Nursing award for London student

Nursing student Jason Towner

London student Jason Towner has won the Royal College of Nursing Fellows Student Nurse award in recognition of his hard work for during his nursing studies.

Jason, who is on his final year in BSc Adult Nursing at Thames Valley University, will now be automatically selected for the Nurse of the Year Awards, the most prestigious accolade for recognising and rewarding excellence in nursing.

Nursing is Jason’s second career, having previously worked in pest control for 15 years. We wish Jason good luck in the national awards, due to take place in London in November.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

New Goldsmiths building

An artist's impression of Goldsmith's new building

Work has started on a £20 million cutting-edge new building at Goldsmiths, University of London, which will have many environmentally friendly features, such as bat and bird boxes, as well as the latest technology for students.

The building, to be completed summer 2010, will house the Department of Media and Communications, and house radio, TV and photographic studios. In addition the building will contain a 250 seat lecture theatre, 120 seat screening room and a café with outside seating.

The building will help protect the environment with heating sourced from a biomass boiler and extensive use of natural ventilation, aided by four large wind towers on the roof.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

London university guide

Institute of Education, University of London

 

Institute of Education, University of London

The Institute is a leading centre of education and social science research hosting over 250 research projects during a typical year and has been praised by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for the scale, strength and vitality of its research contributions.

The Institute is London’s highest rated initial teacher training provider and has partnerships with over 500 schools and colleges in Greater London.

Students come from a wide range of employment backgrounds including education, health and social care departments, local and national government, charities, voluntary and non-governmental organisations and the private and commercial world.

Quick facts

• Almost 6,000 students; around 800 staff including over 90 professors and readers; income over £60 million annually.
• More than 50 Master’s programmes, 20 teacher training courses and an extensive range of degrees, certificates and diplomas plus a wide selection of professional development courses.
• Notable alumni include novelist Louis de Bernières; Grace Naledi Pandor, Education Minister for South Africa; Paul Myners, former director of M&S, Powergen, Orange, Guardian Newspapers and Chair of Low Pay Commission.

Contact details

Institute of Education, University of London
20 Bedford Way
London, WC1H 0AL
Tel: +44 (0)20 7612 6000
Email: info@ioe.ac.uk
Web: www.ioe.ac.uk

 

**This profile is part of a series which forms a directory of London’s universities. You can read more university profiles here as they are published.**

Brand development

Goldsmiths, University of London

Goldsmiths, University of London are joining forces with global brand agency, The Brand Union, to launch a unique, international Master’s degree in Brand Development.

The postgraduate degree, starting in September 2009, will study contemporary branding and communications methodologies and their social, economic and political contexts.

Key themes such as intellectual property rights, the changing media environment, globalisation and the impact of digital communications and marketing technologies will also form part of the syllabus.

It is estimated that we are exposed to 3,000 brands a day, often subliminally. The new course will look at the art and science behind building a successful brand in this increasingly branded world.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

Gymnastic champion

Talented Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance student Benjamin Shepherd has won the British Athletic Championships in tumbling.

Tumbling is a gymnastics discipline requiring high jumping abilities, space orientation, co-ordination, power, strength and courage. Although the discipline has not been seen at the Olympics since 1932 (see video), Ben hopes to represent his country if tumbling is chosen as one of the gymnastics disciplines for the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In the meantime, Ben will be busy combining his studies with training for more international tumbling competitions.

Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk

Video

1932 Olympic tumbling champion Roland Wolfe gives a short demonstration of his gymnastic discipline

London university guide

Imperial College London

 

Imperial College London

Imperial is consistently rated among the world’s best universities and has a reputation for teaching and research in science, engineering, medicine and management.

The College is a global university attracting students from 123 different countries: 46 percent of students and 32 percent of staff come from outside the UK.

Imperial’s institutes and centres bring together expertise from across the university to tackle some of the world’s greatest problems. Examples include the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, focussing on mitigation techniques and influencing international policy. At the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, scientists, medical specialists and engineers are drawn together to create revolutionary progress in medical diagnosis and treatment.

Quick facts:

• 13,000 students; 3,000 academic and research staff; research income of £230 million.
• Over 200 undergraduate and postgraduate courses in science, engineering, medicine and business
• Notable alumni include Michael Birch, founder of Bebo; Simon Dennis and Luka Grubor, Olympic gold medallists; Ken Michael, Governor of Western Australia.

Contact details

Imperial College London
South Kensington Campus
London, SW7 2AZ
Tel: +44 (0)20 7589 5111
Web: www.imperial.ac.uk

 

**This profile is part of a series which forms a directory of London’s universities. You can read more university profiles here as they are published.**

Supporting creative industries

University of the Arts London interior spatial design student. Copyright Mario A. Razetto.

The University of the Arts London is offering crucial support to help creative businesses survive the economic downturn thanks to a government fund of half a million pounds.

The fund will ease the transition between university and work by helping graduates find employment or to set up their own business.

Graduates will get advice on maximising the potential of their intellectual property and how to develop new markets. Support will also include mentoring programmes, training and specialist career advice.

London is Europe’s leading centre for the creative industries employing over 450,000 people – so it is the perfect place to find a job, set up a business or simply be creative.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

Free online research database

University College London

University College London (UCL) has announced that it will be placing all its research online and giving free access to anyone who wants to use it.

Open Access is a new form of dissemination for published books, articles, conference proceedings and digital material. Its principles are based on the Berlin Declaration, which urges authors to retain the rights in the materials they produce and to place a copy in an Open Access medium – in UCL’s case the university’s online database – so that they are freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world.

This move places UCL at the forefront of academic institutions that are pioneering the move to Open Access and has already given all of its PhD students the option of making their theses available online. The database will be launched in the coming months allowing the university to showcase its research to a global audience.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

Student karate champion

UEL student Amy Thomason in action

University of East London (UEL) student Amy Thomason is training to compete in the European Universities Karate Championship in Spain.

Amy, the current UK karate champion is busy finishing her final year dissertation for her Media and Creative Industries degree while also being an active member of the Great Britain University Team and representing England in karate.

Once Amy has completed her degree, she hopes to combine her love of sport with her media degree by becoming a sports writer. And with the London 2012 Games fast approaching, there will be plenty of opportunities for her to practise her skills.

Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk

London university guide

Heythrop College, University of London

 

Heythrop College, University of London

Heythrop College is the specialist philosophy and theology college of the University of London. It has probably the largest library in its field in Britain and one of the largest faculties. Heythrop has a 96-bedded hall of residence for students in Kensington Square.

The College has a major international reputation with some of the leading academics in its field – all of whom lecture to undergraduates. The College offers one-to-one tutorials for undergraduate students.

Quick facts:

• 955 students, income of £4 million
• 40 teaching staff of which 70% are research active
• Eight undergraduate degrees; 14 postgraduate courses; three non-degree courses in theology; philosophy; and combined psychology degrees.

Contact details

Heythrop College, University of London
Kensington Square
London, W8 5HQ
Tel: +44 (0)20 7795 6600
Email: enquiries@heythrop.ac.uk
Web: www.heythrop.ac.uk

 

**This profile is part of a series which forms a directory of London’s universities. You can read more university profiles here as they are published.**