ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05 INTRODUCTION In this annual report to University Court and to the wider community, Council has tried to capture something of the flavour of an extraordinary year. History will show whether 2004/05 was a watershed, but it certainly felt as though the pace and scale of change had been turned up a notch. By way of example, in September we had the opening by Lord Sainsbury of the Dorothy Hodgkin Building for integrative neuroscience and endocrinology. In January we received confirmation that Bristol had won bids to the Higher Education Funding Council for England to establish Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in both Chemistry and Medical Sciences. And in February came the opening by Her Majesty The Queen of the Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering (BLADE). Progress of this kind, which is doing so much to The Chairman received an Honorary keep the University at the forefront of research, enterprise and education, degree from the University in 2005. was accompanied by a welter of developments in our policies and See p 27. systems in pursuit of better services and greater efficiency. When change is taking place at such a rate and across such a broad front, it is all the more important to hold on to the things that are constant – in particular, the University’s broad aims, its values and its tried-and-tested methods. Council has been especially careful to maintain its rigorous approach to financial management issues. Thus it has continued to work hard to maintain a healthy operating surplus for the University and to exercise a level of prudence that has ensured the institution’s creditworthiness. Council may be cautious, but it is also highly ambitious for the University. It intends to press ahead with a very substantial programme of investment in buildings, facilities and staff over the next five years – a programme that will support and enhance both the academic output and the student experience and further sharpen the University’s competitive edge. Council will do this in a way that is well grounded and sustainable. It will take risks, but only if it is convinced that such risks are manageable. The expectation is that the University will be able to approach its centenary in 2009 in the knowledge that its second century is set to be at least as distinguished as its first, and that Bristol will continue to be a byword for quality around the world. Finally, I should like to take this opportunity to thank all those who serve on Council and its committees for their expertise and their unfailing commitment and loyalty to this great University and to the diverse community of people who study and work here. Dr Moger Woolley Chairman, University Council UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05 3 FOREWORD CONTENTS It is all too easy to ‘gush’ in a statement of this kind – 6 Research and enterprise to lapse into breathless hyperbole. While I hope to avoid that, it would be wrong to disguise my 14 Teaching and learning continuing amazement at particular aspects of this University. 17 The engaged university First, the staff. On the academic side, Bristol is fortunate in having some of the most distinguished researchers and teachers in the world. The 20 Students: a world of talent great news is that not only do people of this calibre want to come here (and we made some spectacular appointments in 2004/05), but also that they tend to stay. As an aside, can anyone tell me of a comparable institution that numbers as many Fellows of the Royal Society (30) among 23 Staff its active and emeritus staff, as well as nine Fellows of the British Academy? And on the support services side, we are privileged to have dedicated teams led by some of the best managers in the whole of higher 27 Honorary degrees education. I am optimistic that our Reward project and our Positive Working Environment initiative will help to make the University an even more favoured employer for all categories of staff. 28 Capital projects and estate developments 2004/05 Second, the students. One might expect that given the University’s exceptional popularity and the level of competition for places, Bristol students would be among the most talented and committed of their generation. What one might not expect is that so many of them would also contribute 29 The University in the media unstintingly as volunteer workers in the local area – in schools, in old people’s homes and in youth projects. Again, I know of no other university at which the students are so committed as citizens as well as scholars. 32 Campaigns and alumni relations Having a university community of such distinction places particular duties on those in positions of leadership – to recognise and nurture its quality and to maintain the conditions in which people can fly both academically and socially. This report sets out some of the results in 2004/05, and I believe it is 34 a record of which everyone associated with the University can be proud. Statistics There is much more to do, of course, as there always will be. The landscape of higher education is not going to get any less challenging and the pressure to raise our game will not diminish. Hence our 35 Members of Council 2004/05 announcement in 2004/05 that an investment of some £250 million would be made over the next five years to help us consolidate or even advance our position in the UK and internationally. Perhaps I have failed in my attempt to avoid an excess of enthusiasm in this foreword. We must be 35 Credits assessed on our results, not our rhetoric. This report is one of the ways in which we set out our stall to be judged by those with a stake in our University’s future. If the document sparks any ideas or queries, please do not hesitate to let me know. Professor Eric Thomas Vice-Chancellor 4 UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05 UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05 5 RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE Bristol is a research-intensive university, but the relationships between high-quality Research in a global network Full economic costing education, world-class research and innovative enterprise are growing ever stronger. The concept of global research networks, though One of the most significant and complex projects still relatively new, is rapidly gaining ground as a the University has ever undertaken – changing to means of tackling the ‘grand challenges’ in the an entirely new methodology for costing its activities developed and developing world. The Worldwide – progressed rapidly in 2004/05. While Full Universities Network (WUN), founded in 2002, is Economic Costing (fEC) will eventually be extended Results from University research – for example, a Research Themes one of the first examples of such a network. Bristol to teaching and the support services, the first major study by the Graduate School of Education of PC has played a central role in WUN’s development, objective was to meet the 1 September 2005 use in school classrooms – directly inform the The past year saw further implementation of the and Vice-Chancellor Professor Eric Thomas is deadline for applying for Research Council grants on teaching of our courses. And while pure research University’s Research Strategy for the period currently its Chair. an fEC basis. Preparing for this required many of the will always be a core activity, Bristol’s academics leading up to the next Research Assessment The past year has seen a giant leap in the number support services, including Research and Enterprise are becoming increasingly aware that good Exercise in 2008. During 2004/05, the faculties, of research projects co-ordinated under the WUN Development, the Estates Office, Information management of intellectual property can play a working with their Faculty Research Directors, partnership, which comprises 16 universities Services, the Finance Office and Personnel crucial role in translating research effectively into identified University Research Themes. worldwide at present. Bristol academics from all Services, to work in close co-operation with each economic and social benefits. faculties have a major involvement in a great many other and the academic community. Bristol engages in the full range of discipline- of these projects, including the following. Entrepreneurship also offers exciting possibilities: based academic research, but while the breadth of Together, they: discoveries in the laboratory or the workshop can, that research is a strength, we recognise that we For more information on these and other projects, • managed the in-house development of with careful planning, sound advice and visionary cannot do everything to the same standard and please go to www.wun.ac.uk sophisticated, web-based software to aid the stewardship, lead to something that can be taken must put a particular focus on what we are best at. • Arctic Climates and Environments (ACE), led costing and pricing of research projects; to market. The Division of Research, Enterprise As a leading research-intensive university in a by Dr Sandy Harrison in Geographical Sciences, is and Development (RED) acts as adviser, facilitator, highly competitive and under-funded environment, a consortium of scientists dedicated to • found ways of making fEC as non-bureaucratic broker and trainer to Bristol’s researchers we want to offer something that is distinctive and understanding the causes of past and present and burden-free as possible for academics; and entrepreneurs. exciting. Excellent discipline-based research is climate and environmental changes in the northern • devised and implemented comprehensive absolutely essential, but Bristol’s distinctiveness circumpolar region. This should lead to communications and training programmes about will be reflected in its ability to work across the improvements in our capacity to predict the likely fEC for the appropriate members of staff.