Students’ creative energies focussed for artwork competition

DSC_9088_INB_Complete_UOLA giant piece of art created by students at the University of Lincoln, UK, has been unveiled as finishing touches were made this week on the University’s new £28million Isaac Newton Building where the artwork will take pride of place.

The Isaac Newton Building is located on the University of Lincoln’s main Brayford Pool Campus. It will be the new home for staff and students in engineering, computer science, mathematics, and physics subjects. Construction on this flagship building will be completed this week (w/c 10th April 2017).

Students from across the University of Lincoln were challenged earlier this year to design a giant piece of artwork measuring 13 metres by 7 metres to adorn the signature wall of the main atrium area of the Isaac Newton Building.

More than 30 creative teams submitted designs. The winning entry, chosen by a judging panel of academic staff, came from Amelia Eddershaw and Orlagh Smith, both first-year undergraduate students on Lincoln’s BA (Hons) Creative Advertising programme.

The artwork has now been placed on display as contractors working on the Isaac Newton Building formally complete the construction and fit-out this week.

Gyles Lingwood, Director of Education and Students in the University’s College of Arts, organised the competition and joined the judging panel in choosing the winning design.

“The judges and I were delighted to receive so many entries, particularly as they came from students from right across the University in a wide range of disciplines”, said Gyles. “Some of the entries were very practical, while others made us think twice and challenge what we thought was possible, but the winning design really hit a chord with the whole judging panel.

“Amelia and Orlagh’s design is very confident. It is incredibly energetic and dynamic, working just as successfully up-close as it does from a distance, and appearing to take on a life of its own at every glance.

“Creatively bringing science and art together in an arresting and beautiful image, I’m sure the design will capture the attention and imagination of visitors to the University.”

Amelia Eddershaw (18) described the inspiration behind the design: “We drew on the idea of energy as both Orlagh and I thought this was a key part of the new Isaac Newton Building and the University as a whole. We felt that the ripples would be dynamic and engaging without distracting from the space it occupies, while the colour pallet really shows off the design and, to us, represents the amalgamation of the cultures, personalities and talents that we see here at the University.

“It was amazing to see the artwork in situ on the wall.”

Acknowledging the breadth of talent and subsequent impressive designs submitted as part of the competition, an exhibition showcasing some of the best entries will take place in the University Library in April.

Exhibition: Online Sharing in Extreme Circumstances

Dave Boothroyd ExhibitionAn exhibition exploring the online relationships and behaviour of people affected by extreme circumstances is now on display at Lincoln Drill Hall.

The exhibition, which features a series of portrait photographs and thought-provoking statements is part of a wider research project called ‘A Shared Space and a Space for Sharing’.

The project explores what information people choose to share online when they find themselves in difficult and dangerous circumstances, such as natural disasters, life-threatening illness and illicit drug use. It considers what this teaches us about how trust and empathy are established and maintained in online relationships, and how sharing, trust and empathy work in the offline world.

The project is being carried out by the University of Lincoln in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, University of Edinburgh, University of Warwick, University of Nottingham and King’s College London.

Dave Boothroyd, Professor of Media and Culture in the Lincoln School of Film and Media, is the Lead Investigator for the research area, illicit drug use.

Dave explains: “In Lincoln we are investigating how people involved in a range of online illicit drug use cultures, co-create knowledge and share experience on a variety of web platforms.

“The dedicated blogs, forums and personal story websites we are focusing on are part of the much greater ecology of drugs and drug use information shared, cross-referenced and constantly added to by users of illicit drugs and those who use medicines for non-medicinal purposes.

“Our analysis shows that in many of these online settings, there is a broad adherence to a harm reduction ethos and a culture of caution in the context of uncertainty and risk. From the sharing of drug preparation guidelines to tales of addiction and withdrawal, the mediation of dug culture on the internet represents a new dimension of society’s troubled and complex relationship with drugs. At the same time, it provides us with new opportunity to understand better this relationship from the perspective of users and those affected by drug use.”

The exhibition will run until Friday 21st April. To find out more, visit the project’s website: www.
space4sharingstudy.org/

Parkinson’s Awareness Week – find out what research we’re doing

Brain scan re-sizeThe way people with Parkinson’s use their eyes to complete simple tasks in both the real world and working at computers is being investigated by neuroscientists – and the findings could help early diagnosis and improve their quality of life.

Neuroscientists at the University of Lincoln have been investigating markers specific to Parkinson’s, including jerky movements of the eyes – termed “multi-stepping”.

Using specialist software to monitor tiny but significant eye movements when sat at a computer, they found that people with Parkinson’s are more easily distracted, and do not organise their eye movements as efficiently as people without the condition during problem solving and memory tasks.

Researchers are now also using portable eye trackers to examine natural eye movements in real world tasks to improve understanding of how the condition affects day-to-day life.

The ongoing research is being highlighted as part of Parkinson’s Awareness Week (10th – 16th April 2017), which aims to shine a light on the progressive neurological condition. One person in every 500 has Parkinson’s – or around 127,000 people in the UK.

Parkinson’s has no known cause and currently there is no cure. Symptoms are controlled using a combination of drugs, therapies and occasionally surgery. What is known is that people with Parkinson’s do not produce enough of the chemical dopamine because nerve cells in their brain have died; without dopamine, movements become slower, and the loss of nerve cells in the brain causes the symptoms of Parkinson’s to appear.

Lead researcher, Professor Tim Hodgson, who has just been appointed Branch President for the Lincoln and District Branch of Parkinson’s UK for 2017-18, said the findings have the potential to help in the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s and the assessment of cognitive impairments. Such diagnosis tools could also help those with the condition understand the subtle ways symptoms might affect them.

Professor Hodgson, Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln has led the research over the past four years with help from the Lincoln and District branch of the charity Parkinson’s UK.

“Many everyday tasks require us to make links between what we see and where we look with our eyes, so that we are able to switch between different tasks, such as making a cup of tea, reading the newspaper and then answering the telephone,” said Professor Hodgson.

“We also have to use these visual skills to learn new things, such as preparing a new recipe or learning a new game. Because of the changes to the way the brain works in someone with Parkinson’s, they may have problems learning new visuo-spatial tasks over and above the obvious difficulties – for example shaking – the condition causes with movement.

“This has been a long standing research interest off and on since my days as a post-doctoral research fellow at Charing Cross Hospital in London.”

Participants with and without Parkinson’s were asked to perform a computerised eye movement task where they were given a series of rules such as looking to the left when a black dot appeared on the screen, or centralising their gaze when presented with a red stimulus. The eye tracker equipment then monitored how closely they were able to follow the rules, and how much their eyes moved.

The study showed that people with Parkinson’s were slower to learn a new instructions compared with participants without the disease, suggesting that the brain circuits and chemicals affected in people with Parkinson’s play a role in this ability. The study is now also using portable devises to monitor how the eyes work in the real world.

To find out more about Parkinson’s UK or to access support, visit www.parkinsons.org.uk

Uni Imps Scheme tickets for the last home game of the season

Lincoln City FC New LogoUni Imps Scheme tickets for the last Lincoln City game of the season are now on sale from the SU reception in the Engine Shed.

The match will be Lincoln City vs Macclesfield on Saturday 22nd April, kick off 3pm.

Tickets cost £2 each, and to allow the club to maximise the home fan capacity these will be situated in the Stacey West stand.

There is a maximum purchase of six tickets per person and you may be required to show a valid staff or student ID card.

Don’t forget to tweet us on the night with your experience of the game @unilincolnhr.

If you have any queries please contact Rosie Damarell in HR rdamarell@lincoln.ac.uk.

Top ten for postgraduate and international student satisfaction

Whatuni awardsThe University of Lincoln has been named in the UK’s top ten for student satisfaction by postgraduate and international students in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2017.

The rankings recognise institutions for excellence in a wide variety of academic and social areas, and Lincoln has been ranked third place nationally for postgraduate student satisfaction and ninth for international student satisfaction.

These latest top ten accolades build on Lincoln’s success in the last National Student Survey and The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2017, which placed Lincoln in the top ten in the UK for student satisfaction, teaching quality, and student experience. The University of Lincoln has more than 100 nationalities represented on campus, and most postgraduate programmes offer the opportunity for students to undertake placement opportunities.

Elly Sample, Director of Communications, Development and Marketing, at the University of Lincoln, said: “We are delighted to receive such a resounding vote of approval from our students.

“The opinions of our students are very important to us. Indeed, students are engaged at all levels at the University of Lincoln. They sit on the key decision making committees, they help to shape courses, sit on interview panels and have the opportunity to work with leading researchers in the creation of knowledge.”

The Whatuni rankings take into consideration more than 27,000 reviews collected from up to 130 UK universities on a variety of topics. Students at institutions across the UK were asked to rate their overall university experience so far, selecting 1 being ‘not so good’, 5 being ‘awesome’.

Each category in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards is based on the aggregate review score submitted by students at that university, and the number of institutions in each category varies depending on the responses received.

Feedback in the survey of postgraduate students placed Lincoln in third position out of 36 institutions in the UK. International students’ views placed the University in ninth place of 49 institutions.

Students present innovative housing designs for ageing population

Ideas for Change frontDesigns for housing that could help older people live longer and more comfortably in their local communities have been proposed by students from the University of Lincoln in a unique collaboration with regional specialist housing association, LACE Housing.

The students were challenged with researching the housing needs of Lincolnshire’s ageing population and translating them into innovative design ideas for extra care housing –properties where older people can live in a home of their own, usually with additional on-site care, support and communal facilities.

They presented their ideas for change at a special event attended by Baroness Warwick, Chair of the National Housing Federation, on the University’s main Brayford Pool Campus today (Monday 10th April 2017).

Working with Dr Primali Paranagamage, from Lincoln’s School of Architecture and Design, five teams of students from the University’s schools of Architecture and Design, Business, and Health and Social Care took part in the project, which was sponsored by Lindum Group, Thornton & Firkin, Saunders Boston, and South Holland District Council in addition to the support of LACE Housing.

A major consideration throughout the project was the development of housing solutions that allow people to ‘age in place’, enabling them to remain part of their community, close to family and friends, resulting in better long-term health.

The ideas of all the groups were developed into a single report, ‘Ideas for Change 2017: Extra Care Housing in Lincolnshire’, produced by Dr Paranagamage, whose research explores housing, marginalised communities and social innovation.

Dr Paranagamage said: “As Lincolnshire’s ageing population continues to grow, a lack of appropriate housing stock and an increase in demand on the social care system becomes of greater concern. It is therefore of the upmost importance that creative solutions are sought to explore new models of housing and development in partnership with local health service providers.

“This project has been a terrific opportunity for the students involved, not only to engage in a real-world project and to collaborate with real external stakeholders, but to work within an interdisciplinary team as they will in their future careers.”

Nick Chambers, Chief Executive at LACE Housing, added: “We were delighted to receive Baroness Warwick and to have the opportunity to share with her our innovative approach to partnership working and the design and delivery of specialist housing and support services for older people in Lincolnshire.

“It was an honour to introduce the Baroness to the students of the University of Lincoln who have worked so hard on the report, which will no doubt have a large impact on what housing with care looks like in Lincolnshire in the future.”

Hoping to gain further insight into LACE Housing’s innovative approach to partnerships and research, Baroness Warwick’s visit also included an overview of the ENRICHME project (ENabling Robot and assisted living environment for Independent Care and Health Monitoring of the Elderly), another collaboration between LACE Housing and the University of Lincoln, through its School of Computer Science, which aims to develop and test the ability of robots to support ageing populations.

 

Uni Imps Scheme tickets for 11th and 14th April

Lincoln City FC New Logo

Tickets for Lincoln City’s next two games will be available for sale from the Students’ Union reception from Thursday 6th April.

Tuesday 11th April – Lincoln vs Chester – 7.45pm kick off

Friday 14th April – Lincoln vs Torquay – 3.00pm kick off

Tickets are £2 each and are limited to a maximum of six per person. You may be required to show a valid staff card or student ID when purchasing.

To allow Lincoln City to utilise the stadium capacity in the last home games the tickets will be situated in the Stacey West stand. You may be required to sit in the allocated seat numbered on the ticket dependant on security decisions on the day.

Don’t forget to tweet us on the night with your experience of the game @unilincolnhr

If you have any queries please contact Rosie Damarell in HR rdamarell@lincoln.ac.uk

Concert: All in an April Evening | 6th Apr

The University of Lincoln Choir, Chamber Orchestra and Student Musicians will be presenting a concert, All in an April Evening,  on Thursday 6th April in the LPAC at 7.30pm. 

This is the University Music Department’s first concert in the LPAC and sure to be absolutely wonderful.

The concert will feature:

– Mass in G, Franz Schubert

– Cantique de Jean Racine, Gabriel Faure

– Minuet, Jean Baptiste Lully

Solo and ensemble performances will feature classical, rock, pop, folk and more.

Staff and students from across the University sing in the choir, along with other members of the community. There will also be solo performances by students from The Lincoln School of Fine & Performing Arts and pieces by the University’s new Chamber Orchestra, comprised of students and staff from the Music Department.

Tickets are available from the LPAC Box Office for £5 (£3 concessions), via 01522 837600 or from lpac.co.uk

Carol Ann Duffy Poetry Reading | 27th Apr

Poet Laureate, playwright and Visiting Poetry Artist at the University of Lincoln, Carol Ann Duffy will return to the University of Lincoln on the evening of Thursday 27 April to read a selection of her works.

Thursday 27 April 2017 | 5:30pm registration for a 6:00pm start | Jackson Lecture Theatre (please note the change of venue)

Carol Ann Duffy is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain’s poet laureate in May 2009. She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold the position. Her collections include Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award; Selling Manhattan (1987), which won a Somerset Maugham Award; Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award; and Rapture (2005), winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize. Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender, and violence, in an accessible language that has made them popular with our own students, schools and with the wider public alike making her a popular visitor to the University of Lincoln throughout the academic year.

This poetry reading is free and open to all members of the public, however booking is required via the form below.

http://lincoln.ac.uk/home/campuslife/whatson/eventsconferences/carolannduffy-apr17.html

If you have any queries regarding this event please contact the Events Team on events@lincoln.ac.uk or by calling 01522 837100.

 

 

Please note that this event is now fully booked. If you would like to be added to our waiting list please let us know. If you have booked a place and can no longer attend, please let us know so we can release your seat. 

University of Lincoln Santander Travel Grant

Santander has provided the University of Lincoln with a small Travel Grant to award to undergraduate UK (Home) students who wish to study, research or work overseas in selected countries as part of their degree programme. 

The Travel Grant is designed to support eligible students from a widening participation background.

The full criteria, including a list of eligible countries and the application form are available on our website: http://adviceguidancefunding.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/student-funding/scholarships-bursaries/.

The deadline for application is 12th May 2017.