Transcript - Annual Report 2010/2011
For the second year running the University of Bradford has produced its annual report online only. This underlines our ongoing commitment to sustainability, reducing our impact on the environment, and joins our ongoing number of Ecoversity initiatives.
I’m delighted to say the University goes from strength to strength; with increasing number of students joining us and graduating. This report brings together images and words to give an overview of our achievements over the past year.
Each year we welcome thousands of students from right across the world to the University. They bring a richness, a vibrancy and a diversity to the Campus which we really appreciate. Along with our home students, they create a very, very vibrant atmosphere, right across the campuses.
Last year we had about 10,500 undergraduates and about 3,500 post graduates at the University, from around 117 different countries. We have a University with one of the highest percentage of international students in the UK; they bring a fantastic richness to the campuses.
It’s been a very successful year for research. We were able to secure over nine million in research funding, which demonstrates the value and the quality of the work we do. In addition, four million pounds was generated through the work that we do with business organisations in a range of innovation and knowledge transfer activities.
A prestigious development was the ‘China Science Bridges’ initiative lead by Professor Phil Coates. This was an initiative funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The initiative is to link research in the United Kingdom to research in China, and also to develop commercialisation and exploitation of intellectual property in China. Paul Thorning from our Pharmacy team in the School of Life Sciences has been leading on the commercialisation work within this activity and has attracted a further 10million dollars from a regional agency to match developments in China.
Behind me you can see The Green, the University’s new sustainable village which is now home to over a thousand of our students. This 40 million pound eco-friendly development was rated the most sustainable development in the world, and it’s about students learning about sustainable living by actually experiencing it.
Work has started on the University’s Sustainable Enterprise Centre. This has already been awarded the highest BREAM construction rating in the world. This will provide a hub for sustainability at Bradford and will provide a focus for research and sustainable development across all aspects of the University.
Science, technology, engineering and maths is at the heart of what the University is offering. In April 2011 the University launched its stem strategy with Dr NaziraKarodia leading a national initiative to raise aspirations in these important subject areas. At Bradford, this has led to the development of a dedicated building, which will house this activity, and we are hoping that we are able to inspire school pupils from across the region to get more involved in these niche subject areas.
The opening of the new home for the School of Health Studies on City Campus this year provided a real opportunity to develop learning and stimulation facilities which help get our students familiar with the kind of equipment and the kind physical environments they’ll find when they leave University and move out into the world of work.
We were also delighted to host the British Science Festival which provided the University with a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the quality of its research and the difference the research makes to the world as a whole.
The University has continued to focus on professional education which leads to graduate jobs and this comes about from the innovation in our programmes and the link to employers and business in the region. For example the School of Management set up a creative partnership with Morrisons to provide education and training at all levels for students and employees in this important sector
We continue to be in the top 20 in the UK for graduate level employment and number 1 in Yorkshire. 9out of 10 of our graduates this year went into graduate level employment.
The past year has seen a completion of more world-class buildings on our campus. I was also delighted that our Estates team was awarded a carbon champions award by the Institute of Design, Engineering and Service Engineers. That award reflected an enormous amount of hard work over many, many years in embedding sustainability and low carbon right across the campus.
To compliment academic life, the University has worked very closely with the Students’ Union, to ensure there is a broad range of sports, societies and social activities across campus to suit all University needs. The University has also invested in its technology; we’ve upgraded our PC clusters, student email and blackboard (our virtual learning environment). A new finance system was also launched in August 2010. All of these investments benefit staff, as well as students. To ensure we continue in enhancing our student and staff profile we have invested in key appointments and in staff development and training.
The University’s ultimate aim is to provide an environment which allows our staff and our students to reach their full potential.
In the period of time covered by this report, there have of course, been major changes in the finance and funding of our education. We have worked very, very hard to explain to students the costs and benefits of coming to university and I’m delighted to say that this year our applications have shown a significant rise; which bucks the trend nationally, where many universities have seen a fall in their applications. We hope that this encouraging trend will continue to demonstrate the value of a university education here in Bradford.
Far more has happened this year than we have been able to feature in this video, so I do hope you will take the opportunity to look at the annual report on our website.
It only remains for me to say thank you to all our staff, students and partner organisations that have helped us over the year. We are immensely grateful for all of your support.