News in Brief

Athlete Grace Clements and students

Commonwealth medallist supports talented students

GB athlete Grace Clements visited our Cambridge campus to offer support and guidance to some of our Sports Scholars. Grace - who won bronze in the Heptathlon at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi - took part in a hour's Q&A session covering all aspects of her training and career, including advice on nutrition, setting long term goals and sports psychology.

This was one of a series of seminars for Sports Scholarship students under a scheme providing support for talented athletes, regardless of the course they are on. This year features national and international standard performers from athletics, judo, equestrian, rowing, cricket, triathlon, skiing and trampoline.

Indian Medical Association (IMA) visit to Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education (FHSCE)

Senior members from the Cochin Branch of the IMA recently visited our FHSCE. The IMA has a membership of over 178,000 across India with the Cochin Branch having over 1,400 of these, making it the largest local branch in Kerala. The delegation, including three consultant paediatricians, a transplant surgeon, a medical director and an occupational health specialist GP, had been invited to Anglia Ruskin as part of a growing relationship between FHSCE and the Cochin Branch over the last two years.

BBC Radio 4 records at our new audio studios

In November we welcomed the BBC to our Cambridge campus to record an interview for the programme 'The Life Scientific' in our recently re-opened audio studios, following a £1.2m redevelopment to provide our Audio and Music Technology, Media and Internet Technology, and Computer Gaming students with a range of industry-standard recording equipment and software. In the session, Professor Jim Al-Khalili interviewed Nobel prize-winning developmental biologist Sir John Gurdon about his career and ground-breaking work in the fields of nuclear transfer and cloning, and what his discoveries might do for mankind.

Willmott Dixon selects Anglia Ruskin to deliver leadership programme for managers

We have joined forces with Willmott Dixon to launch a Learning Academy for Leaders at the company's purpose-built training centre in Basingstoke. Willmott Dixon is one of the UK's largest and most recognisable brands for the built environment, with over 3,000 employees and a turnover in 2011 of over £1 billion.

The company chose Anglia Ruskin ahead of five other universities to validate its internal course for future leaders - the Management Development Level 3 programme (MDL3) - which will be delivered by academics from our Lord Ashcroft International Business School. Around 40 Willmott Dixon managers are enrolled on to the MDL3 each year and the partnership allows them to accrue credits to progress to the MA in Leadership.

Professor Mike Cole with academic colleagues from Kazakhstan

New relationship with Pavlodar State University (PSU) in Kazakhstan

Larger than western Europe, this ninth biggest country on earth is a nation that is only 22 years old, yet a country that is little known to most of us. However, in November 2011 Professor Roza Kadyssova, then Deputy Vice Chancellor at PSU visited us on a Scientific Exchange programme. A reciprocal visit was made in April 2012 by Professor Mike Cole (Faculty of Science & Technology).

As a result of these visits PSU and Anglia Ruskin have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and our relationship with them is developing apace. On his most recent visit Mike Cole was teaching Analytical Chemistry whilst Alison Greig (Global Sustainability Institute) was teaching Tourism. Further exchanges and visits are planned.