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The University of Southampton
Research

Completed Research Mobility Programme Projects

The Research Mobility Programme offers early career researchers (PGRs, postdocs and junior faculty members) the opportunity to visit one of the international WUN partners in Europe, Americas, China, South East Asia and Australasia to establish and cultivate research links at an institutional and individual level.

Since 2006, over 61 Research Mobility Programme Projects have been funded.

These are the completed Research Mobility Programme projects:

Dr Christina Vogel Medicine 'Improving maternal and child health: impact evaluation of the Gravida Healthy Start Workforce Project' University of Auckland, New Zealand
Dr Emilio Audissino Humanities, Film 'Neoformalism and Film Music' University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
Pegah Tayaranian Hosseini Engineering and the Environment, ISVR 'Investigating the brain connectivity using EEG in normal hearing subjects and cochlear implant users' Zhejiang University, China
Bahareh Zaghari Engineering and the Environment 'Vibration Energy Harvesting with Parametric Excitation'  University of Auckland, New Zealand
Daniele Giannone  Business, Law and Art, Law  'The benefits of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the U.S.A.: is this a lesson for Europe?'  University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA 
Dr Ingrid Muller  Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Psychology     'Accessible, online interventions for people with low health literacy and diabetes'  University of Sydney, Australia 
Alison Rowsell  Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Psychology  'Developing and testing accessible web-based support for patient self-management: engaging patients through visual, audio-visual, video and interactive technology'  University of Sydney, Australia  
Lupica Spagnolo  Natural and Environmental Sciences, Chemistry  'Mesoporous metal-organic frameworks: meso-MOFs'  University of Western Australia 
Dr Nicholas Harmon  Natural and Environmental Sciences, Ocean and Earth Sciences  'Continental Breakup in Afar: The Role of Magma Assisted Rifting'  University of Bergen 
Md Jamil  Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Education  'Scope of Life Learning Landscape (L3) for technology enhance teacher-learning in rural Bangladesh'  Penn State University, USA 
Catherine Rychert  Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Education  'Continental Breakup in Afar: The Role of Magma Assisted Rifting'  University of Bergen, Norway 
Huma Zia Physical Sciences and Engineering, ECS  'Collaborative Catchment –Scale Water Quality Management using Integrated Wireless Sensor Networks'  University of Western Australia, Australia 
Anastasia Eleftheriou  Physical Sciences and Engineering, ECS   'Evolutionary simulation models of sexual selection in humans'  University of Western Australia, Australia 
Beatrice Aguto  Physical Sciences and Engineering, ECS    'Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Blended E-Learning within Universities in South Africa'  University of Cape Town, South Africa 
Kirsty Everley  Engineering and the Environment, Water and Environmental Engineering  'The physiological and behavioural response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynkis mykiss) to underwater bubbles'  University of Auckland, Australia 
Claire Walker  Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Education  'How do Chinese students view Mathematics?'  Nanjing University, China 
Philip Adler  Natural and Environmental Sciences, Chemistry  'Towards a statistical description of crystal structures'  University of Western Australia, Australia 
Dr Eloise Biggs  Human, Social and Mathematical Sciences, Geography  'Developing a framework to spatially assess water vulnerability in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt'  University of Western Australia, Australia 
Christopher Hanley  Medicine, Cancer Science Unit  'The role of tumour Stroma in cancer progression: myofibroblasts and collagen structure'  University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA 
Dr Tiejun Ma  Business, Law and Art, Management 'Embedding software risk analysis for building resilient real-time financial risk management systems in Clouds ' Nanjing University, China 
Natasha Elizabeth Carpenter  Engineering and the Environment  'Developing an Enhanced Understanding of Costal Cliff Recession Under the Impacts of Climate Change'  University of Auckland, New Zealand 
Michael Elliott  Human and Life Sciences  'Indigenous justice and democracy in liberal settler states'  University of Sydney, Australia 
Irene Merino Jimenez  Energy Technology Research Group, Engineering and the Environment  'Computational studies of borohydride fuel cell'  Penn State University, USA 
Dr Zhan Shu  Engineering and the Environment  'A Control Engineering Perspective to Immune Activation in AIDS and Related Treatment Strategies'  University of Alberta, Canada 
Dr Rong Zhang  Physical Sciences and Engineering, ECS  'Machine Learning and Data Mining in Advanced Self Organized Networks'  Nanjing University, China
Tom Brughmans  Humanities  'Modelling complex urban networks in Iron Age and Roman Southern Spain'  University of Auckland, New Zealand
Eleonora Gandolfi  Humanities  'Images of Images: applying digital recording technology in the analysis, management and visualisation of Kimberly rock-art'  University of Western Australia, Australia 
Seyed Hossein Kia  Social, Human and mathematical Sciences, Geography and the Environment  'Tracking dynamic ecosystem carbon exchange using reduced uncertainty regarding spectral indicators of carbon fluxes'  Penn State University, USA 
Simone Olivetti  Engineering and the Environment  'Jet noise reduction strategies'  Penn State University, USA 
Hembo Pagi  Humanities  'Images of Images: applying digital recording technology in the analysis, management and visualisation of Kimberly rock-art'  University of Western Australia, Australia 
Thomas Plant  Humanities 'Comparative Analysis of Australian Jewish and Anglo-Jewish Youth Movements'  University of Sydney, Australia 
Izabela Romanowska  Humanities  'Geoarchaeological context of Lower Palaeolithic site distribution'  University of Auckland, New Zealand 
Sarah Shawyer  Humanities  'The response of the Australian-Jewish community to the armed resistance against the British in Mandatory Palestine between 1945 and 1948.'  University of Sydney, Australia 
Natalya Doroshenko  Engineering and the Environment  'Co-localisation studies of vancomycin within the biofilm matrix.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA 
Dr Leyland Julian Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Geography and the Environment 'Reconstructing palaeo-environmental conditions through modelling sediment dynamics at the terrestrial-marine interface.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA 
Dr Robert Dorrell Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Geography and the Environment 'Modelling density currents in submarine channels'  Penn State University, USA 
Violeta Sanjuan Calzado  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Postgraduate student. Research focuses on novel approaches for using satellite ocean colour data in support of numerical ecosystem models.'  University of California San Diego, USA 
Klaus Schaeck  Management, Business, Law and Art. 'Econometric Analyses of Banking Stability.'  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA 
Liping Ding  Education, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences.  'Develop students' insight in deductive geometry: a study of geometrical proof teaching at lower secondary school level.'  Nanjing University, USA 
Dr Debora Iglesias-Rodriguez  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Assess changes in phytoplankton population composition and biogeochemical function using a combination of molecular and physiological techniques'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA 
Dr Lisa McNeill  Geology, Natural and Environmental Sciences.  'Active deformation within subduction zones and earthquake hazards: comparisons between Cascadia, USA and Sumatra, Indonesia.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Dr David Voegeli  Nursing and Midwifery, Health Sciences.  'Developing the biological basis for nursing interventions in wound care.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Dr Simon Quinn  Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment. 'Stress separation of an orthotropic disc specimen.'  University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA 
Daria Hinz  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'The future of calcifying phytoplankton in a changing Ocean.'  University of Bergen, Norway 
Kirsty Edgar  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Climate change, seawater chemistry and planktic foraminiferal calcification in the Middle Eocene.'  University of California, San Diego, USA 
Tycho Huussen  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Internal-wave breaking in a sheared mean flow.'  University of California, San Diego, USA 
Edward Waugh  Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment 'Development of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Oceanographic Applications.'  University of California, San Diego, USA
Wance Tacconelli  Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences.  'Transnational Retailers in China.'  Nanjing University, China
James Barnet  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences  'The Palaeoclimate of the Arctic high latitudes during the Palaeocene epoch and Eocene Thermal Maximum 2.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA 
Dr Jacek Brodzki  Mathematics, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'Advances in noncommutative geometry of groups.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Dr Ian Harding  Ocean and Earth Sciences/ Geology, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'WUN pACE field expedition to Spitsbergen investigating Palaeogene climate change.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA 
Laura Lagonigro  Optoelectronics Research Centre, Physical Sciences and Engineering   'Crystalline structures in semiconductor modified microstructured optical fibres.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Suteera Chanthes  Management, Business, Law and Art. 'East meets West: A comparative study of academic staff performance in fulfilling the regional role of public universities in Thailand and the United States.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA. 
Laure Grignon  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences. 'The importance of preconditioning on the evolution of deep convection in the Labrador Sea.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA. 
Nadia Elisa Suarez-Bosche  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'The nervous system of starfish larvae during regeneration.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA. 
Dr Cornelis de Groot  Electronics and Computer Science, Physical Sciences and Engineering 'Spintronics Network collaboration.'  Zheijiang University, USA. 
Cynthia Dumousseaud  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Calibration of seawater pH measurements: preparation of certified Tris buffer solution.'  University of California, San Diego, USA. 
Dr Geet Verheyden  Health Sciences 'Trunk impairment Scale.' University of Bergen, Norway
Dr Oliver Friedrich  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic changes in the Late Cretaceous Pacific Ocean.'  University of California, San Diego, USA. 
Dr Rosie Meek  Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'Effects and prevention of violence by, and against, children in conflict with the law.' University of California, San Diego, USA. 
Praveen Thokala  Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment  'Life Cycle based Optimization of Unmanned Air Vehicles.'  University of California, San Diego, USA. 
Heleen Vanneste  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Carbonate geochemistry at Darwin mud volcano (Gulf of Cadiz).'  University of California, San Diego, USA. 
Dr Fadi Dohnal  ISVR, Engineering and the Environment 'Parametric excitation for vibration control.'  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. 
Mark Borkum  Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Blogs and Repositories: Digital Environments for supporting research.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Dr Simon Coles  Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'OREChem.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Prof Jeremy Frey  Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Chemical Informatics (OREChem).'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Dr Tamaryn Menneer  Psychology, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'Contrasting methods of model estimation for configural and holistic perception.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA.  
Stephen Wilson  Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences  'The Smart Lab: Experimental and Environmental Control and Monitoring of the Chemistry Lab.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA.   
Dr James Jordan  Humanities  'The memory of the Holocaust in Australia.'  University of Sydney, Australia.
Zhanzhan Liang  Management, Business, Law  and Art 'Comparative studies: Cross-border higher education of Australian and UK universities in China - motivation, decision-making and implementation.'  University of Sydney, Australia.
Patrick Wiemann  Civil Engineering, Engineering and the Environment 'Simulation of the effects of Uncertainty on the financial value of Renewable Energy Projects.'  University of Sydney, Australia.
Adam Charles  Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Establishing a common taxonomy for the dinocysts of Svalbard.'  Utrecht University, Netherlands. 
Lynda Eakins  Civil Engineering, Engineering and the Environment  'Defining the swimming capabilities of target species of Chinese fish to develop fish passage design criteria.'  Nanjing University, China. 
Christopher Marley  Mathematics, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences   'Supersaturated plans for robust product design.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Dr Mehdi Mirsaneh  Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences  'High frequency dielectric measurement of tuneable thin films.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Martin Bell  Astronomy, Physical Sciences and Engineering 'Development of the next generation of radio telescopes and the search for archival transients.'  University of Sydney, Australia. 
Alice Harrison  Law, Business, Law  and Art 'Dignity in Law.'  University of Sydney, Australia. 
Raul Alvares  Astronomy, Physical Sciences and Engineering  'Antisimmetric tensors in holographic approaches to QCD.'  University of Washington, Seattle, USA. 
Dr Bina Nausheen  Medicine  'Mindfulness based relapse prevention for alcohol dependence.'  University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. 
Dr Angela Harris  Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'Charged Higgs phenomenology in the (Next to) Minimal Supersymmetrical Standard Model.'  University of Alberta, Canada. 
Giovanni Marco Pruna  Astronomy, Physical Sciences and Engineering   'Carbonate geochemistry at Darwin mud volcano (Gulf of Cadiz).'  University of Bergen, Norway. 
Mike Santer  Electronics and Computer Science, Physical Sciences and Engineering  'The impact of the Mobile Internet in South Africa.'  University of Cape Town, South Africa. 
Helen Richards  Psychology, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'Understanding the temporal characteristics and neural mechanisms involved in processing capacity and threat detection in anxiety.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Priyanth Mehta  Optoelectronics Research Centre, Physical Sciences and Engineering 'Fibrised semiconductor devices for nonlinear photonics.'  Pennsylvania State University, USA. 
Dr Geoffrey Deverteuil  Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'Evidence of gentrification-induced displacement of voluntary sector organisations: a comparison between Sydney, London and Los Angeles.'  University of Sydney, Australia. 
Charlotte Norlund  Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment   'Evacuation Simulation Modelling.'  University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. 
Dr Kate Boyer  Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'The role of breast pumps in infant feeding choice.'  University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. 
Valerio Torti  Law, Business, Law and Art  'Standard setting and market power in high technology industry.'  University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. 
Dr Georges Limbert  nCATS, Engineering and the Environment  'Modelling of biomaterials and medical devices for cardiovascular applications.'  University of Cape Town, South Africa. 
Dr Joanna Nield  Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'Measuring surface roughness variation on dry lake beds using terrestrial laser scanning for improving dust elion parameterisation in climate models.'  University of Cape Town, South Africa. 
Daria Tkacz  SSP, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences  'Entering White Spaces: Polish migrants in comparative educational contexts (Part of the WUN White Spaces Network.'  University of Sydney, Australia. 
Victoire Rerolle SOES/OBE, Natural and Environmental Sciences  'Ocean Acidification Workshop.' University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Dr Eithne Tynan Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences. 'Ocean Acidification Workshop and training.'

University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

Michael Breen Medicine 'Establishing the molecular definition of Post-Traumatic stress disorder risk and susceptibility' University of Cape Town
Dr Zhiwei Hu Engineering and the Environment 'CAE for aerospace engineering integrating computational fluid dynamics and computer graphics' Zhejiang University
Alison Simmance Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'Sustainable Livelihoods: the value of small scale aquaculture to food and nutritional security in Malawi' University of Bergen
Fiona Simmance Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'The value of small-scale capture fisheries for food security in Lake Chilwa, southern Milawi, and the impacts of climate variability and human actions on this' University of Bergen
Dr Anne-Sophie Darlington Health Sciences 'Parental coping whilst a child is dying: An investigation of emotional work parents undertake and the development of an intervention to support them' University of Rochester
Alexandra Diem Engineering and the Environment 'Numerical modelling of cerebral arteries to study the effects of cerebrovascular diseases on lymphatic drainage in the brain' University of Cape Town
Yujie Nie Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences/Business and Law 'Modelling long-term care for older people in China'

Zhejiang University

Sabin Roman Natural and Environmental Sciences - Chemistry 'Cross-methodological considerations between agent-based computing and system dynamics' University of Bergen
Cagla Yavulz Business, Law and Art 'Organizational responses to Institutional pressures in the field of Higher Education' University of Alberta
Oliver Laslett Engineering and the Environment 'Designing and optimising magnetic hyperthermia cancer therapy for better healthcare' University of Western Australia
Camille Parsons Medicine 'Development of longitudinal modelling techniques for summarising osteoarthritis progression' University of Auckland
Marcello Mazzetti Humanities, Music 'The 21-cent Early Music Matrix: encoding techniques and database as philological and analytical tools' UMass Amherst
Sukru Yigit Soncul Business, Law and Art (Winchester School of Art) 'Contagious and immunising images: Mask, medium and body' University of Sydney
Livio Ticli Humanities, Music 'Digitally-enhanced performance: recreating and recontextualising music through media and philological e-editions included in a worldwide database' UMass Amherst
Francesco De Lucia Physics 'Periodically poled optical fibres for frequency comb generation in nonlinear dispersive resonators' University of Auckland
Clementine Chirol Ocean and Earth Sciences 'Morphological evolution of restored wetland habitats' University of Sydney
Andrew MacLachlan Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'Examining the current state, pressures and the potential risks of urban expansion in the Perth Metropolitan Region (PMR)' University of Western Australia
Dr Matthew Barr Social, Human and Mathematical Science 'Post-war policy planning impacts on causes of civil violence: Iraq, insurgency and rise of ISIS' University of Auckland
Dr John Boswell Social, Human and Mathematical Science 'Cure-all or placebo? The promises and perils of institutionalizing preventative health' University of Auckland
Wang Ning Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'Social change and family support in China - a study of China's 1940-1960 cohorts from a life course perspective' Zhejiang University
Melanie Siegburg Natural and Environmental Sciences 'Tectono-magmatic activity at Boset volcanic complex in Main Ethiopian Rift' University of Bergen
Dr Alan Smith Social, Human and Mathematical Science 'Spatiotemporal population modelling in Western Australia' University of Western Australia
Miss Ada Antypiuk Medicine 'Role of metabolome on regulating human embryonic stem cell pluripotency' The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Ms Roxana Aldea Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'Modelling and imaging neurovascular coupling in the brain: a step towards understanding dementia' University of Auckland
Dr Sandra Nogue Bosch Social, Human and Mathematical Science 'Building and island palaeodatabase: from fossil pollen and ancient DNA to conservation' University of Auckland
Dr Marcin Przewloka Natural and Environmental Science 'Advanced microscopical analysis of chromosome components during cell division' University of Massachusetts Amherst
Ms Marla Spencer Natural and Environmental Science 'Morphological and moleculra taxonomic approaches to study of phoxocephalid Amphipods in the West African deep-sea' University of Bergen
Miss Joanna Wilkin Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences 'Understanding the role of community structures for resilience during disaster events: the potential of geography and GIS' University of Western Australia
Mr Rob Joy Humanities 'British Agricultural Officials who 'stayed on' at independence in East Africa, 1950 - 1970' University of Nairobi
Dr Milan Milosevic Physical Sciences and Engineering 'Hyperuniform disordered devices for silicon photonics' The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Mr Kyle Mayers Natural and Environmental science 'Molecular characterisation of ciliate grazing' University of Bergen
Dr David Cleary Medicine 'Application of phylogenomic analyses to understand the epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae in Hong Kong' The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dr Christina Vogel - Medicine: 'Improving maternal and child health: impact evaluation of the Gravida Healthy Start Workforce Project'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: workforce development, organisational change, maternal and child health

Healthy Start aims to improve maternal and child health across New Zealand by developing nutrition and behaviour change knowledge and skills of the health and social-care workforce. The project in this application aims to identify how the policy and organisational context provide managerial and environmental support for intervention implementation.

Dr Matthew Barr - Social, Human and Mathematical Science - Politics and International Relations: 'Post-war policy planning impacts on causes of civil violence: Iraq, insurgency and rise of ISIS'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: terrorism, post-conflict, peacebuilding

Building upon my PhD research about how path dependence effected the construction of post-war planning for Iraq, the proposed research looks at how these path dependent effects then impacted in how policy was implemented in post-war Iraq and how this related to the rise of civil violence and terrorism.

Dr John Boswell - Social, Human and Mathematical Science - Politics and International Relations: 'Cure-all or placebo? The promises and perils of institutionalizing preventative health.'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: preventative health, lifestyle disease, policy and administration

Traditionally, health services have been 'sickness services'. Now, the 'epidemic' of lifestyle disease has policymakers looking towards upstream prevention. England, Australia and NZ recently established arms-length bodies dedicated to preventative health. But has institutionalization solved the problem? This project investigates the challenges of institutionalizing preventative health in practise.

Miss Wang Ning - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences - Gerontology: 'Social change and family support in China - a study of China's 1940 - 1960 cohorts from a life course perspective'

Host University: Zhejiang University

Keywords: family support, cohort differences, social policy

This research uses mixed methods to investigate the impacts of social and demographic change on family support amongst three cohorts of Chinese elders, born in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. The results will shed light the future old-age family support situations and inform reform of social support system in China.

Ms Melanie Siegburg - Ocean and Earth Sciences: 'Tectono-magmatic activity at Boset volcanic complex in Main Ethiopian Rift.'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: hazard, africa, risk

My PhD project in East Africa is about how volcanoes form and evolve in areas where tectonic plates drift apart. Specifically, I am completing a detailed geological-structural map and analysing the tectonic movement and geochemistry of lava flows. Results will inform us about past activity and allow the assessment of potential future hazards.

Dr Alan Smith - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences - Geography and the Environment: 'Spatiotemporal population modelling in Western Australia.'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: population, GIS, modelling

This project aims to assess the extent to which time-specific population estimated can be developed within an Australian context. It will focus on the application of the Population 24/7 modelling tool, originally developed and applied in the UK. This will be the first international application to test the models framework.

Marcello Mazzetti - Humanities - Music - 'The 21-cent Early Music Matrix: Encoding techniques and database as philological and analytical tools'

Host University: UMassAmherst

Keywords: computational music analysis, renaissance music philology, digital humanities

The aim is to develop long-term cooperation between UoS and UMassAmherst, participating in "Tasso in Music" project, an international-leading research project across Humanities involving scholars from the US and Europe with the technical support of Stanford University, and focussing on ultimate editorial methods and digital encoding techniques in music.

Sukru Yigit Soncul - Law, Business and Art (Winchester School of Art) - 'Contagious and immunising images: Mask, medium and body'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: mask, cultural techniques, visual culture

Images of masks - employed by activists and Ebola fighters alike - are central to 21st century visual culture, which is characterised by the technological-aesthetic condition of global connectivity. This research investigates contemporary cultural techniques of mask and masking, particularly in political and biomedical contexts, from an image studies perspective.

Livio Ticli - Humanities - Music - 'Digitally-enhanced performance: recreating and recontextualising music through media and philological e-editions included in a worldwide database'

Host University: UMassAmherst

Keywords: digital humanities, early modern culture, renaissance music and poetry databases

The aim is to establish a long-term relationship between Southampton University and UMass Amherst (Five College Consortium) enhancing the existing links by cooperating to a new database related to early modern culture, poetry and music, which will provide an open-access and interactive platform to historians, literary scholars and performers worldwide.

Francesco De Lucia - Physics - 'Periodically poled optical fibres for frequency comb generation in nonlinear dispersive resonators'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: nonlinear optics/photonics

Optical frequency combs are made of thousands of equally spaced spectral lines, each an ultra-stable laser in its own right, which have had revolutionary impact on fields ranging from the detection of extra-solar planets to precision metrology (Physics Nobel prize 2005). The goal of this project is to develop novel, highly efficient quadratic frequency combs in collaboration with experts in Auckland. These will be based on the poled optical fibre technology that I have recently developed at the ORC.

Clementine Chirol - Ocean and Earth Sciences - 'Morphological evolution of restored wetland habitats'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: wetland, restoration, morphology

We will compare the morphological development of recreated wetlands in the UK and in Australia using remote sensing elevation data, in order to verify whether restoration design guidelines are internationally applicable.

Andrew MacLachlan - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences - 'Examining the current state, pressures and the potential risks of urban expansion in the Perth Metropolitan Region (PMR)'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Key Words: sustainable development, environmental risk, remote sensing

This project explores the current state, pressures and potential environmental and socio-economic risks of further urban expansion within the Perth Metropolitan Region through an interdisciplinary approach combining satellite and aerial imagery, socioeconomic datasets and participant interviews. Outputs will permit planners to make more informed decisions regarding future, sustainable development.

Dr Emilio Audissino - Humanities, Film: 'Neoformalism and Film Music'

Host University: University of Wisconsin, madison

Keywords: Cognitivism, neoformalism, music

My PhD thesis seeks to develop a method to analyse music in films blending neoformalism from film studies and psychomusicology. UW Madison was the birthplace of neoformalism and a period spent there would allow me to strengthen my knowledge of this theory and particularly to test it on film music.

Pegah Tayaranian Hosseini - Engineering and the Environment, ISVR: 'Investigating the brain connectivity using EEG in normal hearing subjects and cochlear implant users'

Host University: Zhejiang University

Keywords: Connectivity, EEG, Auditory stimulation

Different cortical and subcortical brain areas have to coordinate for an individual to perceive sounds. The brain organisation can be quantified by connectivity measures which my provide the strength, direction, and timing information on the connections between brain areas. This study investigates the brain connectivity in response to auditory stimuli.

Bahareh Zaghari - Engineering and the Environment: 'Vibration Energy Harvesting with Parametric Excitation'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: energy

The aim of this project is to improve the performance of the energy harvesters by introducing a periodic time-varying parameter such as stiffness to the dynamic equation in order to generate parametric resonance.

Daniele Giannone - Business, Law and Art, Law : 'The benefits of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the U.S.A.: is this a lesson for Europe?'

Host University: University of Wisconsin, Madison

Keywords: consumers, protection, unfairness

The research project investigates the functioning of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched in the USA in 2010. This could help to understand the adaptability of a similar organization in Europe and its usefulness to reach consumers’ optimal protection in financial services.

Dr Ingrid Muller - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Psychology: 'Accessible, online interventions for people with low health literacy and diabetes'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: Health literacy, online interventions

Developing and testing web-based support suitable for people with lower levels of health literacy. This project will examine the potential for web-based materials and tools to provide enhanced support by using interactivity and tailored advice and quiz formats.

Alison Rowsell - Social , Human and Mathematical Sciences, Psychology: 'Developing and testing accessible web-based support for patient self-management: engaging patients through visual, audio-visual, video and interactive technology'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: Health Literacy, online interventions, Self-management

Developing and testing web-based support accessible to people with lower levels of health literacy. This project explores the development of web-based materials for diabetes self-management; focussing on the use of audio-visual, video and quiz formats tailored to engage self-management in adults. Qualitative, ‘think aloud’ interviews are used to report on patient experiences and perceptions.

Lupica Spagnolo - Natural and environmental Sciences, Chemistry : 'Mesoporous metal-organic frameworks: meso-MOFs'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: Templating, porosity, frameworks

The overall goal of this project is the development of a new generic protocol for the preparation of wide-ranging classes of mesoporous hybrid metal-organic frameworks with enhanced properties, to address key societal challenges in healthcare and sustainability.

Dr Nicholas Harmon - Natural and Environmental Sciences, Ocean and Earth Sciences: 'Continental Breakup in Afar: The Role of Magma Assisted Rifting'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: Seismology, Numerical Geodynamics

Understanding continental breakup is fundamental to understanding plafte tectonics and is important for mineral and petroleum formation/deposition. Using state of the art numerical models of rifting, and new seismic observations of the Afar rift zone, I will characterize the mechanisms of active magmatically driven continental breakup.

Md Jamil - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Education: 'Scope of Life Learning Landscape (L3) for technology enhance teacher-learning in rural Bangladesh'

Host University: Penn State University

Keywords: L3, teacher-learning, technology

The goal of this project is to gain new insights on technology enhanced professional development approaches by exploring the planning, building and operational processes of the Penn State Lifelong Learning Landscape (L3) scheme. The exposure would provide useful technology enhanced teacher-learning conceptions transferable to rural Bangladesh context.

Catherine Rychert - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Education: 'Continental Breakup in Afar: The Role of Magma Assisted Rifting'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: Seismology, Geodynamics, Continental Breakup

We will image the tectonic plate where continental breakup transitions to oceanic spreading beneath the Afar-Ethiopian Rift Systems. We will incorporate these constraints into geodynamic models to determine how a continent breaks apart, ie quantify the importance of heating, melting, and tectonic stretching during the evolution of rifting.

Huma Zia - Physical Sciences and Engineering, ECS: 'Collaborative Catchment –Scale Water Quality Management using Integrated Wireless Sensor Networks'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: Water Quality Management, Wireless Sensor networks, Catchment

Nutrient losses from ground to water have accelerated due to agricultural and urban pursuits. For effective and integrated water quality management, we propose a system that utilises local monitoring networks across a catchment, with provision for collaborative information sharing. This system of networks shares information about critical events, such as rain or flooding.

Anastasia Eleftheriou - Physical Sciences and Engineering, ECS: 'Evolutionary simulation models of sexual selection in humans'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: sexual-selection, human evolution, simulation

The project will be focused on the development of simulation models investigating the evolution of sexual behaviour in people. These simulation models will aim to examine how particular influences, like social institutions, geography, and cultural factors, affect and are affected by processes of sexual selection.

Beatrice Aguto - Physical Sciences and Engineering, ECS: 'Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Blended E-Learning within Universities in South Africa'

Host University: University of Cape Town

Keywords: E-Learning, Effective Blended E-Learning, Universities

This project is aimed at assessing the effect of blended e-learning in South African Universities. The goal is to develop a model for assessing the effectiveness of blended e-learning within Universities, encompassing a well balanced mix of effective pedagogy in e-learning course design, e-learning readiness and quality e-learning systems.

Kirsty Everley - Engineering and the Environment, Water and Environmental Engineering : 'The physiological and behavioural response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynkis mykiss) to underwater bubbles'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: bubbles, auditory evoked potential, lateral line

This research investigates the physiological and behavioural response of rainbow trout to underwater bubbles with the aim to reduce fish mortality associated with hydroelectricity. Auditory evoked potentials will determine optimal bubble size and speed for detection, enabling testing of an optimised bubble curtain for behavioural avoidance reactions in rainbow trout.

Claire Walker - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Education: 'How do Chinese students view Mathematics?'

Host University: Nanjing University

Keywords: Mathematics Education

I will be collecting data for my PhD thesis on students' attitudes towards Mathematics. I hope to be working with both Nanjing University and Nanjing Normal University, and to observe some Mathematics classes. I will be gathering views from learners in the Institute of Education about their mathematics education.

Philip Adler - Natural and Environmental Sciences, Chemistry: 'Towards a statistical description of crystal structures'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: Cheminformatics, Crystallography, Statistics

Gathering descriptors for crystal structures based on molecular, topological and interaction parameters. Some descriptors are taken from existing software, but also generating new ones. The descriptors will be used to build statistical models that can be applied to understanding structure – property relationships and other factors relating to the solid state.

Dr Eloise Biggs - Human, Social and Mathematical Sciences, Geography : 'Developing a framework to spatially assess water vulnerability in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: water vulnerability; rural livelihoods; food security

Western Australia’s Wheatbelt is a major food-producing region of the world and water availability is of key concern for both food security and rural livelihoods. A multi-dimensional framework will be developed to spatially assess current water vulnerability and expected local and global implications under a changing climate.

Christopher Hanley - Medicine, Cancer Science Unit: 'The role of tumour Stroma in cancer progression: myofibroblasts and collagen structure'

Host University: University of Wisconsin, Madison

Keywords: Cancer; myofibroblast, collagen

We have found that a myofibroblastic cancer stroma is one of the best predictors of early patient death. Stromal collagen structure is similarly predictive. The purpose of this study is to examine regulation of myofibroblast differentiation and cell of origin in the development of this prognostic collagen signature.

Dr Tiejun Ma - Business, Law and Art, Management : 'Embedding software risk analysis for building resilient real-time financial risk management systems in Clouds '

Host University: Nanjing University

Keywords: Risk Analysis, and Cloud Computing, Financial Risk Management.

(i) Establish research and education links between the Centre for Risk Research, University of Southampton and the state-keylaboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University. (ii) Establish research collaboration and required resources. (iii) Explore software risk analysis and cybersecurity for financial applications. (iv) Collaborative publications and funding applications.

Natasha Elizabeth Carpenter - Engineering and the Environment: 'Developing an Enhanced Understanding of Costal Cliff Recession Under the Impacts of Climate Change'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: Cliff, erosion, climate-change

Building on my PhD, this project will provide a diverse methodology towards the development of an integrated, numerical model to determine future rates of cliff retreat. This will enable more reliable/accurate predictions of rescission considering the impacts of climate change. This will contribute towards the sustainable management of our coasts.

Michael Elliott - Human and Life Sciences : 'Indigenous justice and democracy in liberal settler states'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: Politics, justice, democracy

This project analyses how alterations to the democratic landscape of liberal democracies impact upon on-going disputes of Indigenous justice. It engages questions of legitimacy and justice that are of the utmost importance to all citizens within these societies, and to the futures of democratic governance to which they commit.

Irene Merino Jimenez - Energy Technology Research Group, Engineering and the Environment: 'Computational studies of borohydride fuel cell'

Host University: Penn State University

Keywords: Direct borohydride fuel cells, borohydride hydrolysis, anode materials for borohydride oxidation

The direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) can be used to generate electricity for portable equipment. Its predicted specific energy is higher than other systems but the oxidation of borohydride is complex. Computing modelling could be the only way to understand the mechanism, reducing cost and time of the experiments.

Dr Zhan Shu - Engineering and the Environment: 'A Control Engineering Perspective to Immune Activation in AIDS and Related Treatment Strategies'

Host University: University of Alberta

Keywords: Control Engineering, Immune Activation, Structural Treatment

In this multidisciplinary project, we will investigate, from a control engineering point of view, how persistent immune activation can be induced and mediated by direct HIV replication and indirect non-specific pathways, and their effects on T cell functions and disease development. Based on the analytical results, we will try to develop antiviral/immunological therapies to mitigate viral spread and escape while arousing effective self-immunity to HIV.

Dr Rong Zhang - ECS, Engineering and the Environment: 'Machine Learning and Data Mining in Advanced Self Organized Networks'

Host University: Nanjing University

Keywords: Machine Learning, Data Mining 'Self-Organized Networks' (SON)

The planned research aims at creatively looking at the ''digital bottleneck'' challenges in future wireless access infrastructure from inter-discipline study with the aid of Machine Learning, Data Mining and their associated techniques, where 3D wireless system will be modelled and kernel computing engine will be created.

Tom Brughmans - Humanities: 'Modelling complex urban networks in Iron Age and Roman Southern Spain'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: network analysis, complex systems modelling, archaeology

The planned research aims at adopting and modifying complex network models for inter-­â€urban interaction and test their use for the ‘Urban connectivity in Iron Age and Roman Southern Spain’ project, which forms the key case-­â€study in the applicant’s PhD research.

Eleonora Gandolfi - Humanities: 'Images of Images: applying digital recording technology in the analysis, management and visualisation of Kimberly rock-art'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: rock art, Reflectance Transformation Imaging, public engagement

This project is a pilot study aimed to investigate the use of advanced digital technologies for recording Indigenous rock-art. A range of different procedures and tools will be applied in order to enable Traditional Owners to engage and control the access to rock-art sites.

Seyed Hossein Kia - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Geography and the Environment: 'Tracking dynamic ecosystem carbon exchange using reduced uncertainty regarding spectral indicators of carbon fluxes'

Host University: Penn State University

Keywords: Carbon fluxes, up-scaling, spectral indicators

Identifying sources of uncertainty regarding spectral indicators of carbon fluxes by quantifying the spatial variability of the spectral indices associated with landscape heterogeneity under different meteorological conditions. Accordingly investigating how current RS models (ie integration of field data, airborne/satellite imagery, LiDAR) for tracking dynamic ecosystem carbon exchange may be improved.

Simone Olivetti - Engineering and the Environment: 'Jet noise reduction strategies'

Host University: Penn State University

Keywords: aeroacoustic, jet noise, aircraft engineering

The project is focused on the broad area of aeroacoustics, and applies a research in jet noise prediction and reduction. The collaboration will compare results and methods and take the study forward to new conclusions. It will be put into testing both Universities' projects, in order to achieve new insightful knowledge.

Hembo Pagi - Humanities: 'Images of Images: applying digital recording technology in the analysis, management and visualisation of Kimberly rock-art'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: rock art, Reflectance imaging, photography

this project will explore the potential of digital imaging tools with the Traditional Owners of the Kimberly to manage and communicate rock art

Thomas Plant - Humanities: 'Comparative Analysis of Australian Jewish and Anglo-Jewish Youth Movements'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: Youth, Australian-Jewish, Identity

The project will build on my research into identities proffered by Anglo-Jewish youth movements through comparative analysis with conception of Australian-Jewishness in the Habonim and Bnei Akivah. It will compare the importance of discourses of empire and colonialism to these identities, contrasting them against those of faith and socio-cultural background

Izabela Romanowska - Humanities: 'Geoarchaeological context of Lower Palaeolithic site distribution'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: Geoarchaeology, Taphonomy, Palaeolithic

I am currently working on the issue of taphonomic bias of Palaeolithic site visibility. During the planned visit I wish to explore this issue of archaeological representation from a geoarchaeological perspective. The second objective of the visit is to collaborate on developing a methodology for agent based modelling of early hominid dispersals.

Sarah Shawyer - Humanities: 'The response of the Australian-Jewish community to the armed resistance against the British in Mandatory Palestine between 1945 and 1948.'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: post-colonialism, Holocaust, Australian-Jewry

I will explore how the Australian Jewish community responded to legacies of the Holocaust in relation to the armed struggle against the British in Mandatory Palestine from 1945 to 1948. Whether these discourses were emblematic of wider societal tensions in post-colonial environments will be examined through comparisons with existing research.

Natalya Doroshenko - Engineering and the Environment: 'Co-localisation studies of vancomycin within the biofilm matrix.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle

Biofilms have a naturally high tolerance for antimicrobials. Often during treatment of a biofilm infection, prescribed antibiotic doses become diluted. This project investigated the response of the biofilm to low doses of antibiotics.

Dr Leyland Julian - Geography and the Environment, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Reconstructing palaeo-environmental conditions through modelling sediment dynamics at the terrestrial-marine interface.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle

Keywords: LEMs, sediment, paleo-environment

Landscape Evolution Models (LEMs) simulate changes in the earth’s surface topography that are forced by climate and sea-level change. Such models have been used to constrain past environmental histories by ‘hindcasting’ to match modelled and observed landforms. The project research seeks to extend the methodology to the prediction and validation of sedimentary deposits at the marine interface, ie the sediments stored in deltas. It is proposed that where sediment delivery and stratigraphic layering can be well predicted through coupled LEM and delta building models, a model scenario might be more representative of past environmental conditions. Funds secured through this application would promote the establishment of a research network of international experts to pumpprime further development of this ambitious research.

Dr Robert Dorrell - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, Geography and the Environment: 'Modelling density currents in submarine channels'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University

Keywords: Sediment, transport, morphodynamics.

A prognostic, morphodynamic shallow water model for dilute bidisperse suspensions has been developed. A novel aspect of the model is that a fine particle class, which is vertically well mixed, drives the flow suspending coarser particles. Model validation is made via comparisons with seminal field data from a saline current exiting the Strait of Bosphorous.

Violeta Sanjuan Calzado - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Postgraduate student. Research focuses on novel approaches for using satellite ocean colour data in support of numerical ecosystem models.'

Host University: University of California San Diego

During my stay at the University of California San Diego- Scripps Institution of Oceanography I worked with Dr B. Greg Mitchell’s group. Our proposed work was to constrain forward bio-optical models embossed on biogeochemical ecosystem models using the global bio-optical dataset from Dr Mitchell’s group.

Klaus Schaeck - Management, Business, Law and Art: 'Econometric Analyses of Banking Stability.'

Host University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

My stay as a WUN Global Exchange Student at the Department of Finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was designed to support my PhD study at the School of Management at the University of Southampton. I intended to prepare the third (and final) paper for my PhD thesis on “Econometric Analyses of Banking Stability”. Specifically, the plan was to investigate the link between bank failures and deposit insurance. The WUN award enabled me to work with the leading authority in the field of deposit insurance, George Pennacchi.

Liping Ding - Education, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Develop students' insight in deductive geometry: a study of geometrical proof teaching at lower secondary school level.'

Host University: Nanjing University.

During my time at Nanjing University, I had the opportunity to learn from Prof. Zheng Yuxin. My study with Prof. Zheng focused on issues in using pedagogic theory in analysing the teaching of geometric proof in lower secondary school mathematics classrooms. This opportunity helped me to refine the theoretical framework for my PhD thesis and to develop an analytic framework to link the van Hiele theory to the practical data that I have from school mathematics classrooms. One if the outcomes, and benefits, from studying under Prof. Zheng was being able to refine a research paper for representation at the European conference in February 2007.

Dr Debora Iglesias-Rodriguez - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Assess changes in phytoplankton population composition and biogeochemical function using a combination of molecular and physiological techniques

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

The objectives for this visit were:

1. To conduct a short experiment using field samples to test the usefulness of flow cytometry in assessing changes in biogeochemical processes catalysed by marine microorganisms.

2. To strengthen the collaborations between the University of Southampton and the University of Washington.

Dr Lisa McNeill - Geology, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Active deformation within subduction zones and earthquake hazards: comparisons between Cascadia, USA and Sumatra, Indonesia.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

Extensive discussion about current and future research on earthquake and tsunami hazards and structure of the Sumatran forearc and comparisons with the Cascadia (and Kamchatka and Chilean) subduction zones. This work involved Bourgeois, Goldfinger, Pratt, Willett, Fuller and Atwater (at both UW and OSU). Several future projects may result from these discussions over the next few years.

Dr David Voegeli - Nursing and Midwifery, Health Sciences: 'Developing the biological basis for nursing interventions in wound care.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

The objectives for this exchange were as follows:
1. To explore the similarities and challenges faced by both Schools.
2. To provide an opportunity for extended communication and debate on specific issues related to the biological basis of nursing interventions in wound care.
3. To identify potential areas for future collaboration.
4. To explore preparation of research students in Seattle.
5. To actively advocate the School of Nursing & Midwifery.

Dr Simon Quinn - Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment: 'Stress separation of an orthotropic disc specimen.'

Host University: University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The major academic benefit that I have obtained from this visit is the establishment of a new specialist academic partner, Professor Robert E. Rowlands. The opportunity to interact with the Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) equipment manufacturers. Stress Photonics Inc., who provided some technical support during the visit was also beneficial to me. The original objectives of the exchange, to examine an orthotropic disc loaded in diametral compression with the aim of to develop a single specimen with which to thermoelastically calibrate composite material, were successfully achieved. This work is to be presented at the 2006 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE), to be held in Chicago in November. The draft paper, “Determining orthotropic coefficients from, and Thermoelastic Stress Analysis of, diametrically loaded composite disk”, which I took the lead on writing, has recently been accepted for publication and will be presented by one of the University of Wisconsin at Madison (UW-M) team. A subsequent submission to a high quality journal is also planned. During my visit a great deal of other experimental data, both TSA and reflection photoelasticity, was collected from a variety of other specimens, including both aluminium and graphite/epoxy plates with a hole close to a loaded boundary, asphalt discs, a wood joint, nano material graphite/epoxy plates where the reinforcing graphite material is preferentially aligned using electric fields and a aluminium block for 3-D stress analysis. In time it is envisaged that this experimental data will be used to supplement other analysis work at the UW-M and written up into technical publications, as appropriate, which will be of great added value to the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Southampton.

Daria Hinz - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'The future of calcifying phytoplankton in a changing Ocean.'

Host University: University of Bergen.

My objective during my exchange at the University of Bergen was to carry out a field study and mesocosm experiments designed to assess Emiliania huxleyi bloom dynamics. Working at UiB provided me with the unique opportunity to sample from a natural fjord, and from two successive mesocosm experiments set up within it. In addition, the fjord field site was a very short distance from the biology laboratory where sample processing was carried out, allowing the use of lab-based equipment unavailable to most field work.
The project was very successful, and an initial investigation of E. huxleyi bloom dynamics should be forthcoming in the next few months upon completion of analysis of the physical data and viable biological samples. The information from that analysis will form the basis of my PhD upgrade report, and be instrumental in planning a second round of mesocosm experiments, to be carried out at the same field station (UiB) in June 2008.

Kirsty Edgar - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Climate change, seawater chemistry and planktic foraminiferal calcification in the Middle Eocene.'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

This was a valuable training opportunity for me. Whilst at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), I learnt Middle Eocene planktic foraminifer taxonomy and the various laboratory/methodological skills associated with generating high-resolution biotic datasets, from highly regarded experts (Dick Norris and Phil Sexton). The skills that I learnt are highly transferable and relevant within my field of study – palaeooceanography/-climatology, and are key to future work that I hope to carry out. Working at SIO also increased my awareness and understanding of aspects of palaeoecology/-biology and the complimentary nature of these topics to my own field of study.

Tycho Huussen - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Internal-wave breaking in a sheared mean flow.'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

At Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in La Jolla, California I have worked with Dr. Jennifer MacKinnon on internal-wave interactions with a sheared mean flow. We have investigated the dynamics using a quasi-spectral computer model that has been developed by Dr. Kraig Winters at SIO. Our interest for this topic stems from the notion that internal-wave mean flow interactions in submarine canyons may contribute significantly to abyssal mixing in the world ocean which is considered one of the major controls of the Earth's climate system.
The collaboration with SIO has given me the opportunity to investigate an oceanographic problem that is of direct interest to my PhD research using tools that are not available at my home institution, the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS). I have been granted remote access to the SIO computer cluster so that I can continue working on the project in Southampton. At this point we expect that the collaboration between NOCS and SIO on this particular project will be continued for at least a year.

Edward Waugh - Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment: 'Development of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Oceanographic Applications.'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

The time spent at UCSD provided a useful insight into the working and development of an academic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle project. Discussions with the students involved allowed the identification of areas of common interest and the areas that made each project unique.
The original objectives were met to some extent, as experience in construction was passed to the exchange holder and a possible new collaboration with Dr DeCallafon was initiated in the area of control systems engineering. This may lead to data exchange and cooperation on publications.

Wance Tacconelli - Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Transnational Retailers in China.'

Host University: Nanjing University.

The WUN Global Exchange Award has been an invaluable experience that has contributed immensely to my PhD study, as well as career development. I will always appreciate the opportunity given to me by the WUN committee. The academic benefits that I have gained through the programme can be summarised as follows:
The opportunity to use the first-class facilities of a Chinese leading university (Nanjing) and the pool of expertise/knowledge of the Urban and Regional Planning Department associated with that University. In particular, I acknowledge the support of my host supervisor, Professor Hongyang Wang.
A thorough understanding of my PhD research topic, namely the Chinese food retail industry. Thanks to the financial support of WUN I have been able to conduct in-depth interviews with key stakeholders of the Chinese retail industry , including retail chains (both transnational and domestic), manufacturers/suppliers, service providers (eg management consultancies, logistics companies, etc), consumers and government institutions.
Improvement of my research management skills, particularly in a foreign environment, and of my Chinese language skills.
Participation to two major international academic conferences: (1) The Global Conference on Economic Geography (Beijing 25-28 June 2007); (2) The Society of Asian Retailing and Distribution (SARD) Annual Workshop (Shanghai). I have presented papers of my on-going research at those two conferences and received useful feedbacks from participants. Wrote an article detailing the initial results of my PhD research. The article has been submitted to a leading international peer-review journal for publication.

James Barnet - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'The Palaeoclimate of the Arctic high latitudes during the Palaeocene epoch and Eocene Thermal Maximum 2.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University

The WUN collaborative research trip to Svalbard, organised by Tim White from Penn State in association with Jeno Nagy and Henning Dypvik, was the first of its kind in Svalbard. The aim of the group of distinguished scientists was to investigate Palaeogene climate change from a location in the high Arctic, as Spitsbergen (the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago) was situated at a similar latitude then as it is now (~78°N).

Dr Jacek Brodzki - Mathematics, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Advances in noncommutative geometry of groups.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

Objectives:
Problems in representation theory of p-adic groups. This part refers to the on-going collaboration with Professor Baum, my host at Penn State. We have met daily throughout my visit to Penn State to work on problems in cyclic homology that arise form Baum’s conjecture (formulated recently with Aubert and Plymen). We have considered specific problems in periodic cyclic homology that forms obstacles to resolving the conjecture and succeeded in solving a special case of that problem. After my visit we continued working on this problem via email and we are in the process of writing a paper explaining the results.
Cohomology of crossed product algebras. I had a number of very successful meetings with Victor Nistor, a professor at Penn State, with whom I collaborate on a project of computing the periodic cyclic homology of crossed product algebras which arise from group actions on algebraic varieties. Prior to my visit, we have identified a number of stumbling blocks in this project. During my visit to Penn State we have managed to solve a key problem which enabled us to sketch a strategy for further work. We are now in the process of finalising a paper outlining the results.
Analysis and geometry of groups. A very productive part of my visit was to meet with Professor Higson, with whom I discussed recent developments in the geometry and analysis of discrete groups. I have presented our recent results (obtained in Southampton jointly with Niblo and Wright), which were met with considerable interest. Higson suggested a number of possible avenues for future research in this area, and in our discussions we have assessed which of them would be the most interesting and might lead to fastest development. The resulting problem of existence of infinite expanders will be considered by the Southampton group in collaboration with Higson, who is a leading expert in this area.
Collaboration with Guentner: Thanks to the support of the WUN, I could arrange a visit to my collaborator Guentner, who is based in Hawaii. He had funds to pay my expenses from the US, but not from Europe, so without WUN’s support, this visit would not take place. We work quite intensively on two different projects concerned with the geometry of certain complexes arising from group actions. A paper arising from this collaboration will be submitted before the end of this year.

Dr Ian Harding - Ocean and Earth Sciences/ Geology, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'WUN pACE field expedition to Spitsbergen investigating Palaeogene climate change.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

The WUN collaborative research trip to Svalbard, organised by Tim White from Penn State in association with Jeno Nagy and Henning Dypvik, was the first of its kind in Svalbard. The aim of the group of distinguished scientists was to investigate Palaeogene climate change from a location in the high Arctic, as Spitsbergen (the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago) was situated at a similar latitude then as it is now (~78°N).

Laura Lagonigro - Optoelectronics Research Centre, Physical Sciences and Engineering: 'Crystalline structures in semiconductor modified microstructured optical fibres.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

Our collaboration with Penn State University focuses on the fabrication of next generation photonic devices that integrate the optoelectronic functionality of semiconductors with microstructured optical fibres.
Exciting recent developments by for example Intel, have demonstrated the potential of silicon Raman lasers, where the nonlinearity of the semiconductor results in large gain over a short length, resulting in extremely compact devices. By using microstructured optical fibres impregnated with high quality bulk crystalline material, it will become possible to investigate Raman amplification and all-fibre semiconductor Raman lasers for telecommunications. The exploitation of cascaded processes may also be considered for generating mid-infrared wavelength sources for applications including LIDAR, environmental sensing and spectroscopy.

Suteera Chanthes - Management, Business, Law and Art: 'East meets West: A comparative study of academic staff performance in fulfilling the regional role of public universities in Thailand and the United States.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

My application was succeeded. I was awarded by the RMP to visit the University of Washington at Seattle, the USA, for the period of 6 months to undertake a comparative study research project under the advice of Professor James Antony at the College of Education. The title of the project was “East meets west: A comparative study of academic staff performance in fulfilling the regional role of public universities in Thailand and the United States.” My visited was from November 1, 2007 to Aril 30, 2008.
I have gained invaluable experience from this visit. I would like to give credit to those involved with this, from the very first start of me making the application until the end of my visit, those included: my supportive home and host supervisors, the WUN coordinators at the University of Southampton, the staff at the Office of Global Affairs at the University of Washington at Seattle, and those colleagues I met in the USA.

Laure Grignon - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'The importance of preconditioning on the evolution of deep convection in the Labrador Sea.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

The work I have done during my visit will constitute an important part of my PhD thesis. Having the opportunity to work in the laboratory was one I could not have had without this WUN exchange. I benefited at UW from unique expertise in my laboratory experiments, both on technical and scientific levels. I also worked on data from the Labrador Sea held at UW, benefitting from Prof. Peter Rhines’ knowledge of the data set, and of the physics of the Labrador Sea. Discussions about differences and similarities between the Labrador and Mediterranean Seas and about strategies for gliders’ deployment and gliders’ data analysis will be very valuable both for my PhD and for the NOC glider program.

Nadia Elisa Suarez-Bosche - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'The nervous system of starfish larvae during regeneration.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

The opportunity to work at Friday Harbor Laboratory (FHL) with its excellent facilities and the expertise in the field of cell biology was instrumental in my study of developmental mechanisms in echinoderm larvae, and in meeting the objectives outlined in my proposal. Experimental work of embryology was carried out on 12 phyla and approximately 40 different species of representative marine invertebrates available at FHL.
The most immediate academic benefit from my research is a forthcoming publication concerning the echinoderm nervous system. This is a description of the development and organization of the larval nervous system during regeneration of the larvae of two Pacific starfish species, Pisaster ochraceus and Orthasterias Koehleri.

Dr Cornelis de Groot - Electronics and Computer Science, Physical Sciences and Engineering: 'Spintronics Network collaboration.'

Host University: Zheijiang University.

I will have a sabbatical the first semester of 2007 and would like to use that opportunity to visit both Nanjing University and Zhejiang University for a period of two weeks. The main purpose of the visit is to explore the potential for future scientific collaboration including the exchange of postgraduate students. The planned visits will allow for enough time to judge the experimental capabilities of those research laboratories and to interact with the Chinese researchers and PhD students who perform the actual work. Face-to-face interaction will also overcome the cultural differences that hamper collaboration and it is hoped that larger scale collaboration will follow from there.

Cynthia Dumousseaud - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Calibration of seawater pH measurements: preparation of certified Tris buffer solution.'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

The aim of the Research Mobility Program was to provide the expertise of Professor Andrew Dickson’s lab at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography on pH calibration, and more particularly, TRIS buffer preparation and standardization. TRIS buffers are extremely important in order to calibrate pH systems (Dickson et al., 2007). The work conducted at Scripps consisted in the preparation of a batch of calibrated high quality TRIS buffer solution. The buffer solution was made in artificial sea water according to Dickson et al. (2007), using high quality recrystallized salts and carefully calibrated solutions. The pH of the buffer was monitored and calculated according to Nemzer and Dickson (2005) and DelValls and Dickson (1998). E.m.f. measurements of the batch of buffer were conducted along with e.m.f. measurements of a batch of HCl standardized according to Dickson (1987) and Dickson (1990). The results obtained with the batch of buffer were compared with previous studies in order to check the quality of the buffer (DelValls et al. 1998; Nemzer et al. 2005).

Dr Geet Verheyden - Health Sciences: 'Truck Impairment Scale'

Host University: University of Bergen.

Firstly, the personal direct benefit of having obtained this award is a closer involvement into the current research coordinated by Prof Strand and her team that is related in the area of research of Dr Verheyden. The expertise of Prof Strand is (1) development of tools for assessing physical functioning and pain; (2) examination of measurement properties of assessment tools, and (3) outcome studies of rehabilitation/ physiotherapy interventions. These areas of research are closely related to the areas in which my colleagues from the School of Health Sciences and I are working in and it has been of great benefit to explore current issues in measurement and outcome studies and in the field of rehabilitation research with an expert in the field. With regard to this field of research, Prof Strand and Dr Verheyden have explored the possibility of examining the responsiveness of the Trunk Impairment Scale for people with stroke. Further contact with regard to this analysis will be made in July 2009 and should the analysis be favourable, this will lead to a conference presentation and a joint publication.

Dr Oliver Friedrich - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic changes in the Late Cretaceous Pacific Ocean.'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

The principal objectives of this project are (1) to establish a Turonian to Campanian (93-71 Million years) surface-water stable isotope record for the tropical Pacific Ocean, (2) to reconstruct the paleoceanographic conditions of the equatorial Pacific, (3) to determine the termination of the Cretaceous greenhouse phase and transition to the cooler Late Cretaceous, (4) to validate a possible source of bottom-water formation in the high-latitude Pacific, and (5) to contribute to a global compilation of Cretaceous planktic foraminiferal stable isotopes. The Pacific Ocean occupies a crucial position for understanding Late Cretaceous climate and the sources of Cretaceous deep-water formation. Unfortunately, however, little is known about this major oceanic basin and its role for the Late Cretaceous climate. Thus, the proposed work intents to improve our understanding of the Late Cretaceous climate history.

Dr Rosie Meek - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Effects and prevention of violence by, and against, children in conflict with the law.'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

The objectives of the trip to UCSD were:

Praveen Thokala - Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment: 'Life Cycle based Optimization of Unmanned Air Vehicles.'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

The objective of the proposed trip to University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is to validate the framework that we developed to estimate the life cycle cost (LCC) of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). The framework can then be integrated into an optimization process to assist the comparison between different UAV configurations.

Heleen Vanneste - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Carbonate geochemistry at Darwin mud volcano (Gulf of Cadiz).'

Host University: University of California, San Diego.

The intention of my visit here was to gain information on the activity and geochemical history of the Darwin mud volcano. This mud volcano has been sampled during the last NOCS based HERMES cruise and is the only mud volcano in the Gulf of Cadiz discovered to date that is covered with a carbonate crust. Getting knowledge on the characteristics of present active and inactive mud volcanoes has become of major interest today, as it gives us information about past methane emissions, a greenhouse gas playing a major role in global climate change.

Dr Fadi Dohnal - ISVR, Engineering and the Environment: 'Parametric excitation for vibration control.'

Host University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

During the visit to the University of Utrecht an analytical framework was developed to analyse systems of low dimension that exhibit small perturbations in from of nonlinear couplings or a PE with multiple frequencies. Applying an adapted method of averaging that is being currently being developed at the University of Utrecht, it is possible to analyse the local stability of this type of system, which forms a wider class of systems that have been analysed for parametric vibration control so far. Further effort is needed to show how the stabilising effect of parametric vibration control can be influenced by the multiple frequencies. A second analytical framework was developed during the visit to the second partner, University of Urbana-Champaign, to analyse a system with PE and a strong, non-linearisable nonlinearity.

Mark Borkum - Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Blogs and Repositories: Digital Environments for supporting research.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

The original objectives and progress made towards them are outlined below:
a. A research aim was to gain knowledge of the mechanics behind the PSU chemistry 'cyber-infrastructure' which includes a 'chemistry search engine' (ChemxSeer) - with the goal of augmenting our Web services (and other Internet-based publication systems, including repositories) such that they are amenable to discovery by PSU. Through direct work with the Giles group, we now have a firm understanding of the data and metadata requirements for these processes.
b. The primary objective of the visit was to benefit and enhance scholarly communication between Southampton and PSU in the field of Chemical Information management. Southampton and the PSU offer two complementary approaches. PSU are expert in data discovery (mining 'raw' resources from the Internet) and Southampton is expert in open publication (augmenting raw resources with semantic metadata). In collaboration with the Meuller Group (in particular, Dr. Bill Brouwer), we have made significant progress in the direct extraction of complete NMR spectra and molecular structures from documents.

Dr Simon Coles - Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'OREChem.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

A primary research aim was to gain knowledge of the mechanics behind chemical search in order to develop methodologies, through feedback mechanisms, for automated and contextual chemical cataloguing and indexing - from these we intend to effect a change in chemical data management and publication. There have been significant steps towards this goal - through immersive involvement in the Giles group we now understand to a very deep level how search and information extraction are performed (the graduate students involved in this RMP have even contributed to the codebase of the CiteSeer/ChemxSeer systems'.) Arising directly from the work with PSU, I have given thought to Chemical Information management and written + submitted a proposal to JISC to underpin management for the Structural Sciences. 

Prof Jeremy Frey - Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Chemical Informatics (OREChem).'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

A primary research aim was to gain knowledge of the mechanics behind chemical search in order to develop methodologies, through feedback mechanisms, for automated and contextual chemical cataloguing and indexing - from these we intend to effect a change in chemical data management and publication. There have been significant steps towards this goal - through immersive involvement in the Giles group we now understand to a very deep level how search and information extraction are performed (the graduate students involved in this RMP have even contributed to the codebase of the CiteSeer/ChemxSeer systems'.) Arising directly from the work with PSU, I have given thought to Chemical Information management and written + submitted a proposal to JISC to underpin management for the Structural Sciences

Dr Tamaryn Menneer - Psychology, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Contrasting methods of model estimation for configural and holistic perception.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

The purpose of Dr. Menneer's visit with Prof. Wenger at Penn State University was to further understanding and progress of research comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and statistical methodologies available for relating General Recognition Theory (GRT) to data.

Stephen Wilson - Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'The Smart Lab: Experimental and Environmental Control and Monitoring of the Chemistry Lab.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

The original objectives during the visit were to expand on the knowledge I have already acquired in my studies. PSU are experts in 'semantically mining' chemical data sources whereas the work carried out in the UoS has been producing semantically rich data sources. It was hoped the interlinking of these two approaches could produce a very powerful storage and searching tool for chemical information. Additional to this, I hoped to expand my software to new areas, providing both robustness and scalability of my work. I hoped to be able to offer advice and software to the researchers at PSU on data acquisition, handling, storage and the metadata that should be included.

Dr James Jordan - Humanities: The memory of the Holocaust in Australia.'

Host University: University of Sydney.

The exchange was prompted by an invitation from Avril Alba at the Sydney Jewish Museum, and Suzanne Rutland and Konrad Kwiet of the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies (HBJS), University of Sydney to give a series of talks in September 2008. This invitation was extended in conjunction with the launch of the book The Memory of the Holocaust in Australia (published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with the Parkes Institute), a collection of essays by leading Australian scholars including the above, co-edited by myself and my colleague Dr Tom Lawson of the University of Winchester.

Zhanzhan Liang - Management, Business, Law and Art: 'Comparative studies: Cross-border higher education of Australian and UK universities in China - motivation, decision-making and implementation.'

Host University: University of Sydney.

The purpose of the research is to compare the internationalization activities of Australian and UK universities in China with three specific areas: motivation, decision making and implementation.

Patrick Wiemann - Civil Engineering, Engineering and the Environment: 'Simulation of the effects of Uncertainty on the financial value of Renewable Energy Projects.'

Host University: University of Sydney.

There are three main reasons why this exchange was a complete success. First, I could deepen my experience in modelling uncertainties and their importance regarding renewable energy project which was achieved by an intensively collaboration and almost daily discussions with Dr Li Liu. Second, the whole organisation by the University of Sydney (especially thanks goes to Maria Domadenik and Susanne Mantel) was so smooth and perfect that I could concentrate right from the beginning to 100% on my research. Third, the work and the life in Sydney (especially because I arrived at spring time and stayed until mid of the summer) is very well balanced which helped me to find the necessary motivation to study hard and to achieve all my research aims.

Adam Charles - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Establishing a common taxonomy for the dinocysts of Svalbard.'

Host University: Utrecht University.

Studying in Utrecht enabled me to establish a working relationship with prominent scientists Prof. Henk Brinkhuis and Dr. Appy Sluijs, as well making new contacts in the field of palynology. Several tasks provided by Prof. Brinkhuis taught me how to speciate the unicellular plankton (dinocysts) present in my samples, and discussions with Dr. Sluijs enabled me to apply criteria he has used for the identification of dinocysts to my own samples; this enabled me to achieve the original goal of the project which was to recognise and record the different taxa of dinocysts using a set of criteria that is common for all samples. The multiple discussions I had with Prof Brinkhuis and Dr. Sluijs also enabled me realise the limitations of the data, and therefore to develop an iterative methodology for my data collection. I was also introduced to prominent scientists, PhD and masters students in other fields, with whom I had numerous discussions, which enabled me to develop a different perspective on how to collect, process and analyse my data. For example, the discussion with cyclostratigrapher Lucas Lourens resulted in changing the data collection plan for the cyclostratigraphy part of my PhD, which has resulted in an expanded data set (relative to the original plan).

Lynda Eakins - Civil Engineering, Engineering and the Environment: 'Defining the swimming capabilities of target species of Chinese fish to develop fish passage design criteria.'

Host University: Nanjing University

During my stay at the Institute of Hydroecology I completed experiments on the swimming performance of Bighead carp. This is valuable data for my PhD research which could not have been collected in the UK and will go towards developing fish passage design criteria for Chinese species. I learnt new techniques for measuring fish swimming performance within an open channel flume. I considerably improved my knowledge of fish handling and was able to improve holding conditions for the experimental fish. I gave presentations on fish swimming performance within the institute and at the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute, providing good experience in presenting my work.

Christopher Marley - Mathematics, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Supersaturated plans for robust product design.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

The proposed project will develop new methods for constructing supersaturated designs when there is interest in interactions between factors. An interaction between two input factors is where the impact of one factor on the response depends on the value taken by the other factor. An application in which interactions have particular importance is “robust product design”, involving two types of factors: control factors, which can be controlled in the process or product specification, and noise factors, which cannot be controlled in practice but can be mimicked in an experiment.

Dr Mehdi Mirsaneh - Chemistry, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'High frequency dielectric measurement of tuneable thin films.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

The initial aim of my visit was to carry out specific measurements (high frequency dielectric tuneability) on the samples developed at our laboratory here in Southampton. The measurements were unique and required instruments and technical expertise which were not available to us, otherwise. The results of the measurements were very promising revealing new materials with novel properties. In parallel, my intention was to create a platform to set up further collaborative work and joint programs. I had a chance to meet other scientists at the MRI (including Professor Randall and Professor Pantano) and discussed possible joint grant proposals.

Martin Bell - Astronomy, Physical Sciences and Engineering: 'Development of the next generation of radio telescopes and the search for archival transients.'

Host University: University of Sydney.

The aim of the work is to drastically improve upon the number of archival transients from ten upwards to reduce the error bars on the expected rates predicted for the MWA and LOFAR. It should be noted that our current surveys operate at much higher frequencies than those at which LOFAR and the MWA will perform at. The physical processes which create high and low frequency radio transient are inherently linked. However the manor in which these two events correlate from one frequency to another is one of great interest. Finding as many high frequency transient is an important goal over the next year and hopefully this will be realised during the visit.

Alice Harrison - Law, Business, Law and Art: 'Dignity in Law.'

Host University: University of Sydney.

The award from the World Universities Network (WUN) Research Mobility Program (RMP) gave me the opportunity to study at the University of Sydney, which was a fantastic experience. I was made very welcome by my supervisor Dr Kevin Walton (Kevin) and all the very friendly staff at Sydney, including Dr Fleur Johns, my original proposed supervisor and Professor Gillian Triggs, Dean and Professor of Law, who both took time out of their busy schedules to have coffee and discuss my research. The new law building proved to be a fabulous working environment. I was provided with spacious, comfortable office space, with excellent resources, in people, computer equipment and access to other facilities including the well stocked library.
Kevin was fantastic, guiding me to previously unknown work and discussing my rough and ready ideas on a regular basis. Through Kevin I attended regular jurisprudence meetings of the Julius Stone Institute, where I presented some of my work. I also attended six fascinating law seminars given by staff and visitors to Sydney Law School and a two day International conference “The End of Worlds”, hosted by the Department of Anthropology. I was able to meet with Professors Sean Brennen and Garth Neithiem, who are world leading scholars in Aboriginal rights at the University of New South Wales, who I was put in touch with by Prof. John Borrows who I had studied with in Canada in 2009 and met with en route to Australia.

Raul Alvares - Astronomy, Physical Sciences and Engineering: 'Antisimmetric tensors in holographic approaches to QCD.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

I am involved in a project to better understand hadronization in QCD (the process by which pair created quarks combine to generate hadron jets in colliders) using duality techniques. In the dual quark anti-quark pairs are described by strings, with ends on a flavour brane, propagating in the dual spacetime geometry. Crucially there seems to be a new hadron emission mechanism from the ends of the strings described by an electromagnetic problem. This mechanism was first highlighted by the Seattle group of Prof Andreas Karch (see eg Jets in strongly-coupled N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory. Paul M. Chesler, Kristan Jensen, Andreas Karch, Phys.Rev.D79:025021,2009). One of his students, Kristan Jensen, has been part of a collaboration including my supervisor exploring the ramifications of this emission in more QCD-like theories (Hadronization at the AdS wall. Nick Evans, James French, Kristan Jensen, Ed Threlfall, arXiv:0908.0407 [hep-th]). We intend to apply these ideas within a QCD Monte Carlo that simulates collider physics to see if the ideas improve the agreement with data – this work is supported in the UK by an Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (Durham) grant. A major intention of my trip is to make stronger collaborative ties with the Seattle group working in this area – hopefully tying our expertise together will lead to improved understanding and computational ability in this area.

Dr Bina Nausheen - Medicine: 'Mindfulness based relapse prevention for alcohol dependence.'

Host University: University of Wisconsin-Madison.

During this scientific exchange visit, BN had hands-on experiential training in the methodology of an innovative on-going randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluating mindfulness meditation as an adjunctive treatment for relapse prevention in alcohol dependence. This experience of recruitment, eligibility screening and assessment of patients, and the delivery of the intervention is enormously beneficial for her professional growth and training as a researcher.

Dr Angela Harris - Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Charged Higgs phenomenology in the (Next to) Minimal Supersymmetrical Standard Model.'

Host University: University of Alberta.

The aim of this collaborative project is to develop and implement a methodology for a nested multi-scale classification of boreal peatlands that can be used to (i) provide information on peatland type and structure across a range of spatial scales and (ii) effectively upscale estimations of carbon flux and plant physiological data from plots to the landscape and ultimately global scale. Thus this project has the potential to improve both carbon modelling efforts and ecological management of peatland environments both in North America and in the UK.

Giovanni Marco Pruna - Astronomy, Physical Sciences and Engineering: 'Carbonate geochemistry at Darwin mud volcano (Gulf of Cadiz).'

Host University: University of Bergen.

This programme will give me the possibility to expand my expertise by allowing me to learn different models (and their phenomenology) that are currently under investigation at the University of Bergen, like the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and a generic two-Higgs-doublet model (with emphasis on the charged Higgs sector in both cases). A thread common to all my research subjects is the expertise matured so far on software usage, in particular with the following packages: CalcHEP, LanHEP, FeynRules, FeynArts, LoopTools and NMSSMTools.
In the preliminary briefing that I, my supervisor (Prof Stefano Moretti) and the host (Prof Per Osland) had in order to establish a working plan, we have already decided to exploit my computational physics knowledge and combine it with the phenomenology expertise on the charged Higgs sector available from Prof Moretti and Prof Osland to produce an automatic chain of tools that would allow us to analyse the charged Higgs sectors of the aforementioned scenarios in a systematic way.
Discovering a charged Higgs boson (eg at the now running Large Hadron Collider) would at the same time confirm that the origin of mass is through the so-called Higgs mechanism, and that the latter is not realised within the Standard Model; this would be compelling evidence of new physics.

Mike Santer - Electronics and Computer Science, Physical Sciences and Engineering: 'The impact of the Mobile Internet in South Africa.'

Host University: University of Cape Town.

My proposed research trip will enable me to collaborate with a recognised centre of excellence for interdisciplinary and international research into the impact of the Mobile Web in developing countries. It is also to establish and cultivate research links on an international an individual level across the partnership universities to create a prototype of BluPoint, a solution developed at the University of Southampton which provides free digital content to low income communities. This product was developed after a trip to Idutywa in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in April 2010. During the trip the ubiquity of Mobile phones was self-evident and through an opportune pilot study it was discovered that community members where spending up to 40% of their income on Mobile ownership whilst concurrently spending up to 50% on their time without airtime credit. Implementation of BluPoint would provide an opportunity to implement the prototype of BluPoint and study what materials the communities in Idutywa felt they wanted to be made available free of charge in their community.

Helen Richards - Psychology, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Understanding the temporal characteristics and neural mechanisms involved in processing capacity and threat detection in anxiety.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University

This visit has provided me with the skills required to successfully complete my PhD thesis, which was one of the key objectives of the exchange. Throughout the duration of the visit, and under the supervision of Dr. Wenger, I was able to learn and become familiar with the mathematical techniques and statistical programmes required to analyse the data obtained from my earlier PhD studies.
In line with further objectives of the visit, I received training in the acquisition and preliminary analysis of event related potential (ERP) data. Additionally, I have become familiar with the programmes used to acquire and analyse this data (for example, EEGlab, Matlab, Neuroscan). I have now collected pilot ERP data from 4 participants for a novel study that aims to delineate potential neural mechanisms that underlie increased capacity for detecting threat in anxious individuals. The training I received while at Penn State will be of considerable benefit when I analyse the data from this pilot study and, ultimately, when we collect and analyse further data for a larger scale ERP study.

Priyanth Mehta - Optoelectronics Research Centre, Physical Sciences and Engineering: 'Fibrised semiconductor devices for nonlinear photonics.'

Host University: Pennsylvania State University.

The opportunity to work with the materials research institute at Pennsylvania State University was highly beneficial to me and future work to be conducted by both parties. I have developed an in-depth understanding of the deposition processes for impregnating semiconductors in optical fibres, as well as grasping the physical limitations involved. This is important for the future development of nonlinear devices as I am now aware of the capabilities and requirements needed for fibre depositions. As an example, we developed a ‘3-cell defect’ large mode area fibre which has proved to isolate single mode guidance. This provides a tremendous step forward in the construction of telecom devices for signal regeneration, amplification and switching.

Dr Geoffrey Deverteuil - Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Evidence of gentrification-induced displacement of voluntary sector organisations: a comparison between Sydney, London and Los Angeles.'

Host University: University of Sydney.

During my time in the field in Sydney, I managed to interview a total of 18 voluntary sector organisations: 4 in Darlinghurst, 7 in King's Cross. This is a good number of facilities given the limited time I had. I am now in the process of analysing the data according to evidence of displacement, and will be comparing the results to data already collected in London and Los Angeles.

Charlotte Norlund - Engineering Science, Engineering and the Environment: 'Evacuation Simulation Modelling.'

Host University: University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The achievements during this three month stay were substantial. Models describing people's decision making and changes in travel behaviour during an evacuation were made and major additions were made to an activity based travel demand micro-simulator enabling it to run evacuation scenarios using the new models. The new tool is very flexible and the ability to capture the gradual change in travel behaviour is unique. It can read in a large variety of models and simulate major evacuations on an individual activity based level.

Dr Kate Boyer - Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'The role of breast pumps in infant feeding choice.'

Host University: University of Wisconsin-Madison

This project would focus on how and in what ways artificial milk expression is influencing: women’s experiences of breastfeeding in the UK; decisions about when and how to begin expressing, and decisions about how to balance breastfeeding with artificial milk expression. The proposed trip would allow me to draw on the expertise of leading scholars in the field of Science and Technology Studies in order to help develop these ideas in advance of data collection and analysis, which will take place in the Summer of 2011 back in the UK.

Valerio Torti - Law, Business, Law and Art: 'Standard setting and market power in high technology industry.'

Host University: University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The visit to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the interaction with the academics of its School of Law, and in particular with those involved in research on antitrust and IP Law, will be essential to develop an interdisciplinary approach which is at an advanced level in the U.S., although not necessarily reflected even in the recent literature.

Dr Georges Limbert - nCATS, Engineering and the Environment: 'Modelling of biomaterials and medical devices for cardiovascular applications.'

Host University: University of Cape Town.

Development of a constitutive framework for modelling the mechanics and degradation of electro-spun porous scaffolds used to tissue engineer arterial grafts. The model formulation was guided by experimental measurements conducted at the Cardiovascular Research Unit in Cape Town before and during my visit.

Dr Joanna Nield - Geography, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Measuring surface roughness variation on dry lake beds using terrestrial laser scanning for improving dust elion parameterisation in climate models.'

Host University: University of Cape Town.

The fieldwork was extremely successful and all of the original objectives were attained and extended. High resolution surface properties were collected at eight sites using a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS). TLS is a relatively new instrument that has the ability to measure surface topography in unprecedented detail (thousands of points), with millimetre accuracy and over a short time scale. For the first time we have been able to quantify surface roughness spatially over a salt pan.

Daria Tkacz - SSP, Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences: 'Entering White Spaces: Polish migrants in comparative educational contexts (Part of the WUN White Spaces Network).'

Host University: University of Sydney.

The study’s aims are to explore the educational aspirations and career plans of secondary school Polish pupils; to explore how educational decisions are negotiated within their families; and how availability of certain resources such as financial or cultural capital influences their school performance and attitude to their future.

Victoire Rerolle - SOES/OBE, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Ocean Acidification Workshop.'

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

Keywords: Ocean acidification, carbonate chemistry.

The objective was to attend an international workshop on ocean acidification; discuss work methods/approaches to ocean acidification with other colleagues.

Dr Eithne Tynan - Ocean and Earth Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'Ocean Acidification Workshop and training.

Host University: University of Washington, Seattle.

Keywords: Ocean acidification, carbonate chemistry.

The objective was to attend an international workshop on ocean acidification; discuss work methods/approaches to ocean acidification with other colleagues.

Michael Breen - Medicine - 'Establishing the molecular definition of post-traumatic stress disorder risk and susceptibility'

Host University: University of Cape Town

Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder, machine-learning, transcriptomics

The aim of this study is to identify candidate gene biomarkers capable of accurately predicting Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among high-risk individuals, by analysing whole genome gene-expression data sampled from U.S. Marines pre- and post deployment to conflict zones. It is anticipated that these findings will lead to interventions that delay or perhaps abrogate the development of PTSD.

Dr Zhiwei Hu - Engineering and the Environment - 'CAE for aerospace engineering integrating computational fluid dynamics and computer graphics'

Host University: Zhejiang University

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, computer graphics, computer-aided engineering

In collaboration with the State Key Lab of CAD and CG at Zhejiang University, working on the integrated computer-aided engineering with computer graphics design treatment (expertise from the lab) and computational fluid dynamics modelling (my research area).

Alison Simmance - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences - 'Sustainable Livelihoods: the value of small scale aquaculture to food and nutritional security in Malawi'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: Aquaculture, Climate-change, food security

The research aims to understand the role of small-scale aquaculture to improved food and nutritional security in Malawi. The project will also explore the effectiveness of the existing aquaculture governance framework and policies in improving food security. The project will focus on the district of Zomba in Southern Malawi.

Fiona Simmance - Natural and Environmental Sciences: 'The value of small-scale capture fisheries for food security in Lake Chilwa, southern Malawi, and the impacts of climate variability and human actions on this'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: Fisheries, Climate-change, food security

The research aims to understand the role of small-scale aquaculture to improved food and nutritional security in Malawi. The project will also explore the effectiveness of the existing aquaculture governance framework and policies in improving food security. The project will focus on the district of Zomba in Southern Malawi.

Dr Anne-Sophie Darlington - Health Sciences: 'Parental coping whilst a child is dying: An investigation of emotional work parents undertake and the development of an intervention to support them'

Host University: University of Rochester

Keywords: Paediatric Palliative Care, Coping, Parents

The aim is to identify and describe effective coping strategies of parents of a child with a life-limiting illness during the palliative phase and to develop an innovative intervention focused on parental coping strategies, which can be implemented by nurses in clinical practice, in order to support families.

Alexandra Diem - Engineering and the Environment: 'Numerical Modelling of Cerebral Arteries to Study the Effects of Cerebrovascular Diseases on Lymphatic Drainage in the brain'

Host University: University of Cape Town

Keywords: cerebral blood flow, brain lymphatics, artery wall mechanics

This project aims at the development of a detailed numerical cerebral artery model, which will enable the investigation of the effects of cerebrovascular diseases on lymphatic drainage in the brain. The research is particularly relevant for Alzheimer's disease, which is a direct consequence of a failure of cerebral lymphatic drainage.

Miss Yujie Nie - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences/Business and Law: 'Modelling long-term care for older people in China'

Host University: Zhejiang University

Keywords: ageing, long-term care, China

This research develops and uses a Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) model (SIMCARE-CHINA) to map the long-term care (LTC) system for older people in China, to project LTC needs and receipt of care for older people, and discuss the implications of the results for future planning and policies.

Mr Sabin Roman - Natural and Environmental Sciences - Chemistry: 'Cross-methodological considerations between agent-based computing and system dynamics'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: agent-based, system dynamics, fossil fuels

The main focus of this project is on economic effects of fossil fuel depletion. Several studies in the past have attempted to capture the large scale evolution of society by using system dynamics modelling techniques. My aim is to use agent-based computing to recover similar aggregate results from a finer-grained perspective, while also allowing for policy and behavioural insight and control.

Ms Cagla Yavulz - Business, Law and Art: 'Organizational responses to institutional pressures in the field of Higher Education'

Host University: University of Alberta

Keywords: agency, higher education, Bourdieu

This project aims to explore dynamics of organizational responses to conflicting institutional pressures from a multi-layered and relational perspective. Bourdieu's theory of social practise is employed in understanding macro, meso and micro level influences on organizational responses in order to provide more holistic picture of organizational responses.

Mr Oliver Laslett - Engineering and the Environment: 'Designing and optimising magnetic hyperthermia cancer therapy for better healthcare'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: nanotechnology, healthcare, engineering

This research mobility project aims to establish a long-term link between the University of Southampton (UoS) and the University of Western Australia (UWA) to enhance their existing research portfolios by combining state-of-the-art theory/computation (UoS) and world-class experimentation (UWA) within nanotechnology-orientated biomedical research for better healthcare.

Miss Camille Parsons - Medicine: 'Development of longitudinal modelling techniques for summarising osteoarthritis progression'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: longitudinal research, statistical modelling techniques, osteoarthritis

This project aims to develop understanding of specialist statistical methodology to assess the magnitude and effect of measurement error on assessment of changes in knee joint space width over time, in order to gain insight into patterns of joint space narrowing and determine influences on osteoarthritis progression over time.

Marcello Mazzetti - Humanities - Music - 'The 21-cent Early Music Matrix: Encoding techniques and database as philological and analytical tools'

Host University: UMassAmherst

Keywords: computational music analysis, renaissance music philology, digital humanities

The aim is to develop long-term cooperation between UoS and UMassAmherst, participating in "Tasso in Music" project, an international-leading research project across Humanities involving scholars from the US and Europe with the technical support of Stanford University, and focussing on ultimate editorial methods and digital encoding techniques in music.

Sukru Yigit Soncul - Law, Business and Art (Winchester School of Art) - 'Contagious and immunising images: Mask, medium and body'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: mask, cultural techniques, visual culture

Images of masks - employed by activists and Ebola fighters alike - are central to 21st century visual culture, which is characterised by the technological-aesthetic condition of global connectivity. This research investigates contemporary cultural techniques of mask and masking, particularly in political and biomedical contexts, from an image studies perspective.

Francesco De Lucia - Physics - 'Periodically poled optical fibres for frequency comb generation in nonlinear dispersive resonators'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: nonlinear optics/photonics

Optical frequency combs are made of thousands of equally spaced spectral lines, each an ultra-stable laser in its own right, which have had revolutionary impact on fields ranging from the detection of extra-solar planets to precision metrology (Physics Nobel prize 2005). The goal of this project is to develop novel, highly efficient quadratic frequency combs in collaboration with experts in Auckland. These will be based on the poled optical fibre technology that I have recently developed at the ORC.

Clementine Chirol - Ocean and Earth Sciences - 'Morphological evolution of restored wetland habitats'

Host University: University of Sydney

Keywords: wetland, restoration, morphology

We will compare the morphological development of recreated wetlands in the UK and in Australia using remote sensing elevation data, in order to verify whether restoration design guidelines are internationally applicable.

Andrew MacLachlan - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences - 'Examining the current state, pressures and the potential risks of urban expansion in the Perth Metropolitan Region (PMR)'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Key Words: sustainable development, environmental risk, remote sensing

This project explores the current state, pressures and potential environmental and socio-economic risks of further urban expansion within the Perth Metropolitan Region through an interdisciplinary approach combining satellite and aerial imagery, socioeconomic datasets and participant interviews. Outputs will permit planners to make more informed decisions regarding future, sustainable development.

Miss Ada Antypiuk - Medicine - 'Role of metabolome on regulating human embryonic stem cell pluripotency'

Host University: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keywords: human embryonic stem cells, pluripotency, metabolic regulation.

I will undertake research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to determine the effect of environmental oxygen on the metabolome of human embryonic stem cells (hESC's). The project is timely since it will unravel novel mechanisms through which metabolism can regulate gene transcription in hESC's.

Ms Roxana Aldea - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences - 'Modelling and imaging neurovascular coupling in the brain: a step towards understanding dementia'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: dementia, neurovascular coupling, brain imaging.

Novel modelling and imaging techniques will be developed in collaboration with Auckland Bioengineering Institute aiming to investigate the coupling between brain activity and brain clearance of metabolites. This study is relevant for Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, caused by failed clearance of toxic metabolites in the brain.

Dr Sandra Nogue Bosch - Social, Human and Mathematical Science - 'Building and island palaeodatabase: from fossil pollen and ancient DNA to conservation'

Host University: University of Auckland

Keywords: palaeoecology, aDNA, pollen.

The discovery and colonization of islands by humans has invariably resulted in their widespread ecological transformation. We aim to build a database of palaeoecological data (eg fossil pollen and ancient DNA) to set biodiversity baselines before and after human impacts that will be helpful for the long-term conservation of island ecosystems.

Dr Marcin Przewloka - Natural and Environmental Science - 'Advanced microscopical analysis of chromosome components during cell division'

Host University: University of Massachusetts Amherst

Keywords: chromosome, kinetochore, microscopy.

Proper attachment of chromosomes to microtubules of the mitotic spindle is a prerequisite of the correct transmission of genetic material to daughter cells. Kinetochores, multi-protein chromosomal structure, are responsible for this process. Here I will analyse by time lapse and super resolution microscopy major regulatory components of kinetochores in living cells.

Ms Marla Spencer - Natural and Environmental Science - 'Morphological and moleculra taxonomic approaches to study of phoxocephalid Amphipods in the West African deep-sea'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: taxonomy, barcoding, amphipoda.

Phoxocephalid amphipods are highly speciose and abundant in deep-sea sediments globally. Species identity is critical to understand mechanisms driving observed biodiversity patterns and to assess community change. DNA barcoding and traditional morphological taxonomic approaches will be used in combination to create a robust library of species in the poorly known West African Margin.

Miss Joanna Wilkin - Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences - 'Understanding the role of community structures for resilience during disaster events: the potential of geography and GIS'

Host University: University of Western Australia

Keywords: GIS, community structures, disasters.

Developing a data-led geographical approach to understand how community structures change during a disaster. Strong social networks are vital for resilience to disasters and communities are often the immediate source of these networks. The aim is to quantify these networks and structures, comparing them with the communities aptitude for recovery.

Mr Rob Joy - Humanities - 'British Agricultural Officials who 'stayed on' at independence in East Africa, 1950 - 1970'

Host University: University of Nairobi

Keywords: Africa, decolonisation and officials.

My thesis looks at the experiences and attitudes of British Agricultural Officers who 'stayed on' in East Africa after independence. Looking at AO's role in the late Colonial/Early Independent Governments reveals more about late colonial identity, attitudes to decolonisation and the perception of Africans by officials in this era. 

Dr Milan Milosevic - Physical Sciences and Engineering - 'Hyperuniform disordered devices for silicon photonics'

Host University: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keywords: hyperuniform disordered structures, silicon photonics and optical interconnects.

This proposal investigates an entirely new platform for integrated photonics characterised by hyperuniform disorder - a pattern of an unusual arrangement of cells as in a chickens eye. The outcome is envisioned to provide a low-cost solution for short reach interconnects particularly for applications in the information and communication sector.

Mr Kyle Mayers - Natural and Environmental science - 'Molecular characterisation of ciliate grazing'

Host University: University of Bergen

Keywords: genomics, ciliates, grazing

Ciliates are single-celled microzooplankton which play key top-down (grazer) and bottom up (prey)  roles in the marine microbial food web and global carbon cycle. We will use molecular tools to characterise prey selectivity of ciliates on different phytoplankton species to gain further insights into their ecological and biogeochemical roles.

Dr David Cleary - Medicine - 'Application of phylogenomic analyses to understand the epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae in Hong Kong'

Host University: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keywords: genomics, infection, epidemiology

Respiratory tract infections from Haemophilus influenzae remain a significant global burden for morbidity and mortality. Increasing antimicrobial resistance renders this challenge even greater. This project aims to use extant collections of this exclusively human bacterial pathogen, isolated from cases of chronic lung disease, in order to comparatively determine its genomic epidemiology in South-East Asia from both a regional and global context.

 

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