Transmanche <strong>University</strong> The Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, recently signed an education accord with his opposite number in France, Luc Ferry, to establish the first cross-Channel university. The accord <strong>of</strong>ficially endorses the two-yearold Transmanche <strong>University</strong> project initiated by <strong>Kent</strong>, the three Universities <strong>of</strong> Lille and the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> the Littoral, which is based in <strong>University</strong> N E W S Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk. The five universities will collaborate on research and teaching. <strong>Kent</strong> students and staff will benefit by regular cross-Channel contact. Staff will exchange and develop research ideas and projects, while students will benefit from greater subject choice and the chance to learn French in France. £4.5m grant from the DTI The <strong>University</strong> is to receive The World Wildlife Fund (Peru) is funding the <strong>University</strong>’s Durrell Institute <strong>of</strong> Conservation and Ecology (DICE) to establish a community-based conservation project in the Rio Pastaza that will include DICE’s annual Amazon Research and Learning Expedition. Second-year students on the BSc in Biodiversity and Conservation Management at DICE learn practical skills by conducting research in the Peruvian Amazon, one <strong>of</strong> the Earth’s most biodiverse regions. Final-year student Amanda Hutchinson says, ‘the trip to Peru was amazing and I will never forget it. Collecting data for ecological studies and more than £4.5m from the Department <strong>of</strong> Trade and Industry under the Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF). The award will be used to support the <strong>University</strong>’s research activities, providing opportunities for investment in equipment, the refurbishment <strong>of</strong> laboratory space or upgrading existing buildings. The award was made as part <strong>of</strong> a government scheme to invest in scientific excellence. The Vice-Chancellor, Pr<strong>of</strong>essor David Melville, World Wildlife Fund sends students up the Amazon said: ‘this is great news; the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Kent</strong> has a worldwide reputation for the quality <strong>of</strong> its research work, which this grant can only enhance. We plan to use the money to develop state-<strong>of</strong>the-art research facilities.’ Circles <strong>of</strong> Fear The recommendations <strong>of</strong> Breaking the Circles <strong>of</strong> Fear, a report about black people’s experience <strong>of</strong> mental health services, are soon to be implemented as a three-year project. Its lead researcher and author is Dr Frank Keating (above) <strong>of</strong> <strong>Kent</strong>’s Tizard Centre. At present, black people mistrust and fear mental health services, seeing animals previously discussed in lectures was a real incentive to further my studies. There are two research boats, the Lobo de Rio and the Nutria, and we could travel into the interior to look at monkeys, macaws, parrots, caimans, fish, deer and tapir’. The Expeditions are run in collaboration with the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana (UNAP) and the Wildlife Conservation Society. <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Kent</strong> and UNAP students work side-by-side, with <strong>Kent</strong> students contributing a strong theoretical background and UNAP students demonstrating excellent on-the-ground experience. while pr<strong>of</strong>essionals and the police are wary <strong>of</strong> black service users. The result is a vicious ‘circle <strong>of</strong> fear’ perpetuated by prejudice, misunderstanding and misconception. Commissioned and published by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH), Breaking the Circles <strong>of</strong> Fear will result in statutory mental health and voluntary sector groups being helped to ensure that black service users, families and carers receive a better standard <strong>of</strong> care than they do at present. These groups will also be given a say in what happens to them and why. The project will be managed by the SCMH with funding from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. In top five for increased funding <strong>Kent</strong> is among the country’s top five universities in terms <strong>of</strong> the percentage increase in funds allocated by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) this year. Ten percent <strong>of</strong> all <strong>of</strong> England’s university expansion will be at <strong>Kent</strong>, with more than 600 additional student places available from this autumn. Working with further education colleges and other higher education institutions, <strong>Kent</strong> has developed a range <strong>of</strong> initiatives to ensure university education is accessible to as many people as possible, including those who would never have previously considered it as an option. The increased grant represents a rise in income <strong>of</strong> over £7m for the <strong>University</strong>. In particular, students in Medway will benefit from the additional funding, as well as those in Tonbridge and Canterbury. Over the past three years, the <strong>University</strong> people Pr<strong>of</strong>essor John Baldock will be the new Dean <strong>of</strong> Social Sciences, succeeding Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Chris Hale on 1 August. Robert Worcester has joined the <strong>University</strong> Council, Jonathan Sloggett, formerly <strong>of</strong> Dover Harbour Board and a long-time Member <strong>of</strong> the <strong>University</strong> Council, will, from 1 August, Glynis Murphy become Deputy Pro-Chancellor. Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Glynis Murphy is head <strong>of</strong> the Tizard Centre, succeeding Peter McGill. Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Michael Fairhurst succeeds Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Leslie Little as Electronics Department Director. Michael Fairhurst has increased its student population by over 2,500 and this latest settlement ensures growth is set to continue. <strong>Kent</strong> academic to give computers human touch Howard Bowman and Colin Johnson <strong>of</strong> the Computing Laboratory have been awarded a grant <strong>of</strong> £150,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to construct computational models <strong>of</strong> human attention. The research will be in collaboration with the Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, one <strong>of</strong> the UK’s leading centres for research into human attention. Humans are very good at focusing on the highest priority event in their environment and ignoring the rest. If we see a car careering <strong>of</strong>f the road towards us, we break our conversation and immediately focus on the car and jump out <strong>of</strong> its way. Computer systems struggle to perform effectively where demands on them change unpredictably. This study will try to increase our understanding <strong>of</strong> human attention and allow us to build computer interfaces that are more sensitive to the human user. Writer-in-residence Award-winning novelist Radhika Jha is currently Writer-in-residence at the Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Research in the School <strong>of</strong> English. Her first novel, Smell, was published by Quartet in 2001. It was then translated into French and won the Prix Guerlain. The novel is set in Nairobi and Paris, and tells the story <strong>of</strong> Leila, an illegal immigrant. Radhika, from Bangalore, is now working on a collection <strong>of</strong> stories. The Writer-in-residence programme is supported by the Charles Wallace Trust <strong>of</strong> India. The Programme is for a writer from India to spend up to 12 weeks at the <strong>University</strong>, to make contact with British audiences and publishers, and to write. Though they have no teaching obligations, the writer-in-residence may participate in workshops or give readings and talks while at <strong>Kent</strong>. Past writersin-residence have included Upamanyu Chatterjee, 4 5