STORIES FROM AN EXCEPTIONALUNIVERSITY

WHAT MAKES USEXCEPTIONAL?

Many organisations claim to change lives, but we areproud to be in a position to demonstrate exactly howour groundbreaking research is making a differenceacross the globe.

Our academics are exploring the structure of the universe,developing life-saving treatments, and creating new medicinesthat can be personalised to individual patients to improve theireffectiveness. We are creating revolutionary materials forindustry, producing new foods to tackle obesity, investigatingrenewable energy sources, and exploring the potential ofbiological tools that could replace damaged tissue.

Rated in the top 1% of higher education institutions worldwide,we inspire people to learn and achieve. We are committed toensuring that we offer a truly world-class student experience,investing in state-of-the-art teaching facilities and developingaward-winning accommodation. This year we are also openinga campus in London, offering a suite of vocationally focusedpostgraduate programmes that will enable students to benefit

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from accreditation by professional bodies as well as stronglinks with industry.

In an era of unprecedented change in the higher educationsector, we continue to attract the brightest and the best. With36,000 students, including 10,000 online students, we arecontinually expanding the availability of our academicprogrammes, and more than half our staff are ranked worldleading or internationally excellent.

We believe this is an exceptional place with an exceptionalstory to tell. And with an international network of partners, ourimpact is being felt all over the world.

To be part of our next chapter, visit: www.liverpool.ac.uk.

Vice-ChancellorProfessor Sir Howard Newby CBE

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Established in 1881, we have along tradition of pursuing novelinterdisciplinary research thathas a tangible impact on people,places, policies and the planet.Our research is focusing onsome of the biggest issuesaffecting society, includingenvironmental and culturalchange, security and conflict,sustainable energy, materialsfor the future, personalisedhealth and global healthcare.

WE ARE INTHETOP 1% OF HIGHER EDUCATIONINSTITUTIONS WORLDWIDE

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INVESTIGATINGTHEBEHAVIOUROF ANTIMATTER

Scientists from our Department of Physics are playing a significant role in the international ALPHAexperiment at CERN in Switzerlandto measure the effect of gravity onantihydrogen – the antimattercounterpart of hydrogen – markingan important step in understandinghow antimatter behaves.

The Nuclear Physics group, who wereresponsible for building and operating a silicon vertex detector at CERN whichenables experiments of this kind to becarried out, trapped and then releasedantihydrogen atoms in order to measureits freefall gravity.

The experiment, which was built in theLiverpool Semiconductor DetectorCentre, enabled the team to demonstrate

that hydrogen and antihydrogen sharedthe same properties and thereforeresponded to gravity in the same way.

Professor Paul Nolan, who leads theLiverpool team, said: “Although the datadoes not allow a more accurate limit tobe determined yet, future developmentswill allow researchers to improve thesemeasurements and test more accuratelyfor possible deviations.”

The work at the ALPHA experiment isaimed at accurate measurements of theproperties of antimatter which in turn willhelp us understand why the world aroundus is made almost entirely of matter ratherthan antimatter. The improved accuracy ofthese measurements in the next few yearswill be an important step towards thisunderstanding.

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CREATING PIONEERINGNEWMATERIALSFOR INDUSTRY

A revolutionary facility founded by the University in collaboration with Unilever will empower companiesand academic teams to design and create new functionalmaterials at the molecular level, paving the way for thedevelopment of innovative, high-value products tosupport key industrial sectors, including energy,healthcare, telecommunications and transport.

The Materials Innovation Factory, which will open in 2016, will provide a unique suite of state-of-the-art equipment andmodeling facilities, led by a team of academic and industrialresearch experts in open-access laboratories. Companies will

Our scientists have shed new light on how divingmammals, such as the sperm whale, have evolved tosurvive for long periods underwater without breathing.

The team identified high levels of the oxygen-binding proteinMyoglobin in elite diving mammals such as whales and seals,as well as semi-aquatic beavers, muskrats and water shrews.They found that the increased electrical charge of Myoglobin

in mammals that have high concentrations of the proteincauses electro-repulsion, like similar poles of two magnets.This prevents proteins from sticking together, which can impairtheir function, and allows much higher concentrations of theoxygen-storing Myoglobin in the muscles of these divers.

The research, funded by the Biotechnology and BiologicalSciences Research Council (BBSRC), has the potential to helpimprove understanding of diseases where protein aggregationis a problem – such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes – and couldinform the development of artificial blood substitutes.

be able to access world-leading facilities and knowledge inorder to discover new, sustainable materials and transformativecommercial applications.

At the heart of the Factory will be shared laboratory facilitieshousing a £10 million suite of measurement and analyticinstrumentation, coupled with bespoke synthetic capabilitiesand a unique high-throughput formulation laboratory. This willaccelerate the research process and greatly reduce time tomarket. The co-location of University and industry researcherswill facilitate technology readiness levels (TRL) from 2-7: thatis, from molecular discovery through to development, testing,and ultimately the creation of prototypes.

Professor Stephen Holloway, Provost for Innovation, said: “This new type of institute builds on our world-leadingexpertise in materials science and engineering at Liverpool. Its creation sets a new paradigm for university-industrycollaboration in the UK. The Factory will significantly extend the UK research base, promoting economic growth andproviding outstanding facilities for the education of graduatestudents and young researchers.”

INCREASINGUNDERSTANDINGOFDISEASETHROUGHEVOLUTION

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PUSHINGTHEBOUNDARIES OFRENEWABLE ENERGY

Our Stephenson Institute forRenewable Energy has beenawarded £4 million to address theinsufficient lifespan of batteriesused to store energy made byrenewable industries.

Stable Interfaces for RechargeableBatteries (SIRBATT), funded by theEuropean Union's Seventh FrameworkProgramme (FP7), aims to enhance the lifetime of batteries used to storeenergy generated from renewableindustries such as solar and wind power. The project brings togetheracademic and industrial partners fromacross the EU, and the InternationalAdvisory Board includes leading batteryresearch groups from the US and Japan.

The Institute, which was created toundertake research into renewable

PURSUING GROUNDBREAKINGRESEARCHProfessors Andrew Cooper andMathias Brust from the Departmentof Chemistry have been awardedcoveted £2.1 million EuropeanResearch Council Advanced grantsto pursue groundbreaking, high-riskprojects that open new directionsin their research fields.

The grants are awarded to scientistswho are exceptional leaders in terms ofthe originality and significance of theirresearch contributions.

Professor Cooper is transforming thearea of organic crystal engineering byintroducing a new level of ‘designability’ into functional molecular crystals, while

energy sources, is also developingthe next generation of renewablechemicals from biomass to use in the manufacture of materials, plastics,solvents and pharmaceuticals.

The £1.8 million project will involvedeveloping platform chemicals from the sugars, fats, oils andcarbohydrates produced by biomass,including food supply chain wastesand forestry wastes.

Leading the project, Dr Jose Lopez-Sanchez said: “Usingrenewables in the production ofbioenergy and chemicals is one ofthe steps required to reduce CO2

emissions and therefore reduces thedetrimental impact of human activityon our environment.”

Professor Brust has been awardedfunding for his project PANDORA(Performance Active Nanoscale DevicesObtained by Rational Assembly), which will make nanomaterials moreresponsive and more ‘biological’.

Professor Matthew Rosseinsky, also from our Department of Chemistry, has been awarded a Royal SocietyResearch Professorship – one of onlythree scientists to be honoured in thisway. Professor Rosseinsky leads aresearch group that works tounderstand the physical and chemicalproperties of new materials.

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UNRAVELLINGTHEHISTORY OF BRITISHDEPORTEES

Professor Barry Godfrey from the School of Law andSocial Justice is leading a£1.7 million internationalproject funded by the Artsand Humanities ResearchCouncil to determine the fates

of more than 66,000 prisoners from London who weretransported to Australia from 1787 up to the 1920s.

The Digital Panopticon project will bring together informationfrom numerous genealogical, biometric and criminal justicedatabases into one searchable website, enabling historians tochart the fortunes of all prisoners transported to Australia fromthe point of conviction to their death.

University geologists are exploring how currents of hot gas and rock that follow explosive volcaniceruptions can travel so far, causing widespreaddamage to communities living around the flanks of volcanoes.

Professor Peter Kokelaar, George Herdman Professor of Geology in Earth, Ocean & Ecological Sciences, isusing a combination of theory, laboratory experimentsand fieldwork to understand the pyroclastic flowsassociated with volcanoes that have led to so manydeaths in volcanic regions.

In recognition of his work, Professor Kokelaar has beenawarded the Murchison Medal from the GeologicalSociety, which is given to scientists who have made a significant contribution to the field throughtheir research.

CREATING ASAFERWORLD

The University’s Institute for Risk and Uncertainty offerscross-disciplinary, cutting-edge expertise to analyse thelong-lasting consequences that real world problemsand disasters have on society.

The only centre of its kind in the UK, the Institute bringstogether researchers from across the University’s threeacademic specialties to work with industry and governmentalbodies to quantify, mitigate and manage risk in a variety offields in order to reduce or prevent their consequences on aglobal scale.

Current research is exploring issues of risk and resilienceassociated with building design, climate analysis, reliabilityengineering, software reliability and materials science.

RESEARCHING THE IMPACT OF

VOLCANICERUPTIONS

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INVESTIGATING THE CONTROLOF EPIDEMIC DISEASES

Researchers in our Institute of Infection and GlobalHealth have discovered that mass poultry vaccinationprogrammes introduced to combat Salmonella have ledto a dramatic fall in the number of cases.

A raft of control measures were introduced into the poultryindustry following an epidemic of the disease in the early1990s, including movement restrictions, compulsory slaughterand disinfection procedures, and a voluntary industry-ledvaccination scheme.

The decrease in laboratory confirmed human cases coincidesquite closely with the introduction of vaccination programmes.This suggests these programmes have made a majorcontribution to improving public health.

SHAPINGTHE FUTUREPOLICYAGENDA The University has named its Institute for Public Policy& Practice after Lord Heseltine in honour of hiscommitment to giving cities greater powers to shapetheir own futures and for his role in revitalising Liverpool.

The Heseltine Institute helps to connect research expertise atthe University with policymakers, practitioners and the publicto produce accessible research on key policy areas.

Current research focuses on six themes: Society, Environment,Health and Wellbeing, Governance, Economy, and Technology,exploring issues such as how we can better understand andinfluence the factors that make some cities succeed, how wecan exploit the opportunities of ‘Big Data’ whilst safeguardingthe interests of citizens, how we can develop immigrationpolicies that are genuinely ‘fit for purpose’, and why we shouldbe interested in the future of rural communities.

ENHANCING CYBER SECURITYResearchers from our School of Electrical Engineering,Electronics and Computer Science have shown for thefirst time that WiFi networks can be infected with a viruswhich can move through densely populated areas asefficiently as the common cold.

The team designed and simulated an attack by a virus calledChameleon, and found that not only could it spread quickly, butthat it was able to avoid detection and identify the points at whichWiFi access is least protected by encryption and passwords.

Alan Marshall, Professor of Network Security, said: “It wasassumed that it wasn’t possible to develop a virus that couldattack WiFi networks, however we demonstrated that it is andalso that it can spread quickly. We are now able to use the datagenerated from this study to develop a new technique toidentify when an attack is likely.”

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EXPLORINGTHE HUMAN FOOTIn a study of more than 25,000 human steps made on a pressure-sensitive treadmill, scientists in ourInstitute of Ageing and Chronic Disease have shownthat despite having abandoned life in the trees long ago, human feet have retained a surprising amount of flexibility and have much more in common with the flexible feet of other great apes.

Dr Karl Bates from the Institute said: “Despite becoming nearly exclusively ground-dwelling, we have retained flexibilityin the feet to allow us to cope effectively with the differences inhard and soft ground surfaces. The next part of our study willbe testing this theory, which could offer a reason why humanscan outrun a horse over long distances on irregular terrain.”

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of theRoyal Society B, is supported by the Natural EnvironmentResearch Council, The Leverhulme Trust and the Royal Society.

Environmental scientists have usedtheir expertise in geophysical dataprocessing to discover evidence of an ancient micro-continent buriedbeneath the Indian Ocean whichextends more than 1,500 km inlength from the Seychelles to theisland of Mauritius and containsrocks as old as 2,000 million years,much older than the Indian Oceanwhich has formed only in the last165 million years.

They believe this micro-continent, whichthey have named Mauritia, was split offfrom Madagascar and India between 61and 83 million years ago as one singleland mass drifted apart to form thecontinents around the Indian Ocean weknow today. Much of it was then

smothered by thick lava deposits as aresult of volcanic activity and submergedbeneath the waves.

The research team used satellite deriveddata to map crustal thickness under theIndian Ocean. Employing geophysicaldata processing techniques, they wereable to identify large areas where thecrust beneath the sea floor was muchthicker than normal, suggesting thatthere are remnants of fragmentedcontinents under the Indian Ocean.

The mapping techniques, which usesatellite data developed by Liverpooland industry partners, are applied todeep-water oil and gas exploration infrontier areas and have also been usedby governments when settling disputesregarding ownership of territories.

DISCOVERINGANCIENTWORLDS

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IMPROVING BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

The University’s Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC) hasestablished a partnership with the UK Science andTechnology Facilities Council at Daresbury Laboratoryto deliver joint solutions to industry challengessupported by access to the country’s largest HighPerformance Computing resources.

Established in 2010, the VEC is a unique private-publicpartnership committed to the use of modelling, simulationand 3D immersive visualisation to improve businessperformance and competitiveness for the advancedengineering sector.

Recent projects include a collaboration with Jaguar LandRover which combined the expertise of both organisations to develop new scientific workflows connected to HighPerformance Computing resources, producinggroundbreaking Computer Aided Engineering processtemplates to support future designs.

The VEC is also leading a £9.1 million project to developrelevant software and sensor technologies created by highlyinnovative SMEs for use in autonomous systems, and wasinstrumental in the awarding of a £3.3 million AdvancedManufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) project which will create a new ‘digital’ supply chain for the UKautomotive sector.

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A Centre for Global Eco-Innovation has been launchedto join research and development expertise with smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Centre offers up to 50 graduates the chance to workon intensive three-year projects with North West SMEs,

INVESTING INWORLD-CLASS EQUIPMENT The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences ResearchCouncil (BBSRC) has invested £1.9 million in world-class facilities at the University, enabling us to acquire technology which will consolidate ourreputation for world-class research in life sciences.

In conjunction with the Technology Directorate, the Institutes of Integrative Biology and Translational Medicine have recentlywon four of 20 grants awarded nationally in the BBSRC ALERT 13 funding competition. The initiative is designed tofacilitate maximum use of technology through managed openaccess, collaboration, and resource sharing.

The four grants were awarded to the University to purchasecutting-edge technology in genomics, proteomics, cell imagingand electron microscopy. In each case, the instruments will berun as shared research facilities, providing access to researchgroups and industry from across the UK.

GENERATINGECONOMIC GROWTH The University is leading a study to explore howuniversities across the North of England can work moreclosely with the arts and humanities to generate growthand address a diverse range of research questions.

The N8 Research Partnership, a collaboration of the eight most research-intensive universities in the North (Durham,Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffieldand York) has received funding from the Arts and HumanitiesResearch Council to carry out a pilot study to identify ways in which academics, practitioners in the arts and humanities,and local authorities can collaborate to stimulate reinventionand influence economic growth in the region.

The study will build on the N8’s existing partnerships with local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships and willinvestigate opportunities for creating employment throughstart-up businesses and supporting economic development at a community level.

providing an opportunity for those involved to use theirproject as the basis of a PhD programme. The Centre willalso support up to 250 North West companies to developnew products and services through three to six monthcollaborations with the University.

SUPPORTING LOCAL INDUSTRY

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We support collaboration andjoined-up thinking across thespectrum of scientific discovery,clinical research and healthcareprovision in pursuit of safe,effective therapies and practice to make life better for patients and professionals worldwide.With 1,300 world-leadingresearchers, an annual researchincome of £124 million, and alegacy of nine Nobel Laureates, it is no surprise that we are atthe forefront of groundbreakingdiscoveries.

WE ARE IMPROVING PATIENT CARE ANDDEVELOPINGNEWTREATMENTS

Professor Munir Pirmohamed andProfessor Thomas Walley, Director of the National Institute for HealthResearch Health Technology Assessmentand Efficacy and Mechanism EvaluationProgrammes in Health Services Researchin the Institute of Psychology, Health andSociety, have both been elected to theFellowship of the Academy of MedicalSciences for their exceptional contributionand excellence in medical research.

Professor Pirmohamed has also beenappointed as the first holder of the DavidWeatherall Chair of Medicine, which hasbeen established in honour of DavidWeatherall (FRS, DL, MBChB, FRCP,FRCPE, Hon LLD 1992). Sir David has had a long association with the Universityand previously held a Chair inHaematology at Liverpool.

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CREATINGPERSONALISEDMEDICINES

The effectiveness of one of the most widely-used anti-coagulant drugs can be improved if genotypetesting is carried out before the dose is decided,according to findings from Liverpool researchers.

Professor Munir Pirmohamed, from the University’s Institute of Translational Medicine, tested the effect of the anticoagulantdrug Warfarin when prescribed in a standard dose and whenprescribed based on genotype testing of patients.

Professor Pirmohamed, who is Director of the University’sWolfson Centre for Personalised Medicines and the LiverpoolHealth Partners’ Clinical Academic Programme Lead forDrugs, said: “We have been able to show that personalisingthe dose to the patient based on their genes, age and bodyweight can help set the right dose and reduce both risk andthe time it takes for the medicine to become effective.”

The research, which was funded by the European Union'sSeventh Framework Programme (FP7), has been presentedat the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, whichis attended by more than 18,000 delegates. It was alsopublished in the New England Journal of Medicine.

TRANSFORMING CANCERDIAGNOSISThe University has been awarded £3.2 million from theEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council(EPSRC) to develop new diagnostic tests for cervical,oesophageal and prostate cancer patients.

These cancers are difficult to detect at an early stage as symptoms only become apparent when the tumoursbecome large.

The funding will allow Liverpool researchers to use a uniqueand extremely intense source of infrared light (the Infrared Free Electron Laser), provided by the Science and TechnologyFacilities Council’s ALICE accelerator testing facility, to identifychanges both within and surrounding cells which indicate a tumour.

This will help to support early diagnosis of cancers and couldlead to the development of new instrumentation for cancerdiagnosis that will directly benefit patients.

Meanwhile, Professor Chris Probert from the Institute ofTranslational Medicine has developed a device in collaborationwith scientists at the University of the West of England whichcan read odours in urine to help diagnose patients with earlysigns of bladder cancer, which is said to be the most expensivecancer to treat.

The ODOREADER® contains a sensor which responds tochemicals in gas emitted from urine. The device analyses this gas and produces a ‘profile’ of the chemicals that can beread by scientists to diagnose the presence of cancer cells inthe bladder.26

DEVELOPINGNEWAPPROACHESTOTREAT ALZHEIMER’S

Scientists from the Institute of Integrative Biology aredeveloping a new approach to harness the naturalability of complex sugars to block a protein thatcauses damage in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients.

The team, led by Professor Jerry Turnbull, has used a newchemical method to produce the world’s largest library ofsugars called Heparan Sulphates in the lab. These sugars,which are found in nearly every cell of the body, can preventthe formation of small proteins in the brain which disrupt thenormal function of cells leading to the progressive memoryloss which is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.

The sugars are being tested to identify those with the bestactivity and fewest possible side effects, as these will havepotential for development into a drug treatment that targets the underlying cause of the disease.

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generates new nerve cells, but diets rich in omega-3s could prevent thesenegative effects by stimulating the areaof the brain that controls feeding,learning and memory. However datafrom 185 research papers revealed thatfish oils do not have a direct impact onthis process in these areas of the brain,but are likely to play a significant role installing refined sugars and saturatedfats’ ability to inhibit the brain’s controlon the body’s intake of food.

The research, which was published in the British Journal of Nutrition,concluded that while fish oils do notappear to have a direct impact onweight loss, including more oily fish or fish supplements in our diets couldimprove peoples’ general health bymimicking the effects of calorierestrictive diets.

MINIMISINGTHE IMPACTOFJUNK FOOD

TACKLINGTHECAUSES OF OBESITY

Researchers from our Institute ofAgeing and Chronic Disease havefound that fish oils could minimisethe effect that junk food has on the brain.

The team, led by Dr Lucy Pickavance,reviewed research from around theworld to see whether there was sufficientdata available to suggest that omega-3shad a role to play in aiding weight loss.

Research over the past 10 years hasindicated that high-fat diets coulddisrupt neurogenesis, a process that

Liverpool psychologists are coordinating a £6 millionEuropean Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)project to develop new food products that help peopleto feel full faster in order to tackle the nation’s growingobesity problem.

SATIN – SATiety INnovation is a five-year project that bringstogether 18 academic and industry partners from nine Europeancountries. Professor Jason Halford, Director of our HumanIngestive Behaviour Laboratory, said: “We have been developinga range of prototype foods and beverages that aim to fill peopleup quicker and for longer which have been tested to assesstheir impact on key satiation and satiety triggers within thebody. This innovative approach will help us to select the mostpromising prototypes to take forward into our clinical studies,through which we hope to demonstrate the longer termbenefits of including such products in a healthy balanced diet.”

The University is raising £10 million to build an Institutefor Child Health as part of Alder Hey Children’sHospital’s new state-of-the-art campus, Alder Hey in thePark, which will offer leading care and treatment facilitiesfor children. The Institute, part of one of Europe’s leadinghospitals, will enable us to further build on our researchtrack record in treating childhood infectious diseases,cancer, asthma, cystic fibrosis and lupus.

The facility will also give us the research capacity to work witha greater number and variety of children’s healthcare andresearch organisations throughout the UK and overseas.

IMPROVINGCHILD HEALTH

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ENABLINGMEDICALADVANCESTHROUGHMATHS TECHNIQUESThe Centre for Mathematical Imaging Techniques has been awarded £1.3 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop a novel diagnostic tool to be used in various medicalapplications, from structural health monitoring topredicting tissue quality.

The three-year project brings together leading experts inMaterials Science, Computational Mathematics and BiomedicalEngineering to develop new mathematical models andalgorithms which can be used to understand and interpretmedical images and support the management of disease.

NEWHOPE FORALKAPTONURIASUFFERERSA national centre has been opened in Liverpooloffering treatment for sufferers of a rare geneticdisease called Alkaptonuria (AKU) which causesdebilitating deterioration in patients’ joints.

The Robert Gregory National Alkaptonuria Centre, based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, is enablingpatients suffering from AKU to benefit from a five-yearclinical trial of the drug Nitisinone, which has been shownby a team of scientists at the University’s Institute ofAgeing and Chronic Disease to prevent the onset of thedisease if used at the earliest signs of the condition. If the drug is administered throughout a patient’s lifespan,it has the potential to prevent joint disease altogether.

The teambehind this groundbreakingresearch is one of 13European organisations to beawarded the 2013 RARE Championsof Hope Collaborations in ScienceAward in recognition of theircontribution to patient advocacy,scientific research and medical care.

REVOLUTIONISING MEDICAL CARE Projects funded by the MedicalResearch Council (MRC) arerevolutionising medical care acrossthe University.

Scientists at our MRC Centre for DrugSafety Science have been awarded £4.5 million as part of the MRC andBritish Heart Foundation’s £20 millioninvestment in the development ofregenerative medicine therapies.

Regenerative medicine is a relatively new field of science which uses a rangeof biological tools to repair or replacedamaged tissue and has the potential to transform medical care by providingtreatments for incurable conditions suchas heart disease, Parkinson’s disease,blindness and liver failure.

Our Centre is also leading a €1.2 millionResearch study called PAMPER whichwill devise new methods to speed thedevelopment of drugs for children thatshould be faster and safer than currentlyused approaches.

Meanwhile scientists at our Centre for Integrated research intoMusculoskeletal Ageing, which issupported by the MRC and ArthritisResearch UK, are exploring the debateabout whether age-related decline in bone density – a key feature ofosteoporosis – and the degeneration of articular cartilage are due to ageingalone or whether the risk of developingthese conditions increases with specificdiseases in older people.

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CENTRES OF EXCELLENCEESTABLISHED The Institute of Infection and Global Health has won two bids worth a combined total of £7.5 million from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) toestablish Department of Health Protection ResearchUnits (HPRUs) at the University focusing on EmergingInfections, and Zoonosis and Gastrointestinal Infections.

HPRUs are partnerships between universities and PublicHealth England (PHE) which will create national centres ofexcellence in multi-disciplinary health protection research.

Led by Head of Institute Professor Tom Solomon, the HPRU in Emerging Infections will explore new ways of detecting and characterising pathogens, develop novel surveillance and epidemiological approaches, and improve understandingof disease transmission and the associated effects of climate change.

The second unit, specialising in Zoonosis and GastrointestinalInfections and led by Professor Sarah O’Brien from theDepartment of Epidemiology and Population Health, will focuson integrating natural science and social science methodologiesto work out how best to control diarrhoeal diseases.

Professor Solomon said: “Six of the 13 new HPRUs to befunded by NIHR relate specifically to infection. For Liverpool tohost two of these six really cements our position as one of thecountry’s pre-eminent centres for infection research.”

INVESTIGATINGALTERNATIVETREATMENTS

Dr Rachel Floyd from the Institute of TranslationalMedicine has been awarded a Fellowship by KidneyResearch UK to investigate how the E. coli bacteriawhich cause Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) move to thekidneys, where they can cause considerable damage.

UTIs currently affect around half of all women in the UK, butE. coli, the bacteria which cause 85% of UTIs, are becomingincreasingly resistant to antibiotics that are currently available,meaning they may not clear an infection. If the untreated UTIspreads to the upper urinary tract it can cause kidney damage.

Previous studies have suggested that E.coli can ‘hide’ insidecells lining the bladder, which makes antibiotics ineffective andmeans the immune system does not respond effectively, sobacteria are not properly cleared from the bladder. This maybe why some people get recurrent UTIs.

Dr Floyd (pictured right) said: “I’m hoping to be able to identify alternative treatments before all current antibiotics used to treat UTIs become completely ineffective.”

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INNOVATORS IN ORTHOPTICS

Professor Gail Stephenson, Head of the Directorate of Orthoptics and Vision Science and Consultant VisionScientist at Manchester United FC, has been elected thefirst British President of the European Association ofOrthoptics (OCE).

The OCE ensures that Orthoptics has a voice in settinglegislation in Brussels in relation to working rights andstandards of occupations.

Our Directorate of Orthoptics and Vision Science designs,delivers and supports a wide-ranging education programme,including a BSc (Hons) course, postgraduate training andprofessional development.

Dr Fiona Rowe, a Senior Lecturer in Orthoptics, has also

received a Silver Achievement award for the UK and IrelandSociety of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. Fiona's researchinterests include visual impairment following brain injury andstroke and visual field assessment.

Meanwhile, Professor Rachel Williams is one of just 10scientists in the UK to receive a Recognising InspirationalScientists and Engineers (RISE) award from the Engineeringand Physical Sciences Research Council.

Rachel’s main research interests are in the development ofinnovative ways to modify materials and their surfaces to treatsight threatening conditions and in 2013 she was awarded aLeverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship through theRoyal Academy of Engineering.

AT THE FOREFRONT OF CLINICALDEVELOPMENTSThe Clinical Research Unit at the Royal LiverpoolUniversity Hospital has become the first NHS facility in England to be granted Medicines and Healthcareproducts Regulatory Agency (MHRA) standard andsupplementary Phase 1 Accreditation.

This means the University has the first clinical research unit to meet the high standards required for early clinical trialswhere drugs can be tested on humans for the first time as part of tightly controlled research projects. MHRA Phase 1accreditation will help to provide patients with greater access to the very latest drugs and technologies and will bring economic benefits to the city as a centre for globalhealthcare research.

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We offer an intellectual environmentwhere teaching and learning takes placeat the cutting edge of disciplines and isdriven by research excellence. With 36,000students, including more than 10,000online students from more than 160countries, we are an academically stronguniversity and offer more than 445university programmes. We work closelywith the Liverpool Guild of Students toprovide a culture where students feelvalued, supported and inspired to achieve,with access to state-of-the-art facilities,award-winning accommodation andcomprehensive careers support.

STUDENTEXPERIENCE

WE OFFER A BRILLIANT

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The University was shortlisted in the ‘MostImproved Student Experience’ category at theTimes Higher Education Awards, which isvoted for by around 20,000 students who areindependently surveyed on their opinionsabout the academic reputation, teaching,social life and facilities of their institutions.

Our £23 million Central Teaching Hub (CTH) was voted ‘Best Facilities’at the 2013 Guardian UniversityAwards. Described as “trulygroundbreaking” by judges, the CTHbrings together a variety of differentscience disciplines under one roof todemonstrate to students the benefitsof learning from related subject areas,representing a new innovation in thehigher education sector.

In order to provide a world-class student experience, we are investing £32 million in teaching facilities in theFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,building a £7.5 million extension to theManagement School, and a £13.8 millionrefurbishment of the Guild of Students will open this year which will include aninternational food court, music venue and student social space.

GROUNDBREAKINGLEARNINGAND TEACHING FACILITIES

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STATE-OF-THE-ARTACCOMMODATION Crown Place, a £65 million student village in the centre of the University, will open in September 2014. The 1,259 en-suite bedroom development demonstratesour commitment to meeting Government carbon reduction targets with a focus on sustainable and energy efficient design.

Our £45 million eco-friendly student residences, Vine Court,which is also located on the main campus, has achieved‘Excellent’ status from VisitEngland for 2014, while our BotanicalGardens at Ness won the Sustainable Tourism Award 2013. Thecomplex is at the forefront of sustainable residential developmentand features 732 en-suite rooms and 17 penthouse apartments,a coffee shop, bar, restaurant and library.

The University is also investing in its off-campusaccommodation, developing new residences at its Greenbanksite to provide a self-contained student village.

IN THEMEDIASPOTLIGHTOur veterinary facilities have beenshowcased in two series of theChannel 5 programme Animal Clinic.

Animal lover Ben Fogle followed the livesof staff and students at the animal hospitalin Leahurst and the busy First OpinionClinic on campus.

The series follow the vets as they deal withmedical emergencies, everyday injuriesand mystery ailments, involving everythingfrom domestic pets and farm animals tothoroughbred racehorses.

In 2014 the University and its medicalstudents are taking part in anotherChannel 5 documentary series focused onpeople who donate their bodies to science.

CAPITALISING ONOUR HERITAGE

The University’s cultural and heritage offering is centralto our success – not only to enhance the student andstaff experience, but also in terms of contributing to theeconomic and cultural regeneration of the Liverpool City Region.

Our Victoria Gallery & Museum, which houses the University’sextensive collection of fine arts, furniture, silverware andexhibits accumulated since the foundation of the University in1881, has achieved ‘Excellent’ status from VisitEngland, thenational tourist board for 2014, while our Botanical Gardens at Ness won the Sustainable Tourism Award 2013.

OLYMPIANSOPENSPORTS CENTRE

A trio of alumni who have gone on to become Olympic and Paralympicchampions have opened theUniversity's refurbished Sports and Fitness Centre.

Footballer Matthew Dimbylow,taekwondo expert Chika YagazieChukwumerji, and rower AlisonMowbray returned to campus for theopening of the £4.5 million refurbishmentproject which includes enhanced pooland changing facilities, a larger fitnessarea, and an integrated weight trainingfacility and dance studio.

Our Library consistently achieves excellent scoresin student satisfaction surveys. In the National StudentSurvey, the Library has outperformed the sectoraverage for the Russell Group of research-led institutesin every one of the last five years, while in every TimesHigher Education survey of student opinion, the Libraryhas gained scores which place it in the top third in theRussell Group.

A series of initiatives have been introduced to further improveLibrary resources and help students and staff to access more ofthe resources they need, when they need them.

The ‘Resources for Courses’ initiative is in response to studentfeedback, and library staff have worked closely with theLiverpool Guild of Students to develop three key tools: A ‘MoreBooks’ campaign, demand driven acquisition, and ReadingLists @ Liverpool.

The ‘More Books’ campaign allows students and staff to tell the Library which books, DVDs, CDs and music scores it needsto buy to help them study. Users can then request additionalresources via a suggestion page to supplement the two millionbooks, 500,000 contemporary electronic books and 44,000electronic journals already held across the two libraries.

The Library is also offering more than 45,000 additionalebooks across all disciplines for students and staff to browse.The demand driven acquisition initiative means that all theebooks are instantly accessible from the Library catalogue.

Reading Lists @ Liverpool meanwhile provides quick, easyaccess to the resources being recommended on students’reading lists. Users can link straight through to the resourcesthey need, and lecturers can recommend different types ofmaterial, including websites and videos as well as books.UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

LEADING THE WAY42

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OFFERING ANEWWAYTOSTUDYThe Faculty of Humanities andSocial Sciences has launched aninnovative approach to flexiblestudy, enabling students to choosebetween a Single Honours degree, a Joint (50:50) degree, or to studytwo subjects on a 75:25 basis,focusing 75% on one major subjectand 25% on a minor subject.

The emphasis of Honours Select is onproviding students with more flexibility anda greater range of multi-disciplinary skills,giving them a competitive advantage overtheir peers when entering the job market.

ENHANCING THE STUDENTEXPERIENCE

Engineering students taking part in the annual Formula Studentcompetition – where teams competeto design and build a single-seaterracing car – achieved 25th place outof 84 international universities in the2013 competition.

Run by the Institution of MechanicalEngineers, Formula Student is Europe's most established educationalmotorsport competition and isdesigned to develop and inspirethe next generation of enterprisingyoung engineers.

INSPIRINGTHE ENGINEERSOFTHEFUTURE

To help students get the mostfrom their time at University, we have set up ‘My Liverpool’ – a website dedicated to guidingstudents through a wide range of extra-curricular learning and life opportunities.

The website helps students to learnnew skills, explore opportunities for voluntary work and placementopportunities, and to actively engagewith the student community.

INCREASINGSTUDENTSATISFACTION

Student satisfaction rates haverisen to 88% in the annual NationalStudent Survey.

The result means Liverpool is now 3%higher than the sector average, jumpingfrom 17th to joint 12th position in theRussell Group alongside Birmingham,Nottingham and the London School ofEconomics, and ahead of Leeds, Bristol,Warwick and Manchester.

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TRANSFORMING THECURRICULUM

The University of Liverpool Teaching Recognition andAccreditation (ULTRA) Framework has been developedto ensure that all those who teach at the University have the opportunity to engage in effective ContinuingProfessional Development and gain recognition forhigh-quality teaching.

ULTRA is a staff-centred system that supports individuals to gain internal and external accreditation in learning andteaching and we are currently seeking approval of the schemefrom the Higher Education Academy. Once achieved, this willensure that any member of staff who is recognised throughthe ULTRA Framework will be entitled to gain a nationallyrecognised Fellowship.

REWARDING EXCELLENTTEACHING

Our Annual Learning and Teaching Awards also provide anopportunity for the University community to celebrate andshare best practice of those staff who have made anoutstanding contribution to pedagogy and the enhancement of the student experience.

Performance is assessed against a number of key prioritiesassociated with learning and teaching at the University,including offering a student-centred approach, demonstratingexcellence in teaching and research-led teaching, introducinginitiatives which promote internationalisation, engagingexternal stakeholders in supporting employability, developingcurricula, and offering opportunities for students to providefeedback on their teaching performance.

Physical Geographers at Liverpool have revolutionisedtheir undergraduate curriculum to make full use of thenew facilities offered at our groundbreaking £23 millionCentral Teaching Hub. The team, led by Dr John Boyleand Dr Richard Chiverrell, have transformed theirapproach, offering students a more comprehensive and hands-on learning experience.

Every semester of the laboratory-based programme includesten whole-day exercises that all run concurrently, wherestudents form research teams to compete in a weeklychallenge which includes various practical exercises. Eachexercise encourages teamwork as the groups develop theirresearch strategy assisted by module leaders, present theirfindings, and discuss the outcomes. The programme isdesigned to develop students’ ability to work as a team as well as their research and strategy skills.

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EXCELLING INGLOBAL RANKINGSThe University has been ranked in the top 150universities in the world by the Academic Ranking ofWorld Universities (ARWU), which is widely recognisedas the precursor of global university rankings.

The University is ranked in the 101 to 150 group overall, and in the 10 to 14 group in the UK.

The annual publication, which is published by ShanghaiJiaotong University, ranks universities by six indicators,including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and FieldsMedals, highly-cited researchers, articles published in Natureand Science, articles indexed in major citation indices, andthe per capita academic performance of an institution.

WIDENING ACCESS

A recognised UK leader in widening participation, we offer people of all ages and backgrounds the belief,financial means and routes they need to pursue degreesand research.

We are committing £9.8 million – 27.3% of our additionalincome – to support students from poorer backgrounds toapply to the University. This includes £2 million on fee waivers,£6.3 million on bursaries and scholarships, £1.25 million onoutreach and £125,000 on student support.

The University exceeds its benchmarks for recruitment ofstudents from Low Participation neighbourhoods and StateSchools and Colleges and we have achieved the Buttle UKQuality Mark at ‘exemplary level’ in recognition of ourcommitment to young people in care.

In the last year alone we have provided a wide range ofaspiration-raising activities to more than 8,000 young people,including welcoming 100 people on to our Scholarsprogramme – for students from traditionally underrepresentedbackgrounds – and 57 people on our Go Higher programme,which is designed to support entry to the University forapplicants who do not have formal qualifications.

We have also employed 40 apprentices across the Universityand have reached out to more than 25,000 primary schoolchildren through our Professor Fluffy programme, which isdesigned to raise awareness of further and higher education.

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ENHANCING OURGLOBAL OFFER

Our unique partnership with Xi’an Jiaotong University – a top 10 university in China – has been voted ‘Most influentialSino-Foreign Higher EducationInstitution in China’.

Based in the World Heritage city ofSuzhou, near Shanghai, the University’sjoint venture, Xi’an Jiaotong-LiverpoolUniversity (XJTLU) has grown studentnumbers to 8,000 since it opened in 2006 and has recently celebrated the launch of its new business school.

The International Business SchoolSuzhou (IBSS) is the first businessschool in China to have a ThomsonReuters Financial Lab on site, offeringstudents practice in dealing in equities,bonds and other financial products whileproviding a significant tool for researchand analytics.

The launch of IBSS coincides with £28.6 million of investment to construct two new buildings for IBSS on the University’s south campus.

DELIVERING INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISEDCOURSESThe University’s BEng Architectureprogramme is destined to be thefirst degree in China to gainapproval from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) as aninternationally recognised degree.

The course, which is taught at theUniversity’s partner institution, Xi’anJiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU),has been awarded ‘candidate course forrecognition’ status, which indicates thatthe programme is considered to havethe potential to meet RIBA criteria.

The University has also partnered withthe Singapore Institute of Technologyand Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry

to offer the country’s first undergraduatedegree in Criminology.

The three-year programme includesmodules in criminology theory andsociological research methods, and morespecialist topics such as the policingsystem, youth crime and victimisation.

The partnership capitalises on theUniversity’s long history of providingeducation in this area; our Department ofSociology, Social Policy and Criminologyhas been one of the leading centres in its field for more than 100 years and iscommitted to using social science as anevidence-based discipline to inspiresocial reform.

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CULTIVATINGOURRESEARCH LINKS WITH INDIA10 fellowships have been awarded to researchers from India to enhance links between the University and world-renowned Indian institutions.

The Fellowship programme offers opportunities foroutstanding early to mid-career researchers to strengthentheir experience of research and teaching in an internationalenvironment.

Building on existing collaborations with institutions inBangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and New Delhi, the Universityis looking to explore new partnerships by inviting the nextgeneration of researchers to help create the foundation for a growing Liverpool-India Research Network.

SUPPORTINGINTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

The Hong Kong-based Tung Foundation has launched a ‘TungLiverpool Scholarship’ for HongKong and Chinese studentsstudying at the University.

Founded by the late CY Tung - father ofLiverpool graduates, CH Tung and CCTung - the Foundation supports social,cultural and educational causes.

The scholarship will provide anenhanced award to undergraduate or masters students studying on

non-clinical taught programmes atLiverpool who have already beensuccessful in their application to theHong Kong Graduate AssociationScholarship. It will also offer PhDcandidates the opportunity to undertake research at the University.

The Tung Foundation will designate part of its donation towards a three-yearmatched-funding programme for donorsin Hong Kong to encourage andmaximise gifts to the University.

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BRINGINGLIVERPOOLEXPERTISE TO LONDON

Our University is launching a new campus in London in September 2014.

Based in the heart of the City on Finsbury Square, thecampus will increase the number of students able to studyfor a research-led Russell Group degree in London and willenable us to bring the characteristic spirit of individuality,ingenuity and enterprise from our home city to the capital –for a uniquely Liverpool experience in London.

Close to the financial heart of London, the campus will offerpostgraduate degrees in Architecture, Accountancy, Law,Psychology and Public Health, benefiting from accreditationwith key professional bodies in the City.

We will be offering graduates, professionals and employers

the opportunity to enhance their capabilities in one of theworld’s most dynamic and inspiring cities and expect to haveregistered 1,000 students within five years.

This new venture in London reinforces our position as a trulyglobal university, with our Chinese partner institution, Xi’anJiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) near Shanghai, and anincreasing number of international students being welcomedto our UK campuses each year.

We are one of the top 20universities in the UK targetedby leading graduate employersand we are also one of the top10 employers of Liverpoolgraduates in the region. Our programmes challengestudents to equip them for theircareer with an emphasis onproblem-based learning,placement opportunities,comprehensive academic andpersonal support, and an activeextra-curricular programme.

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WE HELP TO CREATE THE LEADERS OFTHE FUTURE

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OUR STUDENTS GRADUATE TO GREAT THINGS We have a global alumni network of more than 180,000 and many of our graduates have gone on tooccupy senior positions in business and public life bothwithin the UK and internationally. Our successfulgraduates include (l-r); Dame Stella Rimington, formerDirector General of the UK’s National Security Service,MI5; Sir Maurice Flanagan KBE, Executive Vice-Chairman of Emirates Airline and Group; Dr Lawrence McGinty, ITN Science and Medical Editor; Sir Robin Saxby, Chairman Emeritus of ARM Holdings;

Professor Averil Mansfield CBE, Chair of the BritishMedical Association Board of Science; Dr Sanjay Jha,Chief Executive Officer of GlobalFoundries and formerChairman and Chief Executive Officer of MotorolaMobility; Philip Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco;Dr Lewis Booth CBE, Former Executive Vice-Presidentand Chief Financial Officer of Ford Motor Company;Keith Williams, Chief Executive of British Airways; andCarol Ann Duffy CBE, Poet Laureate.

ENCOURAGING STUDENTS TOGRADUATE TO MERSEYSIDEOur Graduate to Merseyside servicehas placed 429 graduates in paidinternships in the local area sinceits inception in June 2010.

The University initiative, which issupported by the European RegionalDevelopment Fund (ERDF), provides ahigh-quality graduate recruitment andplacement service for businesses of all sizes across Merseyside and thewider region.

Internships vary in length, but manydevelop into permanent positions. Theservice benefits organisations by

helping to increase their competitivenessand productivity and also provides animportant boost for the local economy.

The University’s placement team works with local organisations to run‘insight’ days that enable currentstudents to gain exposure of a particularcompany or industry during the courseof their studies. The team also organisesopportunities to undertake internationalplacements, giving students a chance to gain valuable work experience while also introducing them to new cultures.60

OFFERING EXPERT CAREERS ADVICE

Our Careers & Employability Service has been rankedsecond for student usage in the annual UK GraduateCareers Survey with The Times.

The survey, which involved face-to-face interviews with morethan 17,000 final year students from 30 of the UK’s leadinguniversities, revealed that 70% of our students use theservice, placing us second in the country. Dr Paul Redmond,Director of Employability and Educational Opportunities,said: “The team builds close links with top graduaterecruiters, and rankings like this clearly demonstrate theimportance of the service to our students.” 86% of ourgraduates are currently in employment or further study, with 76% of those in work employed in graduate-level jobs.

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GIVINGOUR GRADUATESTHE EDGETo prepare students for the job market, we haveintroduced a programme of ‘Graduate Boot Camps’.Aimed at new leavers, the boot camps provideopportunities for networking with employers whiledeveloping a range of high-demand employability skills.

We have invested £2 million in a unique internship programmeto give students access to local, regional and nationalemployers, while work placements with Fortune 500companies at Suzhou Industrial Park in China are alsoavailable to our students, with pastoral support provided byour partner institution, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

IMPROVINGSTUDENTEMPLOYABILITYThe University’s online alumni-student mentoringscheme, which pairs current students with alumni tosupport their personal and professional development, is now benefiting more than 100 students.

The programme, which is coordinated jointly by ourPhilanthropy and Alumni Relations team and our Careers & Employability Service matches students with an alumnimentor for one academic year.

The relationship gives students an insight into the changingemployment market, helps to enhance their employabilityskills, and enables the mentor to provide information to theirstudent about the particular field that interests them.

CREATING FUTUREENTREPRENEURS

University of Liverpool Management School MBA graduate Rahul Pushp has won £20,000 in the Santander UniversitiesEntrepreneurship Award. His winningbusiness plan was to provide electricity to developing countries by harnessing solar renewable energy.

A group of Liverpool students have also beenawarded scholarships from Santander to studyoutside of Europe during their degree programme.The Santander Universities Global Division workswith universities in 16 countries to enablescholarship recipients to complete part of theirdegree in North America, South America, Australiaor Asia. The aim is to foster internationalisationand to promote the transfer of knowledge betweeninstitutions, as well as to give a financial boost toentrepreneurs and researchers.

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FOSTERING A CULTURE OFRESEARCHEXCELLENCE The University is ranked second inthe sector and the Russell Group forprojected postgraduate researchrates, according to a report from theHigher Education Funding Councilfor England (HEFCE). Projectionsshow that 86.3% of LiverpoolHome/EU students who started theirresearch degree in 2010/11 areexpected to qualify within sevenyears, compared with a sectoraverage of just 72.9%.

INVESTING INLIVERPOOL SCIENTISTSThe University will support the next generation ofenvironmental scientists as a major partner in aGovernment award to fund more than 1,000 PhDstudents across the country.

Liverpool is participating in two of the 15 Doctoral TrainingPartnerships awarded nationwide by the Natural EnvironmentalResearch Council (NERC), the Government agency for fundingand managing research, training and knowledge exchange inthe environmental sciences. The scheme will see up to 26 PhDstudents join the University each year for the next five years.

The Wellcome Trust has also awarded the University £3.75million to fund a four-year programme in Cellular andMolecular Physiology. Liverpool is one of just 12 institutions tohave been awarded the funding, which will provide 25 PhDstudentships over a five-year period.

Meanwhile, the Engineering and Physical Sciences ResearchCouncil has given more than £1.5 million in funding to theUniversity to support postgraduate training through DoctoralTraining Grants, reflecting the University’s strong reputation in nurturing research excellence.

The investment underlines the UK’s commitment to qualitypostgraduate research and training and will help to drivegrowth and secure the country’s future as a leading scienceand engineering nation with a wealth of skilled people who are able to tackle global challenges.

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“I’m sure you’ve heard lots about Liverpool, but like everything you have to see it to believeit. Recently voted on Trip Advisor as the best nightlife in the UK and in the top 10 world cities2014 according to Rough Guide, the 70,000 students in Liverpool are the heart of the city.”Sam Butler, Guild President

“The city is very vibrant. It is multicultural and there are loads of places to visit so you’ll never get bored.”Koushan Kouranloo, Student Ambassador for Iran

“The University was my second home. The experience – right from the first interview in India until my last day – wassimply fantastic.” Sanket Khanolkar (MBA Entrepreneurship2008) – Alumni Ambassador for Mumbai

“Even though Istudied online fromhome, I really feel part of this University.Coming here tograduate was such a reward. It’s likecoming home.”Frederik Duchi (MSc SoftwareEngineering 2013)

WE ARE AT THE HEART OF ONE OF THE UK’SMOSTDYNAMICAND CREATIVE CITIES

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