Explore a selection of the latest news from our departments and schools using the dropdown boxes below:
Biological Sciences
FSA’s Scientific Advisory Committee appointment for Professor Paul Fraser
Professor Paul Fraser from the Department of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London, has recently been appointed onto the Food Standard Agency’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes.
Royal Holloway biologist receives Linnean medal
Dr Steve Portugal, from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, has received the prestigious Bicentenary Medal in recognition of his excellent work in animal behaviour and physiology.
A billion years of evolution suggests a new approach for Alzheimer’s disease treatment
New research by academics at Royal Holloway, University of London, urges scientists that are looking to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease to focus on the role of proteins in the brain that cause Alzheimer’s disease. This change in focus could enable the development of new treatments.
Classics
Dr Liz Gloyn explores the longevity of Classical monsters
Released on Hallowe’en this year, a new book from the Department of Classics’ Dr Liz Gloyn explores how post-classical societies use creatures from ancient myth.
Classics department prizes 2018
Celebrating this year's student prize-winners
Athens conference: Disrupting polarization; publicity?
On 20 June, Lene Rubinstein participated as a panellist, together with Prof. Mavrogordatos and Prof. Chaniotis, in a discussion on one of the most pressing problems facing modern democracies: the growing polarization that characterises political life, as well as the interaction between citizens.
Computer Science
DEBS 2007 Most Influential Paper Award for Prof. Gregory Chockler
"SpiderCast: A Scalable Interest-Aware Overlay for Topic-Based Pub/Sub Communication" published in DEBS 2007 is the winner of the award.
Top for return on early-career earnings
An Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report confirms excellent career outcomes for our Computer Science graduates.
Winners of the #owdc student hackathon
OutSystems hosted their first ever student hackathon at Royal Holloway. Their partners Truewind hosted a challenge and the prize was for the winning team to be flown to Lisbon to attend a student hackathon at the OutSystems Worldwide Developer Conference hashtag#OWDC.
Drama, Theatre and Dance
The Making an Appearance research project is a collaboration between the Centre for Contemporary British Theatre at Royal Holloway and the Equity Women’s Committee. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the technē Doctoral Training Partnership, the project explores performers’ experiences of aesthetic labour.
Current PhD student has article published in the Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures
Megan Vaughan's article engages with her earlier research into the UK’s theatre blogging community, and its similarity to theatre fan communities which congregate on the website Tumblr.
Clare Summerskill publishes research on asylum seekers and verbatim theatre
Clare Summerskill, who is in her final year of study for a PhD in the Department, has recently had an article published in RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance.
Earth Sciences
Geochemical study of the Cambrian Alum Shale published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Animals breath oxygen, but fossils of some of the earliest animals are found in what appears to be anoxic parts of the oceans. New research led with researchers from the University of Copenhagen, the National Geological Survey for Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and Royal Holloway University of London, shows that fluctuations in oxygen availability at the seafloor allowed benthic animals to episodically invade in the 500 million year old Alum shale Sea in Scandinavia. This discovery settles a long standing debate between paleontologists and geochemists regarding the lifestyle and conditions required for the emergence and diversification of early animal life. The results are published in Nature Scientific Reports..
Professor Dame Jane Francis DCMG awarded Honorary Doctorate
Professor Dame Jane Francis DCMG, has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, (Honoris Causa), by Royal Holloway for her outstanding contribution to environmental science and polar research.
A trip to Europe’s highest volcano: Etna (Sicily)
Etna is nearly always active, and even on June 20th (2019) there was some explosive activity on the Central Crater, prohibiting a climb to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, a climb to the rim of the 1997 eruption’s vent at nearly 3,000 m a.s.l., allowed for a breath-taking view of the summit craters and of the plain of Catania, a city built on the very basalt lava flows that Etna erupted over the course of its 500,000 years of activity.
Economics
Alumnus Juan Vargas awarded prestigious prize in Colombia
Economics alumnus Juan Vargas has been awarded the prestigious 'Juan Luis Londoño' prize in Colombia for outstanding academic achievement and impact on Colombian public policy.
Academic’s Accounting for Death in War online course to run for a second time following success
Professor Michael Spagat of the economics department at Royal Holloway launched his free online course, Accounting for Death in War: Separating Fact from Fiction, in the summer of 2018. Following the great success of the first run he is rolling it out for a repeat performance, also free of charge, starting on 7 January, 2019.
New Grant awarded
Congratulations to Dr Melanie Lührmann and Dr Juan Pablo Rud, Department of Economics, who have been awarded £20,000 from Royal Academy of Engineering for their project entitled, 'Wash environments, sanitation policies and health outcomes during the first 2000 days of life'.
Electronic Engineering
University academic awarded prestigious fellowship grant
Dr Wenqing Liu, Reader in Nano-Electronics at Royal Holloway, has recently been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship Grant.
Royal Holloway showcases interdisciplinary exhibition at Tate Modern
Royal Holloway, University of London collaborated with the Tate Modern, to showcase the creative power of physical and political movement.
Royal Holloway hosts Girls into Electronics
The Department of Electronic Engineering at Royal Holloway hosted a three day residential course ‘Girls into Electronics’ in collaboration with the UK Engineering Skills Foundation (UKESF) and the SmallPeice Trust.
English
Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship Success
The Centre for Victorian Studies is delighted to welcome Dr Nicola Kirkby, who will join Royal Holloway’s English department in September, having been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship.
Centre for Victorian Studies’ Members on the Radio
In the past year, several members of the Centre for Victorian Studies have been on BBC radio, sharing their expertise on nineteenth-century literature and culture.
Professor Juliet John has co-curated a new exhibition, “Global Dickens,” at the Dickens Museum in London.
Geography
Welcome from the Head of Department, Professor Philip Crang
As Head of Department, I am delighted to welcome new students to the 2019-20 academic year.
Enough: The architecture of degrowth
Dr Cecile Sachs Olsen is one of the chief curators of Oslo Architecture Triennale, the Nordic region’s biggest architecture festival. The Triennale opens on September 26th .
‘Pop-up’ modular housing solution is no more than a sticking plaster, research finds
New research from Royal Holloway has explored the impacts of ‘pop-up’ modular housing for homeless families, finding that while it improves quality of life in many respects, it can also exacerbate feelings of stigma and insecurity.
History
New educational film projectin partnership with The National Archives to commemorate bicentenary of Peterloo Massacre
The Peterloo Massacre of 1819, a seminal event in Britain’s democratic history, is set to be brought to life through a new educational film project called Archives Alive: Peterloo from Royal Holloway, University of London in partnership with The National Archives.
Royal Holloway Historian helps shine new light on modern German cold-case
Historian Dr Barbara Zipser, from Royal Holloway, has used the linguistic profiling skills she normally employs on ancient Greek documents to highlight a potential miscarriage of justice, in a grisly child abduction and blackmail case from the 1980s.
Professor Jane Hamlett uncovers comedian Jack Whitehall's family secrets
A Historian from Royal Holloway has helped comedian Jack Whitehall, and his father Michael, explore their family tree in BBC One’s Who Do You Think You Are?
Information Security
Doctoral training in Cyber Security receives more funding
The UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has announced that it is renewing support for the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security (CDT) at Royal Holloway, University of London, as part of the UK Government’s strategy to increase the number of highly trained cyber security experts.
New Cyber Security and Big Data Innovation Centre to be built at Royal Holloway
Funding of £5million has been granted by Enterprise M3 Lep (EM3) to Royal Holloway to help build a brand new, state-of-the-art cyber security and big data centre on campus.
Royal Holloway PhD students win global cybersecurity contest
The winning line up of PhD students from Royal Holloway were participating in the first global online capture-the-flag (CTF) competition and the results were announced during the 7th International Cybersecurity Symposium held at Keio University, Tokyo on 27 November 2018.
Law
#Drugsforsale – The rise of the social media drug dealer
Social media messaging apps are playing an ever increasing role in the drugs economy, according to new research.
Prize-winning research into the International Criminal Court
Research into the retroactive application of the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute by Talita de Souza Dias, a Teaching Fellow in the School of Law, has been named by the prestigious Journal of International Criminal Justice as the best article it published in 2018. This article has been published open-access and can be read for free here.
Survey conducted to discover the safety and security of Anglican clergy
A pilot survey for the National Churchwatch and undertaken by academics from the School of Law at Royal Holloway, discovered that 10 percent of Anglican Clergy have been a victim of violence.
Management
New research from academics at Royal Holloway, the University of Birmingham, and Sheffield University, claims that heritage brands have a lot to learn from the James Bond franchise if they want to achieve longevity.
Academic's Open Data online course to run for a third time following success
Following its previous successes, the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Using Open Data for Digital Business, launched by Dr Tom Wainwright, from the School of Management at Royal Holloway, will be running for a third time from 7 January, 2019.
Christmas is hectic, but slowing things down might be about to become the new status symbol
Increasing numbers of people are searching for ways to slow down their fast paced consumer lives by turning to slower forms of consumption, such as using limited holiday time to walk ancient pilgrimage routes, research by the School of Management has found.
Mathematics
PhD Mathematics Graduate wins international prize
PhD graduate Kaisa Matomäki awarded the 2019 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize.
A maths conference for year 12 students and their teachers - 17 June 2019
Every year, we host an Exploring Maths event at Royal Holloway, aimed at students taking A-Level Mathematics or an equivalent qualification (and their teachers). We hope to increase the students’ enjoyment and understanding by illustrating the beauty, breadth and power of Mathematics.
Media Arts
BAFTA nomination for Royal Holloway professor and production team
Victoria Mapplebeck, an academic at Royal Holloway, has been nominated for the BAFTA Short Form Programme for her short film Missed Call, which is about her young son’s journey to reconnect with his absent father.
First StoryFutures Academy Co-Funded Immersive Production Selected for Tribeca Festival
StoryFutures Academy, the National Centre for Immersive Storytelling run by Royal Holloway and the National Film and Television School (NFTS), are excited about its film, Common Ground, directed, produced and written by Darren Emerson, being selected for the Tribeca Film Festival, which takes place between 24 April to 5 May, 2019 in New York.
Film award won by university academic
Victoria Mapplebeck, Reader in the Media Arts Department, has won a prestigious national film award for her short film ‘Missed Call’ – all about her young son’s journey to reconnect with his absent father. It is one of the first professional documentaries in the world to be filmed on the iPhone X.
Royal Holloway led bid secures funding to support the creative industries
A consortium led by Royal Holloway, University of London, has today been named by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as one of nine successful bids to host an ambitious Research and Development partnership aimed at boosting the UK’s creative sector.
Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Royal Holloway to showcase critically acclaimed photography on post-Castro Cuba
This summer Royal Holloway will host an exhibition to bring together the work of world-renowned photographers such as Raúl Cañibano and Michael Christopher Brown, highlighting previously unseen photographs that offer a snapshot of the changing face of Cuba.
Professor Eric Robertson on the cultural impact of the First World War in France
Professor Eric Robertson was a recent guest on Resonance FM, a London radio station, to discuss the cultural impact of the First World War in France.
Professor Catherine Grant delivers the 2018 David Vilaseca Memorial Lecture
In November, Catherine Grant, Professor of Digital Media and Screen Studies at Birkbeck, delivered the 2018 David Vilaseca Memorial Lecture. The lecture is held annually in memory of our late colleague David Vilaseca (1964-2010), who was Professor of Hispanic Studies and Critical Theory at Royal Holloway.
Music
Opera premiere for Miguel Diniz
Miguel Diniz, a Masters student in composition, was recently in Lisbon, Portugal, for the premiere of an opera he co-wrote.
Brian Lock premiere at Shanghai International Arts Festival
Brian Lock, Senior Lecturer in Composition, visited Shanghai in October to prepare for performances of his new multimediate work, Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds.
PRS Foundation award touring grant for Mark Bowden's 'The Mare's Tale'
The Berkeley Ensemble has been awarded funding from the PRS Foundation for the world premiere tour of Mark Bowden's music theatre piece 'The Mare's Tale', through the Beyond Borders scheme.
Physics
Royal Holloway receives share of nearly €10 million for scientific discoveries
Royal Holloway, along with Lancaster University, has received a share of €9.8 million from the European Commission to fund the European Microkelvin Platform (EMP), an advanced European Infrastructure providing access to ultralow temperatures near absolute zero.
A second Quantum Revolution? The promise and pitfalls of quantum technologies
For this year’s Fourth of July Royal Holloway was delighted to host Professor Séamus Davis as part of its Evening Lecture series in Physics in collaboration with Condensed Matter and the City 2019. Professor Davis has been at the forefront of development in the applications of quantum technology for the whole of his career, and gave a fascinating discussion on the new wave of quantum technology being pursued by governments and companies from around the world.
50 years on – our link with Apollo 11 Moon landing
The flight to the Moon by Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and Michael Collins is one of the most significant moments of human history.
Politics, International Relations and Philosophy
International Monetary Fund reforms weaken the state, study finds
A new study shows that lending conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) undermine “state capacity” in developing nations – preventing state bureaucrats from implementing essential policies in health, education, and national security.
Speaker of the House talks with Royal Holloway students
The Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt Hon. John Bercow MP, gave a private talk to members of the School of Politics and International Relations and Philosophy earlier this month.
Royal Holloway one of 24 universities selected to participate in Parliamentary Studies scheme
The UK Parliament announces that Royal Holloway is one of the 24 universities which will offer the innovative and unique Parliamentary Studies module from academic year 2019/20.
Read more Politics, International Relations and Philosophy news >
Psychology
The Evolution of Sonic Communication
On Saturday 28th September, Dr Saloni Kirshnan, a lecturer at the RHUL Psychology Department, gave a talk, “The Evolution of Sonic Communication” at the Natural History Museum. This was a conversation with world beatboxing champion and musician Bellatrix. Saloni and Bellatrix explored a range of topics, including the differences between human and animal communication, links between language and music, and the emergence of the beatboxing culture. People also got to learn a little beatboxing, so they covered a lot of ground in 15 minutes.
How does the mind work without gravity?
Dr Elisa Ferre has published an article in The Conversation discussing the impact of zero gravity on the mind.
Brain scans find how we transform written words into meaning
The mystery of how readers’ brains transform written words into meanings has always been a controversial matter, yet new research by Royal Holloway, University of London, in collaboration with Aston University and the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, has advanced the debate after academics made a new discovery.
