News and events
Professor Atta Badii meets the President of the European Commission
December 2011
Professor Atta Badii, School of Systems Engineering, met with the President of the European Comission (Jose Manuel Barroso) and the EU Commissioner for Science and Innovation (Maire Geoghegan-Quinn) whilst exhibiting his 'CompanionAble' project at the 2011 European Innovation Convention. The CompanionAble project was selected as one of two 'Star Innovation Projects' to be presented to the President and Commissioner at the event.
Meteorology academic awarded medal for outstanding research in solar-terrestrial sciences
December 2011
Congratulations to Professor Mike Lockwood, Meteorology, who has been awarded the prestigious 2012 Julius Bartels Medal by the European Geosciences Union for his outstanding research in solar-terrestrial sciences.
Staff in Science honoured by students in RUSU Gold Star Awards 2011
July 2011
Dr Alan Howard (School of Human and Environmental Sciences) has received a Gold Star Award from RUSU for his outstanding contributions to teaching and learning. A total of 365 nominations were received for the six Gold Star awards from students wanting to show their appreciation to those members of staff who had helped and inspired them throughout the year.
Comments received from students who nominated Dr Howard included:
"He makes lectures very up-to-date and includes lots of relevant information that is currently happening in the world."
"He provides drop-in sessions as well as online help forums which are really useful."
The Faculty congratulates Dr Howard on his award.
New Pro-Vice-Chancellor and new Dean of Science
July 2011
Professor Gavin Brooks, Dean of Science, has been appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor designate for the period 1 October - 31 December 2011, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the period 1 January 2012 - 31 July 2015. Professor Brooks will have particular responsibility for Teaching and Learning, and will be taking-over from Professor Rob Robson following his appointment as Provost and Chief Executive Officer of the University's proposed branch campus in Iskandar, Malaysia.
Professor George Marston, currently Head of the School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy, has been elected Dean of Science to serve for the period 1 October 2011 - 31 July 2015.
The Faculty congratulates Professor Brooks and Professor Marston on their new roles.
Professor of Archaeology recognised in New Year Honours list
January 2011
Professor Michael Fulford, Professor of Archaeology and Director of the Silchester Town Life Project, has received a CBE in the New Year Honours announced on 31 December 2010, for his services to scholarship.
Professor Fulford was promoted Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading in 1988, and his research interests are in Roman archaeology, particularly in the fields of urbanism, economy, material culture, technology and trade.
Faculty welcomes new Dean and Faculty Director of Teaching and Learning
August 2010
The Faculty is delighted to welcome Professor Gavin Brooks to his new role as Dean of the Faculty of Science, and Dr Orla Kennedy to her new role as Faculty Director of Teaching and Learning for Science.
Security Minister praises counter-terrorism research by the School of Systems Engineering
March 2010
Lord West, the government's Security Minister, visited the University recently to learn more about the ground-breaking technology being developed by the Computational Vision Group (CVG) in the School of Systems Engineering, which will help combat terrorism in the future. The research, led by Dr James Ferryman, is seeking to improve the effectiveness of CCTV for safety, security and threat assessment.
The work includes crowd image analysis, spotting unattended luggage and threats to aviation both on the ground and in the air. The research is included in the government's Innovative Science and Technology (INSTINCT) programme that seeks to address the objectives of the UK's conter-terrorism strategy, known as CONTEST.
Professor advises Government on sustainable construction
March 2010
Professor Will Hughes from the School of Construction Management and Engineering has been appointed to the government's Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team (IGT), which aims to identify how the construction industry can best deliver the future carbon reduction commitments for 2020 and beyond. The IGT's final report will be published later this year.
Dr Valerio Lucarini wins Outstanding Young Scientist award
January 2010
Dr Valerio Lucarini from the Department of Meteorology has been awarded the Outstanding Young Scientist Award of the European Geosciences Union. This award covers achievements in any section of Geosciences, so competition was fierce. Dr Lucarini will be given a medal and will give a plenary lecture at the next EGU assembly in Vienna, Austria, in May 2010.
School of Systems Engineering wins contract to design infrared optics for the European Space Agency
December 2009
The Infrared Multilayer Laboratory in the School of Systems Engineering has recently been awarded a prestigious contract to design and develop space-flight infrared optics for the European Space Agency's Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) project. The contract for the supply of precision infrared optical filters was awarded to the Laboratory from detector contractor AIM Infrarot-Module GmbH (Germany).
Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher Education awarded to Archaeology
November 2009
The University of Reading has been awarded the prestigious Queens Anniversary Prize 2009 in recognition of the excellence of the University's Department of Archaeology, which, uniquely within the study of archaeology, combines ground-breaking research, enterprise and teaching.
This is the second Queens Anniversary Prize to be awarded to Departments in the Faculty of Science - the Department of Meteorology was a previous recipient in 2006.
Athena Swan Silver Award at the School of Construction Management and Engineering
September 2009
The School of Construction Management and Engineering has become the first school of construction to be awarded a Silver Award by Athena SWAN. The awards recognise and celebrate good employment practice for women working in science, engineering and technology in higher education and research.