You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2009.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
A new report, written by Professor Sir Andrew Haines director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has linked the production of meat to climate change.
The report finds that reducing livestock production could lead to major reductions in global CO2 emissions.
Recent UN figures suggest that meat production is responsible for about 18 percent of global carbon emissions, including the destruction of forest land for cattle ranching and the production of animal feeds.
As the world’s leaders meet at Copenhagen for Climate Change talks, the report calls for a 30 percent reduction in the number of farm animals bred for meat which will help the UK achieve its target of halving carbon emissions by 2030.
International research
LSHTM has also won £3.5m Leverhulme Trust research grant this week to address the global food security crisis by investigating the links between agriculture and health.
The research will be coordinated by the London International Development Centre, a collaboration between six University of London colleges:
- Birkbeck College
- Institute of Education
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- School of Oriental and African Studies
- Royal Veterinary College
- The School of Pharmacy
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster has launched a £5m fundraising campaign to restore a historic cinema that was venue for the UK’s first ever public display of moving pictures in 1896.
The campaign has already received a £1m donation by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation to transform the cinema which is currently used as a lecture theatre at the university.
Under new plans, the venue will become a working cinema once again, showcasing student work and experimental film from around the world.
The new cinema will also double-up as a modern lecture theatre to host a new public lecture programme, and the marble entrance hall will be transformed into a venue for art and cultural exhibitions.
To find out more about campaign visit www.birthplaceofcinema.com.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Courtauld Institute of Art
International students in London can now develop their understanding of art history with a short course at the Courtauld Institute of Art.
The Institute’s evening lecture series Showcasing Art History investigates a range of fundamental art historical themes. The coming spring term explores the perennial problems of ‘influence’, ‘tradition’ and ‘innovation’, while the summer term focuses on the world-renowned Courtauld Gallery collections, including iconic works by Manet, Cézanne and Renoir.
The Summer School (2010) features 34 week-long courses and gives you the chance to engage intensively with works of art from classical antiquity to the present day. Inspiring lectures from specialist art historians are complemented by visits to London’s museums and galleries, offering a unique insight into the world of art history.
Visit the Courtauld short course website for more information.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
School children in Africa
According to the UN, more than 60 million children go to school hungry every day worldwide. To help combat the problem, Imperial College London has launched a new project to help local farmers in sub-Saharan Africa provide healthy school meals for local children.
The project will help governments to run school meal programmes using locally-sourced food, providing regular orders and a reliable income for local farmers. The project will also conduct a series of studies to analyse the cost and impact of the school meal programmes.
Supported by a $12 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project aims to ensure a reliable and fair market for local farmers’ products in countries such as Mali, Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Kenya.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Helen with a sample of Vegetex
University of East London (UEL) research student, Helen Bailey, was on site to inspect the first road built using Vegetex, an inventive and environmentally-friendly material she created to build roads.
Helen’s innovative idea replaces up to 20 percent of the bitumen content in road surfaces with vegetable oil, a common ingredient used to cook the nation’s chips.
Using chip fat is a great way to recycle, reducing the CO2 emissions that result from creating bitumen while also reducing the need for the landfills used to dispose waste oil.
In recognition of her ground-breaking achievements, Helen was recently presented with the prestigious Fiona and Nicholas Hawley Award for Environmental Engineering by The Worshipful Company of Engineers.
The Vegetex project has also been shortlisted for an Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Innovation Award.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
LSE staff at the National Recycling Awards
The London School of Economics (LSE) has won a Recycling Achievement Award at the National Recycling Awards for its ‘complete and comprehensive approach’ to recycling.
The School’s recycling rate has increased from 76 to 88 percent in the last year thanks to measures such as a food composting service and communal recycling stations for staff and students.
In the past year, the School’s New Academic Building has recycled 128 tonnes of waste. A further 36 tonnes of waste has been turned into energy, saving 71 tonnes of CO2 and more than 1,100 trees.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
London Business School
The 2009 FT ranking of Executive-MBA programmes (EMBAs) lists more courses taught in London in the top 10 than any other city in the world.
The Trium programme, a joint degree between the London School of Economics, HEC Paris and New York University’s Stern School of Business, has climbed one place to second best in the world.
Two programmes from London Business School are in the top 10. Its Executive MBA with Columbia Business School in New York is at number three while its stand alone EMBA is at number eight.
Joining them in the top 10 at number four is University of Chicago Booth’s EMBA which is taught on its London campus as well as in Chicago and Singapore.
The FT’s EMBA ranking measures career progression and research undertaken within each business school as well as the salary increase that graduates report three years after graduation. The fact that more top programmes are based in London demonstrates London’s continued strength as a business education centre.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
University College London
University College London (UCL) has recently announced a partnership with Yale University to improve the human condition through translational medicine.
Translational medicine aims to improve patient treatments using molecular and cellular discoveries. This research focussed approach aims to increase the speed at which discoveries made in the laboratory are turned into remedies that can be used to treat patients.
Initial research will focus on cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurosciences but will also expand into other areas of basic research, including cancer biology, neuroscience and women’s health.
UCL was recently ranked fourth in The Times Higher Education/QS World University Rankings, and Yale ranked third.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
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