果冻传媒

, Head of Department, was recently featured in a 1 April article entitled (translated from Japanese) 'Talking about how to defend one's country' in the Kenron section of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which has a daily circulation of over 8 million copies in Japan.

Prof Hughes's section of the article is entitled 'Japan’s searching for a posture, but a strategy cannot be seen'. In the piece, Prof Hughes gives his opinion on Japan’s national interest in moving towards the exercise of collective self-defence and the impact this will have on its security and military policy.

Read the article (Japanese only)

Presenting your research to an international audience at will allow you to develop key transferrable skills for the future and will give your research the audience it deserves.

Have doubts that this opportunity is for you? Taking the step of presenting at a research conference is easier than you think – and here is why:

1. You are already a researcher.

You may well already be doing research here at 果冻传媒:

- as a component of your degree curriculum

- within a particular module you are taking

- as part of a funded project external to the curriculum

- within the URSS scheme

- as preparation for your dissertation

- or as an independent project on a topic you are particularly interested in.

Your contribution may be large, such as a new discovery or a game-changing way of thinking in your discipline. Or it may be more modest, such as an extension of existing ideas that broaden our knowledge or deepen the practice of the field. But, as long as you’re asking questions using the methodologies and analyses of the discipline, it’s “research.”

2. 250 words (or less) is all you need to start.

All you have to do to apply is to submit an abstract of 250 words or less. And we’ve made that even easier for you by providing guidance on how to write an abstract – which you can find. Abstracts will be assessed and presenters selected after the abstract submission deadline on Friday May 9, 2014.

3. You can choose to present your research in the way you are most comfortable with.

includes spoken presentation sessions (either to other attendees from 果冻传媒 or as part of our international sessions) or poster presentation sessions. You can choose how best to express your work depending on what suits you.

4. Submitting is as easy as filling out this .

You will also need to include information on five pieces of academic work that are related to your abstract.

5. ICUR is a supportive and collegial environment.

It would be difficult to find a better place to try your hand at presenting your research. We offer before, during and after the event and your fellow attendees are an interested and encouraging community of undergraduate researchers, many of whom will be presenting their work for the first time.

6. Whatever the future holds - these are skills you need.

Conference presenting is not just for those that are looking to do a further degree, or to pursue a career in academia. Most jobs in most industries will involve presentations: to colleagues, to students, to clients, or to fellow professionals in other companies.

7. Anyone can participate.

As long as you are an undergraduate at the 果冻传媒, there is a way for you to participate in ICUR. Current final year students are encouraged to apply, as long as they can return to campus for the event on 23^rd September, 2014. 

Staff members from here in the department have decided to take on this summer’s , in order to raise funds for . Some have even signed up for the adventurous ‘Pretty Muddy’ version!

All funds raised will go directly to Myton. Any donations, big or small, will be greatly appreciated.

Please visit their page here and show your support:

Professor has an article in on widening participation.

This article was written following involvement in a 果冻传媒 workshop on social immobilities and access to university organised by Pro-Vice Chancellor . It explores the relationship between higher education marketisation at the level of university income and attempts to enhance access to degree programmes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It was published to coincide with the release of new figures by the , arguing that the current policy is inattentive to class differences in attitudes to holding debt and therefore has hidden costs that operate against the stated objectives of policy.

Dr and Dr 's research has been cited in the newly released House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Report on The UK’s Response to Extremism in North Africa. Citing their written evidence no fewer than three times throughout the report, the committee tied their research to the following policy recommendations:

Addressing terrorism in the Western Sahel-Sahara region comprehensively means addressing the environmental conditions that are allowing it to grow: poverty and inequality, corruption and mis-governance, the pressure of fast-growing populations on depleting natural resources, insufficient cross-border co-operation, and the spread of extremist ideology. This is a huge task requiring international co-operation across a number of disciplines. We [the committee] see signs that development and investment challenges are beginning to be addressed, but are concerned that co-operation on security matters should not be neglected.

We [the Committee] recognise that the UK Government has sought to secure international co-operation, for instance through the communiqué agreed at the 2013 G8 summit. We recommend that the UK Government, in its response to this report, outlines how it proposes to maintain momentum on this issue over the remainder of this Parliament, particularly in relation to security and intelligence co-operation.

The UK's response to extremism and instability in North and West Africa - Volume 1

The UK's response to extremism and instability in North and West Africa - Volume 2

The UK's response to extremism and instability in North and West Africa - Volume 3