Sussex showcases academic research online
Months of work have culminated in the launch of Sussex Research Online (SRO), which is an online database showcasing all research outputs by academics at Sussex.
SRO contains peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, reports, PhD theses and other publications, providing direct online access to the full text where possible.
Dr Ian Carter, Director of Research and Enterprise, explains: ‘Making research publicly available in this way can greatly increase dissemination, because it allows anyone with internet access to read the research, rather than just people who work or study at institutions that subscribe to a journal. It can help us raise our profile by showing in one place all the research produced at Sussex.’
SRO is now the only source of publication information on campus, and will feed information to other services such as web profiles for academics and reporting for the REF (Research Excellence Framework) 2014. It was jointly developed by IT Services, Research and Enterprise, the Governance Office, the Library and the Web Team.
Browse and search Sussex Research Online.
Local philanthropists back new PhD research
East Sussex-based philanthropists Hans and Märit Rausing are supporting two PhD scholarships at Sussex, to further research into ageing and neurodegeneration.
The scholarships aim to provide better understanding of, and more effective treatments for, age-related neurological conditions such as genome damage, motor neurone disease and dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease).
Professor Keith Caldecott, Director of Research in Life Sciences at Sussex and one of the scientists who will supervise this new research, said: ‘There is a clear link between age and neurodegenerative disease, and with the ongoing global increase in average age, the number of people suffering from such diseases in the UK and worldwide is increasing. Despite this, existing treatments for neurodegenerative disease are limited. These new doctoral research programmes will address fundamental questions concerning the origin of neurological disease.’
The first research programme will look at DNA damage in different parts of the brain, to determine the causes of neurodegeneration. The other programme will focus on designing better drugs for treating motor neurone disease.
Sussex launches Centre for the Study of Corruption
What is corruption? What causes it? What can be done about it? These are the key questions being asked in the newly created Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption. The Centre will focus on the processes behind major scandals of the past, from Watergate to MPs’ expenses, and compare and draw lessons from corruption and anti-corruption discourses, ideas and movements.
The Centre will be part of the School of Law, Politics and Sociology. A number of Sussex academics have already been studying issues in this area, such as corruption in India and judicial bribery in Georgia. In addition to research, the Centre will also be running a one-year MA in Corruption and Governance, starting in September 2012, and will be hosting a launch conference in early September.
A new research centre will study
the global problem of corruption
New Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research
The University has appointed a new Pro-Vice- Chancellor (Research) to replace Professor Bob Allison, who is leaving Sussex this summer to become Vice-Chancellor at Loughborough University. Professor Michael Davies, who is currently Dean of Engineering at the University of Auckland and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of its innovation campus, will join Sussex in January 2013.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Farthing, chaired the appointing committee. He said: ‘Professor Davies has had a distinguished research career, has been successful in attracting large-scale research funding, and has had the leadership experience in Dundee and Auckland to take research at Sussex to the next level. His experience in running the innovation and enterprise campus at Auckland will be invaluable as we seek to make our research even more relevant to local, national and international needs in the future.’
New research centre explores adoption
The major challenges facing adopted children and their families will be the focus of the new Andrew and Virginia Rudd Centre for Adoption Research and Practice at Sussex. The Centre is being established with a generous £1.5 million donation by Sussex graduate Andrew Rudd and his wife Virginia, whose interest stems from their own experience as adoptive parents. It will bring together researchers, clinicians and professional educators working in the fields of psychology, social work and education at Sussex, and will host doctoral and post-doctoral research posts as well as the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Chair in Psychology.
Virginia Rudd said: ‘We are very excited to be working with Sussex on this critical project. Sussex brings an amazing array of talent and facilities that will enable the Centre to advance an important research and policy agenda to help inform the practical, everyday issues of adopted children and their families.’
Consciousness conference comes to Brighton
Hosted by Sussex’s Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science in July 2012, the 16th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC16), demonstrated that the University is helping to lead the way in neuroscience and the study of consciousness.
The Conference, which was held at the Brighton Dome and Corn Exchange, attracted over 500 participants from 35 countries who collectively submitted 403 abstracts, setting new records for ASSC meetings by some distance. Attendees were drawn from researchers and students in neuroscience, psychology, philosophy and medicine, including many of the leading figures in the field, as well as the interested media and public. Participation was truly international in scope and was reported in Nature, New Scientist and The Guardian. Sackler Centre research was particularly well represented at the meeting, with Sackler researchers presenting 19 separate research projects.
Jamie Ward and Anil Seth both presented research projects at the conference
Two major awards in Life Sciences
Dr Helfrid Hochegger, a Senior Research Fellow in the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, has been awarded a prestigious research fellowship and funding of £1.6 million to support him in his work on cancer. The Senior Cancer Research Fellowship, one of just seven, is funded by Cancer Research UK, and is part of an £11-million investment by the charity to find answers to some of the most fundamental problems in cancer.
Helfrid’s research examines the molecular machines that ensure cell division goes smoothly. He is focusing on tiny structures called microtubules that help to separate both copies of a cell’s DNA as it divides. The award will will allow him to fund six years’ research support and salaries.
Dr Claudio Alonso, Senior Lecturer in Developmental Genetics, has been awarded £1.2 million in funding as part of the Wellcome Trust’s latest round of Investigator Awards, one of just three made to ‘exceptional researchers working in the fields of medicine and related sciences’.
Claudio and his team will study the molecular regulation of a particular type of gene during animal development. Claudio said: ‘This is an ambitious programme of work that builds on our track record in the area of gene regulation and on the hard work of PhD students and postdocs in my lab in recent years. The research is designed to advance our conceptual grasp of the molecular processes that control gene function during neural development. This long-term funding support will provide a solid platform for the growth and continuing success of my laboratory, allowing us to tackle ambitious questions using the methodologies that best match the task’. The award will fund four new postdoctoral fellows and a technician.
