You’re rising to a global challenge

Posted on 3rd November 20205th February 2021 by Sarah

Dr David Matthews (left), Reader in Virology and Dr Andrew Davidson (right), Reader in Systems Virology in front of their new microscope. The screen shows a virus interacting with cells.

Professor Adam Finn, of the Bristol Medical School, provides an insight into an extraordinary year for Bristol’s community of biomedical researchers.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, my laboratory was focused on the impact of vaccinations on respiratory infections in children. But when COVID-19 hit, we were compelled to pause that work, and redirect our efforts. The nature of our research meant it was possible to make that shift rapidly and we weren’t alone: researchers across the University of Bristol were applying their expertise to the emerging pandemic. The University’s COVID-19 Emergency Research group (Bristol UNCOVER) emerged organically and within a month, there were over 100 researchers, from a vast range of disciplines, meeting online each day to pool resources and expertise, and share progress.

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You’re creating space for research

Posted on 3rd November 20209th February 2021 by Sarah

Robert Chapman, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, explains how this fellowship is advancing important research.

The first year of my fellowship researching Health and Wellbeing for a Neurodiverse Age has been amazing. My PhD explored the philosophy and ethics of autism, challenging the notion that living with autism is inherently at odds with living a good human life. With the fellowship, I’ve been expanding on my previous work to explore neurodiversity more broadly, using my background in Philosophy and Disability Studies to explore the models we’ve developed to understand whether or not someone is psychologically healthy or unhealthy and how they might be ‘disordered’.

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You’re offering sanctuary

Posted on 3rd November 202015th February 2021 by Ellie

Chemistry student and former President of the University’s Student Action for Refugees group, Stephanie Hall, has witnessed how Sanctuary Scholarships can transform lives.

During my first year at Bristol, I went to a poetry reading in a café on Gloucester Road. That was where I first heard Home, an incredibly moving poem about how it feels to be a refugee. The piece was written by Warsan Shire, a Somali-British poet who was born in Kenya. In this poem, Shire talks about how you’d never want to leave your home, unless it had become ‘the mouth of a shark’ – in other words, when it becomes so unsafe that it stops being your home.

It was one of the most powerful things I’ve ever heard and it inspired me to join the University of Bristol’s Student Action for Refugees group (STAR).

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You’re opening doors through scholarships

Posted on 3rd November 20209th February 2021 by Sarah

Laura Frude (BA 2009, MPhil 2010, MPhil 2019) describes her role as Futures Scholarship Coordinator at the University of Bristol and the incredible impact it has on students.

The Futures Scholarship programme provides funding for students from a widening participation background and includes £2,000 in the students’ first year to use at their discretion and £2,500 they can access over the course of their degree to support employability. It supports those who may not start university on a level playing field with their peers or have the contacts to support them to build a career, and many of the students are the first in their family to go to university.

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Together, we go from strength to strength

Posted on 3rd November 20205th February 2021 by Sarah

Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Hugh Brady and Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Andrew Monk, reflect on your remarkable generosity over the last year

Thank you for the incredible support you have given to the University of Bristol this year. As you will read in these pages, your generosity has had an immense impact on the global Bristol community, and you are ensuring that our University will continue to realise its ambitions for the future.

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Alumnus Alfie awarded top prize at Crowdfunding challenge

Posted on 15th October 20205th February 2021 by Sarah

The Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards is a UK-wide entrepreneurial business pitching competition for students and recent graduates. This year, the competition included a ‘Crowdfunding challenge’ where the businesses worked with the team at Crowdfunder to create a campaign for their business.

Working with Crowdfunder, Student Travel Tips created a campaign for the business, winning a cash prize of £6,000 from Santander at the final and crowdfunding over £5,000.

Alfie Laurence set up Student Travel Tips while studying at Bristol to provide peer to peer advice for students studying abroad. From paperwork and accommodation to culture and socialising, Alfie aims to reassure students as they embark on a daunting, yet exciting, year abroad.

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Alumni interview: Fiona Clark (BA 1989), Festival Director and CEO of Cork International Film Festival

Posted on 13th October 20205th February 2021 by Clare

Since graduating from Bristol in 1989 with a BA in English and Drama, Fiona Clark has had an incredible career. She is a highly experienced strategic leader, successful arts manager, and senior fundraiser whose career spans the arts and voluntary sectors in the UK and internationally. Currently the Festival Director and CEO of the Cork International Film Festival, just some of Fiona’s previous roles have included: Head of Development at the Irish Film Institute, CEO of Get Connected and CEO of Earthrace Ltd.

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University of Bristol Alumni of Eastern Canada Virtual Reunion!

Posted on 12th October 20209th February 2021 by clare.young

Heather Proctor (BSc 1964):

On Tuesday 22 September 2020, the University of Bristol Alumni of Eastern Canada held their first ‘virtual’ reunion. Joanna Sochacka from the Development and Alumni Relations Office gave a very interesting overview of how Bristol has coped during Covid-19. Joanna informed us that the Eastern Canada Alumni group is the oldest continuously-running group in the world. The group has been organising annual reunions for the past 18 years.

Among the group, there were several old University of Bristol scarves to be seen, as well as photos of Bristol on walls. Dennis Osmond (MBChB 1954) showed a big photo of our dear Eastern Canada founder, John Bull (BSc 1958), and we virtually toasted him as Dennis waved a bottle of Bristol Cream! We talked of canoes, bears, a bobcat, skis snowshoes, a kayak, a wedding and a cross Canada drive, as well as ways we’re coping and trips we haven’t taken. All agreed it was so nice to hear from each other, and to meet a new member, Roger Moore (BA 1966).

Next year we look forward to welcoming as many alumni as possible to the 2021 reunion, it may be held in Kingston, if it is safe to do so.

If you are interested in holding your own online reunion and would like us to help please contact alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk.

‘This scholarship, right now, means everything to me.’

Posted on 8th October 20205th February 2021 by Ellie

After fleeing his country of origin at the age of twenty, Davide* arrived in the UK with no friends or family to turn to and experienced homelessness, multiple evictions and extreme loneliness. His situation began to change after he met with Student Action for Refugees (STAR) who advised him to apply for a Sanctuary Scholarship at the University of Bristol.

He’s since completed a foundation year at the University and has recently begun his Undergraduate degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Here he tells his story and explains how the Sanctuary Scholarship programme has impacted his life.

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Alumni volunteers share inspirational career journeys with students

Posted on 7th October 20209th February 2021 by clare.young

This summer, ten of our alumni volunteers shared their career stories with pupils through an online event focused on employability. This session was delivered in partnership with With Insight Education, an organisation which mentors Black heritage pupils who are aiming to apply to prestigious universities throughout the UK.

As well as offering valuable insight into their own careers, our alumni volunteers were on hand to answer questions from the pupils and to offer advice. The session was a fantastic chance for the pupils to learn more about how their favourite subjects could translate into a wide variety of career opportunities in the future.

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