News in brief

Honours
Professor Brian Richardson, regarded as the UK’s leading expert on Italian language and culture during the Renaissance, has been made a Commander of the Order of Italian Solidarity. The award was presented by the Italian ambassador, who made an official visit to Leeds in April.

Dr Mark Hickey in the School of Physics and Astronomy has accepted a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to continue his research into using the‘spin’ of an electron in a semiconductor to manipulate information. His work has powerful implications for quantum computing.

World-leading cancer expert Professor Alex Markham has received an honorary degree from the University of Manchester. Professor Markham recently stepped down as chief executive of Cancer Research UK to return to the University of Leeds.

Emeritus Professor Tony Wren has been awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering from Leeds for his pioneering work in creating software for the world’s first computerised rail timetable in 1963, which spawned a global industry.

A new medical diagnostic tool that predicts damage to the ovaries after exposure to chemotherapy drugs has earned Dr Helen Picton’s research group at LIGHT, in partnership with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, first prize in their category at Yorkshire’s Medipex NHS Innovation Awards.

At the same awards, the School of Computing won first prize in the training tools category for inventing an ultrasound simulator, in partnership with David Kessel of the NHS Trust. The simulator uses a mannequin and computer to help trainee radiologists practice procedures like inserting a needle into a patient to take a biopsy.

Professor Vlatko Vedral, a chair in quantum information science in the School of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. Professor Vedral plans to explore the effects of quantum mechanical quirkiness - known as‘entanglement’, which allows two particles to behave as one - on large macroscopic systems.

Leeds student television station LS:TV was named best broadcaster at this year’s National Association of Student Television (NaSTA) awards. LS:TV shined on the night, taking eight awards in 15 categories including ‘best news and current affairs’, ‘best documentary’, ‘best comedy’, ‘best drama’ and ‘best video to music’. For more visit www.lstv.co.uk