Scientific success
The University’s success rate in Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) awards is twice the national average, according to the funding body’s recent publication ‘NERC vital statistics’. Leeds was awarded £3,072,000 in 2004-05, second only to Cambridge. NERC’s funding covers the full range of atmospheric, earth, biological, terrestrial and aquatic sciences - recent successes for Leeds include £430,000 for a sustainable uplands project and £400,000 for the study of African monsoons.

Taking the initiative
The University has announced its first director of development, appointed to spearhead a major initiative for alumni relations and fundraising. Michelle Calvert will join Leeds in 2006 to implement an ambitious strategy for building and maintaining relationships with former students and supporters of the University. Marketing director Martin Holmes said: “Michelle has a terrific track record in development and alumni relations. Leeds was built on philanthropy and we want to inspire our graduates and the wider community to be a part of the University's future.” The University is committing significant funds - £3m over the next three years - to development (see also leader column.)

For more information see the press release

Poetry in motion
A £140,000 project has been launched to create a website and catalogue for the University’s extensive archives on poets associated with Leeds during 1950-1980, including Geoffrey Hill, Tony Harrison and Kevin Crossley-Holland. The poets were either lecturers or students at Leeds, or came to the University as young poets-in-residence through the pioneering Gregory fellowship scheme. “Our ‘Leeds Poetry’ collection is now very big - and expanding - so we’ve devised this project to describe the unique resources in detail and promote their potential for learning and research internationally,” said head of special collections Chris Sheppard. The two-year project, a collaboration between the University library and the school of English, is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Care and support
Care services for older people with health problems who would otherwise need to go into hospital or long-term care are improving, according to findings by the University’s centre for health and social care. ‘Intermediate care’ is concerned with rehabilitation: the evaluation found that all five sites have created new systems of care to help older people regain or maintain their independence. Five sites in Yorkshire, Liverpool and London were evaluated in a £550,000 project funded by the department of health and the Medical Research Council.

For more information see the centre for health and social care's website

Very special collections
As the Reporter went to press, five University library collections were designated as being of international importance - the only collections in Yorkshire to achieve this accolade. ‘Designation’ by the museums libraries and archives council is the highest possible endorsement of the quality of library collections - the collections in English literature, Romany, cookery, the Leeds Russian archive and the Liddle Collection were all recognised.

For more information see Campusweb.

Model talk
Dr Richard Howells interviewed leading 60s model and photographer Jill Kennington, who appeared as herself in the scandalous 1966 film Blow Up with David Hemmings. Famous for her work with photographer John Cowan - together they were known as the ‘golden couple’ of the London scene - Jill has photographed film and fashion legends from Sir David Lean to Mary Quant. The ‘in conversation with’ interview marked the closure of the successful The world’s most photographed exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, during which Dr Howells also gave a paper (see Reporter 510).
For more on the ‘World’s most photographed’ exhibition see www.npg.org.uk/live/wowmp.asp

Planning for old age
Transport studies researchers are to investigate how involving older people in transport planning policies could improve quality of life and reduce social isolation. “With an ageing population increasingly reliant on the private car through adult life, understanding how we make the transition from being car dependents to people relying on public transport, lifts and local amenities is essential,” said project co-ordinator Dr Greg Marsden. “Making sure that transport planners design our cities and transport systems to take account of the full and diverse range of users is a key goal of the research”.
For more information see the press release at reporter.leeds.ac.uk/press_releases/current/older_people_transport.htm

Pumping funds into research
The first fund to support high-quality international research collaborations – an important strategic aim - has been announced by Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Arthur. The fund is open to all individuals or groups in any discipline. There is no fixed format, but proposals must be aligned with departmental/ school or faculty strategy and involve at least two international partner institutions. The collaboration is expected to lead to further significant external funding and growth in activity.

The initial fund is £100,000 and applications are encouraged for ‘pump priming’ awards between £5,000 and £20,000 by November 30. The fund will increase to £200,000 and applicants may wish to time their projects accordingly.

For more information contact WUN officer Constanze Vageler on c.vageler@adm.leeds.ac.uk, ext 31406 or Martin Hamilton at m.hamilton@leeds.ac.uk

Careers schemes scoop the prizes
The University was named as agency of the year in the recent award scheme held by the Shell Technology enterprise programme (Step). Step is a national work placement programme which offer penultimate year undergraduate students eight-week summer work placements where they can apply their knowledge in a genuine work environment. The award is a tribute to Step staff Darren Scott, Anna Kennan and Joanne Birkett.

Meanwhile diversity and employability programme Impact was presented with the national diversity award by the association of graduate careers advisory services. Impact, a collaboration project between six Yorkshire universities, aims to enhance the employability of, and opportunities for, groups under-represented in higher education. Widening participation funds have supported Impact in Leeds, where project officers are Linda Holdsworth and Ingrid Bale.

Black plaque for careers and training
The staff and departmental development unit (SDDU) has been successfully reassessed for the investors in people standard, and held a celebration to mark the arrival of the 'black plaque' on 31 October with Pro-Vice-Chancellor for staff and students Professor Stephen Scott.

The assessor reported that that SDDU has built on their initial achievement and moved forward considerably since they first achieved the standard in 2002. The careers centre was also successfully assessed for IiP status earlier this year.

Our new net doesn’t need any wires
Connecting to the internet - wherever you are - is becoming a reality as wireless connectivity becomes more widespread around the campus.

All registered university computer users can get instant internet access in wi-fi areas across campus using a wireless enabled laptop. The university wireless service sign was used on the ISS information stand during student registration and spotted by design school first year Callum Barker, who had actually designed the logo for the LSE as part of a branding project. Details of the locations covered by the wireless network can be found at www.leeds.ac.uk/wireless