You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2009.
Kelly Holmes receives her award (image: Sally Trussler)
Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes and former Brunel student and Olympic heptathlete Kelly Sotherton have received honorary degrees from Brunel University.
Dame Kelly secured her place in history by becoming the first British female athlete to win both the 800m and 1500m in the 2004 Olympic Games. She received the honorary degree of DUniv (Doctor of the University) from the Chancellor, Lord Wakeham.
The ceremony was also used to honour the 16 Brunel students and alumni who competed at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2008.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
The National Gallery
Inside Out is a major new arts festival organised by nine of London’s leading creative universities.
It is the UK’s first-ever festival of higher education and will see a range of cultural events taking place all over the city, both on-campus and at leading cultural venues in the city including King’s Place, Somerset House and the National Portrait Gallery.
From film and music to theatre and visual art, from exhibitions and screenings to workshops and debates, the Inside Out Festival will add an extra splash of colour and energy to the city’s university campuses in October.
The participating universities are:
- University of the Arts London
- Birkbeck, University of London
- City University London
- The Courtauld Institute of Art
- Goldsmiths, University of London
- Guildhall School of Music & Drama
- King’s College London
- Queen Mary, University of London
- Royal Holloway, University of London
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Dominic's Contortionist bike design
Royal College of Art MA graduate Dominic Hargreaves has designed an innovative full size folding bike.
The new graduate’s invention is called the Contortionist in reference to the way the full-sized aluminium frame collapses into the circumference of its wheels.
The design has already been shortlisted for the James Dyson Award for student designers, sponsored by the entrepreneur and inventor James Dyson. The design is only a prototype at the moment but has attracted considerable interest in the industry.
Dominic is also a graduate from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, where he undertook a BA in Product Design. The self-confessed bike fanatic admits to owning 14 bikes, although many of these are in pieces to help him discover how they work.
With cycling increasing in popularity it may not be long until we see these folding bikes being walked along London’s streets.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Video
The Queen Mary Bioenterprises Innovation Centre
A new five storey innovation centre offering 3,900 square metres of laboratory space, plus an auditorium and a café has opened at Queen Mary, University of London.
The laboratory design will allow tenants to specify the internal division of their labs and the ratio of wet-lab to write up space.
The Queen Mary Bioenterprises Innovation Centre is designed for start-ups and more mature companies in the biosciences, environmental, nanotech and clean-tech sectors.
The Centre is part of a new medical district in central London and will be located next to both the Barts and the London School of Medicine & Dentistry and the Royal London Hospital.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Two girls looking through the walls of a yurt (source: SOAS)
A new exhibition at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) gives a fascinating insight into Kazakh craftswomen living in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia.
Kazakh textiles, photos and videos are displayed bringing to life the craftswomen behind the artefacts. A furnished yurt (Mongolian house) is richly furnished with embroidered felt and woven textiles. These textiles are made of a mixture of raw materials derived from local herds, such as sheep’s wool and camel hair.
The Kazakhs form the largest minority in Mongolia and are dependent on domestic animals for their livelihood, for both food and shelter.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
London School of Economics and Political Science (image: N.Stead/LSE)
London School of Economics, in association with Deutsche Bank, have announced the establishment of LSE Cities, an international centre for urban excellence starting in January 2010.
With an endowment of £1 million per annum from Deutsche Bank, the Centre will develop new programmes of research, education and outreach focusing on the future of the city. The Centre will bring together academics and policymakers, architects and planners, to discuss the needs of future generations of urban residents.
With an estimated 75 percent of the world’s population living in cities by 2050, our understanding of the environmental and social impact of urban settlements has never been so important.
Alongside climate change, food production and water shortages, the future of the planet will be shaped by the way cities are designed and managed, affecting the lives of billions of urban dwellers.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Indian superstar AR Rahman
Indian superstar AR Rahman has been awarded an Honorary Degree from Middlesex University at a ceremony to celebrate the partnership between the University and KM Music Conservatory in Chennai.
AR Rahman is best known for recently winning two Oscars for the music he wrote for the smash hit film Slumdog Millionaire.
The partnership between the two institutions will focus on educational collaboration, especially in the area of music and the blending of Asian and Western musical styles.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has launched a new employment and careers website for Londoners, aimed at graduates in the capital who will be looking for work this summer.
‘Helping Graduates into Work’ has been developed in conjunction with The Careers Group at the University of London and offers a wide range of information and advice to students leaving the capital’s universities and higher education colleges.
A unique feature on the site allows graduates to enter their degree subject and access a range of job and career results including names of employers who typically recruit in that area and the salaries they pay.
The site also offers extensive advice on the best approaches to finding and applying for work, preparing CVs, and attending interviews. Graduates can also find information on job fairs in London, internship schemes and the many other postgraduate opportunities available in the city.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Kingston University London
Kingston University London
The Times described Kingston as “one of the leading new universities” in its Good University Guide 2007.
The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) audit has praised the accessibility of the University’s academic staff; the level of support it offers; the external input from industry into its courses and its work placement opportunities.
The University has roots going back over 100 years and is based in Kingston upon Thames, a busy riverside town. During the past decade, Kingston University has been the fastest growing university in England. Students from more than 130 countries choose to study at Kingston.
Quick facts:
- Over 19,300 students; more than 700 academic staff; income of £132 million.
- 955 undergraduate courses and combinations along with a range of postgraduate and short courses.
- Kingston University is investing £110 million in its estate
Contact details
Kingston University London
River House
53-57 High Street
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey, KT1 1LQ
Tel: +44 (0)20 8547 2000
Web: www.kingston.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.**
“London is a city where different cultures and thoughts meet. Living in this city, I never feel bored.
