Spotlight on Success: November 2020
Friday, 30 October 2020
Each month we publish a selection of key Teaching & Learning and Research achievements and developments. See November's news below.
Awards & Prizes
- Dr Keri Nicoll (Meteorology) has been honoured by the American Geophysical Union in the Atmospheric and Space Electricity Section for her Global Coordination of Atmospheric Electricity Measurements (GLOCEAM) project. This project brings together world experts in atmospheric electricity to create the first near real time database for atmospheric electric field measurements.
- Professor Steven Mithen (Archaeology) has been shortlisted for The Newton Prize for his project on the use of cultural heritage for sustainable development in Jordan. The Newton Prize celebrates excellent research and innovation partnerships, supporting them to continue.
- Professor Lucia Nagib (Film, Theatre and Television) has won the prize of best documentary, in the international category, at the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival for her film, Passages. The documentary was funded by the Building Outstanding Impact Programme (BOISP) and is the focus of a REF impact case study.
- Professor Tim Dixon (Construction Management and Engineering) has won an annual American Real Estate Society (ARES) manuscript prizes for his review paper of the social sustainability of new housing development in The Journal of Sustainable Real Estate.
- Professor Giles Harrison (Meteorology) to receive 2021 EGU Christiaan Huygens Medal.
Project updates
- The University of Reading Special Collections has launched on Google Arts & Culture. For the first time, users can explore treasures and stories from the University of Reading Special Collections providing international digital access to our collections.
News
- The Centre for Quality Support and Development (CQSD) is pleased to announce the publication of our Celebrating Teaching and Learning Success 2020 brochure. The brochure recognises colleagues' fantastic individual and collaborative achievements over the past year and clearly demonstrates our institutional drive for innovation and excellence.
- The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) and Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) are prestigious national schemes run by Advance HE. The Expressions of Interest schemes for colleagues who wish to be considered as one of the University's nominees for a National Teaching Fellowship or a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence in 2021 opened from Monday 26 October. The Expression of Interest for NTFS closes Monday 30 November at 5pm and for CATE on Monday 7 December and 5pm.
- Dr Rachel Newton (Mathematics and Statistics) has been named as one of 101 recipients of a Future Leaders Fellowships. In collaboration with Microsoft, she will study equations that have fascinated mathematicians for thousands of years, and explore how they might aid the development of encryption software.
- The institutional-wide Teaching & Learning initiative to support Student Voice & Partnership at Reading has been working with colleagues and students across the University to co-create a number of resources and tools to support Student Voice and foster partnership. Through the initiative we have increased NSS Student Voice results by 7% in one year and fed into business as usual activities to ensure the continued development and support for both staff and students in working together in partnership.
- Professor Yipeng Liu (Henley Business School) has been conferred the award of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. The fellowships are awarded for outstanding contribution to research, and for the application of social science to policy, education, society and the economy.
- Dr Gabor Thomas (Archaeology) has been in the news for his work on the ‘Marlow Warlord'. This burial of an Anglo-Saxon warrior burial, found by University of Reading archaeologists, could change our understanding of post-Roman Britain.
- Professor Gavin Parker (Real Estate & Planning/Henley Business School) has been elected chairman of the New Forest National Park Authority. Professor Parker specialises in countryside planning and was appointed to the board by the Secretary of State for Defra in 2017. The authority's purpose is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty and heritage of the New Forest.
- The publication of new research led by Professor Gunter Kuhnle, (Food and Nutritional Sciences) about the beneficial effect of flavanols in a large scale, objective study has been featured across international press outlets, including the front page of The Times on 22 October 2020, and Prof Kuhnle wrote for the Conversation about his research.
- Our Joint Academic Board (JAB) Academic Excellence Scheme, with Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Trust, received a further three applications from specialisms requesting evaluation. The applications met criteria in areas of clinical excellence, teaching & training and research, Radiology as meeting the standards expected for a University Department; Rheumatology, Stroke and Radiology. Subject to a successful interview on November 11th, we expect to award the status of "University Department of Radiology" to join the existing two specialisms in Cardiology and Emergency Medicine.
Click here to see all recent University of Reading research publications