University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is one of the UK's oldest and most prestigious seats of learning, and is the fourth oldest university in the English speaking world. It is recognised internationally for its ground-breaking work and has inspired thinkers from eminent scientist Lord Kelvin to the father of economics Adam Smith. Whilst the University is steeped in history and tradition it is immensely proud of its past but focused on an exciting future.

Over the last five centuries, the University of Glasgow has pushed the boundaries of what's possible. We've fostered the talents of seven Nobel laureates, one Prime Minister and Scotland's inaugural First Minister. We've welcomed Albert Einstein to give a lecture on the origins of the general theory of relativity, and Scotland's first female medical graduates completed their degrees here in 1894. If you choose to study here, you'll be walking in the footsteps of some of the world's most renowned innovators, from scientist Lord Kelvin, to the pioneer of television John Logie Baird and head writer and executive producer of Dr Who and Sherlock, Steven Moffat.

With more than 25,000 students, the University is a melting pot of ideas, ingenuity and innovation housed in one of the most stunning campuses in the UK and in a city that matches the University in dynamism and vibrancy.

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Quick Facts

Founded in 1451
25000 students
2900 research and teaching staff
25% of students are international - large numbers from China, India, USA and Nigeria
4.7% of students are from the rest of the UK
Best known for - Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Astronomy, Physics, English, Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Education, Psychology
Qualifications on offer - Bachelor, Master, PhD, PGDE, MBChB, BDS, BVMS, TESOL
One year after graduation 91.6% of graduates are in employment or further study
91% Student Satisfaction (2014 National Student Survey), ranked 51st in the world (QS World University Rankings 2013)
Term starts mid-September
4000 rooms in student accommodation
Ranked in the top 1% of world universities
Over 100 clubs and societies, from the Cheese Society to Cut! Filmmaking
Two student unions, with Glasgow University Union being voted UK Student Union of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2013
One of the best libraries in Europe, open 361 days of the year from 7.15am-2am with 2.5 million print books and journals
Study abroad and exchange opportunities across the globe
Club 21 Internship Programme works with local and national employers to offer high quality internships, often exclusively, for University of Glasgow students. External organisations also provide work experience opportunities.

Durham University

STUDENTS are set to protest over rising accommodation costs which they say are leading to more people choosing to live out of college.

Durham University’s students union (DSU) has launched a campaign against above-inflation increases to college accommodation fees, which it says are a “rip off”.

President Alice Dee said: “In the last few years we’ve seen decreases in students wanting to return to college and you can’t separate that from the fact that the cost has gone up quite a lot.

“There’s a lot of concern about the potential students from low income backgrounds who can’t afford to come here and have the Durham experience.”

She added: “A lot of students do worry about how expensive it is to live in college and the wider impact that has on Durham City. The student body is very conscientious and we want the university to take responsibility for the damage its causing.”

The cheapest options at university colleges for the next academic year have been advertised as £6,940 for catered accommodation and £4,891 for self-catered rooms.

At Newcastle University the cheapest catered rooms are £5,064.15, while at Northumbria they are £4,368 and York are £5,664.

According to research done by the DSU, in its analysis of 12 universities, Durham’s low-end accommodation was the highest priced this year.

So far around 1,200 students have signed a petition calling for the university to review fees, including lowering them to what they would have been if there had been inflationary increases over the last nine years – which would put them at £5,775 for catered and £5,139 for self-catered accommodation.

Pro-vice Chancellor Owen Adams said:“The cost of providing our college residences rises year on year and we have to review prices on an annual basis to ensure we can continue to provide a high standard of accommodation and services. When reviewing our college residence charges, we consult extensively, including with student representatives.

“We strive to offer good value for money to our students. We continue to invest in our colleges to offer an excellent student experience and we continue to listen to feedback. Recent examples of refurbishment projects at our colleges include: the St Mary’s music rooms, new study space at Josephine Butler, a new gym at Trevelyan, and a multi-use games area (MUGA) for outdoor sports at Collingwood.”

“In addition, there are major additional works planned across our colleges over the coming months and years.”

The university has announced plans to expand student numbers by around 6,000 over the next decade but also wants to increase the percentage living in college to reduce pressure on housing.

University of Nottingham

Scientists at the University of Nottingham have made a significant leap forward in understanding the workings of one of the mysteries of the universe. They have successfully simulated the conditions around black holes using a specially designed water bath.

Their findings shed new light on the physics of black holes with the first laboratory evidence of the phenomenon known as the superradiance, achieved using water and a generator to create waves.

The research - Rotational superradiant scattering in a vortex flow - has been published in Nature Physics. It was undertaken by a team in the Quantum Gravity Laboratory in the School of Physics and Astronomy.

The work was led by Silke Weinfurtner from the School of Mathematical Sciences. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary team she designed and built the black hole 'bath' and measurement system to simulate black hole conditions.

Dr Weinfurtner said: "This research has been particularly exciting to work on as it has bought together the expertise of physicists, engineers and technicians to achieve our common aim of simulating the conditions of a black hole and proving that superadiance exists. We believe our results will motivate further research on the observation of superradiance in astrophysics."

What is superradiance?

The Nottingham experiment was based on the theory that an area immediately outside the event horizon of a rotating black hole - a black hole's gravitational point of no return - will be dragged round by the rotation and any wave that enters this region, but does not stray past the event horizon, should be deflected and come out with more energy than it carried on the way in - an effect known as superradiance.

Superadiance - the extraction of energy from a rotating black hole - is also known as the Penrose Mechanism and is a precursor of Hawking Radiation - a quantum version of black-hole superradiance.

What's in the Black Hole Lab?

Dr Weinfurtner said: "Some of the bizzare black hole phenomena are hard, if not, impossible to study directly. This means there are very limited experimental possibilities. So this research is quite an achievement."

The 'flume', is specially designed 3m long, 1.5m wide and 50cm deep bath with a hole in the centre. Water is pumped in a closed circuit to establish a rotating draining flow. Once at the desired depth waves were generated at varied frequenices until the supperadiant scattering effect is created and recorded using a specially designed 3D air fluid interface sensor.

Tiny dots of white paper punched out by a specially adapted sewing machine were used to measure the flow field - the speed of the fluid flow around the analogue black hole.

It all started from humble beginnings

This research has been many years in the making. The initial idea for creating a supperradiant effect with water started with a bucket and bidet. Dr Weinfurtner said: "This research has grown from humble beginnings. I had the initial idea for a water based experiment when I was at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Italy and I set up an experiment with a bucket and a bidet. However, when it caused a flood I was quickly found a lab to work in!

After her postdoc, Dr Weinfurtner went on to work with Bill Unruh, the Canadian born physicist who also has a made seminal contributions to our understanding of gravity, black holes, cosmology, quantum fields in curved spaces, and the foundations of quantum mechanics, including the discovery of the Unruh effect.

Her move to the University of Nottingham accelerated her research as she was able to set up her own research group with support from the machine shop in the School of Physics and Astronomy.

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This research is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Royal Society and the University of Nottingham.

High res images are available. If used please credit the University of Nottingham.

University of St Andrews

St Leonards is situated in the vibrant, cosmopolitan university town of St Andrews and makes the most of its special location in the home of golf. St Leonards has its own self-contained medieval campus in the heart of the town and is in the enviable position of offering an exceptional range of academic, sporting, musical and creative possibilities.

From its vantage point in one of the most inspiring locations in the UK, St Leonards provides an outstanding education - combining exceptional academic achievement with a happy, friendly atmosphere. St Leonards is close to sandy beaches, historic landmarks and stunning countryside and the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee are closeby.

St Leonards has three sections, Junior, Senior and Sixth Form.  The School is fully co-educational with 500 boys and girls on the roll. 130 Senior School and Sixth Form pupils are boarders. The Sixth Form has 140 pupils. All Sixth Formers study the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) after completing their GCSEs.  The ethos of the IB permeates all sections of the School.  The Junior School follows the IB Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) as its curriculum and has 150 pupils.

St Leonards was recognised as the top IB/A level Sixth Form in Scotland in the 2015 and 2016 Sunday Times ‘Parent Power’ survey.  Typically the average IB Diploma points score is 34, well above the world average of 30. Of our 2016 leavers, 99% of those who applied gained a place at university, being offered their first or second choice.

We are currently looking to appoint an enthusiastic PR and Marketing Assistant to support the School's PR and Marketing Manager. The successful applicant's major focus will be to support and assist the PR and Marketing Manager with effective communication, branding and information-sharing throughout the St Leonards’ community as well as promoting and raising the profile of the Junior and Senior School to local and international markets, protecting and helping to manage their reputation.

This is an ambassadorial role and the successful candidate will be an advocate for the School and its curriculum.  The post-holder must fully understand the benefits of a St Leonards’ education and ensure that these are communicated with consistency and via the most effective channels to all key stakeholders, including current and prospective parents, staff, pupils and the wider community. The successful candidate must uphold the St Leonards’ ethos and brand values, ensuring a consistent visual and written identity in all communications.  They must hold excellent inter-personal, communication and organisational skills and have the ability to work to tight deadlines.

In addition, the post-holder will also be able to work cross-functionally to support Admissions and Alumni relations/Development depending on School priorities if required.

In addition to a competitive salary, the School offers a generous pension scheme, free school meals during term time, school fee reduction and a childcare voucher scheme.

University of Birmingham

With the Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland this summer, sport online editor Nancy Frostick spoke to England prop and former UoB student Laura Keates about the tournamentIt is three years since England’s women’s rugby team faced Canada in the World Cup Final. Previously one-time winners of the tournament in 1994, the Red Roses were in their fourth successive final having lost to old foes New Zealand in 2002, 2006 and 2010. With the burden of that record on their shoulders but new opponents blocking their path to world glory, England made no mistakes at Paris’s Stade Jean-Bouin with a comprehensive 21-9 victory.Just one of the players on the winning side in 2014 was Worcester prop and UoB alumna Laura Keates. As an integral member of that campaign and the England squad for a number of years, news of a long-term injury she sustained in training in May will come as a serious blow to head coach Simon Middleton and England fans.Although Laura won’t be taking part in the World Cup, she was able to give us some insight into the Red Roses’ preparations as they defend their title in Ireland and build on their Grand Slam victory in the Six Nations, which they secured in March.Q: After a fantastic team performance at the Six Nations, which was England's first title and Grand Slam in that tournament since 2012, what are the positives the squad will take forward to the World Cup this summer?A: Thank you very much, it was great to secure a Grand Slam again after not winning it for so long! We really enjoyed this tournament and tried to develop from match to match. I think one of the main positives we will take through to our three-test tour in New Zealand in June is that we were able to identify problems during the games, and work out how to solve them. We were 13-0 down at half time in our France match, and had to dig deep to turn that around and get the win. “'We have worked really hard as individuals prior to this tournament to ensure we are in the best physical condition possible, and have been developing our team play and structure'Q: What do you think has given England the edge over your rivals in the most recent international matches?A: We have worked really hard as individuals prior to this tournament to ensure we are in the best physical condition possible, and have been developing our team play and structure for a while now. We have worked hard in our units, for example we have had camps specifically for the forward pack where we have developed our style of play. We also went full time in January, which has given us a lot more time together as a squad, and also allowed us to have proper recovery time.Q: Does the win over Ireland in the title-deciding match at the Six Nations give you a psychological advantage going to the World Cup where they will be hosts?A: Although we were delighted with our win in the last match of the Six Nations, whenever you play a team in their home country it is always difficult, and that is no different in Ireland where their home crowd is immensely supportive. Ireland are a strong team and we worked hard for our win, but unfortunately I do not believe that will give us any advantage in the future, we will need to be as clinical as possible in all of our matches at the World Cup.“'Although we were delighted with our win in the Six Nations, whenever you play a team in their home country it is always difficult, and that is no different in Ireland'Q: On a personal level, what are your hopes for 2017 with England and Worcester?A: Next season the new Women’s Super Rugby competition will launch, with 10 teams competing around the country.  Luckily for me Worcester have been successful, so from a club perspective I'm looking forward to seeing how we can start the season, and hopefully finish in the top four. With England we have a massive year ahead of us, with a tour to New Zealand in June and then the World Cup in August. I hope we can keep improving and building on our performances, and of course the ultimate dream is for us to win the World Cup again.Q: What do you miss about studying at Birmingham?A: I missed everything about being a student, so much so that I have recently applied and been accepted to study Dentistry at the University!The Women’s Rugby World Cup begins on 9th August with England against Spain in the opening match of the tournament at Dublin’s UCD Bowl.