University of Essex in the press...

Parliament Live
University of Essex report on care farming was discussed as part of an adjournment debate on Care farming and disadvantaged groups by Mr Mark Todd in Parliament on 24th November.
Discussion starts at 7hrs 11 and finishes at about 7hrs 45.

BBC
Flagship University Building open
Teaching has begun in the new flagship building for the recently created university in Suffolk. University Campus Suffolk (UCS), in Ipswich, was established by the University of East Anglia and the University of Essex last year. View the clip here.

ITV Local
Professor Jules Pretty, Biological Sciences, comments on how visiting to a farm can benefit a person’s wellbeing. View the clip here

ITV Local
Professor Michael Sherer, Department of Accounting, Finance and Management,  comments on rising fuel prices as part of Anglia TV's Feeling the Pinch series. View the clip here

ITV Local
Ask the Expert - AI
Professor Huosheng Hu from the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems explains how robots can help people.
View the clip here

ITV Local
Ask the Expert - AI
Dr Simon Lucas from the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems explains why and how he is making computer programmes play games
View the clip here

ITV Anglia News
Pasco Q Kevlin, Manager, Lakeside Theatre
Talking about the Lakeside Theatre and future productions
View the clip here

The University of Essex in the Press

Tuesday 20

Rural economy wins backing
Positive noises are being made about the strength of the rural economy. According to the Country, Land and Business Association (CLA), confidence in the rural economy is higher than confidence in the economy as a whole. The Essex Rural Commission (commissioners include John Clayton, Mary Maskell, commission chairman Professor Jules Pretty, Elinor Goodman, Professor Germaine Greer and Simon Brice) is an Essex County Council-organised group formed to identify issues and boost the rural economy, said one reason may be because the recession may have hit urban areas hardest.
Evening Gazette

Companies have roles in theatre plan
Colchester firms have the chance to support the development of a community theatre. More than 50 businesses have been invited to the unveiling of plans for the £800,000 development of the Lakeside Theatre at Essex University, tonight.
Evening Gazette

Find out how your business can go greener
Local businesses can boost their green credentials thanks to the launch of a groundbreaking 1,000 "Low Carbon Voucher" scheem. Small enterprises with no more than 250 employees can apply for the funding which entitles them to two days of low carbon consultancy with experts at the University of Essex.
Essex Chronicle

First love can hurt future romance
Colchester, England - Researchers at England's Univresity of Essex said their study suggests memories of first love can endanger future romances.
Money Times
Moldova.org
United Press International - Chile

Good love a bad thing
They say that you never forget your first love. But maybe you should, because memories of it can wreck relationships for life, UK research suggests. Sociologists at Essex University found the euphoria of young love can become an unrealistic benchmark against which all future romances are judged.
The Telegraph

Forgetting first romance, a must for a happy love life
Sociologists from the Institute for Social and Economic Research warn setting too high a standard can wreck our emotional life. They say we never forget our first love and, in many case, it is true. However, the time may hvae come to let our emotions and memories go, as sociologists have learned that holding onto them can make us not appreciate future relationships for what they're worth, always looking back to our first, much too idealised, romance.
Softpedia

Focus on teenagers today
A one-day interactive conference being held in memory of a young medical student who took his own life in 1992 will focus on the topic of being a teenager today. For tickets call Debbie Stewart in the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex.
Essex Chronicle

Research from University of Essex provides new insights into quality and quantity
"The aim of the paper is to compare two alternative survey designs in terms of resultant responses rates, non response bias and cost The first design is a simple postal survey with follow-up mailings; the second design is a two-phase multi-mode design, where the postal survey is followed up at the second phase by a telephone survey of non-respondents," investigaters in Colchester, the United Kingdom, report.
Science Letter

Is it all that surprising that Tesco employees posted offensive remarks about customers on Facebook?
Comment by Michele Hanson: A bumper crop of bad science plopped out of our universities and hospitals this week. Three lots at once, and all about relationships. Dr Malcolm Brynin, "leading" sociologist at the University fo Essex, advises us to avoid an intense and passionate first relationship, or at least forget about it, or it will make future partners seems "boring and a disappointment."
The Guardian

Monday 19

Students hold sit-in against Gaza conflict
Students at Essex University mounted a sit-in at its Wivenhoe campus to make a series of demands in relation to the Gaza conflict. About 60 students occupied the recently-opened Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, on Friday, before moving to the older Lecture Theatre Block where they remained over the weekend.
East Anglian Daily Times

New hope for Gaza
Campaigners in Colchester who rallied for peace in Gaza have welcomed news of a ceasefire. Students and residents who took part in a rally in Colchester's High Street on Saturday said they now hoped for a final resolution to the Gaza conflict.
Evening Gazette

Students get in the saddle
Students are among the latest to join the chain gang. As part of the Colchester's cycle town status, a two-wheeled extravaganza was held at Essex University. Students were able to buy reconditioned bikes from re-Cycle, the Colchester-based bicycle recycling charity.
Evening Gazette

Expert homes in on amphitheatre riddle
Colchester's leading archaeologist believes he may have come close to solving one of the town's longest-held secrets - the location of its Roman amphitheatre.Philip Crummy, director of Colchester Archaeological Trust, said that by a process of elimination it was now possible to identify the most likely spot where the huge arena stood. Mr Crummy was last year awarded an honorary degree by the University of Essex.
East Anglian Daily Times
 

Sunday 18 January

Revealed: the rise of mixed-race Britain
One in 10 children in the UK now lives in a mixed-race family, a major study reveals today, raising future hopes of a non-racist Britain. Mixed-race relationships are now so common that some ethnic groups - starting with African-Caribbean - will virtually disappear, the research states. Young people are six times more likely to be mixed-race as adults. Experts believe the findings, which come just days after Prince Harry was rebuked for calling a fellow cadet 'Paki', and Prince Charles admitted to referring to an Asian friend as 'Sooty', mean that future generations 'will not see race in the way we see it'. Lucinda Platt, author of the report and an academic at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Essex University, describes the shift towards a mixed-race Britain as 'dramatic'.
Observer click here for full story
guardian.co.uk
Telegraph
BBC
Yahoo India
Hindistan Times
Daily India
Stratford Beacon Herald
Georgia Straight
Colourful

Euphoria of first love can damage future relationships
First love can be joyful, passionate and intense, but if you're looking for happiness in later life, it's best to avoid it altogether, says a new research.In a book called Changing Relationships, a collection of new research papers by Britain's leading sociologists, edited by Dr Malcolm Brynin, principal research officer at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, the claims have been made. According to Brynin, the euphoria of puppy love can damage future relationships, reports the Guardian. 'Remarkably, it seems that the secret to long-term happiness in a relationship is to skip a first relationship,' said Brynin. 'In an ideal world, you would wake up already in your second relationship,' the expert said.
Observer
Guardian
Telegraph 20/1/09
Daily Mail

 

Friday 16

Rare Maoist Propaganda Posters go on show at Essex University Theatre
A stunning set of propaganda posters from the Maoist era of Communist China has gone on show at Essex University. Produced during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), the propaganda posters were part of a campaign by the Communist Party to present the party line and idealised visions of Chinese society to the masses. Read the whole article here.
24 Hour Museum

Uni theatre's £800k revamp

Plans for the £800,000 development of Essex University's Lakeside Theatre are due to be unveiled later this month.

Essex County Standard

First-class journey back to Skool

Skool's back! Essex University's late-night venue prepares for a visit by one of the biggest club nights in the country.  A national phenomenon, Skool Disco returns to Essex University but this time with the original London Skool Disco resident band Jamie and the First Class.

Essex County Standard

Look for a place you feel at home in

With more than 55,000 courses and more than 300 institutions in the UK alone, choosing a university is always going to take time.  Peter Edge, student recruitment officer at Essex University, gives his tips on finding the right university for you.

Gazette

Thursday 15

Happy to be here
Times Higher Education's annual Student Experience Survey highlights a host of institutions bent on making the university experience first rate in every way. Read the whole article and view the tables here.
THE

Social research centre to close
The University and College Union is in talks with the University of Essex over the closure of the Institute for Social and Technical Research. The post-graduate ISTR - which comprises the Digital Lifestyles Centre and the Technology and Social Change Centre - opened in 2002 with backing from British Telecom.  It failed to generate enough income to be self-sustaining and the university's senate agreed to close it in October.
THE

Political artist takes up residence
A renowned Chinese artist is taking up residency at the University of Essex Gallery. Sun Xun, an animation artist who produces films with political themes, will spend five weeks at the university creating a new work inspired by George Orwell's satirical novel Animal Farm.
THE
Brentwood Weekly News

Grant Winners
Professor Albert Weale from the University of Essex has been awarded a grant worth £364,108 to research social contract, deliberative democracy and public policy.
THE

A pioneer's progress from Peckham to Pyongyang
Hazel Smith brings her first-hand experience of co-ordinating disaster relief to her new post.  Professor Smith, the new director of the Humanitarian Resilience Centre at Cranfield University, worked for ten years in health and social services after graduating in 1976 from the University of Essex with a degree in comparative literature. Read the whole article here.
THE

Theatre scheme to be revealed
Plans for the £800,000 development of Essex University's Lakeside Theatre are due to be unveiled later this month. The renovation project includes plans for full access for disabled people, a new entrance and foyer, life, outside terrace, café and bar together with full box office facilities.
Evening Gazette

Chinese artist set to bring uni to life
Essex University is getting animated over China for the next month. As part of the university's focus on China, animation artist Sun Xun will spend five weeks at the Colchester campus, taking up residency in the Essex University Gallery.
Evening Gazette

Blazers at the ready
Skool's back! Essex University's late-night venue, Sub Zero, is preparing for a visit from one of the biggest club nights in the country.
Evening Gazette

Large Scale Archive Project Launched
A University of Essex led census project is set to create a massive historical research resource which focuses society in Britain for the period 1851-1911. The £1.06m project, is a collaboration between the university’s History Department and the UK Data Archive (UKDA), which is based on campus. It aims to bring together more than 200 million individual records from the censuses. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has funded research on the collection, which is the largest of its kind in the world. Professor Kevin Schurer, along with Dr Edward Higgs, is leading the project. Read the whole article here.
History Today
 

Famous Graduates from the University of Essex
Much is written of those who have graduated from Oxford and Cambridge, but all universities have their share of famous and celebrated alumni. The University of Essex is no exception. For a less famous UK university, it has a diverse range of internationally successful graduates who are each masters of their own field. Read the whole article here.
My Content Builder

Disaster looms for rich Wallacea
Long before climate change had become the hot issue it is today, British biogeographer Alfred Russel Wallace had foreseen the correlation between deforestation and environmental disaster. In his book Island Life, published in 1881, he said deforestation in Sri Lanka and India "would adversely affect climate in those countries and lead to their eventual impoverishment due to soil erosion".
Scientists attending an International Conference in the South Sulawesi capital city, Makassar, agreed that the same applied to Wallacea -- a transitional region that sits between the Asian and Australian continental shelves. David Smith, director of the coral reef research unit at the University of Essex, in the United Kingdom, said his research had recorded a decrease in the growth of coral in the past few years. "The coral decrease affected the abundance of fishes as we found that nearly 80 percent of medium-size fish caught are young ones," he said. His research also showed there were several types of coral reef that managed to survive El Nino in 1998.
But if no immediate action is taken, he warned, the biodiversity of the region's coral reef might be damaged.
"The protection of reefs within the region could help maintain reefs globally through the conservation of genetic diversity," he said.
The Jakarta Post

Power Of Wilderness Experiences As A Catalyst For Change In Young Offenders
Researchers in the University of Essex’s Centre for Environment and Society have been working with young offenders from Essex to help them turn their lives around.
Professor Jules Pretty, Jo Barton and Rachel Hine were involved in ‘The TurnAround 2007 Project’, initiated by the Wilderness Foundation UK to help seven vulnerable young people in Chelmsford and mid-Essex. This nine-month project used the power of nature and wilderness experiences a catalyst for change, enabling the young people to re-evaluate their destructive lifestyles and gave them the self assurance to take responsibility for their future. Read the whole article here.
Science Daily

Monday 5

Tickets for Essex Book Festival go on sale
Tickets for the Essex Book Festival 2009 go on sale today in what's expected to be one of the most exciting literary events of the year. The festival is now in its tenth year and has top names like Louis de Bernieres, Melvyn Bragg, Joan Bakewell and Kate Atkinson coming to events across the county throughout March.Essex authors will be prominent in the line-up for the festival, including poet Martin Newell, literary critic John Sutherland, novelist Barbara Erskine and festival regular JoJo Moyes. Essex journalists Francis Wheen and Simon Heffer will be talking about how to write biographies while Professor Jules Pretty of Essex University will deliver the 2009 Burrows Lecture about his year of walking and boating around East Anglia. Read the whole article here.
Essex Chronicle
Also featured in 50 other local papers around the country

Sunday 4

Dr Abdulaziz Kalmoor appointed new CEO of Bank Sohar
Bank Sohar has appointed Dr Mohammed Abdulaziz Kalmoor as its new CEO following the resignation of Nani Javeri on personal grounds. Javeri has been occupying this post since the inauguration of the bank. Dr Kalmoor will take charge as the new CEO from February 4, 2009. Dr Kalmoor has been an integral part of the banking scenario for three decades. Qualifications and experience combine in equal measure in Dr Kalmoor. He completed his graduate studies with honours from the University of Essex, UK and holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Colorado, USA. He joined the Central Bank of Oman in August 1978. He held the position of executive vice-president from 1995 until June 2000.
Times of Oman
Muscat Securities Market
 

Friday 2

'MacBeth' gets a gory, modern update
Think of it as Shakespeare by way of "CSI" and "Saw." Director Annette Trossbach says she plans to kill not just the show's characters, but also the audience's conceptions about The Bard. "I'm trying to reach people who don't think they like Shakespeare," says Trossbach, a veteran of Cape Coral's Cultural Park Theatre who trained at London's innovative East 15 Acting School. "People tend to put Shakespeare up on a pedestal - and deservedly so, to some extent. The man was a genius. "But on the other hand, Shakespeare was always meant to be accessible to everyone. And I think it still can be." This shorter version (about 2 hours, 50 minutes) takes place on two stages, allowing for quick transitions from scene to scene. Read the whole article here.
news-press.com Florida

Thursday 1

More things in heaven and earth, Horatio
Employers have discovered that a mind sharpened by the study of philosophy is ideal for today's workplace.  Read comments by Wayne Martin, director of graduate studies in the department of philosophy at the University of Essex.
THE

£2.7m to fund network expansion
A fibre-optic network that provides a test bed for researchers contributing to the evolution of the  internet will be extended after winning an extra £2.7million in funding. The Janet Aurora network links photonics and optical systems research groups at the universities of Cambridge and Essex and UCL and the new funding will help it expand to research groups at Aston and Southampton and extends its life until 2011.
THE

Former Pru tower may be turned into hotel
Plans to transform the former Prudential tower in Southend into a hotel have been welcomed by planning officers. Property company Squarestone owns the tower, opposite the University of Essex, in Elmer Approach, and has applied to convert the building into a 119-bedroom budget hotel with a restaurant, bar and offices. The offices may be let privately or to South East Essex College or the university. Planning officers with Southend Council said the development would regenerate a run-down building and enhance the town centre. The second to fourth floors of the building would be refurbished for use as offices. The hotel would be on the five floors above. There would also be work to improve the look of the building.  Read the whole article here.
Billericay Weekly News
Southend Echo

Proportionality: Israel’s Response to Hamas Rocket Attacks Under International Law
Dr. Francoise Hampton, University of Essex writes about the concept of "military necessity." Read the whole article here.
The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs

Research results from University of Essex update understanding of blood substitute
According to a study from Colchester, the United Kingdom, "Acellular hemoglobins developed as oxygen bridging agents with volume expanding properties (''blood substitutes'') are prone to autoxidation and oxidant-mediated structural changes in circulation (see also ). In the presence of hydrogen peroxide and either ascorbate or urate we show that ferric hemoglobin functions as a true enzymatic peroxidase." Professor Chris Cooper and his researchers concluded: "The present finding confirms the primary and secondary roles of ascorbate and urate respectively in maintaining the oxidative stability of infused Hb."
Blood Weekly
Biotech Week
Hematology Week
 

December 2008

Wednesday 31

Bug attack find
Scientists have made a breakthrough in research into how bugs beat off attacks by the human body's defences. Biochemists at Essex University discovered an enzyme which makes E.coli resistant to the immune system. Professor Chris Cooper, who heads the Colchester-based team, said it was an "exciting breakthrough".
Essex County Standard
Lancashire Evening Post
The Star

A feast for theatre fans
If music be the food of love then your appetite will be well served at Essex University's Lakeside Theatre. Next year the Lakeside will take it up a notch or two with one of the most sought after jazz singers in the country, as well as concerts by some of the best jazz acts around. Read the whole article here.
Evening Gazette
Essex County Standard

Students' success snatches summit spot
University of Essex moved to the top of the premier division as they beet Great Bentley 3-1 and West Bergholt were beaten 2-1 at home by Gas Recreation.
Essex County Standard

Transplant has given mother Clare her life back
For three years, wherever Clare Lauwerys went, her oxygen cylinder went with her.  Mrs Lauwerys had a rare and incurable lung condition called LAM, or lymphangioleiomyomatosis to give it its full name. Mrs Lauwerys’ first symptom of LAM was when one of her lungs collapsed when she was 19. She had been a fit and healthy undergraduate at Essex University. Seven years later, her other lung collapsed and could not be reinflated.  Sufferers of the condition are still waiting for a breakthrough but Mrs Lauwerys is one of the lucky ones as she has undergone a transplant. It is an operation which has changed her life.
Evening Gazette

When Christmas is last straw
January 12 is D-Day — so called because it is the day when lawyers expect the highest number of calls from couples wanting to divorce. They typically stick together for one last Christmas as a family, but then split up the Monday after their children go back to school. The divorce rate is likely to be higher than ever this year, according to academics from Essex University. They calculate that a 10 per cent drop in house prices leads to five per cent more couples splitting up, which could mean thousands more family breakdowns across Britain as the economy heads into recession. This comes as no surprise to Oxford psychoanalyst Denise Cullington, whose book, Breaking Up Blues, aims to help people contemplating, or recovering from, break-up. Read the whole article here.
The Oxford Times

Free dental check-up scheme revealed
Thousands of people who have not been to see a dentist for the past two years are being offered the chance to have a free check-up in January.
NHS North East Essex is launching the initiative - thought to be the first of its kind nationally - which includes a free check-up and follow-up. A number of dentists have signed up already. The initiative is set to be followed in February with a two-week “blitz” targeting students, when dental teams will be visiting Essex University and Colchester Institute with the same offer for all students.
Read the whole article here.
East Anglian Daily Times

Tuesday 30

When your parents are your flatmates
Still living with Mum and Dad when you're in your 20s is losing its stigma.
The upside is there's a fantastic meal and laundry service. The downside is there's a certain loss of dignity in being asked whether you have washed. And no romantic conquest wants to hear how good your "flatmates" are at cutting the crusts off your ham sandwiches. I refer to the growing phenomenon of people in their twenties still living with their parents. And I should know. Until recently, I was part of it. Confirmation of this trend comes from researchers at the University of Essex, who say that Britain is producing a "boomerang generation". In a report published next month the university's Institute for Social and Economic Research claims that young adults in Britain are twice as likely to move back in with their parents, after a stint away, than their European counterparts. We Brits suffer more because of our high housing prices. Read the whole article here.
The Independent

Town to defy economic gloom
Nationally all the talk may be of doom and gloom - but Ipswich can approach 2009 with an air of optimism as more than £275 million of investment is coming to town. Despite fears of an impending recession and concerns unemployment could rise, a number of key projects in Ipswich are moving forward. James Hehir, chief executive of the borough council, said the signs are good for the town. “Normally this time of year is quite quiet for anybody so to get these positive messages on a number of major developments is a good sign. We are obviously going to be affected like the rest of the UK but at the moment it is better here than nearly all other places that I know of. We just need to keep that moving". One of the project is Suffolk University Campus Suffolk phase II in Duke Street - construction commenced (£50 million). Read the whole article here.
East Anglian Daily Times
Ipswich Evening Star

New botany data has been reported by scientists at the University of Essex
According to a study carried out by Professor Christine Raines "The chloroplast protein CP12 has been shown to regulate the activity of two Calvin cycle enzymes, phosphoribulokinase ( PRK) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase ( GAPDH), by the reversible formation of a multiprotein complex. In Arabidopsis there are three CP12 genes, CP12-1, CP12-2, and CP12-3, and expression analysis suggested that the function of these proteins may not be restricted to the Calvin cycle."
The researchers concluded: "Taken together, the data suggest that the redox-sensitive CP12 proteins may have a wider role in non-photosynthetic plastids, throughout the plant life cycle."
Life Science Weekly
 

Sunday 29

Boomerang Britons go back to parents
Britain is producing a "boomerang" generation of children who trturn hom soon after moving out, a report has claimed. The study, by the University of Essex's Institute for Social and Economic Research found that 4% of Britons aged between 16 and 29 who have moved out return to the family home - this is double the figure for young adults who do the same in France, Ireland, Greece and Portugal.
The Daily Telegraph
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (South Africa)

The Tories' greatest asset is that they are not in power right now
A large majority of voters are convinced that the Labour Government bears much of the responsibility for the current economic crisis.  Read Professor Anthony King's article here.
The Daily Telegraph

Saturday 28

New study calls for global project finance reform
The worldwide financial crisis puts a new emphasis on infrastructure spending, seen by many governments as a way to head off economic downturn, and as a way of holding on to achievements made in the developing world. Recent research by the Economic and Social Research Council finds that Project Finance (PF), one of the most commonly used methods of funding major infrastructure projects in the developing world, can pose potential risks in the communities in which it is deployed. Read more about the research led by Professor Sheldon Leader from the Department of Law here.
e! Science News
Innovations Report
Public Technology.net
Huliq News
Webwire
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
PhysOrg.com
EurekaAlert!

Divorce link to property slump
An extra 50,000 Scots couples are at risk of splitting up in 2009 as a direct result of the slump in the property prices, a respected team of economists warned last night. The researchers say they have evidence that for every 10 per cent drop in house prices in Scotland there is a 5 per cent increase in separations. And they say young couples with children are most at risk of seeing their relationship fall apart under the severe economic turbulence that is hitting the nation. Helmut Rainer and Ian Smith analysed 14 years of data, up to 2004, from the British Household Panel Survey of 5,000 households and the Halifax House Price Index over the same period. During the recession of 1990-94, divorce rates rose sharply, from 153,386 to 165,018, only to fall back again as the economy improved.
Scotland on Sunday
The Scotsman

The impact of the economy on family stability
The Christmas holiday period coincides with a spike in domestic violence, suicides, partnership dissolution and the initiation of divorce in Christian countries. This year, the economic situation will add more stress as security is high on the agenda of basic human needs and a plummeting of couple's net worth seemingly has dire consequences on family stability. Indeed, remarkable new research from the U.K. Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) concludes that there is a direct relationship - for every unexpected 10% fall in housing prices, an extra 5% of couples will split up. Throw in all those share portfolios that have shrunk in value and there's good data to suggest we should not make any rash decisions this holiday period! Read the whole article here.
Gizmag

Friday 27

Is the Recession Depressing Your Marriage?
Marriage is a pressure cooker uniting two different personalities under the same roof. Add children, work and an endless to-do list to the mix and the pot could reach a boiling point quickly. Next consider the stress of a falling economy. Researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, based at the University of Essex in Britain, predict that for every unexpected 10 per cent fall in British house prices, an extra 5 per cent of couples will want to split up. A reduced home equity has a negative impact on marital equity. However, this year’s poll by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers which surveyed divorce lawyers, found that 37% of them had seen a decrease in the number of couples seeking a divorce! Can the US poll and the UK research study be reconciled? The current trend for many American couples who want to divorce is to live in domestic limbo, a non-divorce. This means two roommates, no sex, leading separate lives under one household. Read the whole article here.
examiner.com
Bella Online

Massive growth in care farming concept
Massive growth in a new concept of "care farming" pioneered in the Netherlands could spread across the North Sea, delegates at an East Anglia conference were told. A seminar, with the theme: "Is the Future Care Farming?" was held at Beccles. More than 100 people, including farmers and the health and social care sectors, attended. Rachel Hine, of the University of Essex, spoke about the physical health and mental well-being benefits when people came directly in contact with nature. Care farming was a growing movement in the
UK but more research and drive from the government was needed to support potential care farmers, she said. Read the whole article here.
EDP

Thursday 26

Will We Ever See A UK E-University?
John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills is expected to propose new plans in regards to online degree courses tomorrow, says guardian.co.uk. So what is the likelihood that we'll see an all encompassing UK e-university? And what happened when we last tried to take a step towards harnessing the power of e-learning. In 2000, the Labour government with David Blunkett at its educational helm, launched UK eUniversities Worldwide Limited, not a UK university in its own right, but more of a website that promoted online learning from universities based in the UK. It has since been heralded as a dotcom failure, with its closure in 2006.
So with such an almighty e-failure lurking in the past of the Labour government, what can we see for the future of e-learning. Guardian.co.uk suggests that Denham will call for a global Open University in the UK, that is in no way a revival of the UKeU, but at this stage seems distinctly similar. However, it does seem that tomorrow's plans will aim to take advantage of the established online education services in place at respective universities such as the University of Essex with a call for institutions to share with each other in an aim to exploit e-learning. Read the whole article here.
Marketing Article Bank

What university has the highest enrolment?
In June The Times released The Good University Guide 2009 which ranks the top Universities in the UK on such factors as student satisfaction, research quality, and the ratio between students and staff. Although many elements must be taken into account when deciding which institution to apply for, it occurred to me that one of the most popular questions asked online concerns simply the number of students enrolling at our universities. The following discusses a selection of the listed universities in regards to their Times rankings, as well as the number of students enrolling.
University of Essex. So to find the better student to staff ratio should you choose to enrol at a smaller university? The up and coming University of Essex follows this rule with a ratio of 14.1 students per staff member. The Higher Education Statistic Agency published that for 2006 2007 there were 11,660 students in total with 3,305 postgraduates enrolled. Although a relatively young university, the institution is also becoming highly regarded in terms of online education. Read the whole article here.
Marketing Article Bank
 

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Further Information:

• About the University
• For information about the prospectus, advertising and other University publications, see the Marketing Office website
• Colchester Campus guide (shows the physical location of most departments, centres and services)
• Guide to room numbering
• Directions for travel