University of Bristol International Research Development (IRD) blog – Page 4

A family sabbatical at the University of Bristol School of Earth Sciences

Posted on August 15, 2016April 16, 2024 by iaswun

a boatride in the harbor viewing the replica of the Matthew that John Cabot sailed to North America in 1497 -- an early link between Bristol and America — a boatride in the harbor viewing the replica of the Matthew that John Cabot sailed to North America in 1497 — an early link between Bristol and America

Associate Professors Rowena Lohman and Matt Pritchard from the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University (Ithaca, New York) spent just over six months visiting the University of Bristol School of Earth Sciences, thanks to Institute for Advanced Study Benjamin Meaker Visiting Visiting Professorships. We were drawn to the University of Bristol because of the outstanding research programs aligned with our research interests in volcanology, geophysics, and glaciology (the latter is part of the School of Geographical Sciences). In fact, during our visit we were able to celebrate the Volcanology Research Group’s award of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education (link to: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2016/february/queens-anniversary-prize-awarded.html).

Our visit to the department was everything we hoped it would be –intellectually stimulating, thanks to conversations with the staff and students, and an impressive array of seminars and visitors. We were able to work with our collaborators here to complete joint manuscripts, develop new ideas for proposals and projects, and plan future cooperative activities. Specifically, our research focuses on using satellite observations to better understand and forecast natural hazards like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. While we have been collaborating with scientists in Bristol for a number of years, there are numerous advantages to a visit lasting several months – being physically present (and in the same time zone) greatly facilitates rapid progress and the face to face interactions over a longer time frame allows ideas to develop in a more natural manner. We also benefitted greatly from the ability to see how the School of Earth Sciences works and addresses the challenges and opportunities that face most departments – we go back with a fresh set of ideas and inspiration for how we can handle visitors, graduate student interactions, etc., in the future.

We brought along our two young children, who attended school in Bristol and traveled with us throughout the country. We simply cannot overstate how rewarding this experience has been for them. To help other families from the USA, we have written a few pointers. Some of this is time-sensitive, so potential visitors should always check for the latest information.

Benjamin Meaker Visiting Visiting Professorships are typically for a maximum of three months. However, because we are married academics, we were able to each write individual applications, noting that if they could combine the two 3-month awards together in a consecutive 6-month period, they would end up with two visitors who were each there for the full 6-month timeframe.

The visiting professors are normally accommodated in the IAS’s Principal’s House, but since the rooms there cannot hold more than 2 people, we could not stay there with our family of four. Fortunately, the IAS pointed out to us that the University of Bristol has some limited family housing available, and we were able to stay there – Take home message is to be sure to apply for the housing as soon as you can.

The IAS office helped us to obtain the necessary Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) Government authorized exchange visas – be sure to consider the cost of these. While we did not have to pay any NHS fees as part of this visa, our children did – 400 pounds per child. Also, take note that dental coverage is not included. Our US dental coverage did not cover work done in the UK, but we were pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive it was to pay for things like office visits and x-rays that we did end up needing.

Once we arrived in Bristol, the IAS office wrote us a letter so that we were able to open a local bank account, which was helpful for depositing our IAS cheques and electronic transfers. The procedure and requirements for setting up an account is very different than in the USA – in addition to the letter you need a rental agreement. Make sure that both spouses names are on the agreement if you would like both of them to use the account.

We were warned in advance that setting up schooling would be one of the trickiest aspects of the sabbatical, and we found this to be true. For our child in nursery school, we found several options available with space, and eventually enrolled her in a nursery program that is part of an independent school that takes kids aged 3-18, but that did not have room for our older child. The cost for nursery here was about what we were paying in the USA. For children who are kindergarten age and up and who want to attend a state-supported school, the process involves an application where you also list your top three school choices. You will not be able to get any confirmation of a spot until you are physically in the UK and have an immigration stamped visa for your child. Through online research and a call to the Bristol City Council we found that all the state-supported schools within about 2 miles of our University housing were over-subscribed. So the city council suggested that we also list a school that currently had spaces available that was close to the University of Bristol when we submitted our application. In part this school was under-subscribed because it was recently rated “needs improvement” by Ofsted. Although it is currently rated “good” (not the highest rating, which is “outstanding”), we found that school was an excellent match for our child and we would gladly keep her in that school if we were staying here permanently. The lack of certainty on the school choice worried us a great deal before we arrived (we were not going to have a car, so location and commuting by bus was critical), but it really worked out just fine in the end. One surprise was that the state- and independent- schools followed different academic calenders (for example, the independent school ended the summer term 2.5 weeks earlier), so be sure to check on this.

We want to thank everyone who made our visit to Bristol and the University so enjoyable: to the Institute for Advanced Study for funding and help with the all of the logistics, to our host Dr. Juliet Biggs, to the School of Earth Sciences for providing us space and making us feel welcome, and to

all of the friends we made. We will miss you, and we hope to return someday!

The clifton suspension bridge and avon gorge

Once upon an unusually sunny summer week in Bristol: a tale of a memorable academic visit – Simeon Pierre Choukem

Posted on October 20, 2014April 16, 2024 by iaswun

Simeon picture for website — Simeon Pierre Choukem

I visited Bristol for the first time in December 2012, thanks to the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD) Albert Renold Fellowship. I was an Albert Renold Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) for two months. I got Professor Julian Shield’s contact because I was developing a research programme to tackle childhood obesity in Cameroon. We discussed the topic for a few hours, he kindly introduced me to the Bristol Biomedical Research Unit (BRU), and we eventually were ready to begin collaboration.

In the meantime, I had created the Human Health and Diseases Connections (2HDC) Research Group hosted in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Cameroon. We successfully applied for an IAS Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship.

The visit

The current visit materialised the beginning of collaboration between the BRU and the 2HDC, which we hope will:

Contribute to building the autonomy of the 2HDC Research group by helping with the training of young physicians, nurses, dieticians in research methods and clinical trials
Create training and research opportunities for UK students and researchers in Cameroon
Foster long term interchange between the two institutions; for instance, develop joint research programs including multicentre clinical trials.

From June 14 to 20, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the BRU Team. I attended seminars and meetings, I gave two talks and visited the city of Bristol.

Attendance of a seminar on “How sugar changed the world” organized by the IAS. This was an international event involving guests from the US and UK.
Talk 1: Guest lecture: “Paediatrics where and as you may not imagine”
Talk 2: BRU seminar series: “Diabetes in Africans: a research journey from phenotype heterogeneity to risk factors in early life”
Discussions with the BRU team:

– Database manager, Stu Toms: how to build a database?
– Statistical team: Sam D. Leary and Chris Penfold
– Professor Julian Shield, Kathleen Gillespie and Abby Wilcox: project on childhood diabetes (Immunology and Genetics)
– Professor Andy Ness (Director BRU) and Professor Julian Shield: discussion on projects, support from the BRU and capacity building training in Cameroon in 2015, 2HDC website, and how to make the collaboration sustainable.

I also learnt a lot about Bristol as a historical British city, thanks to Professor Julian Shield’s commitment to friendly tours, tales and invitations.

As a major achievement, the 2HDC Research group’s data on childhood obesity is being analysed by the BRU statistics team and research papers will be published soon.

Perspectives

Maintain a long-term cross-fertilisation between Bristol and Cameroon

Capacity building
Technical assistance
Joint research project and clinical trials

Interchange of students between UK and Cameroon for research, clinical posting and training.

Partnership to build a research institute in Cameroon.

Hope

My assistant Daniel couldn’t come with me! With the diligence of Professor Julian Shield and Professor Andy Ness, the BRU also provided funds for my assistant Dr Daniel Nebongo to be part of the trip. Unfortunately he was refused the visa. I am hoping the next attempt will be successful.

If the University of Bristol had Masters and PhD programs!

One of the main difficulties we face in developing research in SSA is the lack of well trained staff. I wished the Bristol University held masters and PhD training programs. This would have been a great opportunity for capacity building in Cameroon.

Acknowledgements

My words of gratitude go to Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield, who co-founded this collaboration with me; to Professor Andy Ness and the entire BRU team who accommodated me and made the sojourn a memorable one.

Finally, I am highly indebted to the Institute for Advanced Studies who provided the funding to make all the above come true. To Dr Conny Lippert and Dr Edwina Thorn who endeavoured throughout to make the trip and the stay hitch-free.

Remembrance, Legacy, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade – Ros Martin

Posted on July 21, 2014April 16, 2024 by iaswun

Ros Martin, Bristol based artist and writer

Ros Martin creatively contributed to the University of Bristol’s Institute for Advance Studies public panel discussion: ‘Slavery: Legacies and Remembrance’ on the 26 June 2014 with spoken word accompanying a music track, ‘Ethiopia’, composed and sung by Shropshire artist Polly Bolton. The soundtrack came from Bolton’s Magic of Song album.

‘Bolton’s haunting voice was my starting point for the pieces: ‘Ghost of our ancestors’ and ‘Remembering where I come from’ enabling spiritual connection with African ancestors. I wanted to respond personally to the silence in Bristol and the space: the Great Hall in Wills Memorial Building with a temporary sound memorialisation.’

Watch a video of her contribution.

Following the debate on 26 June 2014 in the Great Hall of Wills Memorial, panel members were asked to add what we would wish for the city.

What I would wish for Bristol?

Firstly:
To address the absence, give due recognition and respect to Bristol’s African ancestors contribution to the building of wealth in this city; a monument of a dignified African human being, evoking something of the Bristol African diaspora past and continuous struggles in the skyline in the city centre. (Not in a museum)
Secondly:
An addition plaque for the Colston statue in the centre clearly identifying his role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Thirdly:
A name change for Colston Hall; as a mayor cultural venue for the city it needs to be fit for purpose with a name that seeks to unify all its Bristol residents and promotes the city’s aspiration for equality, social inclusion and social justice as culture should.
Fourthly:
A carefully conceived, cross discipline, international centre of remembrance with objects. A centre that germinates ideas, raises projects, engages novel ways to dignify, learn, heal through memory’s journeys of the transatlantic trade, its ramifications and legacies today. At its heart, it should honour and readdress the silence regarding African ancestors and the diaspora contribution past and present to wealth and nation building.
This centre could be a place of healing for all. A place: of reflection, of campaign work; a centre of activism against commerce that denies people human dignity and rights.

A place to: curate exhibitions, hold seminars, show films, performances, talks, a place to: exchange ideas, thinking and work internationally. A centre: inspiring creative learning through public workshops from Bristol and other city’s transatlantic slave trading past and its trade legacies today.

It would enable us to better understand ourselves as human beings and our relationship with one another through the commodities we buy and trade.

Warmley Brassworks 27 June 2014 site visit

I’ve called it: ‘Capital’s Industry’

This piece was inspired following a site visit Mark Horton organised to Warmley Brass works 27 June 14 with panel members Cameron Monroe and Kodzo Gavua.

Capital’s Industry

See;
Stretching out in front of you,
Horizons; old and new
Fetching up in the same space
A ghostly space.
Now, new build homes.
Recycled slag,
in Neptune, rising out of nowhere, ugly.

Ugliness is the sea’s dependence…….

Here;
spelter works residues
Marvel:
A marriage of science and entrepreneurship
Diverge from Bristol Brass company
Diversify into Warmley: a complete works now
as Father Champions son’s
Pioneering zinc speltering
augmenting his copper, brass spelter patent.

Contemplate how
Goldneys and Champions entwining wealth,
stump up capital from shareholders ready to invest
and profit, completing this vast Warmley Brassworks.

Contemplate how
Nature’s elements profits all bountifully when harnessed into power,
privilege, status, innovation!

In furnaces, steam engine, waterwheels, dam, windmill,
Houses, shops, forge and battery mills,
the manufacture of plates, pans, vessels and pins,
aplenty.

Imagine:
2,000 toilers, oiling capital’s industry.
Mere cogs in this relentless triangle.

See:
science at its best; generating jobs, generating wealth!
Trailblazing…..

Damn, the spanner in the spoke of Champions industrial ambitions!
Damn, the ganging up of former employers, Friends,
Bristol merchants, stalling expansion
Jealousies, resentments, feeding bankruptcy
Humiliation!

See it?
Damn you!
Ugliness
Is always there.

This place, now
Eerily quiet,
unspeakably so.

Ros Martin

1st August, mark Emancipation Day, come, wish Bristol and the world better.

I am organising a public chalk event, a week Friday, August 1st from 2.00 to 4.00. Assembly 2.00 centre of Bristol by the fountains, to mark Emancipation Day in Bristol which is marked in many former British colonies, areas of US and elsewhere.

Why?

– To raise awareness of the history behind it and the significance of the day
– To engage the random passerby with the day
– To encourage the passerby to relate and contribute with personal wishes. These could be words, messages that relate to their own emancipation/others struggles re what’s happening in the world, nationally, locally today.

chalks

Simple and effective, it informs and publicly engages the passerby, giving ‘little people’ a voice for a while whilst, creatively imagining a better Bristol and world. People are encouraged if they wish to, to express themselves re their concerns, and go on their way, a few stay. Open to all, any age, nationality, in any language…..

RESULT a temporary visual installation of our collective emancipation, wishes, dreams…. Come with chalks and enjoy the sunshine, or brave the rain, if only for a little while, Mark 1^st August in Bristol, our bid for a better Bristol, a better world…..

Spoken Sonata – Jonathan James

Posted on May 23, 2014April 16, 2024 by iaswun

Jonathan James visited the Institute for Advanced Studies for a workshop about finding musical ways in to creative writing and the spoken word on 9 May 2014. He is a freelance classical and jazz educator who writes professionally, specialising in libretti for opera.

Creative writers have often taken inspiration from musical form, whether sonatas, fugues or different aspects of Baroque dance. In the Spoken Sonata workshop, participants were given an in-depth appreciation of classical Sonata form from a musician’s perspective. They were then invited to respond to the structures and processes demonstrated in the music as closely as they could within an hour, on a theme of their first sound-related memory.

To close the creative circle, Jonathan offered, in turn, to take any ‘spoken sonatas’ that are posted here and to allow the rhythms and ideas of the poems to

evoke a musical response, as a stand-alone movement, quasi-improvised on the piano. He is looking forward to uploading sound-files if anybody is happy to share their work below.

In Plain Sight: Knowle West Women Activating Communities – Dr. Sharon Irish

Posted on May 7, 2014April 16, 2024 by iaswun

Dr. Sharon Irish is an historian and grants coordinator at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA, with particular interest in community cultural development and urban spatial practices.

Knowle West, an area of south Bristol that was built starting in the 1930s, has a history of women actively working for positive social change. My recent fellowship through the Institute for Advanced Studies culminated with a celebration of a number of these women, and a discussion about future directions for Knowle West and Bristol. As an historian, I wanted to provide some perspective on the hard work that these activists have done over the decades: others came before them, and others will follow, all determined to improve the lives of their families and neighbourhoods.

During my time in Bristol, I interviewed ten of the Knowle West women who have organised against drugs and the de-funding of youth services, and for increased bus service and park improvements. Penny Evans, the assistant director of the Knowle West Media Centre, was an essential partner in my project, introducing me to the women whom she had interviewed for an earlier project, the University of Local Knowledge. I asked them what had prompted their actions, what challenges and successes they had experienced, and what advice they had for future activists.

SewingGroupBunting_1Cropped — ‘Sew Clever’ Bunting

On 28 April 2014, about 35 people gathered at the Knowle West Media Centre to reflect together on the ‘tips and tricks’ that arose from our conversations, and to express further ideas about needed change. This event was part of the University of Bristol’s Productive Margins research programme with which I was connected this spring. We had an animated evening of exchange! Participants also wrote some suggestions on fabric triangles and Knowle West’s ‘Sew Clever’ group created bunting with the messages.

Why it is important to know about and acknowledge those who have struggled before us? Stories from the past provide a context for our current efforts, and add dimensions to our actions that help us see ourselves as historical agents, as women making history. The first cooperative women’s guild in Bristol formed in winter 1889-90 and was run by the members themselves; a Mrs Layton in about 1900 reported on condescending outsiders who came to their meetings. Her frustrations were very similar to the experiences of Knowle West women, who also were poorly served by officials and experts from outside their community. Mrs Layton noted:

I was not used to working-women managing their meetings. I had attended Mother’s Meetings, where ladies came and lectured on the domestic affairs in the workers’ homes that it was impossible for them to understand. I have boiled over many times at some of the things I have been obliged to listen to, without the chance of asking a question. In the Guild we always had the chance of discussing a subject. (Margaret Llewelyn Davies, ed., Life as We Have Known It, 1977, p. 40)

AprilKWMCEvent_drwg — Drawing by Joff Winterhart

The Bristol Broadsides publishing cooperative included Pat Dallimore, a Knowle West resident who not only wrote compelling poetry and essays, but also worked in radio and television. She attended Bristol Broadsides editorial meetings, and appeared on television in the mid-seventies under the auspices of Knowle West TV. Women whom I interviewed recalled her with fondness, and discussed her leadership with admiration. These women recognized that media—print, radio, television, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter—were tools for education and publicity, as long as they remained in charge of the messages. Their commitment and hard work—done ‘in plain sight’ but not often visible—has shaped the histories of Knowle West and Bristol.

Sharon Irish
http://sharonirish.org
Twitter: @zumpang

My “Yuanfen” with Bristol – Professor Lianzhen HE

Posted on May 7, 2014April 16, 2024 by iaswun

He Lianzhen — Professor Lianzhen HE, University of Zhejiang

Professor Lianzhen HE works at the School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, China and visited the University of Bristol in 2014 as an Institute for Advanced Studies Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor.

Yuanfen is a Chinese term meaning the “binding force” that links two persons together in any relationship, and for me, it is the right term to describe my relationship with Bristol.

I first visited the city of Bristol in 1992 when I was studying at the University of Birmingham. Bristol struck me as a beautiful city with great dynamics, and deeply impressed by the magnificence of Bristol Bridge and the city as a whole, I promised myself that I would be back again.

What happened twenty years later brought me to Bristol again, this time to the University of Bristol. In May 2012, a delegation headed by Professor Nick Lieven, Pro Vice-Chancellor of UoB, visited Zhejiang University, my home institution. I was invited to the presentation by Professor Lieven, from which I got to learn more about UoB, “One of the jewels of British Higher Education”. Soon afterwards, in June 2012, when I was leading a small group visiting a couple of UK universities, I decided to include UoB, in an attempt to establish the bonding between my school and the Graduate School of Education at UoB, and the visit proved fruitful. Later in 2013 when UoB held its first graduation ceremony overseas, Professor Yang Wei, then president of Zhejiang University, was awarded Honorary Degree from UoB, I was invited to attend the ceremony and the dinner hosted by Professor Sir Eric Thomas. There I witnessed the popularity of UoB among Chinese students and I could foresee her greater impact in China in the future. And here I am again, as a Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor this time. A truly great honour for me, I consider it a great opportunity to tighten the bonding.

Both members of WUN, there has already been some collaboration between Zhejiang University and UoB, especially in the area of education and language assessment. Working closely together with Dr. Guoxing Yu, we’ve secured funding from Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world’s largest test provider, British Council and Cambridge Assessment for our research projects. We have also succeeded in our joint application for WUN Research Development Fund 2012, aiming at establishing a WUN Language Assessment Research Network, the first of its kind on language assessment in the world that brings together the research-intensive universities at this scale. And we’re currently exploring areas for further collaboration.

It is Yuanfen that brought us together, and I believe it is this Yuanfen that will take us further.

Do women make a difference as foreign policy actors? – Professor Sylvia Bashevkin

Posted on April 30, 2014April 30, 2014 by iaswun

Bashevkin-150x150 — Sylvia Bashevkin, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

Sylvia Bashevkin is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto. She visited Bristol University’s School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS) as the Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor.

Scholars in the UK and elsewhere have spent lots of time studying women’s contributions to legislative politics. Whether they focus on attention to child care and anti-violence policy or the better tone of debate that often follows from electing more women, researchers generally conclude that larger numbers do matter.

One angle that deserves closer attention involves women’s clout in the political executive. The growing concentration of power in the hands of prime ministers and senior members of cabinet means legislators are less and less influential. Even when backbenchers had more power than they now command, the political executive’s ability to shape decisions in areas such as international relations far exceeded that of parliament. For one thing, foreign ministers and the prime ministers who appoint them have long enjoyed access to all kinds of confidential intelligence reports and military briefings that never reach average MPs – let alone members of the general public.

Asking how women operate in top jobs in global politics opens a fascinating window on ties between public officials and social movements. One key finding about legislators is that female MPs from the progressive side of the political spectrum often champion feminist issue agendas after they’re elected. What about female cabinet ministers? Do appointees in the foreign policy field work to direct their country’s international aid spending, for example, toward women in the global South?

Clare Short, UK Secretary of State for International Development, 1997 – 2003. © Faizan Bhat

Thanks to support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, I’ve been able to pursue this question in a systematic way. What I find is:

Firstly, over time, we see more women holding senior foreign policy positions in Western industrialized countries, including the UK.
Secondly, countries with relatively high numbers of women in international relations cabinet posts (such as Sweden, Norway and the US) also tend to be among the most generous toward pro-equality foreign aid initiatives.
Thirdly, and conversely, countries such as France and Italy with historically low levels of women in senior foreign policy jobs have been more modest in their support for equality programmes in the global South.

For countries like the UK in the middle of the distribution, which party is in power seems to make a major difference. The arrival of New Labour in 1997 brought not only more female MPs and cabinet ministers, but also a decisive change in how foreign aid was targeted. In both 2001 and 2006, per capita pro-equality spending in Britain surpassed that of Sweden as well as the US and was second only to Norway. In short, the presence of more progressive women at the foreign policy table had a measurable effect on the directions of British overseas aid. The fact that a similar pattern occurred in other places such as Finland suggests left-of-centre women in wealthier countries can make a difference to how development funds are distributed.

A final question my study posed was, “Who talks about equality issues?” The quick answer is that, on average, female appointees to top diplomatic jobs such as foreign minister or UN ambassador spoke much more than their male counterparts. I focused on Finland, Sweden and the US, three countries that named multiple women to these posts for considerable periods of time since 1976, and compared about a dozen women with their male counterparts. These numbers are small because the numbers in the real world are small – and even tinier in other nations. The trend is striking nevertheless: women were far more likely to use extensive pro-equality rhetoric than men, and progressive appointees from social movement backgrounds were at the high end of the distribution.

Responses to these findings can vary widely but the key takeaway is clear. Females in senior international relations jobs in wealthier countries potentially affect much more than the look of a government’s front bench. They can make a difference to how the foreign aid budget is shaped, and to what gets talked about by senior decision-makers. In so doing, they are able to affect the lives of women and girls in faraway places.

(Originally posted on the BristolPolicy Hub blog)