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People 2011

Awards and Appointments

December 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Professor Jurg Bahler (UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment) has been appointed one of eighteen new Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders for a project on 'Non-coding RNA roles in genome regulation and cellular ageing'. The scheme provides up to 5 years' funding after which the award holder continues with a permanent post at the host university.  

Professor Michael Hanna has been appointed as the new Director of the UCL Institute of Neurology and will commence his appointment in January 2012. Read the news story.

Five outstanding UCL researchers were recently awarded European Research Council (ERC) Advanced grants with a total value of more than €12.4 million. Each of the grants awarded to UCL has a value of up to €2.5 million.

The UCL researchers who have been awarded ERC Advanced Grants 2011 are:

  • Professor Ofer Lahav, Department of Physics and Astronomy: 'Testing the Dark Energy Paradigm and Measuring Neutrino Mass with the Dark Energy Survey
  • Professor Daniel Miller, Department of Anthropology: 'Social Network Sites and Social Science'
  • Professor William David Richardson, Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research: 'Axoglial synapses, adult myelination and motor skills learning'
  • Professor Robin Angus Silver, Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology: 'Nonlinear synaptic integration in morphologically simple and complex neurons'
  • Professor Lars Peter Stixrude, Department of Earth Sciences: 'Fluid Silicates at Extreme Conditions and the Magma Ocean'

Read the staff news story.

November 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Dr Klaus Wunderlich (Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL) is the overall winner of the Lloyd's 2011 Science of Risk Prize for a paper on behavioural risk. Read the news story.

Professor Sir John Tooke, Vice-Provost (Health) at UCL, has begun a five year term as President of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Read the UCL news story.

The UCL Institute of Ophthalmology is the recipient of a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, in recognition of "outstanding excellence". Read the UCL news story.

Professor Anthony Smith has been appointed as UCL Vice Provost (Education) - a new role at UCL. Professor Smith has since 2006 been Principal and Dean of the School of Pharmacy, which merges with UCL from 1 January.

Edna Murphy has been appointed Manager of the UCL Faculty of Medical Health Sciences.

The Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, has announced the appointment of 40 new University Research Fellows (URFs) for 2011. Five of the the new Fellows are from UCL:

 

  • Dr Matthew Piper (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment)
  • Dr Nichola Raihani (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment) 
  • Dr Christoph Salzmann (UCL Chemistry)
  • Dr Simone Severini (UCL Computer Science)
  • Dr Thomas Wills (UCL Cell & Developmental Biology)

The scheme aims to provide outstanding scientists, who have the potential to become leaders in their chosen fields, with the opportunity to build an independent research career.

October 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Dr Ronan McCrea (UCL Laws) has been appointed as an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. The Academic Fellows Scheme aims to recognise the outstanding contribution of legal teaching and research of early to mid-career academics to the Bar of England and Wales.

Professor Alimuddin Zumla (UCL Infection & Immunity) has recently received three international prizes for his work combating tuberculosis (TB). These include the India International Foundation Science Award, the University of Amsterdam Spinoza Leerstoel award, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) STOP TB Kochon Prize. They recognise Professor Zumla's outstanding achievements in tuberculosis research, significant contribution to combating TB and excellence in infectious diseases research.

Professor Mark Marsh (UCL Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology) has been elected a member of EMBO, a European organization that enables the best science by supporting talented researchers, stimulating scientific exchange and advancing policies for a world-class European research environment.

 

September 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Professor Richard Blundell (UCL Economics) is one of ten new Honorary Doctors  awarded by NHH, The Norwegian School of Economics. The new Honorary Doctors are awarded in connection with the 75th Anniversary of the NHH.

August 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Dr Julien Cornebise (UCL Statistical Science) has been awarded the 2010 Savage Award in Theory and Methods by the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA). This award is given each year to two outstanding doctoral dissertations in Bayesian econometrics and statistics.

Hashim Ahmed (UCL Surgery and Interventional Science) has been awarded a  Clinician Scientist Fellowship for research into improving the prostate cancer diagnostic and treatment pathway. The MRC makes ten of these awards a year to promising young researchers across the medical specialties.

Professor Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at UCL) has been awarded the David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Theoretical Foundations of Human Cognition. Click here for more details.

July 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Professor Ofer Lahav (UCL Physics and Astronomy) has been appointed a Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellows of The Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science.

Professor Martin Cripps (UCL Economics) is one of only 38 academics to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy. The British Academy is the UK's national academy for the promotion of the humanities and social sciences.

Dr Pedro Hallal, currently a Royal Society Newton Fellow at the UCL Institute of Child Health, has just been awarded one of the first Wellcome Trust Investigator Awards in biomedical science. Pedro's New Investigator Award is the only one made to a researcher based outside the UK - for studies at the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, into the effects of exercise in pregnancy on the future health of the child. Pedro is a member of the Healthy Cities Commission, a flagship initiative of UCL's second Grand Challenge, Sustainable Cities.

Dr Giovanna Tinetti (UCL Physics and Astronomy) has won the 2011 Moseley Medal and Prize  for her work pioneering techniques to characterise the molecular composition of exoplanets. The Moseley Medal and Prize are awarded by The Institute of Physics.

June 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Professor Peng Tee Khaw (UCL Ophthalmology) has been named president-elect by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). ARVO is the largest eye and vision research organisation in the world, including more than 12,500 eye and vision researchers from over 80 countries.

Dr Pedro Hallal (UCL Institute of Child Health) has been awarded one of the first Wellcome Trust Investigator Awards in biomedical science. This award is the only one made to a researcher based outside the UK and is for studies at the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, into the effects of exercise in pregnancy on the future health of the child.

Professor Ray Dolan (Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL) has been awarded the Santiago Grisolía Chair 2012. The Chair, based in Valencia, Spain, is awarded annually to outstanding researchers and scientists in the field of Biomedicine and Neuroscience.

Professor Eleanor Maguire (Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL) has received the Eighth International Prize of the Dargut and Milena Kemali Foundation for Basic and Clinical Neurosciences, for innovative contributions to understanding human memory.

Professor Anthony Costello (UCL Institute of Child Health) has been awarded the James Spence Medal, the highest honour of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The award is made for outstanding contributions to paediatrics and child health.

Prof Geoff Burnstock (UCL Autonomic Neuroscience) has been awarded an Honorary Degree in Leipzig for his research on purinergic neurotransmission, and will be giving the Gaddum Prize Lecture at the British Pharmacological Society Meeting in London in December on Purinergic Signalling.

Professor Sir John Tooke, Vice-Provost (Health) has been elected to be the next President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, from November this year.

Several members of the UCL community have received honours in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2011 - please visit link

Professor Susanne Kord (UCL German) has been awarded the 2011 Forum Prize for her article The Rule of Law and the Role of Literature: German Public Debates on Husband-Killers and Human Rights (1788-1845). The prize is awarded by the editorial board of the Forum for Modern Language Studies.

May 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Dr Dan Brett (UCL Chemical Engineering) has been awarded the Baker Medal from the Institution of Civil Engineers for his published work on distributed power generation at the residential scale. This work is a consequence of a UKERC cross-cutting micro-generation project that he led from 2007-2009.

Professor Wendy Carlin (UCL Economics) has been appointed to the Expert Advisory Panel of the Office of Budget Responsibility.

Professor Mark Girolami (UCL Statistical Science) has been elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Professor Andrew Chesher (UCL Economics) has been elected Foreign Honorary Member of the American Economic Association.

A project led by UCL architectural research practice sixteen*(makers) in collaboration with German manufacturers Stahlbogen GmbH, has received an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects. The project, known as 55/02, which is named after its geographic coordinates in Kielder, Northumbria, was identified as one of the best new buildings in the UK this year. Stahlbogen GmbH is led by UCL Alumni and former UCL Bartlett School staff Nick Callicott and Kristina Ehlert, who collaborated from the outset of the design process with former colleagues in sixteen*(makers) led by Bob Sheil, The Bartlett School of Architecture's Director of Technology. Click this link to view a video about the project.

Dr John Morton OBE (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience) has been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society.

Steve Jones UCL (UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment) has been elected to membership of the American Philosophy Society. Professor Jones was this year's sole international member elected in Class B, Biological Sciences.

Kyriacos C. Nicolaou (Ph.D., 1972): currently Shiley Professor of Chemistry, Chairman, Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute; Skaggs Professor of Chemical Biology, The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology; Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, University of California, San Diego

Roger Penrose (BSc 1952): Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics Emeritus

Julienne Hanson, Emeritus Professor of House Form and Culture at The UCL Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Inclusive Design.

The award was presented at Include 2011, the sixth international Include conference, held at the Royal College of Art, London.


Four of UCL's leading medical researchers have been recognised for excellence in medical science with their election to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences:

  • Professor Phillip Beales (UCL ICH Molecular Medicine)
  • Professor David Hawkes (UCL Medical Physics and Bioengineering)
  • Professor Eleanor Maguire (Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL)
  • Professor Andrew Phillips (UCL Infection and Population Health)

April 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

The administration team from UCL Psychology and Language Sciences has been shortlisted for a Times Higher Education Award.

The team has been shortlisted for the award for Outstanding Departmental Administration Team as part of The Times Higher Leadership and Management Awards 2011. This award recognises outstanding work in departmental administration. It covers the academic year 2009-10 and is open to all higher education institutions in the UK.

A UCL study aiming to reduce neonatal mortality rates and maternal depression in very poor communities in eastern India has been awarded 'Trial of the Year' by the Society for Clinical Trials (SCT).

The Society deemed that the Ekjut trial in Jharkhand and Orissa was an "extraordinary randomised clinical trial, conducted with high quality in a very difficult setting, and achieving dramatic results of great public health importance."

The trial was led by Dr Prasanta Tripathy and Dr Nirmala Nair in collaboration with the UCL Centre for International Health and Development, and was considered by the SCT to fulfil the following criteria:

March 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Talia Atkin, a researcher at UCL Research Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, has won a gold medal in the House of Commons for the excellence of her scientific research.

Her research, which looks at the underlying causes of schizophrenia, was judged against 59 other shortlisted biologists' work. At the same event, Jay Stone, a researcher at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, was awarded silver medal for research which looks at LBP in eye disease.

February 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

Professor Ardis Butterfield (UCL English Language and Literature) has been awarded the 2010 RH Gapper Book Prize by the Society of French Studies for her book The Familiar Enemy: Chaucer, Language and Nation in Hundred Years War. This award is for the best book published in 2009 by a scholar working in Britain or Ireland in French studies, judged on the criteria of critical and scholarly distinction and likely impact on wider critical debate.

January 2011

Awards, appointments, elections and honours

David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science, has reappointed UCL President and Provost Professor Malcolm Grant to membership of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Professor Robin Clark gave the annual Minerva Lecture of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers on "Raman's Legacy: Spectroscopy in the Cause of Art and Archaeology", at the Glaziers' Hall, London on 18 January 2011.

Professor Andrew Pomiankowski (UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment) has been awarded Fellowship of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a Fellow is an honour bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Proffesor Pomiankowski's Fellowship was awarded for distinguished contributions in evolutionary genetics, theoretical and experimental, in particular in the fields of sexual selection, the evolution of mate preference and sexual signals.

Professor Dawn Oliver (UCL Laws) has taken up the role of Treasurer (i.e., Head) for 2011 of Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. It is the first time that an academic lawyer has been elected to such a position.

Mr Mandeep S. Sagoo (UCL Ophthalmology) has been awarded the Syme Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The Syme Medal is a prestigious mark of excellence awarded by the College to a Fellow or Member of the College in good standing, on the basis of a recently submitted thesis (MD or PhD), or published body of research, or Educational development. The Medal is awarded to Surgeons in Training or recently appointed consultants. 

UCL awards and appointments

Mssr. Frédéric Migayrou has been appointed as the new Bartlett Professor of Architecture. Professor Migayrou's appointment at the Bartlett starts in March 2011, and will be held concurrently with his role as Director of Centre de Création Industrielle, and Deputy Director at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

UCL has appointed Professor Murray Fraser to a Personal Chair at UCL in the Bartlett. Professor Fraser has previously taught at Oxford Brookes and Westminster, and is well known for having tutored many prize-winning students in both design and architectural history and theory in the RIBA President's Medals and other competitions.

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