Breakthrough Enriches the Knowledge Economy.” World-Class Research at Swansea University Swansea University Breakthrough 1
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“An environment of research excellence that Breakthrough enriches the knowledge economy.” World-Class Research at Swansea University Swansea University Breakthrough 1 Contents Foreword - Professor Richard B Davies, Vice-Chancellor 4 Recent highlights 5 Introduction – Professor Nigel Weatherill, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) 6 Commercial partners 7 Department for Research and Innovation 10 SCHOOL OF ARTS 12 Introduction – Professor Kevin Williams 13 Media and Communication 14 English 16 Creative Writing 19 Centre for Research into Gender in Culture and Society (GENCAS) 20 Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales (CREW) 21 Welsh 22 German 23 French 26 Italian 28 Hispanic Studies 28 Applied Linguistics 29 The Richard Burton Centre 31 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS 32 Introduction – Professor Andrew Henley 33 Business 34 Marketing 34 Human resources, Organisations and Entrepreneurship Research Group 38 Information Systems and CeBR 41 Finance 42 Economics 43 Time Series Econometrics 43 Labour Economics Group 44 Monetary policy 46 Fifteen years of transition 47 Welsh Economy Labour Market Evaluation and Research Centre (WELMERC) 49 SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 52 Introduction – Professor Nigel Weatherill 53 Aerospace engineering 54 The University strategy continues to be, Power electronics and microelectronics technologies 57 Manufacturing technologies 58 in summary, to strengthen research, Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre (MNC) 60 Multi-fracturing solids and particulate media 62 Multi-physics and multi-scale modelling 64 enhance the Swansea student experience, Environmental engineering 64 Emerging research/technologies 67 Collaborative training with industry 70 and be a powerhouse for growth in the Investment in research infrastructure 70 Research Fellows 71 “ INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS 72 regional economy, as part of a ‘virtuous Introduction – Professor Jaafar Elmirghani 73 TINA (The INtelligent Airport) 74 REACH (Radio-Fibre Enabled Access Highway) 74 circle’ of improvement to both the academic IRIS (Intelligent Radio-Fibre Telematics Scout) 74 Heterogeneous IP Networks (HIPNet) 75 Village E-Science for Life (VESEL) 76 and financial health of the institution. Integrated Storage Area Networks (INSTANT) 77 Lamda User Controlled Infrastructure for European Research (PHOSPHOROUS) 77 Motorola’s collaboration with IAT 78 SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 80 Introduction – Professor Mike Barnsley 81 ” Climate and Land-Surface Systems Interaction Centre (CLASSIC) 82 2 Contents Swansea University Breakthrough 3 Institute of Environmental Sustainability 84 SCHOOL OF LAW 166 Glaciology Group 87 Introduction – Professor Iwan Davies 167 Millennium: reconstructing a thousand years of European climate change 90 Overview 168 Volcanic events and past climate change 91 European and International Law 169 Animals in their environment: do penguins eat like gannets? 92 Criminal Law and Criminal Justice 169 Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture Research (CSAR) 93 Socio-legal Studies and Legal Theory 169 WISE 94 Public Law and Welsh Jurisdictional Issues 169 Understanding Red Tides 94 Commercial Law and Law of Obligations 170 Incredible Invertebrates 96 Family and Child Law 170 Biomolecular Analysis Mass Spectrometry 97 Wales Journal of Law and Policy 170 City Visions: the mechanical representation of space 99 Journal of International Maritime Law 170 Global urban networks 100 Institute of Shipping and International Trade Law 171 The PEER ethnographic research method 101 Centre for Commercial Law Studies 172 Devolved Governance in Wales 102 Justword: Centre for the Study of Text, Ethics and Forms of Juristic Discourse 172 International migration: political and policy responses 102 Environmental/Energy Law Research Unit 172 Irish America 104 Centre for Child Research 172 The Transformation of a Perpheral Community 104 Legal Wales 173 National Centre for Public Policy 105 The Intersection of Law and Language 175 SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCE 106 The Principles Underpinning the European Internal Market 177 Introduction – Mrs Anne Hopkins 107 Literary Jurisprudence 178 Institute of Health Research 108 SCHOOL OF MEDICINE 180 Bioscience 109 Introduction – Professor Julian Hopkin 181 Economics of Health and Social Care 110 Institute of Life Science 182 Philosophy of Health Care 110 BioMedical research 183 Practitioner Research 111 Institute of Mass Spectrometry 186 Social Organisation of Health Care 111 Research published on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster 188 Collaborative Links 112 Stem cell therapy 189 Health Informatics 113 Anti-cancer role for curry 190 Medical Sociology 114 New heart pump 190 Wales’ First Professor of Midwifery 114 Research into radiation and cancer 190 SCHOOL OF HUMAN SCIENCES 116 New antibiotics 191 Introduction – Dr Kevin Haines 117 Probiotic supplements for newborns 192 Applied Social Studies 118 CHIRAL: Centre for Health Information, Research and Evaluation 192 Criminology and Criminal Justice research 118 SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES 200 Children’s research 121 Introduction – Professor Mike Charlton 201 Gerontology and ageing research 123 Physics 202 Workforce research 123 Antimatter research 202 After social carework 124 Nanoscale and condensed matter physics 204 Social Carework Research Centre 125 Quantum Field Theory, Strings and Spacetime Group 205 Childhood Studies 126 Lattice QCD Group 205 Psychology 130 Computer Science 207 Wales Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience 130 Logic and Algebraic methods for design of software and hardware 207 Psychology research groups 131 Visual and interactive computing 210 Psychobiological effects of Ecstasy or MDMA in humans 137 FIT Lab 215 Centre for Child Research 138 Mathematics 218 Sports Science 138 Collaboration in Stochastic Analysis 218 SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES 140 Pseudo differential operators and Markov processes 218 Introduction – Professor Noel Thompson 141 On theories of turbulence 218 American Studies 142 Probability and Statistics by example 219 Classics, Ancient History & Egyptology 146 Outstanding accolade 220 History 152 Statistical mechanics and Condensation Theory 220 Politics and International Relations 156 Non-commutative differential geometry 220 Callaghan Centre for the Study of Conflict 161 New approach to (non-commutative) fibrations 220 The Centre for Egyptology and Mediterranean Archaeology 161 Corings 221 Centre for the History of Wales and its Borderlands 162 Symmetric Group Character Theory revisited 222 Conference for the Study of Political Thought 162 Algebraic symmetry 222 Centre for Research on Ancient Narrative Literature 163 Meetings, workshops and schools 223 Centre for Wittgensteinian Studies 163 VIP visits 223 Richard Burton Collection 163 DEPARTMENT OF ADULT CONTINUING EDUCATION 224 The Rush Rhees Archive 164 South Wales Coalfield Collection 164 List of acronyms and abbreviations 228 Peter Winch Archive 165 Index 231 Conferences 165 4 Foreward 5 Foreword Recent highlights Swansea University is several years into an ambitious strategic plan aiming for world-class • £36 million in research contracts won in excellence in all our activities. A recent report, Eureka UK, describes 100 discoveries and developments in UK Universities 2005/06, including £11.5 million from that have changed the world. These include the “finite element method” developed by Research Councils Professor Olek Zienkiewicz at Swansea in the 1960’s. This technique revolutionalised the design and engineering of manufactured products with applications ranging from small • 11 prestigious RCUK Academic Fellowships devices to the aerodynamics of the massive Airbus A380. Computational engineering research still flourishes at Swansea and is undoubtedly world- awarded leading. The University has many other long-standing research strengths that are widely recognised. A major feature of our strategic plan has seen unprecedented investment in the • More than 150 new academic appointments research infrastructure of the University, which is impacting on every part of campus and is since 2004 transformational for several academic areas. This publication seeks to capture the breadth, quality and - hopefully - the excitement of the • Several large research initiatives: innovative research now underway at Swansea. £50 million Institute of Life Science Increasingly, the major academic advances are being made at the boundaries between traditional disciplines, giving a campus university like Swansea a distinct advantage. I hope £30 million Institute of Advanced that this overview demonstrates the value that we attach to our research activity, including Telecommunications collaboration with commerce and industry, and the phenomenal rate of growth underway. Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre Institute of Environmental Sustainability Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture Research Institute for Health Research Professor Richard B. Davies • IBM ‘Blue C’– one of the world’s fastest Vice-Chancellor supercomputers dedicated to life science research • Technium network: eight incubator centres linked to the University and supporting the creation and growth of high-tech businesses in South Wales 6 Introduction Swansea University Breakthrough 7 Introduction Commercial partners Research, the relentless pursuit of knowledge and understanding, has driven Swansea The University gratefully acknowledges the financial Cambridge University and collaborative support of its many commercial Cambridge Water Company University’s growth for nearly a century. Nowadays,