The past fortnight's news from schools around the University

Interruption to the wireless service between 8.00-8.30a Due to emergency maintenance work there will be an interruption, of up to 15 minutes, the wireless service between 8.00-8.30am on Wednesday 2 October…

Autistic kids have poorer sleep quality than their peers right up to their teens Children with autistic spectrum disorders have poorer sleep quality than their peers right up to their teens, reveals research conducted by an international team including researchers from Bristol. The findings, published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, show total sleep duration is shorter and punctuated by more frequent waking at night and this poor-quality sleep may affect daytime learning and behaviour.

Autistic kids have poorer sleep quality than their peers right up to their teens Children with autistic spectrum disorders have poorer sleep quality than their peers right up to their teens, reveals research conducted by an international team including researchers from Bristol. The findings, published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, show total sleep duration is shorter and punctuated by more frequent waking at night and this poor-quality sleep may affect daytime learning and behaviour.

Deeds and Words: Gender, Protest and Law Reform - Workshop, 24th Oct. Lois Bibbings and Gwen Seabourne have been awarded funding by the Institute for Advanced Studies, to hold a series of five research workshops on gender aspects of protest against legal rules, coinciding with the centenary of notable incidents in the history of the campaign for women’s suffrage. The first session, "Bristol: October 1913", is on Thursday 24th October at 5.45 in G 25 (Reynolds Lecture Theatre) in the Wills Memorial Building.

Trial Saturday opening of Hawthorns Study Space From Saturday October 5 the Hawthorns Cafe Bar and Study Lounge will be open on a trial basis.

Blackboard running slowly – 1st October – Update Following on from the problems with the speed of the Blackboard Service today we will be switching off the Notification Dashboard from tonight. We will be monitoring the impact of this change and will provide updates via this blog. If you have any questions please email TEL-Help@bristol.ac.uk  

Blackboard running slowly – 01st October We are currently experiencing problems with Blackboard and as a result the service is running very slowly. Our colleagues in Information Services are working to fix the problem. Apologies for any inconvenience this may be causing you at this busy time of year. If you have any questions please email TEL-Help@bristol.ac.uk  

Concerns over mercury levels in fish may be unfounded New research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol suggests that fish accounts for only seven per cent of mercury levels in the human body. In an analysis of 103 food and drink items consumed by 4,484 women during pregnancy, researchers found that the 103 items together accounted for less than 17 per cent of total mercury levels in the body.

New research links individual animal behaviour with social spacing New research by the universities of Bristol and Princeton has found certain animal species are capable of co-ordinating their spatial behaviour to cover terrain by maintaining areas of exclusive use while sharing other regions of space with their neighbours.

Outstanding interest-only mortgages put older people at risk One in three over 70’s with mortgages have interest-only mortgages with no linked investment and 13 per cent of older people with mortgages are struggling to make repayments on their home. These are the findings from new research led by academics at the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre and the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC–UK) – a leading think-tank on demographic change.

Concerns over mercury levels in fish may be unfounded New research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol suggests that fish accounts for only seven per cent of mercury levels in the human body. In an analysis of 103 food and drink items consumed by 4,484 women during pregnancy, researchers found that the 103 items together accounted for less than 17 per cent of total mercury levels in the body.

Innocence Network UK (INUK) 8th Annual Conference, 1-2 November 2013 The 8th Annual Innocence Project Training Conference will take place at the University of Sheffield on 1-2 November 2013.

Professor Evans to be awarded the 2014 European Physical Society Liquid Matter Prize Professor Bob Evans is to be awarded the 2014 European Physical Society Liquid Matter Prize in July 2014.

Publication in Nature Communications Direct measurement of osmotic pressure via adaptive confinement of quasi hard disc colloid

Using other libraries If you are a new student or staff, you can register online for SCONUL Access at: www.sconul.ac.uk/sconul-access, which is a reciprocal scheme which allows you to borrow or use books and journals at other libraries in the UK and Ireland.

New academic year Blackboard activity The new academic year has begun, and many students are eagerly trying to access their courses on Blackboard. When we rolled the SITS-linked courses over from last year, we made them unavailable to students, so that staff could make any changes they wanted to before releasing them to a new cohort. Once a course is […]

Chemistry Library refurbished The second stage of the Chemistry Library refurbishment is now nearing completion and the library is ready for the start of the first teaching block.

Beckford Chambers stars for England! Outstanding Netball for Eboni Beckford-chambers.

€6M EU research project to improve the exploitation of open access data for water sectors €6M EU research project to improve the exploitation of open access data for water sectors

Bristol Geographers contribute to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I, which assesses the physical scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change, has presented its contribution to the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report in Stockholm today. A number of researchers from the University of Bristol's School of Geographical Sciences have been directly involved in the Working Group 1 report.

Research Award for PhD Student Joanna Mann Joanna Mann has been awarded a coveted ESRC Overseas Institutional Visit (OIV) award to develop her PhD research at the University of Newcastle in Newcastle, Australia.

Benoit Pelopidas in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Why nuclear realism is unrealistic

Two new working papers published Two new working papers published: Asian Fury: Gender, Orientalism and the Indo-Pakistani Nuclear 'Threat' in US Foreign Policy Discourse, 1998-2009; Ordinary Lives in Contemporary Britain: A Preliminary Report of Findings

Psychology wins STEM University Department of the Year Experimental Psychology awarded STEM University Department of the Year (together with Bristol Neuroscience) at regional STEM awards dinner.

M-Shed talk on portrait photography M-Shed Lunchtime Talk: 'Facing The Subject: Aspects Of Contemporary Portrait Photography', by Dr Dorothy Rowe, 25th October 1pm.

Edit access to DBMS hosted web site content (People Profiler etc) unavailable, 5-7pm, 7 October Due to an upgrade to the DBMS server a range of web content will not be editable by staff between 5pm and 7pm on Monday 7 October.  All public facing web content will still be accessible during this period…

Study reveals dramatic fall in death rates after hip replacements Mortality rates in the first 90 days following hip replacement surgery have halved according to a study led by Professor Ashley Blom from the University of Bristol's School of Clinical Sciences.

Small changes can yield big results for workplace giving Charities are constantly searching for innovative, low cost ways to maximise their fundraising revenues. Insights from behavioural economics may offer some solutions. Small, seemingly trivial changes such as including a picture of a colleague on marketing material, asking donors to opt-out rather than opt-in to annual donation increases and giving sweets to potential donors have all proved to be successful methods to encourage workplace giving and to increase donor sign up.

Lottery funding plays an important role, helping charities to thrive New research from the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) demonstrates the importance of grant income – in this case grants from the Community Fund (one of the predecessors to the Big Lottery Fund) – to many charities.

Study reveals dramatic fall in death rates after hip replacements Mortality rates in the first 90 days following hip replacement surgery have halved according to a study led by Professor Ashley Blom from the University of Bristol's School of Clinical Sciences.

Lottery funding plays an important role, helping charities to thrive New research from the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) demonstrates the importance of grant income – in this case grants from the Community Fund (one of the predecessors to the Big Lottery Fund) – to many charities.

James Thompson publishes book 'British Political Culture' James Thompson's study of British Political Culture and the Idea of 'Public Opinion'', 1867-1914 has been published by Cambridge University Press.

Research in Public Policy - Issue 16 - Autumn 2013 Latest edition of CMPO's Research in Public Policy published today

Student and Employee Interactive Service (SEIS) changes on 21st May In line with IT Services' continuous improvement practise, on the 21st of May at 17:00 the Student and Employee Interactive Service (seis.bris.ac.uk) will undergo improvements and platform changes to ensure safe and secure operation…

Study finds link between commonly prescribed statin and memory impairment New research that looked at whether two commonly prescribed statin medicines, used to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or ‘bad cholesterol’ levels in the blood, can adversely affect cognitive function has found that one of the drugs tested caused memory impairment in rats.

Start the year with UBU Sport and Health. The Sport, Exercise and Health Centre are offering a  three week period (till the 13th October) in which all students get the opportunity to trial the Sports Clubs WITHOUT purchasing a sports pass!

Celebrating Bristol’s brain power Ever wondered how your brain controls movement or creates memories? The wonders and complexities of the human brain are being explained at a free festival of neuroscience, organised by the University of Bristol to give a unique insight into the power of our cleverest organ.

New book on Religion in a Liberal State Prof Tariq Modood is co-editor of a newly published book entitled Religion in a Liberal State which looks at what it means to be liberal in a world in which religious diversity is becoming more present and more problematic.

Vet School academics to feature on BBC Two series The Wonder of Dogs Vet School academics to feature on BBC Two series The Wonder of Dogs

Google navigation bar is going! The familiar black bar at the top of the screen to move between Gmail, Calendar and Drive is going…

Do anaesthetics trigger stress? New research, carried out in collaboration between the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences and AstraZeneca Brixham Environmental Laboratory, could improve the welfare standards of millions of fish used by scientists around the world.

InsideArts, Faculty of Arts festival, launches programme InsideArts, the University of Bristol festival of the arts and humanities, returns in November.

InsideArts, Faculty of Arts festival, launches programme InsideArts, the University festival of arts and humanities, returns in November.

InsideArts, Faculty of Arts festival, launches programme InsideArts, the University of Bristol festival of the arts and humanities, returns in November.

Exhibition of photographs of Shanghai past and present at The Island Darwent Revisited: Shanghai now and then explores the relationship between past and present photographs of the city.

Former History postgraduate student appointed Lecturer at Nottingham Former History postgraduate student Dean Blackburn appointed Lecturer at Nottingham

Dr Shailen Nandy of Centre for Study of Poverty and Social Justice to give talk on child poverty and international development On 27th September Dr Shailen Nandy will give a talk to the Sutton Coldfield International Development Group, on child poverty and international development.  Former Minister for International Development Andrew Mitchell, MP, will also be on the panel, as will Karen Moore, Economic Security Advisor for the NGO Plan UK.

Centre interview for global analysis project of living conditions and poverty On Tuesday 17th September Dave Gordon and colleagues at the Universities of Gothenberg, Liverpool and Maynooth (Ireland) were interviewed by a review panel of the Swedish Riksband (Central Bank) for a project proposal which had been shortlisted.  The project will provide a global analysis of living conditions and poverty in low and middle income countries using household survey microdata, multilevel modelling and geographic weighted regression analysis.

Researchers use fish to study the developmental origins of health and disease. Do anaesthetics trigger stress?

InsideArts, Faculty of Arts festival, launches programme InsideArts, the University of Bristol festival of the arts and humanities, returns in November.

Exhibition of photographs of Shanghai past and present at The Island Darwent Revisited: Shanghai now and then explores the relationship between past and present photographs of the city.

Faculty Research Director New Faculty Research Director

Geography welcomes new academic staff The School of Geographical Sciences is pleased to announce to following appointments to our academic staff: Dr Rory Bingham, Dr Sean Fox, Dr Naomi Millner, Dr Fanny Monteiro, Dr Jeff Neal & Professor Clive Sabel.

Bryony McGarry Highly Commended Bryony McGarry's essay "What theoretical interpretations of Capgras Delusion exist and to what extent are they supported by neurological evidence?" has been Highly Commended in the 2013 Undergraduate Awards.

PhD student at British Science Festival Beccie Whittaker was a prizewinner at the British Science Festival in Newcastle.

Law professor awarded accolade for excellence in social sciences research A University of Bristol law professor has been awarded a prestigious accolade for demonstrating excellence in her contributions to social sciences research.

Steven Greer elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts Steven Greer, Professor of Human Rights at the University of Bristol Law School, has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of his ‘expertise and respected authorship in human rights protection’.

Judith Masson awarded accolade for excellence in social sciences research Judith Masson, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the University’s Law School, has been elected an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS) for her work into child and family law and her specific contributions which cover child protection and the legal representation of children in the care proceedings process.

Chemistry Library refurbishment completion The School of Chemistry library has undergone the second stage of refurbishment this summer, this is one of a number of library refurbishments taking place throughout the university to enhance the provision of study spaces to students.

Well done Ruth Congratulations to Dr Ruth Oulton who won a prize for her talk at Complex Nano-Photonics Conference titled "Light-matter angular momentum exchange: beyond 'spin' and 'orbital' angular momentum'. Well done Ruth!

Student Accounting Module documentation on Wiki SAM Wiki space now available to view

Self service is here! Self service will be available at the Arts and Social Sciences and Wills Libraries from Monday 23 September

Presentation prize for Aggarwal group at Euroboron 6 Dr Amadeu Bonet has won the prize for the best oral presentation at Euroboron 6 in Poland in September 2013

Why some parents think your partner isn’t good enough It is common for parents to influence mate choice — from arranged marriages to more subtle forms of persuasion — but they often disagree with their children about what makes a suitable partner. A new study has found an evolutionary explanation for why some parents try to control who their children pair up with.

Blackboard Mobile Log in Problems – Update Users may still be experiencing problems logging in to the Blackboard Learn Mobile App. Please note that this appears to be affecting a small percentage of users. A solution if you are experiencing problems is to ensure you are using the latest version of the App and to delete and re install the App on […]

New Virtual Private Network (VPN) service What is a Virtual Private Network? A Virtual Private Network (VPN) secures network traffic across a public network, such as the Internet…

Live demonstration of SDN-enabled optical circuit switching at ECOC 2013 A live demonstration of a hybrid packet-optical circuit switched software-defined network (SDN), developed by the University of Bristol and Polatis, Inc, will take place at Europe’s largest optical communications event next week [22- 26 September].

Why some parents think your partner isn’t good enough It is common for parents to influence mate choice — from arranged marriages to more subtle forms of persuasion — but they often disagree with their children about what makes a suitable partner. A new study has found an evolutionary explanation for why some parents try to control who their children pair up with.

BCFN goes to China A delegation of academics and PhD students from the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials (BCFN) has been promoting the University and meeting colleagues in top academic and research institutions in China.

Chaucer Conference awarded MHRA conference grant 'Dan Geffrey with the New Poete: Reading and Rereading Chaucer and Spenser' (11-13 July 2014), organised by Department of English staff, has been awarded a MHRA Conference Grant.

Well done Mark Dr Mark Thompson has been awarded EPSRC early career fellowship on "Silicon Quantum Photonics". Well done Mark.

Don't forget to register with the Students' Health Service Every year we welcome thousands of new students to Bristol. So that we can support you effectively, be sure to register with the Students' Health Service as soon as you know your Bristol address - register before you need us!

Blackboard Mobile Log in Problems We are currently experiencing problems logging on to Blackboard via the Mobile App. Our colleagues in IS are looking in to this problem and we hope to have it resolved soon. If you have any questions please email TEL-Help@bristol.ac.uk