February

Saturday 1 FebruaryWills Hall AssociationAnnual Reception//Bristol

Enjoy drinks, canaps and goodcompany at this annual receptionheld in the Wardens House. AllWills Hall Association members,current and former residents, andtheir guests, are warmly invited.For information and bookingdetails please contact thesecretary Charles Gunter at [email protected].

July

Friday 4 to Sunday 6 JulyBest of Bristol AlumniReunion 2014//Bristol

The Alumni Reunion is yourannual opportunity to comeback to Bristol to visit old haunts

and meet fellow alumni. The fullprogramme of events (whichincludes the Convocation AGM)will be available online.

ConvocationElections2014

Online nominationsare now open forvarious posts including:Treasurer; members of theConvocation Committee;and ConvocationRepresentatives onCourt. Find out more atbristol.ac.uk/alumni/elections.

The deadline for completedapplications, includingthe support of twonominators, is 31 March2014. Email reminders ofthese opportunities and theapplication deadline will besent to all alumni for whomBristol holds current emailaddresses.

Online voting will take placefrom May 2014 until theeve of 4 July 2014. Postalballots will be available onrequest by contacting theCampaigns and AlumniRelations team on+44 (0)117 394 1051, or [email protected].

If youre organising anevent for alumni andwould like our helppublicising it, please [email protected]

CalendarillustrationAlbertoAntoniazzi

Listings

Alumni in memoriam

The University extends its sincere condolences to the friends and families ofthose listed below for whom we have received notificat ion of death.

In order of degree date

May Dallenger(ne Valentine)(BA 1940, Diploma 1941)died March 2012, aged 92

Dr David Patterson(BSc 1942, MSc 1949, PhD 1951)died July 2013, aged 90

Dr John Valentine(MB ChB 1942) died May 2013, aged 95

Peter James(MB ChB 1943) died 2013, aged 92

Robert Williams(BA 1943) died 2013, aged 90

Dr Albert Nethercott(MB ChB 1944, Diploma 1966)died 2013, aged 92

Dr Hugh Preston-Thomas(BSc 1944, PhD 1951)died August 2012, aged 87

Dr Norman Cook(MB ChB 1945) died March 2013, aged 91

Dr Jean James (ne Tregear)(MB ChB 1945, MD 1973)died 2013, aged 91

Michael Comely(BA 1947, Cert Ed 1948)died October 2012, aged 88

Harold Heywood(BSc 1947, Cert Ed 1948)died January 2013, aged 94

Dr Clement Mills(MB ChB 1947) died 2011, aged 86

Joan Pickering(BA 1947) died January 2009, aged 82

John Rees(Cert 1947) died 2013, aged 87

Glyndwr Young(BA 1947, Cert Ed 1948)died March 2013, aged 92

David Stone(BSc 1948) died March 2013, aged 85

Professor Gerald Fowles(BSc 1949, PhD 1953)died September 2012, aged 86

William Edmonds(BA 1949, MA 1952)died April 2013, aged 86

Desmond Hughes(BA 1949) died April 2013, aged 91

Ronald Yelling(BSc 1949, Cert Ed 1950)died February 2013, aged 86

Roy Grant(BSc 1950) died June 2013, aged 90

Dr Christopher Brown(MB ChB 1951) died January 2013, aged 92

Doreen Chedzoy(ne Brown)(BA 1951, Cert Ed 1952)died July 2013, aged 83

John Clark(BSc 1951) died February 2013, aged 87

Arthur Petheram(BSc 1951) died December 2012, aged 85

Carol Speed(ne Galley)(BA 1951, Cert Ed 1952)died March 2013, aged 82

Professor John Spence(BSc 1951, PhD 1961)died March 2013, aged 83

The Rev Canon Allen Willett(BA 1951) died May 2013, aged 93

Margaret Austen(ne Pyne)(BA 1952) died May 2013, aged 84

Dr Kenneth Barker(MB ChB 1952)died February 2013, aged 94

Dr Peter Crook(MB ChB 1952)died March 2013, aged 84

Michael Harrison(BA 1952) died May 2013, aged 85

Dr Audrey Ridge(ne Stevenson)(MB ChB 1952, Diploma 1958)died May 2013, aged 83

Anthea Bradbury(ne Woods)(BA 1953) died February 2013, aged 82

Keith Crook(BSc 1953) died April 2013, aged 81

Sylvia Crook(ne Pearson)(BA 1953) died April 2013

Angus Heron(LLB 1953) died April 2013, aged 84

The Rev Mr Colin Furse(BA 1954) died December 2012, aged 86

Robert Thomas(BSc 1949, BVSc 1954)died July 2013, aged 86

Dr John Clarke(MB ChB 1955) died March 2013, aged 81

Bin Ainuddin(BSc 1956) died 2013, aged 84

Sheila Anderson(LLB 1956) died January 2013, aged 77

Dr John Brown(BSc 1956, PhD 1960)died April 2013, aged 85

Dr Desmond Evans(PhD 1957) died March 2013, aged 78

Dr John Edmondson(MB ChB 1958) died March 2013, aged 78

Dr Raymond Pope(BSc 1958, Certificate 1959)died April 2013, aged 77

John Roberts(BA 1958, Cert Ed 1959)died March 2013, aged 76

Colin Alcock(BA 1960) died 2013, aged 76

David Farnworth(BA 1960) died January 2013, aged 75

Michael J Gorman(BA 1960) died September 2013, aged 76

The Rev Mr Michael Hambleton(BA 1960) died 2013, aged 78

John Fisher(LLB 1962) died 2011, aged 73

Ann Hurford(BA 1962) died 2013, aged 73

Philip Jones(BDS 1962) died May 2013

Ralph Nurse(BVSc 1963) died March 2013, aged 73

Michael Preston(BA 1963) died Januar y 2013, aged 74

John Cornwell(LLB 1965) died February 2013, aged 69

John Sikes(BSc 1965) died March 2013, aged 70

Dr Clive Wulwik(BSc 1966, MB ChB 1970)died March 2012, aged 66

John Hine(BA 1967) died February 2013, aged 66

Dr Peter Spence(BSc 1967, PhD 1975) died 2013, aged 68

Steve Bone(BSc 1968) died 2013, aged 66

Dr Peter Hardwick(BSc 1968, MB ChB 1971)died 2012, aged 67

Alison Michell(ne MacFarlane)(BA 1968) died March 2013, aged 66

Robert McLeish(BSc 1968) died February 2013, aged 65

Robert Pinson(BA 1968) died December 2012, aged 65

Mary Shepherd(BA 1968, Cert Ed 1971)died June 2013, aged 66

Bruce Ferris Harms(MA 1969) died January 2013, aged 83

Margaret Sutherland(ne Nixon)(BA 1971) died 2013, aged 64

Keith Warren(BSc 1972) died September 2012, aged 62

Dr David Milne(MB ChB 1973)died December 2012, aged 62

David Selwyn(BA 1973, MMus 1979)died April 2013, aged 61

Raymond Harris(BSc 1978) died February 2013, aged 56

Andrew Robb(BSc 1978) died February 2013, aged 56

Paresh Mashru(BSc 1979) died 2013, aged 56

Nicholas Haycock(BSc 1980) died January 2013, aged 55

Christopher Beesley(BSc 1982) died January 2013, aged 52

Timothy Jackson(BSc 1982) died March 2013, aged 51

Kevin Thorogood(BA 1984) died January 2013, aged 50

Mark Williams(BSc 1984) died January 2013, aged 49

Paul Tarran(MEd 1985) died June 2013, a

Johannes Van de Put(BSc 1985) died January 201

Maria Crowley(LLB 1987) died November 2

David Russell(BA 1987) died February 2010

Patrick OLeary(BSc 1988) died 2013, aged 4

Jonathan Joyce(BSc 1994) died June 2013, a

Dr Cliff Morgan(Hon LLD 1996) died August 2

Stephen Smith

(BSc 1998) died February 201Eleanor Pardon(BDS 1999) died January 201

Dr Kenneth Heaton(DSc 2001, MA 2003)died March 2013, aged 76

Siu Chung(MSc 2003) died November 2

Rachel Humphreys(MSc 2003) died April 2013, a

Richard Morton(MLitt 2006) died December 2

Emma Llewellyn(LLB 2012) died March 2013,

Simon Nickau(BSc 2013) died 2013, aged 2

Marcelin Fortes Da Cruz(PhD 2005-2013) died 2013,

Anna Crossman(BA 2011-2013) died June 20

Emeritus Professor Eric Brdied 2013, aged 94

Emeritus Professor Mick Adied June 2013, aged 66

Monica Cobbfriend and donor to the Univedied March 2013

Please email any [email protected]


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Everyone canleave a legacy

Contact:Laura Serratrice, Head of Fundraising,

University of Bristol, Senate House,Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TH

T: +44 (0)117 394 1085E: [email protected]

Dementia affects one in 14 people over the age of

65 and research into both treatment and preventioncontinues to be crucial. Annes legacy has taken our

research to the next level by providing us with moreadvanced technology for preserving and studying

brain tissue so we can help patients and families,

and identify new ways to treat the disease.

Pat KehoeProfessor of Translational Dementia Research

and co-director of the South West Dementia Brain Bank

bristol.ac.uk/centenarycampaign/how/legacies

Anne Morris (BA 1952) left a legacy to the South WestDementia Brain Bank to support Bristols pioneeringresearch into causes and preventions of dementia.

Nonesuch 7

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