Royal visit
Final preparations are underway for the opening of the Forum by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh on Weds 2 May as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. We would like as many students as possible to join the celebration. The visit will take place in the late morning and there will be live music outside the INTO building on Stocker Road from 10.30am, plus food and drink on sale. The Forum should open for business approximately one hour after the Royal visitors have left the campus, though its first full day of operation will be 3 May. Most of the University’s car parks will be closed for the day and the Queen’s Drive and Stocker Road will be closed approx 11am-3pm. The Library will remain open as normal. We hope to provide as normal a service as possible for students, although an event of this scale will cause some disruption.

Thanks to all
Thank you for your patience during the building of the Forum and our other major building projects. The opening of the Forum completes a transformation of the Streatham campus which is essential for providing the highest quality service and facilities.

Sanctuary ready
The Sanctuary is now open as a brand new bright and flexible space for students. It is located right at the centre of Streatham campus under the Great Hall, adjacent to the Forum. Formerly known as the Lower Exam Hall, it will host a mix of study, exams and major student events, like the Careers Fair. It will be used for exams in May and June and an extra 150 seasonal study seats will open in the Forum Library. In the new academic year the Sanctuary will have 180 study seats.

Team GB
Congratulations to statistics PhD student Robin Williams, who has been selected for the GB blind football team for London 2012. Follow his progress on Twitter.

Sport success
March’s international sport month was a great success, and engaged people who have not been previously involved in campus sport. 721 international students (18.3% of all international students) took part together with 1,259 domestic students.

International contribution
An independent report has shown that the University’s international students contribute over £104 million each year to the South West economy, supporting 3,280 jobs across the region. They boost Exeter’s economy by over £88 million a year and support 2,880 jobs, equivalent to 2.8% of all employment in the city.

Gold Guild
The Students’ Guild achieved Gold in the national NUS Green Impact Awards. The Guild has also been awarded Gold accreditation by the NUS for its work in supporting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Guild’s Jewish Society, Exeter JSoc, has been nationally recognised after being awarded ‘Best Developing JSoc 2012’ by the National Union of Jewish Students.

Career Mentor Scheme
The matching process for the 2012 Career Mentor Scheme recently came to a close, having matched 100 students from the Exeter and Cornwall campuses. Mentors this year included those working in Law, Health, Finance, Media, Human Resources and Business; over half were alumni of the University. For more information about the scheme and to read profiles of students who have been mentored, please see the website.

Placement prize
The work experience programme created by the University and Exeter City Football Club has won ‘Work Placement of the Year’ at the2012 National Council for Work Experience awards. The initiative created 30 projects and placements for students in all colleges.

Student experience in spotlight
On Fri 4 May the Education Conference focuses on ‘The Student Experience: 2012 and beyond’. It is open to students, academics and professional staff with an interest in discussing and disseminating good practice about student experiences. The conference is the first to be held in the Forum, and has 14 workshops plus keynote speakers. Register online.

Dragon lecture
Dr Deborah Meaden, Honorary Graduate and entrepreneur of Dragon’s Den fame will be giving an open lecture on sustainability and business on Thurs 17 May, 6pm in the Alumni auditorium, Forum, Streatham Campus. Following the lecture, Dr Meaden will present the Exeter Apprentice Awards. Contact deborahexeter@live.com for a free ticket, first come first served.

Exams looming
Remember that you can’t keep your mobile phone with you while you are taking exams, even if it’s switched off. Also, no material other than that authorised for the exam in question should be taken into the exam hall. See more guidance for candidates online – and good luck.

Studying abroad?
A small number of scholarships are available for students studying abroad next year, worth £1,000 in German or French speaking countries or £500 in a Spanish or French speaking country.

Spit saves lives
Exeter Marrow are holding a recruitment event on Fri 4 May where people can sign up to the bone marrow register. All you need to do is spit in a tube and fill in a form. Find them in JCR Devonshire House, Streatham Campus, 2-5pm.

Cornwall campus news
The Environment and Sustainability Institute has had its topping out ceremony to mark highest point of construction. The ESI is a £30 million interdisciplinary centre leading cutting-edge research into solutions to problems of environmental change, due to be ready for occupation this autumn. Follow the ESI on Twitter and Facebook. On Sun 20 May the Cornwall Campus is hosting the Tremough Campus Culture Festival, in association with the Daphne du Maurier Festival in Fowey.

Grand Challenges Cornwall
An exciting project will explore Cornish culture and identity from 11-20 June. It is open to undergraduate and Masters’ students from any discipline who want to research Cornwall’s rich heritage and environment. You will be working with the artist Neil Canning and leading academics to explore this topic in creative ways. The programme is flexible and can be combined with other activities you might be undertaking during this period including the sustainable social enterprise project, Shelterbox or Bioblitz. More info online or email Roos Zandstra or Liz Dunne. This programme is being run from the Cornwall Campus – Exeter based students would need to find accommodation.

Guild TV win
XTV, the Students’ Guild online TV station, has won four National Student Television Association (NaSTA) awards, including Best Factual for ‘Cameo’. The Guild will be hosing next year’s NaSTA conference and awards ceremony.

Bioblitz
This year’s Streatham Bioblitz is on Sat 12 May, 11am – 5pm, in the Hoopern Valley, the University’s county wildlife site. A Bioblitz engages large numbers of people with biodiversity by surveying and monitoring of plants and animals. TV’s Nick Baker and experts from external organisations and the University work alongside students, staff and other members of the community. Register via online form or see event webpage.

Community seeds sown
Students, staff and Exeter residents have joined forces to reinvigorate land at Queens Crescent, St James, Exeter. This builds on a series of gardening days organised by local food-growing charity Harvest. The University also donated materials.

Pool opens
Cornwall House outdoor swimming pool is now open until 7 October, weather permitting.

Disease symposium
A special student rate of £10 has been offered for an educational conference on early life origins of adult disease on Thurs 24 May. Prof Jon Pinkney from PCMD is hosting at the Postgraduate Medicine Centre, Plymouth. Register online.

Until 27 May
Photographic exhibition: ‘On the Surface’
By Paul Sandy, who works in Exeter IT in Academic Services
Location: Innovation Centre cafe, Streatham Campus

Tues 1 May, 9am-2pm
Geoengineering@Exeter
Professor Jim Haywood
Location: Streatham Court 0.28, Streatham Campus
Register with Lois Spence. For more information about G360, please contact Jim Haywood.

Tues 1 May, 5pm
Politics, politicians and English comprehensive schools
Dr David Crook (Brunel University)
Location: Baring Court, BC114, St Luke’s Campus

Tues 1 May, 8.30pm
Cafe Scientifique: Overpopulation
Dr Pip Hayes, Population Matters
Location: Exeter Phoenix, Gandy Street, Exeter. Free.

Fri 4 May, 9.30am-4.15pm
Education Conference 2012
Location: The Forum, Streatham Campus

Sat 5 May, 10am-late
The Exeter Northcott Theatre Open Day
outdoor interactive shows, technical workshops, family acting workshops, shadow puppet making, stage make-up demos, costume fun, treasure trails and a Ceilidh.

Tues 8 May, 5-6pm
Waking the Dead: Religion, Secularism, and Coping with Corpses
Inaugural lecture: Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Theology and Religion
Location: Queen’s Building, Lecture Theatre 2, Streatham Campus

Weds 9 May, 9am-2.15pm
College of Social Sciences and International Studies Showcase
Location: Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies Lecture Theatres
Register with Lois Spence (l.s.spence@exeter.ac.uk).

Weds 9 – 20 May
The du Maurier Festival
Location: Fowey, Cornwall

Weds 9 May, 4pm
Reversing steroid insensitivity in lung disease
Prof Ian Adcock, Imperial College London
Location: the Lecture Theatre, North Cloisters (NC12), St Luke’s Campus with a telematic link to the Lecture Theatre, John Bull Building, Plymouth
Contact: Susan Westoby

Thurs 10 May, 10am-4.30pm
The Health Technology & Society (HTS) research group inaugural symposium:
‘Bridging the gap between the sociologies of diagnosis and intervention’
Headed by Dr Susan Kelly (Egenis)
HTS group research explores social aspects of technological innovation in the life sciences, health and medicine.
Location: Byrne House seminar room

Fri 11 May, 1-5pm
Weekend Celebration of Research and Research Methodology
The Graduate School of Education is hosting social science students from across SSIS and the wider ESRC Doctoral Training centre for practical, methods-based workshops.
Location: Baring Court, St Luke’s campus
Info: Lucy Smith on 01392 724910 or by email

Sat 12 May
Bioblitz 2012 - Hoopern Valley, Exeter

Sat 12 May
Graduate School of Education Annual Student Conference
Location: Baring Court, St Luke’s Campus
Info: Lucy Smith on 01392 724910 or by email

Mon 14 May, 3-4.30pm
The Miraculous Egg: the Construction of Eggs in Reproductive and Regenerative Medicine.
Dr Ilke Turkmendag, Newcastle University
Location: Byrne House, Streatham campus
Info: Claire Packman 01392 725126

Mon 14 May, 8.30pm
Cafe Scientifique: What happens when the oil runs out?
Chris Rhodes
Location: Exeter Phoenix, Gandy Street, Exeter. Free.

Tues 15 May, 1pm
The challenges of researching digital interaction: multimodality, embodiment, time and space
Prof Carey Jewitt (University of London)
Location: Baring Court, BC114, St Luke’s Campus

Tues 15 May, 6.15pm
Shaping the future lecture
The Challenges of Public Health in the 21st Century
Professor Dame Sally C Davies, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health
Register by email or contact Margaret House-Hayes 01392 72576
Location: videolink to Lecture Theatre A, Streatham Court, Streatham Campus from the Chapel Lecture Theatre, Cornwall Campus.

Weds 16 May, 4pm
Translational animal models and psychiatry research
Dr Emma Robinson (University of Bristol)
Location: Lecture Theatre, PMS Building, Barrack Road, Wonford, Exeter with a telematic link to the Lecture Theatre, John Bull Building, Plymouth

Weds 16 May, 5.30pm
Inspiring Science lecture
Nanobrick walls that stop fire and nanocomposites that could use your body heat to power your mobile phone
Professor Jaime Grunlan, Texas A&M University
Location: Room 004, Harrison Building, Streatham Campus

Thurs 17 May, 6pm
Sustainability and Business
Public lecture from Deborah Meaden, Honorary Graduate and entrepreneur of Dragon’s Den fame.
Location: Alumni auditorium, The Forum, Streatham Campus.
Reserve a place: alumni@exeter.ac.uk.

Fri 18 May, 1-2pm
Mental Health Research Group seminar
Can we now explain medically unexplained symptoms? – Professor Francis Creed (Manchester University)
Location: North Cloisters 12, St Luke’s Campus.

Sun 20 May
Tremough Campus Culture Festival

Mon 21 May, 3-4.30pm
Growing meat with stem cells: In vitro meat in context
Dr Neil Stephens, Cesagen, University of Cardiff
Location: Byrne House, Streatham campus
Info: Claire Packman 01392 725126