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Ziggurat - The e-Newsletter of the UEA Alumni Association August 2019 View in browser
Ziggurat
UEA in the news
Norwich Medical School

Class of 2019 graduates

Another year, another cohort of students graduate and join our global network of UEA alumni.

This year’s ceremonies took place on campus, at Sportspark, and were followed by a festival-style celebration featuring a live band, food stalls, a gif booth - and the alumni team out in full force.

Close to 5,000 students graduated this year, among them a chef turned lawyer, a pair of tuk-tuk driving documentary filmmakers and a English and Creative Writing student who rapped his dissertation – and got a first.

And the new grads were joined by a host of UEA alumni, including the Trayners who have five UEA degrees between them

SPOT YOURSELF IN OUR PHOTO GALLERY  
UEA coding comp

Jane Goodall to headline Norwich Science Festival 2019

The renowned ethologist and conservationist Dr Jane Goodall is headlining this year’s Norwich Science Festival.

Famed for her work studying the wild chimpanzees of Gombe in western Tanzania – a study that is still ongoing nearly 60 years later – Dr Goodall has dedicated her life to understanding animal behaviour, promoting conservation, and encouraging new generations to care for our environment and all its inhabitants.

She has made hugely important observations during her career – including the fact that chimpanzees were meat-eaters and that they made and used tools, which up until that time, were behaviours assumed only undertaken by human primates.

This special event, that takes place on Thursday 24 October, will see Dr Goodhall in conversation with evolutionary biologist and UEA's Prof Ben Garrod. She will discuss her work and the core programmes of the Jane Goodall Institute, the future of conservation, and how our actions make a difference every single day.

Early release tickets sold out. More tickets will be available on Wednesday 21 August via the Norwich Science Festival website. 

BOOK TICKETS  
Cycling Festival 360

What’s killing UK hares?

Hares, that charismatic long-eared mammal so synonymous with the East Anglian countryside, are dying in unprecedented numbers. UEA researchers have launched a campaign to raise vital funds to find out what’s behind it.

The team, led by Prof Diana Bell from the School of Biological Sciences, has already identified the first UK cases of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus type 2, which has ‘jumped’ to hares. Now, they want to map the spread of the disease, and see what else could be behind the deaths.

Prof Bell, who said the team had received over 750 location reports of dead or dying hares across the UK, added: “We could not have envisaged the scale of these mortalities nine months ago and urgently need help to maintain and map their distribution, collect and store bodies securely, and provide diagnostic testing.

“This is crucial to inform long-term efforts to conserve our hares which have already shown a marked decline in many parts of the country.”

The team hope to raise £120,000 to investigate the cause following reports of sick and dead hares from members of the public. Learn more from ITV Anglia's report on the crisis, and donate to the research through by clicking on the link below.

SUPPORT THE PROJECT  
News in brief
Want people to stop smoking? Pay them 

Evidence published on the Cochrane Library website provides strong evidence that financial incentives help people to stop smoking – and give up long-term. Smoking costs the UK economy around £13bn a year and, as lead author Dr Caitlin Notley, a senior lecturer in mental health at Norwich Medical School, explains, voucher or payment schemes “could help save money as well as save lives.”

Pioneering virtual rehab for stroke survivors 

UEA researchers are pioneering virtual reality rehabilitation, using low-cost videogame technology. Working with industry experts Evolv, they’ve created a new gaming platform to improve the lives of stroke patients suffering from hemispatial neglect, a debilitating disorder. “Adherence is key to recovery,” said Dr Stephanie Rossit, from UEA’s School of Psychology. “We wanted to create something that makes it fun to stick to a rehabilitation task.”

A level students coming through Clearing 

It’s A level results day on Thursday 15 August and UEA’s Clearing phone lines will be open and ready to help anyone having second thoughts about their university or course, or who didn’t get the results they were expecting. Call 0300 300 7994 on the day, or visit our clearing website. And one final thing – good luck!

News from our network
Global Gathering

Global Gathering kicks off in September

Meet your fellow grads at an event near you!

This year's Global Gathering events are taking place right across the world, from Australia to Pakistan, Nepal to Canada, and beyond. Organised to celebrate the University's birthday, they're a chance for you to meet and mingle with fellow UEA grads living nearby.

To find an event simply click on the link below. And don't worry if there's no celebration planned – it's not too late to organise your own Global Gathering event. Simply email alumni@uea.ac.uk to find out more. 

BOOK FOR 2019  
FLY 2019

The world's top thinkers

And so it appears UEA alumni are continuing to influence political and cultural discourse, with a former professor and a creative writing graduate on the shortlist for Prospect magazine’s World’s Top Thinkers 2019.

Naomi Alderman graduated from the MA in Creative Writing in 2006, going on to publish her award-winning book The Power to critical acclaim. Prospect’s panel of editors said she “had a unique imagination and has asked some searching social questions.”

Another name on the shortlist is Sarah Churchwell, “one of the most thoughtful writers on the cultural history of American politics.” She taught at UEA between 1999 and 2015 and her book Behold, America: a History of America First and the American Dream “perfectly encapsulates her role as a public intellectual."

You can vote for a winner now. The top 10 will be announced in September. Congratulations to them both!

FIND OUT more  
Study UK

Issue two of creative non-fiction mag hits the newstands 

The second issue of Hinterland, a quarterly print and digital magazine dedicated to the very best of new creative non-fiction, is now available.

Founded by Andrew Kenrick and Freya Dean, two graduates of the MA Creative Writing programme, Hinterland initially grew with support from a start-up fund and mentoring from the UEA Enterprise Centre.

And it’s grown from there, publishing both well-established authors – Richard Beard, Rebecca Stott and Ian Tomson – and newcomers, and attracting an international audience.

The Richard Horne-designed second issue is now available to buy and aspiring authors can contact the team via the Hinterland website.

FIND OUT MORE  
Masters and PhD study

Exclusive alumni scholarships for further study 

Recently graduated, or thinking about returning to further study? UEA offers some excellent Master’s and PhD opportunities to take your learning further.

And, as a graduate, you can take advantage of two exclusive fee reductions with 50% Final Year Continuation Scholarships and a 10% Alumni Scholarships available. The UK Government Postgraduate Loan scheme is also currently offering up to £10,609 to support Master’s study, and up to £25,000 for postgraduate Doctoral courses.

Most courses begin in September and are available to study on a one-year full-time or two-year part-time basis. 

FIND OUT MORE  
Owen Nicholls

Collecting data on the move

Volunteers are being sought to help collect movement data for everyday activities.

The data will be used to help UEA researchers understand the effect of medical conditions on these activities. The testing involves a visit to the Human Movement Lab at UEA, and should take around 90 minutes.

If you would like to participate, or want more information, please email Jacob.Wells@uea.ac.uk.

Future Leader

Off to the Edinburgh Fringe? 

You can still catch UEA staff, students and alumni in the following shows:

So you think you know about dinosaurs? with Professor Ben Garrod; runs to 17 August
Mark Can’t Rap (Mark Grist); to 18 August
Arthur Smith: Syd; to 17 August 
Love (Watching Madness); to 26 August
White Girls; to 25 August
Seasoned Professionals; to 18 August
Bottoms Up!; to 17 August
Play Before Birth; to 24 August
Invisible Us; to 17 August
You're in a Bad Way by John Osborne; to 24 August
In Your Wet Dreams; to 24 August
John Kearns: Double Take and Fade Away; to 24 August
110% John Kearns and Pat Cahill; 20 August
Joz Norris is Dead. Long Live Mr Fruit Salad; to 25 August
dressed.; to 25 August

Know anymore UEA-linked performances at Edinburgh? Please let us know. (And apologies if we’ve missed you!)

Fulbright

Could you be an Alumni Award winner?

Do you live outside the UK and have an inspirational story to share about what you have achieved since completing your studies at UEA?

If the answer to that question is an emphatic ‘Yes!’ then you can submit an application to the Study UK Alumni Awards to celebrate your achievements.

The Study UK Alumni Awards celebrate the outstanding stories of UK university alumni and showcase the impact that a UK higher education can have.

Applications are now open for alumni living in any country outside of the UK, who studied at degree level or above (degree level is defined as band 9 and above on the UK NARIC band framework; post-doc researchers are ineligible) between 2004 and 2019 in the UK for a minimum of one term or semester, or awarded a full UK degree level qualification – or higher – by a recognised UK university in their home country.

To apply, or to nominate a fellow graduate, visit the British Council website. Nominations close on Sunday 1 September for Azerbaijan, China, Malaysia and Qatar; applications close Sunday 15 September. Nominations for all other countries close Sunday 13 October and applications on Monday 28 October. 

UEA Stories

Want to know more about sport at UEA?

UEA Sport is going from strength to strength and we’re asking you, our alumni, if you’re keen to get involved.

There have been triumphs on and off the pitch at UEA this year, from the American Football team’s promotion to the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) Premier League to uea+sport being shortlisted for four awards at the BUCS awards.

And plans are now underway for all-new sports reunions, events and get-togethers for alumni.

So, whether you're a regular in the UEA Pirates alumni team, top of your family tennis tree, or a stalwart of the sidelines, let us know if you’d like to find out more about these upcoming events by clicking the link below.

YES! I'd LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE  
News from our network
Latitude 2018

Magdalene Odundo: the Journey of Things

Saturday 3 August to Sunday 15 December
The Sainsbury Centre
£13, £12 concessions 

A major exhibition of the works of Magdalene Odundo, one of the world's most esteemed artists and ceramicists, comes to campus this autumn. 

The exhibition brings together more than 50 of Odundo's works including her largest, Transition II, which is made up of 1,001 individual suspended glass pieces. And visitors will see her work alongside a large selection of objects she has chosen from 3,000 years of art history.

50% off for under 18s, full-time students and Art Fund Members.

(Photo: Andy Crouch)

Buy tickets  
Doris Lessing 100

Pre-hospital Educators Symposium

Wednesday 4 September
UEA

A line-up of national speakers gather for a late-summer symposium on education within the pre-hospital care environment. All health care professionals and students with an interest in pre-hospital education are welcome – and the event is free.

Follow #PHECed on Twitter for more information. 

BOOK YOUR PLACE  
Noirwich 2019

Norwich in '59

Until Saturday 5 October 2019 
The Norwich Museum in Bridewell

A new exhibition at The Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell celebrates the friendship between Norwich and Rouen following the formal twinning of the two cities in 1959.

The museum marks the anniversary with contemporary photographs of the twin cities, along with collections from the period highlighting the social, cultural and political feel of the cities 60 years ago.

The exhibition includes photographs of the distinctive brutalist architecture here on campus.

FIND OUT MORE  
Obituary

In the past month the University has sadly been informed of the death of the following alumni:

Gunther Kress (EAS72)
Neil Pettifer (EUR75)

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