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Nucleus 2011

Inside this issue:

Research Innovation

Week 2

Research Active Week

Chinese New Year

Celebration

Interview Workshop

Skills

Green Week

Iraq-Delphe Delegation

hosted by UNMC

Graduate School

Good Practice in the

Supervision of Doctoral

and Masters Research

Research Showcase

2011

International Graduate

School Delivery: China

Campus Visit

U21 Graduate Research

Conference on Food

POCER 2011 Travel Prize - Dhanya

Pillai

The aim of the Graduate School is to provide training and support to post graduate stu-

dents while creating and developing a sense of student community and involvement

Summer 2011 www.nottingham.edu.my/Faculties/graduate_school

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Nucleus /Autumn 2010

Research Innovation Week 2 10-13th January 2011

The Graduate School ran its second annual Research Innovation Week in January and welcomed partici-

pants from Malaysia and Indonesia. The event pro-vided participants with an opportunity to develop their

skills and learn new and innovative techniques. The programme was thematically organised and pro-

vided training for young researchers and PhD supervi-sors.

Day one: Getting Started on your Research

Working Effectively in Research Critical and Creative Thinking

Day two: Moving Forward as a Researcher

Research Skills

Proposal Writing

Day three: Managing your Research Project Management for Research

Getting Research Funding

Day four: PhD Supervisor Training Contemporary Issues in supervising Research

Students Examining a Doctorate

Research Training:

As part of its commitment to training and develop-ment, courses were delivered for RAs and early career

academics.

Graduate School Introduction Session: The Graduate School delivered a presentation and

hosted a coffee and cake session to welcome all newly

registered postgraduate students to UNMC.

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Nucleus 2011

The aim of Research Active Week is to promote existing activity and develop future

research potential at UNMC. Over the course of the five days research students had an opportunity to attend workshops, training courses, presentations and social

gatherings with a focus on integration and research development.

The main areas covered included research proposal writing, grant and funding workshops, project management for researchers and a Meet the Editor session

delivered by Prof Peter Mitchell – Editor of the British Journal of Psychology.

The week ended with an interdisciplinary poster session where students presented their work and received feedback on their ideas and techniques.

Research Active Week 7-11th February 2011

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Nucleus /Autumn 2010

Chinese New Year Celebration 11th February

Postgraduate students gathered in the Graduate School to celebrate Chinese New Year and to enjoy the cultural delights of Yee Sang!

The Graduate School endeavors to provide for and support the international environ-

ment of the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

Cultural events are organised throughout the year and provide students with an op-portunity to try new foods, learn more about customs and discuss ideas and interact

with fellow students.

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Nucleus 2011

Interview Skills Workshop February 25th March 18th March 25th-April 15th

CELE and Graduate School collaborated to organise and deliver a four-week

course that focused on developing valuable interview skills for UNMC students. Training was delivered by Melissa Yoong from CELE and covered critical areas

such as understanding what interviewers are looking for, communicating accom-plishments effectively, responding to situational questions and asking positive

questions and engaging with the interview process.

This course, delivered twice, is designed for students who are interested in devel-oping their job interview skills. Through group and one-to-one practice using real-

world interview questions, the module hones the students‟ verbal and non-verbal skills, particularly their ability to understand what is being asked and reply clearly

and confidently at the expected level of English. The course was a success and will be run again in the future.

Graduate School participated in Green Week with a donation to plant a tree and Dr Christopher Hill

was one of the judges for the Trash to Treasure competition.

Green Week March 25th-April 15th

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Nucleus /Autumn 2010

Iraq-Delphe Delegation hosted by UNMC Graduate School 9th-21st May

The Graduate School hosted 14 academics from the Kurdistan region of Iraq as part of a British Council DelPHE funded project to improve research capacity and capabil-

ity. Graduate School colleagues from the Malaysia and UK campuses organised and delivered a two-week event full of training courses, workshops, cultural visits and

research activity.

Delegates spent time at UNMC networking with colleagues and taking part in the Re-search Showcase judging. The two weeks culminated in a gala dinner at the Royale

Chulan.

This visit marks the first of three key elements of the project as it provided the op-portunity for delegates to experience the emerging research culture or a relatively

new university. In November 2011 the delegates will travel to the UK campus to spend a period of two weeks working with colleagues on issues of research supervi-

sion and development.

The project will end in March 2012 when Graduate School colleagues will travel to

Kurdistan to meet with delegates and ministry officials to both chart progress and to plan for further development.

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Nucleus 2011

Good Practice in the Supervision of Doctoral and Masters Research 11th-12th May

This two-day programme was designed for university academic staff who super-

vise, or aspire to supervise, masters and doctoral research students. Joining the programme were participants from the Kurdistan region of Iraq who are part of

a DelPHE-Iraq British Council funded project.

The programme consisted of a combination of keynote presentations, workshop sessions, and practical planning activities and a networking reception on the

Wednesday evening. Participants had the opportunity to:

Consider and discuss expectations of research at masters and doctoral level

study;

Explore some of the key characteristics, national and disciplinary variations

in the frameworks and models used to supervise and assess doctoral an

masters research;

Share and reflect on their own experiences of undertaking and supervising

masters and doctoral research projects;

Identify and reflect on students expectations of their supervisor and

institution;

Identify good supervision practices for the different stages of research

projects;

Develop strategies for dealing with common problems that occur during

Project supervision; and Plan for how they can implement and support

changes in personal and/or institutional supervisory practice.

The session was attended by colleagues from UNMC, the DelPHE Iraq delegation

and participants from Malaysian universities such as UKM, UM and Taylor‟s.

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Nucleus /Autumn 2010

Research Showcase 2011 18th May

Manoj Embrandiri, a 3rd year

PhD student from the Depart-

ment of Electrical and Electronic

Engineering, was selected as the

winner of the UNMC Graduate

School Research Showcase

2011.

The Research Showcase is an an-

nual competition organised by

the Graduate School to promote

presentation skills and the ability

to engage with a wider audi-

ence. The panel of judges are

non-specialists and from different

backgrounds and experi-

ences. Each year, the winner is funded by the Graduate School Malaysia Campus to

compete in the UK National Vitae Poster Competition. Manoj Embrandiri is the sec-

ond recipient of this award, which started in 2010.

Manoj Embrandiri and UNMC's very own electric vehicle

Manoj is currently a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Nottingham Malaysia

campus, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He hails from Kerala

India and is 24 years old. His research interests include electric and hybrid vehicle

design, renewable energy, alternative energy sources and energy management.

His current research is focused on improving the performance of electric vehicles by

tweaking the battery pack with a “supercapacitor”. This work has come a long way

since its inception. A Perodua Kancil (one of Malaysia‟s most famous compact cars)

was converted into a fully electric vehicle and used as a test vehicle for research ex-

periments.

On a shoestring research budget and still very much in its early prototype stages, the

1997 compact Perodua Kancil cum - electric car has a top speed of 50km/h and a

range of about 50 km per charge. Intense research is ongoing to improve its per-

formance in terms of better range and longer battery life, through the use of super-

capacitors and batteries.

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Nucleus 2011

Research Showcase 2011 -cont’d

Supercapacitors, also called ultraca-

pacitors, are more powerful cousins of

the basic capacitor. With activated

carbon at their core to act as a

sponge for electrons, supercapacitors

can absorb power or send a charge -

far faster than batteries; making

them excellent for accelerating a car

or regaining braking energy. They are

also far more durable.

At the official launch of UNMC-Shaz supercapacitor pilot plant in January 2011, ex-

prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammed personally took the electric-

Kancil for a test drive as part of a guided tour of university facilities.

Manoj hopes to make significant progress in his electric vehicle research through the

use of supercapacitors so that electric vehicles will charge faster, go further and ulti-mately be more reliable than they are currently. He is also working on an intelligent

system for electric vehicles, which will be able to predict an impending acceleration or deceleration thus making power delivery to the electric motor much faster and more

efficient.

International Graduate School Delivery: China Campus Visit 13-17th July

Dr Christopher Hill and Dr Jane Wellens, Head of Research Development Graduate School UK Campus delivered a week of research training courses at the Ningbo

Campus and chaired a two-day PhD conference in support of the postgraduate de-

velopment agenda in China.

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Nucleus /Autumn 2010

U21 Graduate Research Conference on Food 22nd-26th June

.

The recent Graduate Research Conference on Food, hosted by the University of Nottingham Malay-sia Campus, was a truly international and inter-disciplinary event with 35 participants in attendance, representing 14 universities from 10 countries across the U21 network. Given the breadth and depth of the conference theme, papers were grouped under the headings of Health and Nutrition, Social and Cultural Contexts of Food and Food Security, Climate Change, Dis-ease Resistance and Genetic Modification. The sessions were complemented by three keynote speeches, delivered by senior academics from the University of Nottingham UK and Malaysia Cam-puses. Prof Sayed Azam-Ali, VP Research and Internationalisation Malaysia Campus, opened the event with a discussion on Food Security Research: breaking out of the subject silos; Prof Jerry Roberts, Head of School Biosciences UK Campus, delivered a talk on Global Food Security: is there a role for the genetic manipulation of crops? and Prof Neville Wylie, Dean Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Malaysia Campus, closed the conference with a talk on the Social and Political Implica-tions of Research on Food and Food Security. The programme was split between the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and the Kuala Lumpur Teaching Centre to provide students with a variety of experiences and exposure to the cli-mate and vegetation of Malaysia. The social programme included a welcome dinner, a cultural tour with a Malaysian dance performance, a Putrajaya agricultural tour and a Gala Dinner, on the final evening, hosted in a rooftop venue with views of the KL Petronas Towers.

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Nucleus 2011

U21 Graduate Research Conference on Food Cont’d

Over the course of the conference, participants were encouraged to take part in an interdisci-plinary research poster competition. Participants were divided into groups, which mixed insti-tutions and disciplines in order to promote cross-subject interaction and development. The groups were then charged with producing a poster outlining a potential research project that drew upon the collective experience and diversity of their members. The posters were dis-played during the Gala Dinner and judged by a panel of academics and non-specialists. In addition, there was also a peer award that the students themselves judged. The conference was a resounding success with the participants fully engaging with the sub-ject matter and discussing complex and relevant issues such as cultural approaches to food and how it can shape and define a community; the necessity for scientific development to ad-dress, and be sensitive to, local and traditional knowledge; the ever increasing pressures population growth and climate change will place upon our ability to produce food in a sustain-able and responsible manner; the entire supply chain of food and the implications this has for food security and the broader issue of how we problematise the concept of food security and, in turn, respond to it. This conference demonstrated, not just the importance of the subject of food and its many im-plications for our development and survival, but also the quality of graduate researchers within the U21 network. The debate was lively and informed and the willingness and ability of the participants to engage outside of their immediate discipline areas represents a solid foun-dation for the future of international research and the potential solution to some of the highly relevant and critical questions raised during the conference.

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Nucleus /Autumn 2010

National Vitae Poster Competition 2011

“ As the winner of the research showcase 2011 poster competition (best poster via

video conference Malaysia campus) I was given the chance to rub minds with top researchers from UK‟s top universities in the midlands at the VITAE 2011 poster

competition held at the Nottingham Trent University. This enabled me to sharpen my presentation skills especially to an audience not in my area of expertise. Also I

had the opportunity to attend a business networking seminar which I found quite interesting as most postgraduate students tend to overlook the importance of net-

working even in research and development.

As this was my first trip to the UK, I seized the opportunity to do some sightseeing

in Nottingham such as Nottingham castle, Sherwood Forest and most importantly

the University of Nottingham Park Campus itself which is indeed a beautiful cam-

pus. On my way back to Malaysia, I took a one day tour of the major attractions in

the city of London.” (Manoj Embrandiri, September 2011)

Manoj Embrandiri, Research Showcase 2011 winner, represented

UNMC in the 2011 National Vitae Poster Competition

(pictured here on a visit to London)

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Nucleus 2011

Postgraduate Colloquium for Environmental Research (POCER) 15-16th July

The Environment Research Division of Fac-

ulty of Engineering hosted the two-day

Postgraduate Colloquium for Environmental

Research (POCER) on the 15th and 16th of

July 2011. This year‟s theme was

„Emerging Technologies & Practices for a

Greener Word‟ and was hosted in collabo-

ration with the Graduate School, the Cen-

tre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable

Technologies and the Centre for Green

Technologies.

The colloquium received an overwhelming

response with participation from several

higher education institutions in Malaysia

including: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

(UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM),

Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Univer-

siti

Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi

Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Teknologi

PETRONAS (UTP).

The Committee of this colloquium con-

sisted of key academics and postgraduates

from the Faculty of Engineering at the Ma-

laysia Campus and was chaired by Associ-

ate Professor Chong Mei Fong. The collo-

quium aimed to provide a platform for ex-

changing knowledge and ideas amongst

young researchers in Malaysia on environ-

mental research.

Various sessions were organised for par-

ticipants, which included 17 oral and 10

poster presentations.

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Postgraduate Colloquium for Environmental Research (POCER) - cont’d

The oral presentations were grouped into

four sessions: Wastewater Treatment,

Green Chemistry/Material, Renewable En-

ergy and Computational Tools. Some se-

lected papers will also be invited for publi-

cation in a special issue of Clean Tech-

nologies and Environmental Policy, as well

as the Global Journal of Environmental

Science & Technology.

Workshops were also conducted on the

topics of Water and Wastewater Analysis,

Water Recycling Design, Life Cycle Analy-

sis, and Computational Fluid Dynamics for

Environment Application.

The closing ceremony was held at Crystal

Oriental Hotel in Kajang with a short sum-

mary delivered by the colloquium co-

chairperson Dr. Yap Eng Hwa, followed by

the award presentations. Three awards

were presented for the best paper, oral

and poster presentations. Nottingham

participants won the Best Oral Presenta-

tion Award and had two winners tying for

first place with Best Poster Presentation

Award.

Best Oral Presentation Award

Name: Harresh Kasivisvanathan

Institution: The University of Nottingham

Malaysia Campus

Paper title: Retrofit of Palm Oil Mill into a

Sustainable Integrated Biorefinery

Best Poster Presentation Awards

(Note: There are 2 winners as they

received the same total score)

Name: Venny

Institution: The University of Nottingham

Malaysia Campus

Paper title: The Oxidation of Polycyclic

Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Soil

Slurry Using Chelated Fenton Treatment

Name: Chieng Hui Jiun

Institution: The University of Nottingham

Malaysia Campus

Paper title: Boron Adsorption Using Ash

Impregnated with Chemical Compounds

Best Paper Award

Name: Dzulkarnain Zaini

Institution: Universiti Teknologi PETRO-

NAS

Paper title: Using Integrated Toxic Re-

lease Consequences Analysis Tool for In-herently Safer Design of Process Plant

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Nucleus 2011

Postgraduate Colloquium for Environmental Research (POCER) - cont’d

The Graduate School supported this event with a Research Led Award that enabled the

student group below to plan, organise and deliver on this prestigious event.

Graduate School Research Led Bid recipients:

Poh Phaik Eong

Aldo Malvin

Venny

Oh Pin Pin

Chieng Hui Jiun

Kelvin Ho Choon Seng

Vincent Lee Chieng Chen

Lai Nai Yeen Gavin

Tan Chye Cheah

Chen BaiMan

Chan Yi Jing

Douglas Tay Han Shin

Harresh Kasivisvanathan

Tang Siah Ying

Britto Satheesh

Li See Chew

Lee Siew Teng

Dhanya A/P K. Raghavan Pillai, a 2nd year PhD student in the School of Psy-

chology UNMC was awarded a Graduate

School Travel Prize to attend the Asia Pa-cific Autism Conference (APAC)

2011. The conference will take place be-tween the 8-10 September 2011 in Perth,

Australia

Dhanya will be presenting a poster enti-tled “What just happened? The ability of

individuals with autism to infer mental states from behavioural responses.” The

study aims to investigate the role of mentalising abilities in autism and its im-

pact on social cognition and interaction.

The Graduate School Travel Prize sup-

ports research students to attend a na-tional or international conference to pre-

sent their research, or make a short visit to another institute to use or consult es-

sential resources.

Travel Prize Winner - Dhanya Pillai