Professor Claire O’Malley, Dean of the Graduate School, said: “In a particularly competitive round The University of Nottingham has retained top spot nationally for the third year running. These awards, over twice as many as the next ranked institutions, span six schools across three faculties. This is testament to the breadth and strength of social science research at The University of Nottingham. The topics and partnerships also indicate our strengths in interdisciplinary and applied social science research — which is these days more than ever relevant to addressing some of the society’s most challenging problems in economics and finance, health and education.”
The University received seven awards across the Schools of Education, Geography, Psychology, Sociology and Social Policy, Nursing Midwifery and Physiotherapy and Nottingham University Business School.
Andrew Leyshon, Professor of Economic Geography and Sarah Hall, Lecturer in Economic Geography in the School of Geography have been awarded a CASE project with the Commission for Rural Communities. Professor Leyshon said: “This project will examine how mainstream and alternative networks develop and operate in response to the problems of financial exclusion in rural communities, given the long-term decline in bank and building society branches and the current uncertainty surrounding the future of the Post Office network. Although the UK is a world leader in developing financial exclusion policy, a good deal of it has to date been less than ‘joined-up’, with rural areas neglected in terms of research and policy. We will explore how a number of rural communities and households across the UK cope.”
Eamonn Ferguson, Professor of Health Psychology in the School of Psychology, has been awarded a CASE project with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. He said: “The focus of this project is to develop interventions to improve patient compliance with medication for glaucoma treatment. Glaucoma is the second most common cause for registered blindness in the UK in patients over 65 and treatment non-compliance accounts for much of this sight loss. Therefore, developing interventions to reduce this non-compliance should benefit patient prognosis.”
Roger Firth, a Lecturer in the School of Education, has been awarded a CASE project in collaboration with Severn Trent Water Ltd, Papplewick Trust and Land Quality Management Ltd. He said: “This is an exciting and important project which connects the Sustainable Schools Strategy, the learner voice and citizenship agendas in schools with the threat of declining local and global water supply. There is growing acceptance that managing water demand is necessary and the project will explore the ways in which young people and their schools can help achieve sustainability of urban water supplies within the communities of Nottingham, working with commercial and charitable organisations.”
CASE awards provide PhD students with an annual tax-free maintenance grant in excess of £17,000 (including a ‘top-up’ from the project partner organisation), a contribution towards research training costs and payment of University tuition fees.
These studentships will be advertised on the University’s Vacancies web pages (under ‘Current Opportunities | Studentships’) in the next few weeks and are open to ‘Home’ and ‘EU’ applicants, according to fee status, who satisfy the Research Councils’ eligibility requirements based on residency within the UK.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 100 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and Times Higher (THE) World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to RAE 2008, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranks the University 7th in the UK by research power. In 27 subject areas, the University features in the UK Top Ten, with 14 of those in the Top Five.
The University provides innovative and top quality teaching, undertakes world-changing research, and attracts talented staff and students from 150 nations. Described by The Times as Britain's "only truly global university", it has invested continuously in award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. Twice since 2003 its research and teaching academics have won Nobel Prizes. The University has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in both 2006 (International Trade) and 2007 (Innovation — School of Pharmacy), and was named ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2008.
Nottingham was designated as a Science City in 2005 in recognition of its rich scientific heritage, industrial base and role as a leading research centre. Nottingham has since embarked on a wide range of business, property, knowledge transfer and educational initiatives (www.science-city.co.uk) in order to build on its growing reputation as an international centre of scientific excellence. The University of Nottingham is a partner in Nottingham: the Science City.