Celebrating women: First British woman to win a Nobel Prize

Posted on 19th December 201811th December 2018 by University of Bristol

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Professor Dorothy Hodgkin, First British woman to win a Nobel Prize and former Chancellor of the University of Bristol, with Lara Lalemi, Chemistry PhD student

“Dorothy was the University’s fifth Chancellor from 1970 to 1988. She was a pioneer in the field of protein crystallography and was the first British woman to win a Nobel Prize, receiving it for Chemistry in 1964.

“Dorothy’s interest in chemistry started when she was just 10 years old and she was one of only two girls at secondary school who were allowed to join the boys as they studied the subject. She went on to achieve a first-class honours degree from the University of Oxford – only the third woman to achieve this distinction.

“She was awarded the Nobel Prize for her pioneering work on protein crystallography and the structures of vitamin B12 and penicillin. Her work helped to unravel the detailed 3D structures of proteins, including insulin, fundamentally shaping our understanding of living organisms. In Bristol, Dorothy is remembered as our second longest serving Chancellor. She proved to be a hands-on Chancellor, attending many University meetings and functions, public lectures and lunching with student officers in the Union.

“Dorothy remains the only British woman to have received a Nobel Prize in any of the three sciences it recognises. Not only was she an amazing scientist, but an icon for many women in science. As someone who has studied her work some 50 years later, I’m struck by its impact and how she managed to achieve such a major breakthrough at a time when so few women were even studying Chemistry, let alone supporting the growth of modern medicine.”

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The University of Bristol was the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Bristol career insights 2018

Posted on 13th December 201813th December 2018 by Natalie Hill

A big thank you to our Bristol Volunteers for all of their efforts in making our Bristol career insights events this year such a resounding success. Over 60 of you volunteered your time, experience and expertise to inspire our recent graduates and help them to take positive steps in their careers.

This year we saw our global alumni network in action with seven careers events in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and at home in the UK.

Recent graduates connected with established alumni in their home cities to get practical guidance and insider advice. Graduates seized the opportunity to network with alumni across different industries, hear about their career journeys since Bristol and gain insights into their current profession.

Whether you took part in a panel discussion, presented about your experiences or shared your stories with an audience; our heartfelt thanks for your support. Our recent graduates benefit hugely from your knowledge, expertise and passion for what you do.

We are busy getting ready for our next events in 2019: Beijing and Shanghai in April, Bristol and London in June.

Get in touch with alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk if you’re keen to get involved in 2019.

Our 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon Team

Posted on 12th December 201818th January 2019 by catherine.jenkinson

Seven Bristol alumni, staff and students are running the 2019 London Marathon in support of Healthy Minds, a physical activity programme at the University which taps into the benefits of exercise to support students affected by mental ill health.

Congratulations and thank you to our 2019 London Marathon team! We wish them all good luck with their training and hope that they have a fantastic day on Sunday 28 April 2019.

Christiaan J. Knaup

‘Your student days are the best years of your life. Certainly now that I’m working, I realise just how much freedom I had to explore, think and question everything around me. I spend a year abroad in Singapore, went to the European Championships with the debating society and watched multiple elections in the Student Union. More importantly, I met my best friends.

On the other side, my student days mark a time when I lost both my parents to cancer and a stroke. While it has been tough, I have been fortunate enough to draw on my friends and family for support and this is an opportunity that is not granted to everyone. More importantly, my grief made me aware of the difficulties in mental health. How can one just snap out of it? How can all the things you do make you feel better? Eating healthy and exercising are things that are incredibly hard to do.

Fortunately, through the University of Bristol, I have secured a spot in the 2019 London Marathon. This marathon represents more than just a run to me. Running 42.195km is a real challenge and an opportunity to give back to the community through fundraising. The university has been incredibly flexible and supportive of students who are suffering from mental health issues through things such as Healthy Minds initiative. It aims to support students who are undergoing mental turmoil, no matter what the reason. It promotes and supports mental-wellbeing via encouraging exercise and mentoring. Exercise has certainly helped me. To me it is not just about the dopamines that are released, but also the bonds that are forged between teammates.’

Chloe Parsons

‘I graduated from the University of Bristol with my accounting and finance degree in 2014. Since then, I have both worked and studied as an accountant, recently becoming a Chartered Accountant at a fantastic accountancy firm in the city.

I have lived, studied and worked in Bristol my entire life. As I look out of my office, The Wills Memorial Building is in site and reminds me of my graduation.

Standing on the start line of the London Marathon as a proud ambassador and alumni of the University of Bristol raising money for Healthy Minds will mean everything to me. I have never run a marathon before and I cannot wait to take on the challenge!

The training starts here! If any small donations can be made to support me in my fundraising it would be extremely appreciated and go a long way in helping me reach my target!’

Jack Bicknell

‘I’m Jack Bicknell, I studied Physics and graduated back in 2013. Since then I’ve been a science teacher with Teach First and now work at PwC Consulting. I’ve wanted to do the London Marathon for a while now so when I saw there was an opportunity to run for UoB Healthy Minds I jumped straight in! When I was at uni I used the Student Councelling Services and they really helped me get over some things I was dealing with. Exercise was, and still is, a massive tool I used back then to get out of a rut and it’s still the first thing I think of when I’m having a bad day. Bristol’s Healthy Minds is a fantastic cause I really hope that our fund-raising helps some students get back on track.’

Verity Saunders

‘I started working at the university in April this year as Head of Projects in IT Services. I play netball and am a keen runner taking part in a number of 10k and half marathons. I live in Bristol with my husband Rich and have 3 children Tom, Scarlett and Amber. The benefits of sport have played a huge role in my life when I was at university and especially in the early days of motherhood providing me with the tools, mindset and headspace to deal with everyday challenges. I have never ran a marathon before and this will be the biggest personal challenge I have ever undertaken.’

Marissa Guiang

‘My name is Marissa and I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. I was a visiting student at Bristol in 2014, from Cornell University. At Bristol, I took classes in Politics, Sociology, and International Film. I graduated from Cornell in 2015 and moved to New York City to work at BlackRock.

The London Marathon will be my second marathon, after completing the New York City Marathon this past November. I am running to raise money for Bristol’s Healthy Minds program to help the university with its efforts to provide more mental health resources to its students. When I was a visiting student, the university provided me with support that made an otherwise difficult study abroad experience much more pleasant and memorable. I want to help sustain and expand the Healthy Minds program so that all students can get the support they need to succeed and enjoy their time at Bristol.’

Sam Collier

Sam is studying for a PhD in Sustainable Futures at the University of Bristol, having previously completed an MRes at the university. His motivation for running the London Marathon stems from his own experience with mental health over the past year. He struggled with anxiety and depression during the first year of his PhD, but has found running to be an effective way to manage this. It has become his go-to strategy; a way of channelling the suppressed energy of his anxiety into something worthwhile and positive. By fundraising for Healthy Minds, he hopes to broaden awareness of the programme and what it can offer to students, and to encourage others to try exercise for its psychological benefits.

Grace Kendrick

Grace is currently studying Law at the University of Bristol.

To support the fundraising efforts of the team as a whole, please visit their JustGiving page.

Celebrating women: Leading epidemiologist and founder of the ‘Children of the 90s’ study

Posted on 12th December 201811th December 2018 by University of Bristol

Professor Jean Golding OBE, Leading epidemiologist and founder of the ‘Children of the 90s’ study, with Professor Kate Robson Brown, Director of the Jean Golding Institute

“Jean overcame much adversity in childhood, including TB and polio, and – despite showing an aptitude for biology – went on to study the more sedentary subject of maths at Oxford University at a time when women were outnumbered ten to one by men. She developed a keen interest in epidemiology (the study of health in a population) and went on to do a PhD in Medical Statistics at
University College London.

“Jean started working here in 1980 and founded the now world-famous Children of 90s study (also known as ALSPAC) in 1989. It has been charting the health and wellbeing of 14,500 mothers and their children since the early 1990s. Almost 30 years later, the three-generation cohort is truly internationally and their data has given the world a wealth of practical wisdom that millions of
people now put into practice every day.

“Jean’s own research has amounted to over 350 peer-reviewed papers, covering a range of factors associated with pregnancy, childhood and parenthood. Although she retired in 2006, Jean remains an active and valuable member of the University community. Her pioneering spirit has shown us where thinking big can lead, which is why we’ve named our data institute after her. Bringing together experts from across the University, we are finding datadriven solutions to societal challenges – an entirely appropriate legacy for a research legend whose impact cannot be underestimated, both within the NHS and internationally.”

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£1 million donation to establish a ‘living laboratory’ for livestock

Posted on 5th December 201811th December 2018 by University of Bristol

A groundbreaking ‘living laboratory’ for livestock will be established at the Bristol Veterinary School thanks to a £1 million donation from the John Oldacre Foundation. The John Oldacre Centre for Sustainability and Welfare in Dairy Production will tackle the global challenge of ethical food security and train the next generation of vets and agriculturalists to help address the major issues facing agriculture.

The world faces a huge problem of feeding an ever-expanding population with depleting agricultural resources. At the current growth rate, by 2050 the equivalent of four and a half additional planets will be needed to sustain everyone. Livestock farming is part of the issue, but more importantly part of the solution.

The John Oldacre Centre for Sustainability and Welfare in Dairy Production, which will be based within Wyndhurst Farm, the University of Bristol’s commercially run dairy unit at Langford, will be equipped with the latest data collection devices such as motion detection, GPS tracking and thermographic sensors to gather data that will identify and support changes in agricultural practices.

The Centre will bring together colleagues from engineering, data and behavioural sciences to use technology, such as motion sensing, to identify small behavioural and physiological changes at the beginning of a disease, such as mastitis. The Vet School is already working with colleagues in Life Sciences, using thermography as a novel way of predicting disease, which can reveal, very quickly, which cow is ill. The earlier a disease can be detected, the easier it is to treat effectively.

As well as being a research resource, the Centre will teach undergraduate and postgraduate students in animal production and livestock research, understanding and communicating data, and engagement with the wider farming community.

In honour of the donation, the School will support postgraduate studentships each year who will benefit from the educational resource that the legacy will provide.

The John Oldacre Centre for Sustainability and Welfare in Dairy Production aims to:

identify key problems and new research questions;
find new solutions to help address these problems;
educate future generations of students and equip them with an understanding in the field of sustainable dairy production and welfare;
share the benefits with the UK and global farming community.

Professor Richard Hammond, Head of the Bristol Veterinary School, said: “With over 50 years of world-leading teaching and research in animal welfare and farming, the Bristol Veterinary School can make a vital contribution to this critical challenge.

“Thanks to this generous donation from the John Oldacre Foundation, we can embark on pioneering new research that we hope will play a vital role in advancing sustainable farming and animal welfare and tackle some of the major agriculture issues that face the world today.”

Henry Shouler, Chairman of Trustees of the John Oldacre Foundation, added: “The Trustees of the John Oldacre Foundation are delighted to have entered into an agreement with the Bristol Veterinary School that ensures John’s legacy is maintained in perpetuity through the research and experience of the Foundation scholarship recipients.”

This donation marks a long-standing and greatly valued partnership between the John Oldacre Foundation and the University. Since 2003, the Foundation has supported the Vet School and helped to make a positive impact on farming practice by improving our understanding of the causes of disease and welfare problems in dairy cattle, sheep, and pigs.

Further information

About the John Oldacre Foundation
The John Oldacre Foundation provides financial support for the advancement or promotion, for the public benefit of research and education in agricultural sciences and the publication of the useful results of such research.

It’s International Volunteer Day – thank you to our Bristol Volunteers!

Posted on 5th December 201810th December 2018 by Joanna Sochacka

We’ve taken a fun look at what makes a Bristol Volunteer.

If you currently volunteer for the Bristol alumni network – by running events, giving careers support to our students or by sharing your advice and expertise – we hope you received your personal thank you by email. If you didn’t hear from us, please get in touch so we can rectify this: alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk.

We’re so very proud of our growing Bristol Volunteer community. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch.

Professor Hugh Brady, President and Vice-Chancellor, says: ‘I am very fortunate to often see first-hand the breadth of activity and impact our 1,000-strong network of Bristol Volunteers brings to our community, and I am immensely proud of all of you. A heart-felt thank you for your continued support’.

Shoot for the stars: Anne McClain (MSc 2005)

Posted on 4th December 20184th December 2018 by University of Bristol

Our very own star, Anne C. McClain (MSc 2005), will shoot up into space this week with NASA to serve on the International Space Station.

Anne McClain beat more than 6,100 other applicants to be part NASA’s 2015 class of astronauts – the first graduating class in which the group has been evenly split along gender lines. Anne, a Major in the US Army, is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, and the US Naval Test Pilot School, as well as an OH-58 helicopter pilot.

In an interview with Glamour, Anne said: ‘Wanting to be an astronaut feels more like my destiny. With so much conflict in the world, space exploration can be a beacon of hope. No one cares about race or religion or nationality in space travel. We’re all just part of Team Human.’

She will spend six months on the international Space Station with two other astronauts. The Expedition 58 will work on experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science in an environment not possible on Earth. The crew is also expected to be present on the International Space Station when Boeing conducts its first unmanned test flights to the ISS. It is the first time 100 orbital launches have taken place in a year since 1990.

Celebrating women: First female cabinet member in Botswana

Posted on 28th November 2018 by University of Bristol

Dr Gaositwe Chiepe,
First female cabinet member in Botswana
with Samantha Budd,
Chief Executive of Bristol SU

“As the first black woman to be a Chief Executive of a students’ union in the UK at the union that also had the first black President, it makes me proud to learn that our University has among its alumni such a distinguished pioneer as Dr Gaositwe Chiepe.

Gaositwe was the first woman from Botswana to earn both an undergraduate and postgraduate degree, completing her Master’s degree here in 1959. In 1966 she became Botswana’s first director of education and she laid down reforms that transformed the education system such that today Botswana has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa with equally high progression rates from primary through to higher education.

Known as the ‘woman of many firsts’, Gaositwe became the first female African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1970 and the country’s first female cabinet member in 1974. Access to education has long been recognised as an essential requirement for the emancipation and empowerment of women. It is therefore particularly inspiring that Gaositwe has dedicated her life to improving the life chances of so many girls and to ensure that African people, and in particular women, are able to take their seats at tables previously denied them.

Gaositwe is an inspiration who deserves to be recognised and celebrated alongside the other great women whose stories and portraits adorn the walls of this great University.”

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This month, Sam Budd won the Diversity Champion Award for the Education Sector at the 2018 Inclusive Companies Awards.

We were the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Made in Bristol: Steve Kay and pursuing passion

Posted on 27th November 20187th October 2019 by University of Bristol

As part of our ‘Made in Bristol’ interview series, alumnus Steve Kay (BSc 1981, PhD 1985, Hon DSc 2014) takes us through his journey from Bristol to becoming one of the world’s leading scientists.

My job as a scientist is to come into work each day and see something new in Nature that nobody else has seen before. Engaging the incredible diversity of life that has evolved on this planet makes my hair stand on end some days. Bristol nurtured that awe. I initially went to Oxford to do medicine (and play rugby), but frankly found the classes there rather boring after one term.

I realised I’d gone down the wrong path for me. I wasn’t pursuing my passion. I grew up on the island of Jersey where a myriad of marine creatures would be exposed during very low tides. They fascinated me. One day my elementary teacher brought in a microscope from mainland England and we spent hours with our eyes glued to it, staring at creatures swimming in pond water. That fascination and excitement with natural science couldn’t be matched.

After some reflection, I recalled how much I had enjoyed interviewing with Bristol’s Biochemistry department during campus visits. I contacted the department and entered the following autumn and found it to be absolutely the best place for me – a rigorous curriculum combined with a sense of belonging to an academic family.

I loved it so much, and I am proud to be a “triple” alum. Bristol taught me rigor and discipline in science. Professors like Nigel Brown, Owen Jones and my PhD advisor Trevor Griffiths demanded independent thought (and hard work). But they also valued collaboration and collegiality. These principles have stuck with me throughout my career – how to aggressively pursue the truth, while not taking yourself too seriously.

In terms of opportunity, the USA has a science economy like no other and I was keen to explore new horizons. Over the last 25 years, we have generated a deep knowledge base of how circadian clocks are built and function in a variety of organisms. California remains a hotbed of innovation and a fantastic place to translate our knowledge into products that provide some benefit to mankind. In the case of agriculture, this can be crops that are more resistant to stresses due to climate change. In humans, there is the real possibility of developing drugs that target the clockworks to treat diseases like diabetes and cancer.

If I could give one word of advice to students today it would be to constantly seek out people smarter than yourself to work with. That translated into some wonderful discoveries in my own field, such as identifying many of the key clock genes in plants and humans, that are now relevant to advances in either agriculture or medicine.

I am incredibly grateful to the University for the training and scholarship I received while there, and the memories: walking across the downs in all kinds of weather from Wills Hall to classes every day, (Southern California can make you soft!), picking up cider (“scrumpy”) from our own “Department of Pomology” at the Long Ashton Research station on a Friday afternoon, and meeting the Oxford Dangerous Sports club at a party in Clifton the night before they did the world’s first bungee jump in 1979!

It reminds me that it pays to take a leap into the unknown, to embrace the wrong turns, dust yourself off and get right back in there. Bristol continues to dare to be different, and I very much enjoy staying involved with the University as chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for BrisSynBio, a world class synthetic biology centre. A good piece of both my heart and brain will always be at the University of Bristol and the wonderful city. Like me, it too is looking for something new, something that nobody else has seen or done before, and that’s an exciting place to be.

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Professor Steve A. Kay (BSc 1981, PhD 1985, Hon DSc 2014) is Director of Convergent Biosciences and Provost Professor of Neurology, Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California. As one of the world’s top experts on genes and circadian rhythms, he has published more than 200 papers and is named by Thomson-Reuters as a highly cited scientist. He has been cited in Science magazine’s “Breakthroughs of the Year” three times since 1997, and has received numerous awards, including election to the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. Kay has served on the advisory boards to Althea, Bayer AG, Monsanto, Novartis, Toyota Motor Corp and BP, amongst others.

BBC radio Bristol interview with Stephen O’Connor about £1 million pound gift

Posted on 20th November 201820th November 2018 by University of Bristol

Stephen O’Connor, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, talks to the BBC about Dr Bhikhu Patel (BA Hons Architecture 1973, Hon LLD 2006) and his wife Shashi’s £1 million gift towards Bristol’s transformational new campus at Temple Quarter.

Professor Dorothy Hodgkin, First British woman to win a Nobel Prize and former Chancellor of the University of Bristol, with Lara Lalemi, Chemistry PhD student

Professor Jean Golding OBE, Leading epidemiologist and founder of the ‘Children of the 90s’ study, with Professor Kate Robson Brown, Director of the Jean Golding Institute

Further information

We’ve taken a fun look at what makes a Bristol Volunteer.

Dr Gaositwe Chiepe, First female cabinet member in Botswana with Samantha Budd, Chief Executive of Bristol SU

Dr Gaositwe Chiepe,
First female cabinet member in Botswana
with Samantha Budd,
Chief Executive of Bristol SU