June 2011 Volume 2, Issue 2

The Researcher
Research Review Report Published
A listing of Glyndr University staff research outputs for 2009/10 is now available at: http://mimas.glyndwr.ac.uk This latest report on the Universitys research complements the 2009/10 Research Review. The report shows the broad range and high-quality of research and research related activity undertaken by University staff. Much of the research undertaken at Glyndwr University is applied research, designed to meet the needs of organisations ranging from the NHS to the aerospace and automotive sectors. Most of the research fits within the priority areas identified by the Welsh Assembly Government in its higher education strategy document For Our Future: the Digital Economy, the Low Carbon Economy, Health and Biosciences and Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing. The University has a long tradition of supporting social and economic development in Wales and beyond, and is proud of the contributions its researchers are making to these objectives.
Inside this issue
Research Report Published .. 1 Research Online Repository . 2 Psychology Research .... 2 Centre for Creative Industries.. 3 CWSP Biorefinery Project .............. 4 Wrexham Science Festival .............. 4 Centre for Solar Energy Research.5 Advanced Composites Conference 6 My View, Mary Bradley.. 6 Graduate School Events.... . 7 Calendar of events ..........................8

Special points of interest

Enterprise Conference 2 Useful Websites ......3

Research Review Case Studies

A selection of case studies providing an overview of research activity across the University is also now available at: http://mimas.glyndwr.ac.uk/

General Information.....3 Horticulture Wales ......4 Competition/student survey.4 Post Grad Virtual Open Day. 6 Publication Details.... 8 Professorial Lectures 8

Glyndwr University Research Online

Submit your work to GURO
If you are a researcher at Glyndr University and would like to benefit from having your work stored on a fully searchable website, which has the potential to encourage future collaboration possibilities and increase your citations, then send the details of your work to Misha Jepson at d.jepson@glyndwr.ac.uk The free online research database includes previously published, peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, research reports and conference presentations written by Glyndr University staff. Visitors can download full-text articles at no cost and the database is fully searchable using most search engines. There have been 33,534 full-text downloads to date, with 28,374 downloads in the past year. There were 1000 downloads in a single week in April 2011. 740 visitors, from 64 countires have viewed the Repository in the past month.

Visit the Glyndr University Research Online repository at http://epubs.glyndwr.ac.uk/

News
All new GURO submissions are posted to its twitter account at http://twitter.com/glyndwr_repos

Pioneering Research in Psychology

Psychologists Dr Mandy Robbins, from Glyndr University, and Dr Anne-Marie Greene, from the University of Warwick, are collaborating on a project exploring the attitude of clergywomen toward union membership. This collaborative research project, which is funded by the Warwick Business School, has involved interviewing clergywomen from across the UK. The interviews are now completed and both researchers are busy transcribing the interviews, ready for analysis. Dr Greene will present their preliminary findings at the British Universities Industrial Relations Association conference in July. Dr Robbins has also been invited by colleagues at Loyola University, Maryland, to present the findings at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in October. Dr Robbins was one of the first people in the world to be involved in researching the ministry of clergywomen in the Church of England, and has a number of publications in this area including two books: Clergywomen in the Church of England: a psychological study and The Long Diaconate 1987- 1994: women deacons and the delayed journey to priesthood. She is currently seeking a publisher for her new book.

Inspiring Enterprise Conference

The Inspiring Enterprise Conference held at Glyndr University was a great success. It attracted some 50 staff and students from across the UK interested in enterprise education and the development of more enterprising approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. Speakers included some of the UKs top enterprise education practitioners and highlighted the Universitys commitment to embedding enterprise education into the curriculum.

Useful Websites
The Graduate School website now provides a range of links to other useful pages. http://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/en/ Postgraduatecourses/

Glyndwr University Centre for the Creative Industries officially opened

Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, officially opened the new 5m centre, dedicated to supporting the creative industries in March 2011. The Creative Industries Building provides a focal point for activities related to the creative industries, promoting greater interdisciplinary collaboration and involving diverse subjects such as art and design, computing and engineering. It provides a hub for the development of a creative industries culture and also provides a stimulus to the development of private and spin-out businesses associated with the creative industries. Within the University it helps curriculum development and the introduction of further innovative teaching methods. The Centre features state-of-the-art TV and radio studios, 3D workshops, design studios, IT suites, Apple training suites and postproduction audio and visual facilities. It will play a key role in the University's new BSc/BA (Hons) Television degree, and is also the new home of BBC Cymru Wales in North East Wales. Speaking at the opening, the First Minister said: There has been some fantastic creative output from Wales in the last 30 years. This new centre will provide a wonderful base to build on this success, as an inspiring place where creativity and ideas can be turned into jobs and companies. Professor Michael Scott, Vice-Chancellor of Glyndr University, said: The creative industries are worth millions of pounds to the UK economy and through the new centre we will be able to play a leading role in equipping graduates with advanced multidisciplinary skills using up-to-date industry-standard facilities. Highlights of the launch can be accessed online, including a live blog of the launch from our journalism staff and students. Together with a web album of the official opening by First Minister Carwyn Jones and MP3 recordings of speeches from the launch.

The Vitae site offers help and advice to researchers http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/

Looking for funding?

Access the Graduate School Moodle site, and see the section on funding opportunities for more details.

General Information
The Graduate School Moodle
The site is a valuable source of information for students, supervisors and academic staff. https://vle.glyndwr.ac.uk/l

Binding Service available

The University print shop, located in the students guild building offers a range of services to staff and students. Email printroom@glyndwr.ac.uk

Latest news on the University social

media pages; Facebook, twitter, blogs, alumni, flicker and much more http://bit.ly/ii1FJK

For more information about the

research undertaken at Glyndr University visit: www.glyndwr.ac.uk/en/ Ourresearch/

Horticulture Wales
Staff from Glyndr Universitys Northup Campus are working on the establishment of a Horticulture Supply Chain Centre, part of the Horticulture Wales project . Developing supply chains Horticulture Wales will provide focused, expert support to enhance the efficiency of businesses involved in both edible and amenity horticulture supply chains within Wales. For the latest news see their website at www.horticulturewales.co.uk

Researchers at the Centre For Water Soluble Polymers add value to Biorefinery Project
Experts at Glyndr University are investigating how sugars from new forms of ryegrass can be chemically modified to produce additives for use in a range of products in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. They are currently working with scientists from Aberystwyth and Bangor University in a pan-Wales research project, which has received over 450,000 in funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Councils Integrated Bio-refining Research and Technology Club (IBTI). The research is focused on fructans, polymers of the sugar fructose, from new strains of ryegrass, grown on land unsuitable for arable farming, which have been developed by plant biologists at Aberystwyth for biofuel production. A particular benefit of the new ryegrass varieties is that unlike many plants that store their carbohydrates as starch, they store carbohydrates as fructans. Whereas starch modification is demanding of energy or aggressive chemicals the fructans -long chains of fruit sugar molecules are readily soluble and so can be easily modified. The project aims to increase the economic viability of the ryegrass biorefinery by developing high value speciality product streams. The work should assist manufacturing industries to replace chemicals derived from crude oil with biodegradable green materials. Professor Williams, Academic Leader for Materials & Analytical Science said: The work brings together world leading research from within Wales in the areas of plant biology, biochemistry, chemistry and surface and colloid science. It is an excellent example of three Welsh universities pooling together multidisciplinary expertise on a project which has the potential to bring huge benefits to both industry and to the general public.

Competition
The Postgraduate Taught Experience and Research Experience Surveys have now closed. Students who completed either of the surveys were entered into a competition to win an Apple iPad. We would like to thank students who took part in the surveys, we achieved a response rate above the national average. Jan Green, a PhD student won the iPad for the PRES survey. Jan later said Being a research student is so absorbing and has taken me in directions that I did not envisage! The occasional frustrations are far out-weighed by the satisfaction of making progress with my work in the supportive environment of Glyndr University.

Wrexham Science Festival

The Wrexham Science Festival returns to Glyndr University on 14th-22nd July, and will include a whole host of talks, workshops and demonstrations to get people thinking about science. The mix of talks, workshops and demonstrations will include an update on research and production under way in pioneering composites technology at major regional employer Airbus. The festival will be based around four themes: Earth and the Universe; The Animal World; Human Mind and Body; and Bright Sparks. There will also be a focus on the international years of chemistry and on forests.

See the website for more details at http://www.wrexhamsf.com/en/

The Centre for Solar Energy Research

Solar Market Conference Encourages Collaboration

The Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) at OptTIC Glyndr, St. Asaph, hosted a two day conference on the 9th and 10th March 2011. The first day of the event focused on "The Solar Market", while the second day focused on Processes and Monitoring in Photovoltaics promoting the LCRI Convergence Project, SPARC Cymru and on Material Developments and Characterisation in PV - promoting the Knowledge Transfer Centre in Thin Film PV. Key note speakers were drawn from industry, government and academia, and with over 90 delegates attended the event created an electric atmosphere! There was an interactive networking exhibition displayed in the Street Corridor, and organised tours of the centre. Discussions between the project leaders and representatives from industry, provided the opportunity for engagement with a wide range of businesses from the photovoltaic supply chain in Wales. Welsh businesses were encouraged to take advantage of the worldclass research and development expertise and facilities at CSERs Thin Film Knowledge Transfer Centre (KTC). Hands-on sessions allowed businesses to test materials, samples and devices using new equipment bought with the KTC grant. During the conference a number of opportunities for collaboration were identified, including: novel solar cell characterisation and development; on-line optimisation of device production; and solar cell device and array performance monitoring, analysis and optimisation projects.

Left to Right: Jane Davidson AM (then Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing), Prof. Stuart Irvine (CSER) and Jayne Stephens (WAG Business Development).

Other CSER Research Activities include:

PV Supergen PV Materials and Devices for the 21st Century Novel materials and ultra-thin absorbers A4B Collaborative industrial Research Projects (CIRP)

The Centre for Solar Energy Research has recently been awarded two further projects:
1). SPARC (Solar Photovoltaic Academic Research Consortium) Cymru - Low Carbon Research Institute funding 2). Thin Film Photovoltaic KTC (Knowledge Transfer Centre) A4B WAG Funding

More information about OpTIC can be found here http://www.cser.org.uk/

5

1st International Conference on the Use of Advanced Materials and Technologies for Aerospace Applications held at Glyndwr University
Glyndr University welcomed staff from Bauman Moscow State Technical University to Wrexham for an International conference on Advanced Composite Materials.

The Glyndr Universitys first Postgraduate Virtual Open Day was held in March. If you missed it, you can access all of the videos, which provide information from students and staff about postgraduate study at the University.

The event, held at the Catrin Finch Centre on the university campus was inspired by the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man to go into space. Glyndr University is now leading the way in Wales with its research into composite materials, particularly in developing new materials for the aerospace industry. The 3 day conference, which gave staff from Glyndr University and from Bauman the opportunity to discuss their work and to share their ideas, covered a wide range of topics including composite materials development and increasing the durability of polymer matrix composite materials The relationship between Bauman and Glyndr University, which has been going from strength to strength in recent years, has been given new impetus with the opening of the Advanced Composite training and Development Centre at Broughton. Alongside the technical and scientific discussions that took place, teams from Glyndr and Bauman also met to discuss the development of joint degree programmes and the expansion of joint programmes of research. Planning is already well underway for the next Conference, which will be held in June 2012. Professor Richard Day, who hailed the conference as a great success said that the relationship between Glyndr University and Bauman was extremely significant, helping to ensure that both Universities continued to be at the forefront of developments in composites and aerospace engineering, not just in their own countries, but internationally as well.

My View Mary Bradley

Head of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning CfEL, at Glyndwr University
Glyndr University recognises that teaching and learning across the institution should not only be of the highest quality, but should also be an active agent in the development of creative and innovative graduates with the skills to succeed in a competitive jobs market. CfEL promotes the growth of these skills by developing enterprise and entrepreneurship within the curriculum and more widely across the University, supporting students, graduates and academics.

The Zone
Based in the Students Guild, Zone is a dedicated student enterprise centre; a unique environment where students can discover enterprising approaches to their futures, through events, workshops and one-on-one mentoring.

The TED Team

TED is an integrated programme to embed entrepreneurship and enterprise across all subject areas by working with academics to improve teaching and research in enterprise and entrepreneurial education . Over 5000 of funding has been provided to support staff developing enterprising research projects in their curricula at Glyndr.

Learning and Teaching

Embedding enterprise and entrepreneurship is now compulsory at Level 5 across the curriculum. Academics looking for an effective way to evidence this can utilise the Enterprise Tracker software, available through CfEL. 70% of subject areas can already evidence enterprise content in their curricula and CfEL provides an number of elective modules in Enterprise at Levels 4, 5 & 6, and Enterprising You CfELs new suite of e-learning materials 6 will be available for all staff and students via Moodle from Sept 11.

Graduate School Events

Graduate School Public Lecture
The first Graduate School Public Lecture titled The 2010 Icelandic Eruption geophysical, environmental and economic impacts was held on May 4 in the Catrin Finch Centre. Professor Nick Petford gave an engaging presentation on the impact of last years Icelandic volcanic eruption, largely informed by is work with Channel 4 in presenting the documentary The Volcano that Stopped Britain. Over 70 people attended the lecture, including graduate researchers, academic staff, students from Yale College and local schools, and other members of the public. The lecture proved a useful showcase for the Universitys research collaboration with Prof Petford, and provided an excellent example of the effective public communication of science. Prof Petford and Dr Rob English of Glyndr Universitys Materials Science Research Centre, presented joint papers at recent American Geophysical Union conferences. They also have an on-going collaboration project on the structure and rheology of crystalline magmas.

Professor Nick Petford, Vice Chancellor of Northampton University, is known internationally for his work in volcanology, magma fluid dynamics and the engineering properties of igneous rocks.

See Grad School twitter for information and news https://twitter.com/ glyndwr_pgr

Vitae Effective Researcher Training Day

Graduate School Staff were joined by Paul Toombs from Vitae on May 17 to deliver this nationally recognised CPD session for doctoral researchers. The sessions focussed on the attributes of an effective researcher, tools for project managing doctoral study, team working skills, communication of ones research to a general audience, collaborative working and managing professional relationships. This initial session was attended by 20 of our researchers, who were mainly in the initial stages of their programme of study. Effective writing skills, development and planning were identified as subjects for future sessions. We would welcome additional feedback on the event particularly with respect to specific topics for future CPD, and we would also like to thank delegates for making the day such a success.

CPD Training for Postdoctoral Researchers

A session on How to write a successful grant proposal will be offered to PDRAs on 15th June at 2pm in the Telford suite. This session has been offered previously and is being repeated in response to demand identified during recent consultations with postdoctoral colleagues. Given the current staff demographic, this session is best suited to the needs of physical scientists/engineers and will focus on research council, TSB, KTP and ERDF (e.g. WAG A4B) funding mechanisms.

Graduate School Conference - September 12

A range of activities are being planned as we move towards this years Graduate School Conference this event is intended to be an annual showcase of the Universitys research. It is intended that doctoral and MPhil researchers in their first year will present an e-poster, whilst second and third year researchers will participate in a 3 Minute Thesis competition or give a Pecha Kucha style presentation (20 slides/20 seconds per slide). An appropriate allocation of activities will be made for part time researchers. In preparation for the conference a briefing session and a number of filmed practice sessions (small groups), which will enable peer feedback, have been arranged, and will be promoted over the coming weeks. Researchers should access the Post Graduate Moodle calendar for further details.

Calendar of events 2011

Publication details
This newsletter is published quarterly by Glyndr University Editor: Misha Jepson Previous editions can be viewed at Scribd http:// scr.bi/eoeHp8 Please send information or articles, for inclusion in the next newsletter to the editor at d.jepson@glyndwr.ac.uk

Future PGR Training Events 2011

2 June 15 June June-July 6 July 9 Sept 12 Sept Graduate research conference briefing session How to write a successful grant proposalCPD Various practice sessions for conference (2nd/3rd Years) Mock poster presentation for conference (1st years) Mock Graduate School conference (All years)

Graduate School Research Conference

Details of these and all other research training events will be posted

Centre for Pedagogical Research & Scholarship

Seminar Programme 12-1 p.m. at the Plas Coch Campus 15 June K214 Jane Bulkeley Undertaking Mixed methods Research: A case study of the Childrens University in Wrexham Dr Clive Mountford Focusing Oriented Heuristic Enquiry

Professorial Lecture Series

If you have missed any of the lectures and would like to access information about them use the audio and video link here L1. William Kay: The transformation of Christianity? An interpretation of the 20th century L2.Richard Day: The History (and Future?) of Composites in Aviation L3. Stuart Irvine: What can Materials Science tell us about Solar Energy of the Future? L4. Karen Graham: From Policy to Practice: the Value of Work-based Learning

6th July K214

Professorial Lecture Series 2011

Showcasing the Next Generation of Research. Open to all 2nd June Catrin Finch Centre Professor Robert Poole Mental Illness, Social Inequality and Recovery: What does Science Have to Offer?

Creative Industries Public Lecture Series

Plas Coch Campus Open to all 28 June
7.00pm

The Secrets of the Human Planet Dale Templar

Human Planet BBC series

More event details are available at http://glyndwr.ticketsolve.com/