The Idea of a World Class Civic University

ExcellencePurposewith a

Ideaof a World-Class

Civic University

The

United Kingdom • Malaysia • Singapore

The Future of Learning

Cloud Computing has Unlimited Potential

Designs on Global Societies

Newcastle goes to Extreme Measures

Driving Forwards

It’s an interesting question and people have been asking

it for a very long time. If you were to ask most people

why we age, the majority would say that humans, and

animals, have to age and die because if we didn’t the

world would be full. They believe that there is some

evolved genetic programme that makes us age and die

in order to create living space for the next generation.

This is an idea that even pervades scientific thinking

about ageing but actually, as ideas go, it couldn’t be

more wrong.

If it were true, and you needed a mechanism to get rid of

old animals to create living space for the next generation,

then the logic of it would tell you that you ought to see

it happening in nature. However, if you go out in the

countryside looking for old rabbits, mice, sparrows etc,

you simply don’t find them. The world is a dangerous

place and there are all kinds of things causing animals

to die, such as starvation, accidents, infection, cold and

predators. So, the facts of the natural world show that

you don’t need a programme for ageing in order to create

living space for the next generation.

The second thing is the logic of evolution through natural

selection – everything that Darwin taught us, and that

we’ve refined since then. This tells us that it doesn’t make

sense to have a programme for ageing. Everything in our

biology is designed to keep us alive. Why would we have

a programme that would kill us?

I got involved in the scientific study of ageing some

35 years ago and I came to it asking this question: “Why

should ageing occur? Why grow old?” I realised that if

you can turn around the previous observation – that in

nature, animals don’t live an incredibly long time – you

can come to an explanation of why ageing occurs rather

directly. In order for an animal to stay alive and remain

in good shape physically and functionally, you have to

invest a lot in all the maintenance and repair processes

that deal with the little things that go wrong in the cells

and the tissues in the body as we live our lives.

Basically, every second of our life all kinds of things are

going wrong and the reason we live as long as we do

is because we have fantastic maintenance and repair

systems. These don’t come cheap, and in order to be

able to drive them to the level that we do, the body has

to invest quite a significant amount of energy into carrying

out maintenance and repair. The question is: how much

of this repair work do we need? The answer is that you

need enough to keep the body in good shape through

the period it can expect to be alive, in a world full of

hazards that can kill you.

The reason that we age and die is because through the

process of natural selection we limit the investment that

our genes make in the maintenance and repair of the

body to give us survival for the kind of period that we

needed in our ancestral world environment. This is an

idea that I called the ‘disposable soma’ concept and, in

a way, our genes evolved to treat the body as something

that they need to look after for a certain period of time but

they don’t need it to be built well enough to last forever.

Ultimately, the body is programmed for survival but it’s

just not programmed well enough to survive indefinitely.

As we live our lives, our cells, their molecules, the different

tissues and organs, all accumulate a whole variety of

little faults that eventually compromise function and that

eventually make us age and die.

Professor Tom Kirkwood CBE, FMed Sci

[email protected]

Why WeAge?do

Professor Tom Kirkwood (BBC Reith Lecturer, 2001) explores one of life’s fundamental questions, based on his research at Newcastle University’s award-winning Institute for Ageing and Health.

Nine out of 10 children with

leukaemia are now cured as

a result of improvements to

treatment over the last 30 years.

Professor Christine Harrison

and her team from the Northern

Institute for Cancer Research

have dedicated the last two

decades to understanding the genetic changes

that characterise leukaemia cells, leading to the

discovery that many of these changes relate to how

patients respond to their treatment. This knowledge

has been used to guide the therapy given to patients

and as a result has contributed significantly to

improved outcomes.

Their discovery of one abnormality, known as

iAMP21, has led to modifications in treatment which

have improved survival rates for these children from

only three out of 10 to eight out of 10. As a result,

treatment changes for patients with iAMP21 are

now being adopted internationally.

Newcastle University is now investigating whether

such biomarkers can be targeted with new drugs

to reduce the toxicity of the current therapies.

Newcastle is in the unique position of being able to

achieve this goal due to a critical mass of expert

scientists with research interests in the biology of

leukaemia and drug discovery. Working alongside

clinicians in the Great North Children’s Hospital, they

are translating new discoveries into novel treatments

with the aim of curing 100 per cent of children with

leukaemia within the next 10 years.

Professor Christine Harrison PhD, FRCPath

[email protected]

Excellence with a PurposeIn his acceptance speech he talked about the cause

for racial justice across the world: “Although I cannot in

any way say that I am worthy of such a great honour, I

can also assure you that you give me renewed courage

and vigour to carry on in the struggle to make peace

and justice a reality for all men and women, all over the

world. I can assure you that this day will remain dear

to me as long as the cords of memory shall lengthen.”

Forty-five years later, we remain committed to pioneering

research, learning and teaching that will make a difference

to people’s lives. And we continue to acknowledge the

work of social campaigners. This year we recognised,

among others, Shami Chakrabarti, Director of human

rights group Liberty, who said of her award: “This is

a massive honour and it is special for two reasons.

Firstly, because I am so pleased and happy to be in

Newcastle, and secondly because this was Dr King’s

English University. To be given the same honour as him,

Doctor of Civil Law, in the same place as a fellow civil

rights campaigner, makes it incredibly special to me.”

Improving Childhood Leukaemia Survival RatesChildhood leukaemia is the greatest success story of cancer treatment, says Professor Christine Harrison.

To view Dr King’s powerful speech visit: www.ncl.ac.uk/congregations/ceremonies/honorary/martinlutherking

Special Advertising Supplement

On the 13th of November, 1967, Newcastle University made the historic award of an honorary degree to Dr Martin Luther King Jr – the only UK university to do so during his lifetime.

by Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Brink

academic excellence in research and teaching, in

keeping with the traditions laid down by Von Humboldt

and Newman. However, we believe that our role in the

knowledge economy is not only to create knowledge

and educate students. Our role is also to respond to

the needs and demands of civil society. Universities are

not there simply to confer a private benefit, they should

also serve as a public good. For us, the question is not

only “What are we good at?”, but also “What are we

good for?”

Responding to these two key questions simultaneously

is the hallmark of a world-class civic university. The

“world-class” axis lies in the arena of publications,

citations, international presence, reputation and esteem

indicators. The “civic university” axis lies in the arena

of responding to the challenges facing civil society.

At Newcastle, we asked ourselves which of the big

global challenges we have the expertise and capacity

to respond to, and we settled on three topics: Ageing,

Sustainability and Social Renewal. We not only study

these topics, we actively pursue solutions to the

challenges they represent. Each topic is particularly

relevant where we are, in the North East of England, so

our own region becomes our laboratory.

Looked at another way, a world-class civic university

sets itself the task of making a contribution both on the

supply side and on the demand side of the knowledge

economy. On the supply side we create knowledge

for its own sake, and educate graduates with a broad

base of knowledge and skills. On the demand side we

organise our research and teaching in response to the

pressing issues facing society, and to prepare students

for responsible citizenship, nationally and globally.

In these pages we explain what we do, partly to

make the case that academic excellence and societal

purpose reinforce rather than impede each other, and

partly to make the point that a civic university can (and

should strive to) address global issues. If you would like

to discuss these ideas with us, please get in touch.

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Newcastle University - Excellence with a Purpose

“Newcastle University is where I learnt the basics of Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Shipbuilding and I am very happy it has expanded to offer degrees in Singapore in collaboration with SIT so that young people in this part of the world can benefit from an education at Newcastle University. As one of many graduates world-wide I am very pleased to see the University’s expanding global footprint.”

In the early 19th century, in Prussia, Wilhelm von Humboldt

laid the foundation for curiosity-driven research as a core

function of the university. During the Victorian era, John

Henry Newman delivered a series of lectures in Dublin on

The Idea of a University, in which he made the case for

universities providing a broad-based liberal education.

For much of the 20th century, these two ideals remained

the basis of our understanding of what universities are for.

Increasingly, however, in the new millennium, the world is

becoming a smaller place, and the challenges of global

society affect us all, universities included.

Newcastle University is a member of the Russell Group

of research-intensive universities in the UK. We pursue

MarylandPartnering with Loyola University to open a science-focused study abroad centre in the UK. The centre will accommodate more than 50 students and feature a curriculum conducive to qualified students studying a wide range of academic subjects. It will be Loyola’s biggest overseas presence.

BrazilWe are a key destination in the UK for the ‘Science without Borders’ programme.

AngolaAs a founding partner of the Centre of Excellence in Science for Sustainability in Africa, we are supporting the development of new academic leaders across Angola.

Monash – AustraliaSignificant research partnerships particularly in the field of neurosciences and business.

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Groningen – NetherlandsA strategic partnership with collaboration in degree programme delivery and in research.

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7 12 MalaysiaWith the opening of NUMed Malaysia in 2011, Newcastle University became the first UK university to establish a medical campus overseas.NUMed now has 220 students and in time will train 1,000 medics to support the nation’s health service. Based at the ‘EduCity’ site in Johor, it will be the first to access the full suite of shared amenities on the multi-varsity site which includes a 5,000 seat stadium, an aquatic centre and indoor arena.

SingaporeOur campus in Singapore offers degree programmes in Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture, Offshore Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Food and Human Nutrition. Electrical Power Engineering joins the group this year. We partner with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and offer more degree programmes than any other of its partners with 300 students enrolling every academic year. In 2014 SIT will open five new buildings that will provide much improved facilities for Newcastle students and staff.

IndonesiaA collaborative initiative with Universitas Indonesia is supporting Masters and Doctoral Training in Medical Sciences.

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Newcastle University UK Tel: +44 (0) 191 222 7850 Email: [email protected] Web: www.ncl.ac.uk

“The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award is further evidence of the marvellous foundation that the University gave me during my seven years’ study at Newcastle. I remember with gratitude and deep affection the institution as well as the teachers, colleagues and friends who inspired, encouraged and supported me. This award is a tribute to them.”

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JapanNewcastle University is one of 12 leading universities in the ‘RENKEI’ partnership, from the UK and Japan, which encourages knowledge transfer and research collaboration between the two countries.

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IraqNewcastle University archaeological expert Professor Peter Stone advised the UK Government about the risks of invasion to Iraq’s cultural heritage. He is currently working with the UK Ministry of Defence and NATO to integrate cultural property protection into training and is urging politicians to ratify legislation on this issue.

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NepalA team of Newcastle University researchers have been working with survivors of trafficking in Nepal to highlight the discrimination and social rejection trafficked women typically encounter on returning home. Professor Nina Laurie, Professor Diane Richardson, Dr Meena Poudel and Dr Janet Townsend have been investigating the experiences of women post-trafficking, working in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Nepal, and Shakti Samuha, a Nepali NGO set up and managed by trafficked women. They are lobbying for equal rights for men and women to apply for citizenship.

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The GulfWe are training and raising capacity among business sponsors and government agencies.

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NigeriaHelping increase capacity in the country’s universities.

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International Outlook Leading figures in civil society share their views

[email protected]

Newcastle University originated in 1834 with the establishment of a School of Medicine and Surgery in Newcastle upon Tyne. Settled since

Roman times, Newcastle lies at the eastern extremity of Hadrian’s Wall, the defensive fortification built during the reign of the eponymous

Emperor. The original “New Castle” from which the city takes its name was built in 1080 by the eldest son of William the Conqueror.

Rebuilt in stone during the 1170s, its Keep still stands. During the industrial revolution, Newcastle was a powerhouse, becoming

synonymous with coal, shipbuilding and heavy engineering, and today many towns and cities around the world are named Newcastle

in its image. Science and innovation emanating from Newcastle has revolutionised the modern world, including the invention of mining

safety lamps, Stephenson’s Rocket, Sir Joseph Swan’s electric light bulb, Lord Armstrong’s artillery and Charles Parsons’ turbine engine.

From these proud roots in North East England has grown a University with global ambitions and a world-wide reach.

Xiamen – ChinaIn 2012 we launched a Confucius Institute to build closer academic, cultural, economic and social ties between the North East of England and China. The new institute, which opens in Autumn 2013, will be based at the heart of Newcastle University’s campus. It is a joint venture with Xiamen University.

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“Three centuries ago this year the first Newcomen steam engines in the North were erected on Tyneside to pump water from coal mines. It was the start of a long story of innovation in the North East - locomotives, light bulbs, turbines and more - in which crucially practice and theory reinforced each other. Newcastle University, with its excellence in medicine and many other fields, continues to aspire to being both a world leader in ideas as well as a practical resource for its region and beyond.”


Civic University

The

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Mr Choo Chiau Beng

Adetokunbo O Lucas, OFR MD, DSc, FRCP, FFPH, FRCOG

Matt Ridley FRSL, FMedSci (Viscount Ridley)

Mr Choo Chiau Beng, CEO of Keppel Corporation, the Singapore-based global group of Offshore & Marine, Infrastructure and Property businesses.

Professor Adetokunbo O Lucas (King’s College Newcastle 1949-1956, DSc h.c.) is a clinician, medical educator, policy specialist, and public health leader, winner of the Harvard Medal, the Mary Kingsley Medal, and most recently of the 2013 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award from the US National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. Previous winners include Colin Powell, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Bill Clinton.

Matt Ridley, science writer, author of The Rational Optimist and other science books, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, winner of the Hayek Prize 2011 and the Julian Simon Award 2012.

IndiaOur Global Experience Programme supports Newcastle University students in industrial placements across India. The Bharti Foundation school programme, which provides free education to over 38,000 underprivileged children in 254 schools in villages across India, uses teacher training techniques and materials developed specifically for India by Newcastle University’s Dr Pauline Dixon.

10BrusselsOur research teams are part of an international network – funded by the EU – of more than 1,300 collaborators. They are involved in almost 200 projects ranging from transport and electric vehicles, through to health and healthy ageing, sustainable agriculture, environmental and urban issues and security.

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For more than a decade, Newcastle University has been

at the forefront of encouraging thousands of students

from disadvantaged backgrounds to aspire to a university

education.

Now in its thirteenth year, Newcastle University’s

groundbreaking PARTNERS programme has established

relationships with over 130 schools in the North East

of England and beyond, working with them to raise

aspirations among young people from areas with a tradition

of low participation in higher education to help them see

progression to university as an achievable goal.

PARTNERS summer schools and a guaranteed offer

system help applicants achieve entry requirements and

smooth the transition to university. Pupils and teachers have

access to the University’s library, and further encouragement

is provided by chemistry outreach labs, engineering

workshops and other opportunities to visit the University to

sample its life and facilities.

The scheme is supported by a team of graduate

ambassadors – recent Newcastle graduates who

undertake a programme of school visits aimed at changing

perceptions of university life and who act as role models for

prospective students.

A further innovation aimed at forging closer links with

schools has been the development of the Teachers’ Toolkit.

Unique to Newcastle University, Toolkit offers an extensive

range of practical, online resources for teachers, including

short interactive exercises, images and videos developed

by University staff as well as providing a full list of activities

taking place across the University campus and in schools

and colleges.

As part of its mission as a civic university, Newcastle

University has also been the driving force behind the

Realising Opportunities programme for which it leads a

group of 12 research-intensive universities in England. The

universities, which are all at the cutting edge of science,

technology and humanities research and teaching, are

working together to encourage able students from diverse

backgrounds to apply and come to research-intensive

universities.

Recognised nationally by the UK Government, Realising

Opportunities aims to identify potential and raise

aspirations among the brightest and best students from

neighbourhoods with low levels of progression to university.

Among its unique features is a structured e-mentoring

system through which undergraduate mentors from all 12

universities provide one-to-one support to Year 12 and 13

school students as they progress through the programme.

There is also a national conference, an online study skills

module and a range of resources for teachers.

Both Realising Opportunities and PARTNERS have been

supported by the Higher Education Funding Council

for England.

Professor Ella Ritchie OBE, PhD (LSE)[email protected]

Bacteria are incredibly versatile organisms that have

been around for over three billion years. During this time

they’ve evolved to become vital to our planetary cycles,

purifying our water and our air.

The Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology at Newcastle

University is trying to discover how these bacteria

function. We are working to understand key questions

about them, such as how they grow and divide, and turn

genes on and off.

We have pioneered the application of modern

fluorescence digital imaging methods for bacteria. These

new techniques have revealed remarkable complexity

in the structure of the bacteria. Rather than simple

bags of enzymes, they are complicated, sophisticated

structures, with many proteins targeted into intricate

nanomachines that support the growth and division of

the cells.

One important application in the new understanding

that has emerged lies in antibiotic discovery and

development. Antibiotics take advantage of differences in

function between bacteria and human cells. They kill the

bacteria without harming the patient. Several important

new antibiotic targets have been identified through work

carried out at Newcastle University. We are also closely

involved in the commercialisation of this work, through

spin out companies, such as Demuris Ltd.

Beyond medicine, bacteria can carry out an inconceivable

number of different chemical reactions based on their

long evolutionary history and ability to adapt to living in all

sorts of strange and exotic habitats. They can survive in

the most extreme conditions, whether in deserts or deep

sea sediments, volcanic or even highly radioactive areas.

A better understanding of the basic science of bacteria

is helping us to take advantage of the extraordinary

capabilities of bacteria and harness them for our own

devices, with wide implications for society and the health

of our environment.

One such application lies in bio-remediation. Bacteria

can make use of things which are toxic to us and treat

them as fodder. Industries all over the world which

generate pollutants will soon benefit from bacteria

that can detoxify harmful chemicals. Other major

applications lie in the production of industrial chemicals,

enzymes and fuels. In the future, many of these industrial

processes will be radically changed by the elimination of

any need for non-renewable chemicals and resources,

so for example, plastics made from petrochemicals in

oil could be made from organic vegetable matter via

bacteria instead.

Professor Jeff Errington FRS, FMedSci [email protected]

ofFutureLearning

RealisingOpportunities Environmentally-friendly

Mitochondria are small compartments present in every cell

within the body. They are the primary source of energy,

converting the breakdown products of carbohydrates, fats

and proteins into a chemical called ATP. ATP is required for

nerve firing, muscle contraction (including the heart), and

all active processes in living organisms. Without ATP cells

fail, and eventually die.

We have shown that defects of the mitochondrial genetic

code are a major cause of human diseases. Given the

critical role of mitochondria in cell function, mitochondrial

dysfunction can affect almost all of the organs within the

body. They can cause epilepsy, dementia, muscle

weakness, diabetes, heart and liver failure – diseases for

which at present there is no cure. Resulting in chronic

illness and premature death, such diseases have a major

impact on patients and their families.

Understanding the causes and developing treatments for

these diseases is a major goal of the recently established

Newcastle University - Wellcome Trust Centre for

Mitochondrial Research.

Harnessing state-of-the-art next generation DNA

sequencing, we are now able to sequence the human

genome in each one of our patients. This is dramatically

changing the landscape, both in the laboratory and in the

clinic. Many families have been waiting for a diagnosis

for years or even decades, and now we can provide

an answer within days or weeks. This allows us to give

confident genetic counselling, and prevent the disease

affecting the next generation through prenatal diagnosis.

We often find a totally new genetic cause for the

mitochondrial disease, and this in turn reveals novel

cellular pathways that we are exploring as targets for new

treatments. An important step is making stem cells from

a skin sample (induced pleuripotent stem cells). Using

recently developed protocols, we can convert these to

the cells affected by the disease in an individual patient,

such as those in the heart, neurons, or muscle. As well

as identifying new genetic disorders, therefore, this allows

us to look for specific treatments in relevant cells from the

very same patient.

What do we do when we have found a potential new

treatment in the laboratory? By developing international

consortia across Europe and the United States we

have grouped together all of the patients with the same

gene defects. This allowed us to carry out the first

multi-national randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial

for a mitochondrial disease responsible for blindness.

Looking back at the results, it is clear that specific genetic

sub-groups did better, based on the precise “spelling

mistake” in the gene. This is personalised medicine in

practice, guided by our understanding of the mitochondrial

genome.

Professor Patrick Chinnery FRCPath, FRCP, [email protected]

RestoringNewcastle University - Excellence with a Purpose

Patrick Chinnery, Professor of Neurogenetics and Wellcome Senior Fellow in Clinical Science at Newcastle University describes a new approach to personalised medicine.

Professor Ella Ritchie, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Newcastle University, believes that a student’s background or life experience should not be a barrier to fulfilling their potential. Newcastle University places a strong emphasis on working with schools, careers advisers and parents to encourage them to view university as something within their children’s reach.


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PowerUntil well into last the century, the only information and

communication technologies available to manage the

world were telephones and that huge, bureaucratic

administrative machine otherwise known as people. The

system was perfected by the Victorians at the zenith of

the British Empire. To keep the gigantic military-industrial

machine working, the Victorians needed a critical mass

of people with identical skills, so schools had identical

curricula, pedagogy and assessment systems that turned

children into clones of one another in just 10 years.

Reading, writing and arithmetic were the predominant

skills. The government, major religions and the military

dictated what should be learned.

In the 1940s and 1950s, we created digital computers.

Then we learned how to connect them to one another.

But, as the Age of the Empire came to an end and the

internet emerged, schools continued to churn out their

identical products, parts for a gigantic human computer

that no longer existed. Within a few decades institutions

began to dematerialise. Banking, the Stock Exchange,

entertainment, newspapers, books and money became

strings of zeros and ones inside the internet that is now

called simply The Cloud. Already The Cloud is omnipresent

and indestructible. In a few decades more, it will probably

be sentient, non-material and, therefore, eternal.

In 1999, I accidentally glimpsed The Cloud through an

experiment often called ‘the hole in the wall’. I found

that groups of Indian street children would learn to use

computers and the internet by themselves, with little or no

knowledge of English and never having seen a computer

before. During the next five years, in the course of many

experiments, I learned that groups of children can complete

educational objectives by themselves, using the internet,

if you leave them alone. By 2009, thanks to advances in

technology, it was possible to ‘beam’ teachers to places

where they could not, or did not want, to go, and so I

created a ‘granny cloud’ of retired school teachers who

would encourage children to learn by themselves.

By 2012, teachers around the world were using SOLEs

– self-organised learning environments – where children

would group around internet connections to discuss Big

Questions. The teacher would merge into the background,

and watch as the learning happened. “Why do we have

five fingers and five toes on each limb? What’s so special

about that?” I once asked a group of 10-year-olds in the

little town of Villa Mercedes in Argentina. “How do you

multiply two numbers?” I asked a child. “With my phone”,

he said.

We need a curriculum of Big Questions, a pedagogy of

self-organised learning, examinations where children can

talk, share and use the internet, and new peer assessment

systems. People don’t need to be machines anymore.

In the age of The Cloud, schools have to become Schools of

The Cloud. Governments will find it hard to let this happen,

but teachers can – if they stand back and let The Cloud in.

Professor Sugata Mitra [email protected] To see Sugata talk about his wish, visit:

www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_build_a_school_in_

the_cloud.html

The

Research by Professor of Educational Technology, Sugata Mitra (winner of the $1m TED prize 2013), has changed the way the world thinks about education. His ‘hole in the wall’ experiment has shown that children, irrespective of who or where they are, can learn freely using a computer. Cloud technology is changing the face of learning, and schools must embrace the change.

Jeff Errington, Director of the Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, explains why bacteria have the potential to provide solutions to many medical and environmental problems.

“I think there are a lot of people who have the potential to do well for whom gaining access to higher education is often the biggest challenge. It shouldn’t matter where you are in the world, whether or not you live near a university, or if your parents didn’t go to university, everyone should have the same opportunities.”Nicola Lazenby, who entered the PARTNERS programme in 2007 and graduated with an MEng in Civil Engineering in 2011.

Bacteria

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_build_a_school_in_the_cloud.html

Cloud

Everywhere, more and more data is being collected by

people and organisations. Extracting value from this

data requires access to vast computing resources.

Cloud computing provides this, offering scalable

computing as and when it is needed. It will dramatically

improve the way organisations like public service

providers and companies use data because there

is now an unlimited potential to access, analyse and

exploit it for their own needs.

With funding of £12 million from Research Councils

UK, the Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy

(SiDE) project is exploring how design technologies

can be digitised to transform the lives of people who

are socially excluded, such as older people, those

with disabilities, and young people on the margins

of society.

One of our projects is using sensors in digital wristwatch

devices to benefit people suffering from cardiovascular

disease, obesity and diabetes. The sensors measure a

patient’s activity, bringing in a vast amount of data that

can be analysed to help understand their behaviour,

and this means that personalised treatments can be

designed to enable patients to modify the amount

and type of exercise they are getting to alleviate their

medical problems. When the patient visits the clinic, a

nurse plugs the watch into a computer and all of that

data is analysed into readable reports for the patient

and the doctor, all in a matter of minutes. We use cloud

computing to achieve this.

Multinational software company, Red Hat, one of the

world’s largest computer companies, has created a

research centre at Newcastle University. It is one of only

two centres of its kind in the world, and it is located

here because of our expertise in cloud computing.

Many of the Red Hat employees here are Newcastle

University graduates, and they are working with current

students on a range of projects, which in turn is helping

improve the students’ employability.

We have £20 million worth of projects that are using

cloud computing to do things scientists haven’t been

able to do before with their data. For example, in

collaboration with Microsoft, we’ve been working with

a group of chemists who are interested in discovering

new cancer drugs. Their problem lies in extracting useful

information from lots of new data. With their existing

system it would have taken the chemists five years to

process this data, but by using cloud computing we’ve

helped them manage this down to ten hours.

Professor Paul Watson PhD, CEng, [email protected]

Newcastle University’s £20m Bio-

pharmaceutical Bioprocessing Technology

Centre (BBTC) was set up to bridge the gap

between university-based research and

industry, explains Professor Elaine Martin.

Training the specialist scientists of the future, we

are developing new techniques and technologies to

fine-tune drug development.

Improving Drug Development

Newcastle goes toExtremeMeasures

The definitive study revealed that melting ice sheets

have contributed 11.1mm to global sea levels since

1992. Supported by NASA and the ESA, the research

– published in Science last year – was the culmination of

work in 26 different science laboratories around the world

working together to build up the most complete picture

yet of rises in sea level from the large ice sheets.

The results built on work published in Nature in early

2012 and led by Newcastle’s geodesy team. They used

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)

satellite data to calculate the loss from Antarctic ice sheet

mass by more accurately mapping and removing the

mass changes caused by the flow of rock beneath the

Earth’s surface.

“Our ice change calculations rely heavily on how well we

can account for important changes taking place beneath

the Earth’s surface,” explains King, a Professor of Polar

Geodesy.

“While the land beneath the ice is moving by no more

than a few millimetres per year, that seemingly small

effect significantly alters the rate at which we estimate

the ice is changing. By producing a new estimate of the

land motion we’re effectively re-calibrating the scales,

in this case the GRACE satellite, so we can more

accurately weigh the ice.”

“The implications of this latest study are huge,” explains

King, “We can now say confidently that Greenland and

Antarctica are losing more than three times as much

ice as they were in the 1990s – equivalent to a rise in

0.95mm sea level per year.

“Perhaps more importantly, this study has shown

what can be achieved when the international science

community pulls together and pools its knowledge and

expertise.”

Professor Matt King PhD, [email protected]

As the drive towards electric and hybrid electric vehicles

increases, the pressure is on to find an alternative to the

rare-earth metals currently being used in their production.

At Newcastle’s Centre for Advanced Electrical Drives,

the team is working with leading automotive and aviation

industries to develop a novel motor based on steel.

Newcastle University’s Professor Barrie Mecrow, who

leads the Centre explains: “Combining leading knowledge

in electrical machines, power electronics and control, we

are producing new electrical systems which are smaller,

more efficient, more reliable and cheaper to produce.”

Professor Mecrow says excellent links with international

industry leaders ensure the University’s work is both

relevant and focused on the major challenges facing

society. “Our research area involving the control of electrical

energy is a critical and growing one in terms of world

economies”, he explains. “That Newcastle is recognised

internationally in the fields of electrical machines, power

electronics, drives and control systems is due entirely to

the highly-talented academics, researchers, technicians

and students we have here.”

Professor Barrie Mecrow PhD, [email protected]

DrivingForwards

Newcastle University - Excellence with a Purpose

Paul Watson, Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Digital Institute at Newcastle University, works with people and organisations in all areas of society, from major companies like Microsoft to small charities, to tackle the issue of social exclusion.

A world-leading team of engineers at Newcastle University is developing a new motor for electric vehicles that will significantly reduce our future dependency on rare earth metals.

Newcastle University’s Professor Matt King was among a 47-strong team of leading climate scientists from around the world who have worked together to end 20 years of uncertainty by producing what has been hailed as the most accurate assessment of ice losses from Antarctica and Greenland to date.


6 7

Computing hasUnlimited Potential

Pitsis’ study of the successful delivery of the Sydney

Olympics served as the driving force for his ideas.

His hypothesis is that the Games provide an ideal

frame for how we might design the kind of society

we need for dealing with an increasingly complex

and uncertain world. “Currently, society as a whole

is fragmented with deep divisions and an incapacity

and reluctance to collaborate to get things done.

“The big questions still remain unanswered: What

kind of economy are we designing and how do things

work? How do the financial systems work, and how

are they regulated? One approach to these questions

is to apply the Japanese theories of universal

design and ‘design thinking’, whose principles are

underpinned by the idea that products and services

should be inclusive rather than exclusive.

“The successful delivery of London 2012 has

shown that collaboration is possible, but without

an awareness of the wider political questions and a

sense of accountability there is no impetus to create

a better society.”

Tyrone Pitsis [email protected]

DesignsDr Tyrone Pitsis, reader in strategic design, is an expert on inter-organisational collaboration and understands the benefits of public and private partnerships, which can help to deliver large-scale projects like the Olympic Games. Pitsis and his team at Newcastle University Business School are offering new perspectives on global management theory and practice.

GlobalSocietieson

The process of taking a drug from the point of discovery

to the point at which it can be made available to patients

is a long and complex one, and the team is designing new

ways to speed up this process, thus reducing the time

between a new drug being found and it actually being

prescribed to patients.

Bringing together expertise from across the University with

some of the UK’s leading pharmaceutical industries, the

Newcastle centre has become a bio-processing hub to rival

the best in the world.

At Newcastle, our focus is on applying complex systems

analysis to aid our understanding of biological processes

in order to facilitate rapid and efficient development of

new drugs. Fundamental to our success is a multi-

disciplinary approach that brings together a world-leading

team of engineers, chemists, biologists and statisticians.

In addition to its internationally-recognised research

activities, the BBTC sets itself apart by drawing on

cross-sector learning. The international spread of its

industrial partners and stakeholders has ensured that

the research undertaken here is already being adopted

in practice, and is impacting beyond the UK, establishing

BBTC as an international leader in the field.

Professor Elaine Martin OBE, FREng, CEng, FICheME

[email protected]

‘

’

ExcellencePurposewith a


Civic University

The

United Kingdom • Malaysia • Singapore

The Future of Learning

Cloud Computing has Unlimited Potential

Designs on Global Societies

Newcastle goes to Extreme Measures

Driving Forwards

‘’

Special Advertising Supplement

It’s an interesting question and people have been asking

it for a very long time. If you were to ask most people

why we age, the majority would say that humans, and

animals, have to age and die because if we didn’t the

world would be full. They believe that there is some

evolved genetic programme that makes us age and die

in order to create living space for the next generation.

This is an idea that even pervades scientific thinking

about ageing but actually, as ideas go, it couldn’t be

more wrong.

If it were true, and you needed a mechanism to get rid of

old animals to create living space for the next generation,

then the logic of it would tell you that you ought to see

it happening in nature. However, if you go out in the

countryside looking for old rabbits, mice, sparrows etc,

you simply don’t find them. The world is a dangerous

place and there are all kinds of things causing animals

to die, such as starvation, accidents, infection, cold and

predators. So, the facts of the natural world show that

you don’t need a programme for ageing in order to create

living space for the next generation.

The second thing is the logic of evolution through natural

selection – everything that Darwin taught us, and that

we’ve refined since then. This tells us that it doesn’t make

sense to have a programme for ageing. Everything in our

biology is designed to keep us alive. Why would we have

a programme that would kill us?

I got involved in the scientific study of ageing some

35 years ago and I came to it asking this question: “Why

should ageing occur? Why grow old?” I realised that if

you can turn around the previous observation – that in

nature, animals don’t live an incredibly long time – you

can come to an explanation of why ageing occurs rather

directly. In order for an animal to stay alive and remain

in good shape physically and functionally, you have to

invest a lot in all the maintenance and repair processes

that deal with the little things that go wrong in the cells

and the tissues in the body as we live our lives.

Basically, every second of our life all kinds of things are

going wrong and the reason we live as long as we do

is because we have fantastic maintenance and repair

systems. These don’t come cheap, and in order to be

able to drive them to the level that we do, the body has

to invest quite a significant amount of energy into carrying

out maintenance and repair. The question is: how much

of this repair work do we need? The answer is that you

need enough to keep the body in good shape through

the period it can expect to be alive, in a world full of

hazards that can kill you.

The reason that we age and die is because through the

process of natural selection we limit the investment that

our genes make in the maintenance and repair of the

body to give us survival for the kind of period that we

needed in our ancestral world environment. This is an

idea that I called the ‘disposable soma’ concept and, in

a way, our genes evolved to treat the body as something

that they need to look after for a certain period of time but

they don’t need it to be built well enough to last forever.

Ultimately, the body is programmed for survival but it’s

just not programmed well enough to survive indefinitely.

As we live our lives, our cells, their molecules, the different

tissues and organs, all accumulate a whole variety of

little faults that eventually compromise function and that

eventually make us age and die.

Professor Tom Kirkwood CBE, FMed Sci

[email protected]

Why WeAge?do

Professor Tom Kirkwood (BBC Reith Lecturer, 2001) explores one of life’s fundamental questions, based on his research at Newcastle University’s award-winning Institute for Ageing and Health.

Nine out of 10 children with

leukaemia are now cured as

a result of improvements to

treatment over the last 30 years.

Professor Christine Harrison

and her team from the Northern

Institute for Cancer Research

have dedicated the last two

decades to understanding the genetic changes

that characterise leukaemia cells, leading to the

discovery that many of these changes relate to how

patients respond to their treatment. This knowledge

has been used to guide the therapy given to patients

and as a result has contributed significantly to

improved outcomes.

Their discovery of one abnormality, known as

iAMP21, has led to modifications in treatment which

have improved survival rates for these children from

only three out of 10 to eight out of 10. As a result,

treatment changes for patients with iAMP21 are

now being adopted internationally.

Newcastle University is now investigating whether

such biomarkers can be targeted with new drugs

to reduce the toxicity of the current therapies.

Newcastle is in the unique position of being able to

achieve this goal due to a critical mass of expert

scientists with research interests in the biology of

leukaemia and drug discovery. Working alongside

clinicians in the Great North Children’s Hospital, they

are translating new discoveries into novel treatments

with the aim of curing 100 per cent of children with

leukaemia within the next 10 years.

Professor Christine Harrison PhD, FRCPath

[email protected]

Excellence with a PurposeIn his acceptance speech he talked about the cause

for racial justice across the world: “Although I cannot in

any way say that I am worthy of such a great honour, I

can also assure you that you give me renewed courage

and vigour to carry on in the struggle to make peace

and justice a reality for all men and women, all over the

world. I can assure you that this day will remain dear

to me as long as the cords of memory shall lengthen.”

Forty-five years later, we remain committed to pioneering

research, learning and teaching that will make a difference

to people’s lives. And we continue to acknowledge the

work of social campaigners. This year we recognised,

among others, Shami Chakrabarti, Director of human

rights group Liberty, who said of her award: “This is

a massive honour and it is special for two reasons.

Firstly, because I am so pleased and happy to be in

Newcastle, and secondly because this was Dr King’s

English University. To be given the same honour as him,

Doctor of Civil Law, in the same place as a fellow civil

rights campaigner, makes it incredibly special to me.”

Improving Childhood Leukaemia Survival RatesChildhood leukaemia is the greatest success story of cancer treatment, says Professor Christine Harrison.

To view Dr King’s powerful speech visit: www.ncl.ac.uk/congregations/ceremonies/honorary/martinlutherking

On the 13th of November, 1967, Newcastle University made the historic award of an honorary degree to Dr Martin Luther King Jr – the only UK university to do so during his lifetime.

The Idea of a World Class Civic University

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Transcript of The Idea of a World Class Civic University