Volume 2, issue 4 Christmas and New Year Issue December 2008/ January 2009 In this Issue: Space Society win trip to 2 View from the Dean’s Office Cern Electronics host Channel 4 2 A Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all our readers! Another term draws to an end and we all await the results of the RAE 2008 on 17th December—but more on Congregations 3 that in the next issue. Here we report success in SPS where students made a Junior Chess Club 3 successful bid to visit the Large Hadron Collider, and also celebrate the winners of our annual FIRST LEGO® LEAGUE competition. Well done Reigate St Mary’s and Italian Sojourn for Maths 4 Archers Court!. Lecturer We also launch the Faculty Strategic Research Development Fund ( http:// Biosciences Launch Project 4 www.kent.ac.uk/stms/research/strategy.html ) which provides money to support with Simon Langton research—now there’s a useful Xmas present! Meet the Scientist: 5 Dr Dirk Froebrich Great Lives Archive: 6 Seasons Greetings Dr Louis Wain Peter Health Article; Measles 7 Winners of the Lego League 8 Cetuximab binding to the Epidermal Growth Factor Re c e p t o r Published Papers 9 Grants 1 1 Seminars 11 CAPS 12 Café Scientifique 12 Congregations-page 3 This month’s image is from the laboratory of Professor Bill Gullick. It shows two living cells showing the drug Cetuximab (in orange), which is used to treat colorectal cancer, binding to its target, the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor . (Mariana Murphy and Bill Why measles has come back Gullick). to haunt us—page 7 Volume 2, issue 4 Page 2 Space Society students win a trip to ‘Big Bang Mach i n e ’ The Space Society in the School of Physical Sciences has won a trip for 15 members to visit the European Organisation for Nuclear Research’s headquarters in Geneva, where they will have an opportunity to privately tour and learn about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), often referred to as the ‘Big Bang Machine’. The trip is part of their overall prize for winning the Institute of Physics’ ‘Best Overall Student Society’ Competition 2008. Affiliated with Kent Union, the Space Society has over 60 members drawn from a broad range of academic subject areas. For the competition, 4 of the committee had to give a presentation about the achievements of the society and answer questions to an audience of student members of the IOP. Howard Phillips, President of the Space Society and a student on the Astrophysics programme at the University’s School of Physical Sciences, said “We are delighted to have won this great prize, particularly since we were up against some very strong competition from Cambridge University, Imperial College London Left to right: Howard Phillips, Chris Storey, Lindsey Bobrowski, and Trinity College Dublin. We are all looking forward to our trip Paul Locke are presented with their prize by Professor Sir to Geneva and in particular the opportunity to see and learn more Arnold Wolfendale, Professor of Experimental Physics with the about one of the largest and most complex scientific instruments Royal Institution of Great Britain ever built.” Professor Paul Strange, Head of the School of Physical Sciences, The £3.6 billion Large Hadron Collider is the highest energy was among the first to offer congratulations. ‘I am pleased that particle accelerator in the world. Located 100m underground and Institute of Physics has recognised the enthusiasm, knowledge running through both French and Swiss territory, it attracted world and commitment of the Space Society,’ he said. ‘Their first-prize media attention when it was activated on 10 September 2008. The visit to the Large Hadron Collider will be like a dream come true purpose of the accelerator is to smash protons moving at for these students, many of whom will have heard reports on it 99.999999% of the speed of light into each other and so recreate from those members of our School who were involved with it in conditions a fraction of a second after the big bang. the past.’ Director of Channel 4’s ‘The Family’ gives lecture to ‘Multimedia’ students Jonathan Smith, a double BAFTA Award- cameras, he went on to capture almost Taught by a team of experts in design, winning documentary filmmaker and 5000 hours worth of footage in what has animation, film-making, photography, web director of Channel 4’s ‘The Family’, become one of the most successful technology and programming, Multimedia delivered a guest lecture to Multimedia examinations of family life in modern Technology & Design graduates are well- Technology and Design students last Britain. The Family was shown as an equipped to enter such fields as television, film, month. His lecture, which was titled ‘Life eight-part series on Channel 4 in late multimedia authoring, web development, web Behind the Lens’, spoke to second year 2008. mastering, electronic games, mobile students who are studying Digital The lecture examined the relationship communications, electronic commerce, internet Filmmaking in the Department of between the filmmaker and contributors publishing, computer programming and Electronics. in ‘observational’ documentaries. Jane network management. It was a coup for the department since Milton, Lecturer in Film and Video Jonathan was recently involved in ‘The Production was also delighted that Simon Family’, a ground-breaking and Hughes, one of the key contributors from technically innovative fly-on-the-wall ‘The Family’ could also attend. She also documentary about the daily life of a invited students from Film Studies. family in Harbledown, Canterbury. Using Jonathan Smith is currently working on a an array of small remotely operated number of new projects, including a documentary about the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s Disease. Jane Milton said, “It was a great opportunity for the students to learn and be inspired by a successful filmmaker in a highly competitive industry. I’ve received some very positive feedback from the students. I’m also grateful that Jonathan was Simon Hughes (left), key contributor from willing to give up his precious time so ‘The Family’ talking with lecturer Jane shortly after ‘The Family’.” was shown. Milton and Filmmaker Jonathan Smith Volume 2, issue 4 Page 3 November Congregations Ceremonies The culmination of years of hard work Microbiology, Chemistry, Computer resulted in Kent graduands donning their Animation and Biomedical Imaging. robes for the Congregation Ceremonies The theme of science was strong at that took place in the magnificent Canterbury Cathedral where Sir John cathedrals of Rochester and Canterbury Enderby, Professor of Physics and one of in mid-November. Over four hundred the country’s most eminent scientists was students achieved awards, with presented with an Honorary Degree at the doctorates conferred on eighteen Canterbury Congregations. A former students whose specialisms included president of the Institute of Physics, Sir Psychotherapy, Biochemistry, Statistics, John is Emeritus Professor and Senior Computing Science and Electronics Researcher at the University of Bristol. His Engineering. influential science career spans the Atlantic, Graduates Matthew Finn and Shaun first as Directeur-Adjoint at the Institut Tottman both graduated with Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France between Foundation Degrees, photographed 1985-88 before being appointed as Fellow with Ray Fielder (centre) , Head of the of the Argone National Laboratory, Illinois, School of Advanced Technical USA. He has been a visiting professor at Engineering at Mid-Kent College. the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada The highest number of students were from and at the University of Leiden in the Mid-Kent College where one hundred and Netherlands. He has been a Fellow of the sixty five students successfully completed Royal Society since 1985 where in 1997, he their courses including Science courses in was appointed Humphrey Davy Lecturer. Engineering, IT and Applied Chemistry at Sir John was presented to the Chancellor HNC, HND and Foundation Degree levels. and the University to be admitted to the They were all invited to attend the Degree of Doctor of Science, Honoris congregations ceremony at Rochester Causa , by Professor Simon Thompson, Cathedral to be presented with their Head of the Computing Laboratory and awards by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Public Orator. Julia Goodfellow on Wednesday 19 November. On Friday 21 November, the Dean accompanied over two hundred students Sir John Enderby Dr Dan Grundy, awarded with a PhD studying Science, Technology and Medical who was presented in Computer Science (right) with Studies programmes, to Canterbury with an honorary Supervisor Dr Eerke Boiten Cathedral where they were presented with degree at Canterbury This year, almost two hundred students their awards and degrees by Kent’s Cathedral on 21 Nov from Kent’s Associate Colleges achieved Chancellor, Sir Robert Worcester. Almost awards ranging from Higher National one hundred students were awarded with Certificates, Higher National Diplomas, their MSc from all science departments Foundation Degrees and Degrees. with subjects including Actuarial Science, Information for Kent Alumni When students have graduated from Kent, they become part of a community of 95,000 alumni in 200 countries worldwide. The University is very active in maintaining links with alumni and members can keep in touch through subscribing to the KENT magazine, Facebook—’University of Kent Alumni’, a professional networking website called ‘LinkedIn’ on www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/in-touch/ or by the quarterly alumni e-newsletter. All information is detailed on the alumni website on www.kent.ac.uk/alumni. Junior Chess Club and it is hoped that the re-launch of the Club will generate The Canterbury Junior Chess Club has been re-launched this term the same levels of interest and enthusiasm about chess with for children aged 10-14 years old. The new club is being run by today’s young players.