Research news review
The past 12 months have seen some outstanding research work happening at Sussex.
A new Sussex Conversation
A panel of experts discussed the nature of capitalism and how to enable economic growth at this year's Sussex Conversation at the Royal Institution in London in April.
Sarah Montague, regular presenter of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, chaired the discussion, titled 'Capitalism is dead: long live capitalism?' The panel was completed by Nicola Horlick, Chairman, Rockpool Investments LLP; Mariana Mazzucato, Professor of Science and Technology Policy, SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research (Sussex); Lord Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy (Warwick); and Alan Winters, Professor of Economics (Sussex).
In a wide-ranging debate, the nature of capitalism and its contribution to well being and the development of society were explored and discussed. This latest high-profile event followed the format of the six Sussex Conversations held during the University's 50th anniversary year in 2011-12.
Two Sussex professors made Academicians
The Academy of Social Sciences has given Keith Lewin, Professor of Education, and Ann Whitehead, Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology, the award of Academician. The two Sussex faculty are among 35 new Academicians 'who have made a distinguished contribution to the social sciences'.
They join Sussex professors Richard Black (Human Geography), Mick Dunford (Economic Geography), Andy Field (Psychology), Valerie Hey (Education), Louise Morley (Education), and Paul Webb (Politics) as members of the organisation, which was established in 1999 to promote excellence in, and encourage the advancement of, the social sciences in the UK.
The award is given by a committee of academic peers for contributions to the social sciences in the areas of thought leadership, practitioner applications or policy development.
Corruption takes centre stage at conference
A new research centre at the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ is highlighting the role of corruption in business, politics, the law and public life and seeking out new ways to combat its pernicious effects across the globe.
To launch its work, the Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption (SCSC) joined forces with international anti-corruption NGO Transparency International UK and leading law firm Clifford Chance to host a special conference in September 2012.
The conference – The Fight against Corruption: Achievements, Challenges and Future Prospects – provided a unique overview of research being carried out in this area and looked to the challenges facing a world in the throes of economic and political upheaval.
National oral archive for Women's Liberation
Sisterhood And After, a unique national oral history archive that tells the stories of the women involved in the Women's Liberation Movement, was launched on International Women's Day in March 2013 by the British Library in partnership with the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ and The Women's Library, London.
A ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ team comprising Research Fellow Dr Rachel Cohen, documentary film-maker Lizzie Thynne (assisted by ex-Media Film and Music MA student Peter Harte) and led by Dr Margaretta Jolly, Reader in Cultural Studies in the Department of Media and Film, was funded to interview key activists about their experiences to ensure that their stories endure.
The oral history archive brings together the diverse experiences of the women involved in this movement for the first time, including issues ranging from reproductive rights, equality and independence to marriage and sexual rights.
The project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, was developed over the last four years in response to a demand from the activists themselves, who felt their stories had never been recorded in full before.
Historic discovery at Large Hadron Collider
2012 saw ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ physicists celebrating their part in the discovery of a tiny sub-atomic particle, the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland. The results mark a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the fundamental laws that govern the Universe.
Led by Dr Antonella De Santo, Reader in Experimental Particle Physics, and Dr Fabrizio Salvatore, Senior Lecturer in Experimental Particle Physics, a team from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Sussex is part of the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Dr De Santo's team was responsible for collecting and analysing data created by the LHC, in which high-energy beams are smashed together deep below the earth's surface at CERN to recreate conditions in the Universe as they were after the Big Bang.
Dr De Santo said: 'The Large Hadron Collider is a "once-in-alifetime" opportunity to do great science and we are now beginning to harvest the fruits of many years of hard work and perseverance. This is a truly collaborative effort and I, with all my colleagues and the young people that work with us, feel very proud and privileged to be part of it.'
Sussex researchers set to recruit 'baby scientists'
A research group at Sussex is looking to enlist baby scientists to help with an exciting new project.
Participating babies and their parents will be asked to attend the new European Research Council (ERC)-funded Sussex Baby Lab, where researchers study babies to find out what they can understand, how they experience the world around them and how they develop and learn.
Psychologist Dr Anna Franklin, who heads the Sussex Baby Lab, says: 'It may look like it's just a lot of fun, but the babies are actually helping researchers answer a range of important questions such as: "how long can babies remember something for?" "Can babies recognise their mother's face?" Or even "can babies count?"'
The Baby Lab's current project, the Rainbow Project, aims to discover how babies see colour. To find out, researchers will study around 400 babies over a two-year period.
Study reveals true cost of conservation worldwide
The world's governments will need to invest billions annually to reduce the extinction risk for all known threatened species, a new study by ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ biologist Dr Jörn Scharlemann and an international team of scientists concludes.
But according to the researchers, the cost of such investment, equivalent to just 20 per cent of what the world spends on soft drinks each year, would be more than repaid by the economic, scientific and social benefit of conserving our precious natural heritage.
Dr Jörn Scharlemann, Reader in Ecology and Conservation at the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ and former Senior Scientist at the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, produced maps of total conservation cost for birds.
He also worked out the potential savings that could be made, as some of the conservation actions for one species would probably benefit other species whose distributions overlap, for example by establishing protected areas, removing predators from an island and improving public education. Dr Scharlemann says: 'This first estimate of the required investment for nature conservation highlights how relatively little it costs to save nature worldwide. Although the sums may be large, investing in conservation makes economic sense because of the payback in terms of benefits and services people receive in return, such as climate change mitigation or crop pollination.'
The study was led by scientists from BirdLife International and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and from universities and organisations in the UK, Germany, Denmark, the USA, New Zealand and Australia.
Major BBC series for Sussex professor
The rattle and hum of human history is the subject of 'Noise' – an 'earopening' major BBC Radio 4 series that began in March 2013, written and presented by David Hendy, Professor of Media and Communications in the Media and Film Department at Sussex. An award-winning broadcaster and writer, Professor Hendy has travelled the world for the 30-part series to research the stories, record sounds on location and sample the archives in an exploration of 100,000 years of human interaction with sound, from the first prehistoric cave artists to the present day.
In the radio series, which has taken a year to make, Professor Hendy includes treasures from the British Library and the BBC's Natural History Unit, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, and other private sound archives from across the world.
Aviation firm funds $1.6-million Sussex project to improve aircraft engines
One of the world's largest aviation technology companies is funding research at Sussex worth $1.6 million (just over £1 million) to make aircraft engines safer and more efficient.
GE Aviation, based in Ohio, USA, will work with engineering experts in Sussex's Thermo-Fluid Mechanics Research Centre (TFMRC) on two projects to help commercial airlines use less fuel, reduce engine emissions and save on the costs of development.
They will make use of the TFMRC's state-of-the-art facilities, including its Rolls-Royce DART air compressor, which can achieve conditions that are representative of those in an aircraft engine during flight. It is the most powerful facility of its kind in any UK university.
Lead researcher Dr Christopher Long, Director of TFMRC, and his colleague Dr Vasudevan Kanjirakkad marked the start of the research project with a visit by engineers from GE Aviation at the beginning of March 2013.
Hidden benefit of heavy rains in Africa
Intensive rainfall in East Africa can bring widespread flooding but may be instrumental in replenishing vital groundwater supplies. New research by Martin Todd, Professor in Climate Change at the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, Dr Richard Taylor (University College London) and colleagues from the Tanzanian government and British Geological Survey in semi-arid Tanzania has found that very heavy rainfall that accompanies the El Niño phenomenon is vital for recharging underground aquifers in the region.
In central Tanzania, there is near total dependence upon groundwater resources for public water supplies.
The research shows that groundwater resources are replenished, on average, just twice each decade. Although pumping of groundwater from wells depletes the aquifer outside of these events, replenishment from periods of extreme rainfall is so far sufficient to sustain intensive groundwater use.
The new findings, supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), build on earlier work by members of the team that revealed that freshwater stored in subsurface aquifers greatly exceeds that which is found at the surface in lakes and rivers.
Further investigations by the team will be needed to define how and where heavier rains replenish groundwater, but communities and their farmers may be able to adapt to climate variability and change by exploiting these reservoirs and promoting rainwater harvesting schemes that enhance the capture and storage of heavy rainfall.
The brilliant world of starburst galaxies
ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ astronomers and space scientists in Hawaii have helped to reveal hundreds of previously unseen starburst galaxies – the birthplace of the stars that populate our Universe.
The number of starburst galaxies observed by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Herschel space observatory and the ground-based Keck telescopes in Hawaii reveals the extraordinarily high star-formation rates across the history of the Universe.
ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ astronomer Professor Seb Oliver who, with Jamie Bock, leads the Herschel HerMES project that discovered these galaxies says: 'The time scales of galaxy evolution are vast on a human scale, so we simply cannot watch galaxies change. The only way to study evolution is to compare censuses of galaxies at different epochs. That is why these large samples are so important.'
Community engagement through 'Culture Rich' projects
The story of a 'secret army' of Kent residents trained to fend off a Nazi invasion of England is the subject of one of four fascinating ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ projects being funded by a new cultural initiative.
The three-month projects are being funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council's (AHRC) Cultural Engagement Fund – a pilot scheme that aims to support universities in collaborative work involving new researchers, leading academics and cultural organisations in their local communities.
The fund supports four projects at the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, known collectively as the 'Culture Rich' projects. They are:
- Kent's Secret War: 'In the streets and in the fields' – Sarre at war 1939- 1945. Researcher Sian Edwards will be tracking down surviving members of Kent's special Auxiliary Units to the Home Guard.
- The representation of masculinity in the work of Keith Vaughan and his circle: Art historian Darren K Clarke will work with the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove to reexamine the work of Keith Vaughan, the Sussex-born artist who rose to prominence as a member of the Neo- Romantic artistic movement of postwar Britain.
- 'My Place In Sussex' – Rediscovering the Life And Literature of Richard Marsh. Researcher Graeme Pedlingham will be working with Crawley Library to rediscover the work of Marsh.
- Royal Household Servants at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton: Life below stairs is the subject of collaboration between art historian Tracy Anderson and the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. The project is the latest collaboration between the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ and the Royal Pavilion to develop a greater understanding of how Brighton's most iconic building functioned as a Royal Palace.
Professor Matthew Cragoe, who is leading the Culture Rich projects at Sussex says: 'These projects offer something for everyone interested in the rich cultural heritage around us. We are really excited about working with our partners to bring the fruits of our research to the public – a key part of the University's research strategy.'
Recognition for a lifetime's work
Professor Maggie Boden – an expert on the human mind and artificial intelligence – is to receive an international award in recognition of her lifetime's work. Research Professor of Cognitive Science in the Department of Informatics, Professor Boden has been chosen by the International Association for Computing and Philosophy as the 2013 winner of the Covey Award for outstanding research in the area of computing and philosophy.
Professor Boden came to Sussex in 1965 and was one of the founders in the early 1970s of the Cognitive Studies programme, making Sussex the first university in the world to offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in this area.
Collaborative focus on environmental change in the Indian Ocean
The Centre for World Environmental History (CWEH) at ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, the British Library and the UK Met Office have agreed to share historical weather and climate data to enhance understanding of environmental change in the Indian Ocean area during the colonial period.
This latest data sharing supports the project 'Collaborative Research on the Meteorological History of the Indian Ocean, 1600-1900' led by CWEH and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
CWEH is responsible for identifying relevant historical records, strengthening academic and nonacademic networks, providing online hosting for descriptive accounts of the collection and ultimately providing a roadmap for digitising the sources for improved accessibility.
Leading the work at the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, Dr Vinita Damodaran commented: 'This research will help plug the gaps in our knowledge of human-induced climate change by uncovering historical records that allow us to better understand the changes taking place in the last 400 years.
'It is exciting to see that, for the first time, historical records are being used to complement instrumental climate data. The instrumental data only dates back as far as the late 19th century so the results of our work will be of great value to environmental and climate scientists as well as researchers in the humanities and social sciences.'
New member for the Academia Europaea
Laurence Pearl, Professor of Structural Biology and Head of the School of Life Sciences, has been elected as a member of the Academia Europaea – whose 2,300 membership of 'eminent scholars' covers the natural sciences, humanities and letters. Membership is by invitation only, following a peerreview selection process.
Neutrino scientist awarded particle physics prize
Sussex physicist Dr Jeff Hartnell has been awarded a prize by the Institute of Physics (IOP) 'for his contributions to neutrino physics'. He is the 2013 winner of the High Energy Particle Physics (HEPP) Group prize.
The prize is awarded annually by the HEPP Group, a subject group in the Nuclear and Particle Physics Division of the IOP, to a researcher in the UK who has made an outstanding contribution to their field of study early in their career (within 12 years of being awarded their first degree).
A related brain model of the olfactory brain parts of a bee. The little balls are the neurons (brain cells) and the golden lines are connections (synapses), through which the cells communicate.
Building a computer model of a honey bee brain
ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ scientists are working with partners at the University of Sheffield to produce the first accurate computer models of a honey bee brain in a bid to advance understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how animals think.
The team will build models of the systems in the brain that govern honey bee vision and sense of smell.
Using this information, the researchers aim to create an autonomous flying robot, comprising an off-the-shelf flying robot and a beelike 'brain' in the form of a computer program. Instead of flying around via a remote control held by a human, the robot would be able to sense and act as autonomously as a bee.
If successful, this project will meet one of the major challenges of modern science: building a robot brain that can perform complex tasks as well as the brain of an animal.
It is anticipated that the artificial brain could eventually be used in applications such as search and rescue missions, or even mechanical pollination of crops.
Called 'Green Brain', and partially supported with hardware donated by NVIDIA Corporation, the project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Brain over-activations in youth may have negative effects over the longer term.
Alzheimer gene may boost young brains but contributes to 'burn out' in later years
A gene that confers a higher risk for dementia in old age could also promote better-than-average memory and verbal skills in youth, according to a new ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ-led study.
Neuroscientists tested the cognitive abilities of those with a particular gene variant, known as 'APOE e4', found in approximately 25 per cent of the population, against those without it. They also looked at the brain structure and brain activities of both groups during the tasks.
They found that young people with the e4 variant performed better in attention tests, which correlated with increased task-related brain activation as detected by MRI scans. The researchers also noticed subtle differences in the white matter of the brains of those with the variant.
Lead researcher Professor Jennifer Rusted said: 'Earlier studies suggested that those with the e4 variant outperform those without it in tasks such as memory, speed of processing, mental arithmetic and verbal fluency. But it is also well established that this gene is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. The suggestion is that while this confers cognitive advantages in early life, leading to higher achievement, it may also increase susceptibility to memory failure as we enter old age.
'Our study is the first to show that subtle differences in the structure and activation of the brain during cognitive tasks in APOE e4 carriers are linked to their cognitive performance. It is possible that the brain over-activations that we see in youth have negative effects over the longer term and contribute to a kind of "burnout" in older adulthood.'
Boost for doctoral training
Sussex is one of 39 universities to benefit from a share of an £84-million investment in postgraduate training. The £426,000 grant (up from £289,000 in 2012) comes from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through its annual Doctoral Training Grant (DTG) scheme.
From October 2013 the grant will be used to support postgraduate research in the University's areas of strategic research importance in engineering, information and communication technology, mathematical and physical sciences.
The grant will be used to support 11 PhD studentships, and will also fund an EPSRC Doctoral Prize for one of the current cohort of EPSRC-funded Sussex students. It will enable the University to enhance its research capacity and profile, both nationally and internationally.
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Michael Davies, said: 'We are delighted to receive this funding boost, which will give students the chance to progress their research careers here at Sussex – one of the UK's top research universities for science. They will undertake original research and develop innovative new technologies alongside our worldleading researchers. This award reflects the strengths of research in the physical sciences at Sussex and their underpinning importance to our wider research activity in life sciences.'
Sussex wins environmental research funding
Geographers at Sussex have been awarded funding by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for two separate projects that look to the soil for a better understanding of climate change and the impact of human activity on our environment.
Professor Julian Murton, Professor of Permafrost Science at the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, has been awarded funding from NERC's Arctic Research Programme to work with the universities of Edinburgh, Exeter and Sheffield and a group of North American scientists on a project about Carbon Cycling Linkages of Permafrost Systems (CYCLOPS).
Dr Mick Frogley, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, has won funding for a collaborative project with the Natural History Museum in London. The aim of the project is to develop a new technique to track livestock densities across a landscape through time and builds on previous work that looked at the impact of human activity on highland landscapes.
New Head of Mathematical and Physical Sciences appointed
The University has appointed a new Head of the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS). Professor Peter Coles joined MPS in February 2013 from Cardiff University, where he has been Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics since 2007 and was also Deputy Head of School in Physics and Astronomy.
Professor Coles' primary research interest is in cosmology and the large-scale structure of the Universe. Alongside this he has a long-standing interest in mathematical probability and statistics and their applications in physics and astronomy.
The (former) Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Farthing, chaired the appointment panel. He said: 'Peter's knowledge and skills span both disciplines within the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and he is active in research areas that fit perfectly with the Astronomy group at Sussex.'
£6 million to support PhD studentships
Prospective research students at Sussex have the chance to be one in a hundred: the University is investing up to £6 million to support 100 PhD studentships in 2013-14.
The funding is primarily made up of University-matched research council studentships, collaborative doctoral studentships, school-based awards and University-wide scholarships.
Paul Roberts, Assistant Head of the Doctoral School, said: 'This year's awards significantly build on the 82 PhD awards offered in 2011-12 and demonstrate both the University's capacity to attract research council funding and its commitment to attracting exceptional doctoral researchers.'
New Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
Professor Guy Richardson, a Professorial Fellow at the Hearing Research Centre in the School of Life Sciences, has been recognised for excellence in medical science by being elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences.
His research is focused on the development of the cochlea. He discovered proteins called 'tectorins', which are associated with the tectorial membrane of the inner ear; mutations in one of the tectorin genes cause human hearing loss. By working with these tectorins, Professor Richardson and his colleagues have provided unique insights into how the cochlea functions.