News Bites | Summer/Autumn 2013 View online

Welcome to the Summer/Autumn Issue of News Bites from the College of Science where you can find out some of the latest news and events. For more information about the College of Science visit www.swan.ac.uk/science

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Best Geography Dissertation 2013

Owen’s film about badgers wins Geraint George Scholarship

MPhys student returns from research at CERN

Hannah Lee’s excellent final-year dissertation entitled “Variability and facies controls of soft-sediment deformation in the Torridonian Applecross Formation” has been entered for two national prizes: the British Sedimentological Research Group Award for Undergraduate Sedimentology and The Geological Society of London Early Career Geologist competition.

Owen Bidder, PhD student in the Department of Biosciences won the Geraint George Scholarship for a film he made about badgers.

Alex Alampounti returns from a CERN summer studentship, organised and paid by CERN. He worked on our ALPHA experiment, and followed a number of lectures at CERN from leading physicists from all over the world.

 

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Matthew wins David Douglas Prize 2013

Matthew Gwynne, a PhD student at the Department Computer Science, has won the David Douglas Prize 2013 for his paper "Generalising and Unifying SLUR and Unit-Refutation Completeness". Matthew is supervised by Dr Oliver Kullman.

The prize is awarded to young engineers (normally up to 30 years of age) who are members of a recognised professional institution. Matthew is a member of the British Computer Society. Computing is quite unlike the classical engineering fields so it is testimony to Matthew's clear explanations in his interview that the key ideas of his paper could be appreciated by a general panel of engineers.

South Wales Institute of Engineers was founded in 1857 as a learned society for engineers and scientists in the area, arranging lectures and publishing the Proceedings of the South Wales Institute of Engineers. In 2007, the body was re-constituted as a charity called the South Wales Institute of Engineers Educational Trust (SWIEET2007).

Josella’s work experience at the Sea Life Centre

Reading a Marine Biology degree has been an aspiration for Josella Hunt me since she was around 10 ….”but I’ve loved being in, on or under the sea ever since I can remember. Every student knows that from around year 10 onwards work experience is recommended for gaining a job in the future, however since I’ve been pursuing my degree I know not only is it recommended, but essential.

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Computer Science Project Demonstration Fair

Every year, final year computer science students dedicate two semesters to their final year project as part of their degree qualification. Since 2008, these students present the results of their project to the departmental public as well as to local IT industry. This event is organized in conjunction with IT Wales, Software Alliance Wales, and Technocamps. The aim of the fair is to provide students with a professional environment where they:

  • Present and defend their final year projects
  • See how their own project fits into the context of the entire year's results
  • Network professionally with IT companies.

During the fair, students are by their exhibition space for discussions with visitors from the entire Swansea Bay area community. This is a great opportunity to come and meet our latest group of graduates as well as to network with visitors from local academia and industry.

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PhD student Philip Harries is finalist for the Sustainable Swansea Award

Marine Biology student works with Archipelagos

First-year Geology

The Sustainable Swansea Awards are a biennial award scheme in recognition of local organisations and projects making an active contribution and commitment to sound environmental practices and sustainable development in the Swansea area.

The winners of the 2012 awards were announced at an award ceremony held at the Swansea Marriott Hotel on 22nd March 2013.

Rachel Seary has been working out in Greece with a conservation charity ‘Archipelagos’ as an intern for her year out during her Marine Biology degree. Rachel is now conducting seagrass fisheries research for her final year honours project in conjunction with Dr Richard Unsworth. Archipelagos are working closely with the Seagrass Ecosystem Research Group. In November three further graduates will be heading out to conduct projects with Archipelagos on seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean.

 

The introductory geology course for first-year students concluded with a visit to the Evolution of Wales gallery at the National Museum in Cardiff and a fieldwork afternoon in the Vale of Glamorgan. Plans are in place to expand the provision of geology in 2013-2014 with a new, field-based module for students enrolled on the Physical Earth Science and Physical Geography degree schemes.

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Computer Science Graduate impresses researcher from Disney

Ben Spencer joined Computer Science as an undergraduate student in 2002. He achieved a first class degree and then went on to undertake a PhD under the supervision of Dr Mark Jones. His research into high quality globally illuminated rendering had a wide impact, resulting in publications in top journals. After completing his PhD, he became a full time researcher in the department, continuing his work in photon mapping with Dr Jones which won the Best Paper award at Eurographics 2013. He also presented his work at a tutorial at SIGGRAPH which is the largest Graphics and entertainment conference with attendees from all the top companies in the industry. It was there that he made an impression on researchers from Disney, eventually leading to a job offer in their Los Angeles studios. After a very successful decade at the department, Ben will take up his post at Disney in the autumn. We wish him all the best.

Congratulations to all our Graduates

Mathematics Teaching Training Scholarship

Department’s pride at “dedicated” Zoology graduate’s First Class achievements

Congratulations to all our Graduates and to those who received Departmental Prizes.

Congratulations to Natalie Freestone for being awarded a £20,000 scholarship for teacher training from the IMA/LMS/RSS.

Nick Hoad celebrated the achievement of a First Class BSc Zoology degree from Swansea University this summer, after three years’ study in the Department of Biosciences, College of Science.

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Students from the Department of Computer Science accepted for prestigious contest

Ben Jones, MRes Aquatic Ecology & Conservation student records his work on seagrass meadows around the UK in the World Seagrass Blog

The College of Science congratulates MSc/MRes Human Computer Interaction students from the Department of Computer Science who have been accepted for the UIST student Innovation contest 2013.

Harry Moynehan, Zoltan Hajnal, Ellis Knight and Dan Thomas from the 2012-2013 cohort have become one of 30 teams accepted in the competition and will be fighting for the 1st or 2nd prize in the "Most Creative" category.

Ben is working in collaboration with the Seagrass Ecosystem Research Group. His project involves examining the health status of seagrass meadows over a gradient of human induced impacts, with specificity to elevated nutrients and eutrophication.

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Department of Computer Science "Maker" Challenge

Richard discovers a rare six belted clearwing moth

Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Scholarship

The Department of Computer Science has invested in 50 kits consisting of raspberry pi computers, Arduinos and other physical computing components. In October, we'll be launching an annual maker competition for teams of students to use the kits to develop exciting, interesting services. Teams will meet with mentors from the Department's research and lecturing staff between October and February. At the end of the competition, there will be an exhibition to showcase the ideas with prizes awarded to the most innovative."

Richard Lewis, a final year BSc Zoology student, discovered several clearwing moths at his dissertation site, which is an old coal spoil that's now being managed by Caerphilly Council as a wildlife park.

Gwydion Jones (BSc Geography 2012) has been awarded a PhD scholarship from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.  Over the next 3 years he will be investigating the climate and environmental changes in Wales between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago by focusing on lake and peat deposits: Llyn Llech Owain and Cors Carmel.

 

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Positive Swansea Award given to the Conservation Ecology Society

New PhD student in Biosciences campaigns for baby orphaned sloths

The Conservation Ecology Society run by the students and assisted by SERTS has been awarded “The Positive Swansea Award” by the Swansea University Students Union in recognition of their positive contribution to the University, at the same awards ceremony they were also runners up as “Society of the Year”.

Rebecca Cliffe, new PhD student in Biosciences will be working on the behaviour of sloths in Costa Rica with Professor Rory Wilson.  She has raised nearly £30,000 as part of a campaign to reintroduce baby orphaned sloths into the wild, as reported in the Huffington Post.

 

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Swansea Geography students receive Employability Awards

The following BA and BSc Geography students received employability awards and benefitted from great placements this summer:

Clare Warwick and Megan Pickard– Discovery placement in Zambia with the Swansea-Siavonga parternship

Alice Palmer – worked at the Canal and River trust (British Waterways)

Hollie Sansom – Fairtrade office with Bridgend County Council

Aidan DAuncy – Swansea City Council planning department

Alice Carter  - Lovell Johns commercial mapping department

Stephan Ellis – National Trust countryside Ranger

Emma Dulson – EDF Energys Environment, Regulation and Oversite (ERO) Department

Tom Lloyd – John Lewis

Michael Mustoe - 8 week internship for an off-shore environmental consultancy firm working as a hydrographic processor

Amy Hulley – Neilson water sports Kenya

New York Field Course

After a bumpy start, the plane was hit by lightning on take-off from Heathrow and the human geography students landed in a blizzard at Newark Airport. By lunchtime on the first day in New York City, however, the sun had come out and there were no further mishaps!  During the week the students explored how landscapes of all kinds reflect the social and cultural power of individuals, groups, and nations – looking at skyscrapers, memory sites like the 9/11 Memorial, and public spaces like Central Park.  They traced the evolution of gentrification by looking at how diverse neighbourhoods like the Meatpacking District on Manhattan and Williamsburg in Brooklyn have been transformed, first, through colonisation by artists and small businesses and, later, by established businesses seeking to cash in on an area’s ‘cutting edge’ reputation.  In one day the students explored a fraction of the city’s cultural diversity - travelling from Harlem (arguably the African American ‘capital’ of the USA) to the shrinking neighbourhood of Little Italy and on to the ever-expanding Chinatown.  Students’ group projects took them far and wide across the city, and they made full use of the evenings in the city that never sleeps to take in sports events, theatre and even a bit of shopping!

Geography students also enjoyed fieldcourses to Mallorca and Vancouver over Easter 2013.

Maths Student Society thanks

Marine Biology student surveys fish communities in seagrass meadows in the Caribbean

Amy Jones wins the Learned Society of Wales/ESRC Doctoral Training prize for the Best PhD Student Poster

In April 2013 the Swansea University Maths student society SUMSoc organized a meal out for students and staff, which was a wonderful evening for everyone. Also, for those students about to graduate, it was a lovely way of rounding off their time at Swansea University.

The final-year students took the opportunity to present the staff with a delightful, specially-made card, thanking them for the great time they had had. The staff were really touched to receive this, and to read the four pages of comments from dozens of students, enthusing about the support they received and their enjoyment of the different aspects of the course and of Swansea itself.

They were deeply grateful for this show of appreciation. They really enjoyed teaching them, and look forward to hearing of all their great successes in their careers.

Ashley West, a second year Marine Biology student has been assisting Dr Richard Unsworth as a research intern conducting fieldwork on a number of projects in the UK and abroad. Prior to heading to his 2nd year field module in Millport, Ashley had been helping survey fish communities in seagrass meadows of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. Amongst a diverse array of fish species they’ve caught, last week a juvenile Lemon shark ended up in their net. This research is part of a Darwin funded collaboration between scientists at Swansea and Cardiff Universities linked to the Seagrass Ecosystem Research Group. The work is interdisciplinary and focuses on understanding the links between seagrass meadows and food security. The work forms part of a wider Darwin (DEFRA) funded project focussing on the links between seagrass and food security in the Caribbean.

Amy Jones, a first-year Human Geography PhD student at Swansea University, has won an accolade at Wales’s largest social science conference. At the 2013 Annual Conference of WISERD (Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods), held at the University of South Wales on 25–26 June, Amy’s research on the Wales Coast Path – entitled ‘Walking Wales’ – won the joint Learned Society of Wales–ESRC Doctoral Training Centre prize for the Best PhD Student Poster. The posters were judged by Fellows of the Learned Society and the certificate and prize presented by Dr Lynn Williams, Chief Executive, The Learned Society of Wales. Amy’s research is co-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Countryside Council for Wales, and the College of Science, and is supervised by Professor David B. Clarke and Dr Sergei Shubin of the Department of Geography. 

 

 

 

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Swansea Science Summer School

The College of Science organised its first Science Summer School in June. Funded by the Welsh Government, 25 pupils from Community First areas took part.

Students experienced a series of taster days in Swansea’s five College of Science departments, carrying out experiments and workshops in bioscience, computer science, geography, maths and physics. They gained valuable, hands-on experience of carrying out real scientific experiments with academic staff in a research laboratory. The programme aimed to ‘bring science to life’, with workshops such as ‘Mathematics for jugglers’ and ‘Hunting for exoplanets’.

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An introduction to Particle Physics

Animal Diaries

Professor Mike Charlton gives an introduction to Particle Physics with Dr Tom Whyntie of CERN at the Cheltenham Science Festival.

Professor Rory Wilson speaks at the Cheltenham Science Festival on his research to understand more about wild animals through the innovative Animal Diary tags he has developed.

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Urdd Eisteddfod

At the end of May, Swansea University hosted the GwyddonLe (Science tent) at the National Urdd Eisteddfod in Pembrokeshire. Fifteen thousand people visited the tent over the week.

The GwyddonLe was conceived around 5 years ago as a space dedicated to celebrating science through the medium of Welsh within the Urdd Eisteddfod.  As part of the largest youth festival in Europe, the GwyddonLe offers a space where children and young people from across Wales can experience science first hand, learning about the central role that science has in so many facets of our everyday lives.

For the last three years, Swansea University has been the GwyddonLe’s sponsor, and scientists from a range of different disciplines in the University, including the College of Science took part.

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Q&A with David Henry Hwang at the UK Premier of his 2008 award winning play Yellow Face

Dr Amanda Rogers (Department of Geography) led the public Q&A with Tony-award winning playwright David Henry Hwang at the UK premiere of his 2008 play Yellow Face. Held on Saturday 25th May at the Park Theatre in Finsbury, London, the lively 45 minute discussion covered a range of topics including David’s early career, his influences as a writer and, given the resurgence of yellow face, issues surrounding race and theatre.

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Mobile Microalgal Laboratory for Tata Steel

Geology Outreach

A team based within the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR) has built and deployed a mobile microalgal laboratory at the Tata Steel Strip Products steelworks site at Port Talbot. The facility is being used within the ACCOMPLISH and EnAlgae projects to verify and demonstrate the capability of photosynthetic microalgae to reduce carbon emissions and provide sustainable energy using industrial waste streams. 

Geraint Owen (Geography) gave talks and led field meetings on geological topics to the Geologists’ Association South Wales Group (20 April), Open University Geological Society (12 May), Glamorgan Wildlife Trust (11 June) and Bath Geological Society (4 July) and led a geology-themed walk from Cwm Clydach nature reserve to Gellionnen Chapel as part of the Gower Walking Festival in early June. With Charles Hipkin (Biosciences) and Michael Isaac (DACE) he led guided walks in the Brecon Beacons at Craig Cerrig Gleisiad (9 June) and Penwyllt (30 June), and together they held a training day for Brecon Beacons National Park volunteer wardens in the Mellte Valley on 16 June.

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‘Things that go bump in the night’ - Getting a grip on enigmatic animals

Centre for NanoHealth opened its doors for a packed day of activities

EnAlgae Open Day

Swansea Science café talk by Professor Rory Wilson, Department of Biosciences, featuring a penguin on a treadmill.

It is well known that sperm whales dive to over a mile underwater, presumed to be foraging in the black depths where we cannot see, or even follow them. But most animals cannot be seen most of the time so is it illusionary to think that we have a good understanding of even the most visible of animals? Perhaps not! A relatively new approach to understanding wild animals uses sophisticated tags to record what animals get up to wherever they might be. Self-writing, animal-attached diaries provide us with extraordinary chronicles of animal activities ranging from 'helter-skelter sharks' through 'depressed elephants' to 'spinning albatross'. Rory Wilson, who has been tagging animals for over 30 years explains it all.

 

The Centre for NanoHealth hosted a day of activities to showcase its expertise and capabilities in July. Students from Dylan Thomas Community School took part in a series of fun scientific experiments and activities such as jumping on corn flour and making ice cream with liquid Nitrogen, before viewing the CNH poster display area.

The day was followed by an evening of business networking when the centre hosted over 40 people from companies and industry leaders to view the facilities and the poster display area highlighting the latest research at CNH including Regenerative Medicine (Stem cells, Cartilage repair, Tissue scaffolds, Wound healing), Genotoxicology and Disease diagnosis, Rheology, Biosensors, Microneedles and Microfluidics.

Aaran Lewis won the best poster prize, which was voted & donated by ‘Learn About China’, on the “Investigation of Biochemical Fingerprints for Diagnosis of Lung Cancer”.

Visitors were also able to enjoy a tour of the centre and view the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. One company said “I thought it was a great success and the display of posters most impressive.”

Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR), Swansea University

Tuesday 15 October 2013, 16.30-19.30

The EnAlgae Project is carrying out research to assess the viability of an algae-to-energy market in North West Europe (NWE). Swansea University is the lead partner of this pioneering project and on 15 October, it will open the doors to its algal research facilities. The facilities are housed within the University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research where work is also being carried out on a number of other aquatic projects.

The event will include:

  • An introduction to Swansea University’s CSAR facilities

  • An update on EnAlgae’s research at the halfway point of the project

  • Tours of the microalgae production facilities

  • An opportunity to network over drinks and canapés

This event is FREE of charge but booking is required. Please email l.c.stowe@swansea.ac.uk to reserve your place.

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Official launch of WISE at the Senedd

Economy Minister, Edwina Hart, has launched the next phase of a project aimed at helping businesses in West Wales and the Valleys become more sustainable and support the low carbon economy.

The WISE Network is a collaborative project between Swansea, Aberystwyth, and Bangor  universities that enables businesses across the region to take full advantage of the growth in the green economy.

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IT Wales

Tidal Turbine - Royal Society Summer of Science Festival

Read the latest news from IT Wales, the industrial liason unit of the Department of Computer Science.

 

Swansea University's Marine Energy Research Group exhibited at the Summer of Science Festival. Their Tidal Turbine exhibit demonstrates how scientists can generate electricity from the sea, harnessing the energy created by tidal streams and waves. The expertise of physicists, engineers, biologists and chemists are being used to design underwater structures to capture this energy, and study its impact on the marine ecosystem.

 

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Further increase in numbers taking the Further Maths A-level in Wales

This year’s Further Mathematics A-level results are again a cause for celebration in Wales with a 9.4% increase. The proportion of Mathematics students who sat Further Mathematics A-level reached 11.2%, which is the highest result ever in Further Mathematics. Since the Further Mathematics Support Programme was launched in Wales in 2010 the percentage has risen steadily every year. The number of students studying Further Mathematics in Wales has increased by more than 70%.

The pilot Further Maths Support Programme (FMSP) Wales started in October 2010 and covered Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea and Pembrokeshire. The South West Wales FMSP team is based in Swansea University Mathematics Department where many of their events take places throughout the academic year.

The Programme offers tuition and access to online resources to support the teaching of Further Mathematics. One of the key elements of the Programme is a variety of revision and study events held face-to-face and online. 97% of students attended Further Pure and Applied face-to-face Revision sessions in 2012/13 would recommend it to other students. Students’ comments include: “Great help to all students”, “Enjoyable atmosphere”, “…very useful for revision and even learning new things”, “Excellent preparation”.

From April 2013 Rhondda Cynon Taff, Anglesey and other parts of North Wales are included in the project.

All state-funded secondary schools and colleges in Wales are invited to register with the Programme here and express their interest in tuition assistance by contacting the Programme Coordinator Sofya Lyakhova on 01792 602793.

RESEARCH IN THE NEWS

Protecting coastal biodiversity supports our fisheries

BBC launches User Experience Research Partnership

Minister launches animal tracker

New research by Swansea University is helping to understand the importance of sensitive coastal habitats, in Wales and the UK, for supporting our fisheries.

The research, which uses novel stereo video technology, has been assessing the fish communities and their age ranges in different habitats around Wales. Specific focus has been on trying to understand the value of seagrass meadows, kelp forests and horse mussel beds for supporting juvenile fish, particularly those species of commercial importance.

The research was carried out by members of the Seagrass Ecosystem Research Group, at the College of Science, Swansea University and was conducted in collaboration with SEACAMS, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau SAC, and the National Trust. It has resulted in the creation of a publically available short film accessible on the internet. The film is available at the Seagrass website.

The BBC has launched it's User Experience Research Partnership, a long-term collaboration project between BBC Research and Development (BBC R&D) and leading universities in the fields of User Experience and Human Computer Interaction research.

Swansea University's Department of Computer Science is one of the academic partners, all of whom have committed to support the initiative for at least four years.

Through large-scale pilots and prototypes, the partnership will explore the potential of new forms of content and interaction in a multi-platform world, alongside new ways of producing media that will help make content more accessible to all audiences. The research outcomes will be shared with the industry to encourage wider audience-focused innovation, help define open standards and support the creative industries in producing engaging content in the future.

Finance Minister Jane Hutt marked the launch of a revolutionary new product which has been developed through a unique collaboration between two innovative EU-funded projects.

Swansea University’s ASTUTE (Advanced Sustainable manUfacturing Technologies) project and Bangor University’s SEACAMS (Sustainable Expansion of the Applied Coastal and Marine Sectors in Wales) project showcased the Daily Diary tag at a free business breakfast at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium.
 
The Daily Diary tag, which primarily tracks the movements of marine and land animals, but can also track people, has been developed by Wildbyte Technologies Ltd – a spin out company established in 2012, from Swansea University’s Swansea Laboratory for Animal Movement (SLAM) research group.

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Fungus research could be good news for bees

Lyell Fund award for leading climate change specialist

Labmate Online features work on fungus as an insecticide, by a team including Prof Tariq Butt (Department of Biosciences) and Dr Miranda Whitten of Swansea University.

Investigating insect pathogenic fungi as a safe and natural alternative to chemical pesticides scientists from Swansea University, along with colleagues in Russia and Germany, have carried out studies on a species of moth which is a pest in bee hives. This involved exposing 25 successive generations of the moth to a fungus called Beauveria bassiana.  They analysed the moths’ reactions to see if they built up resistance, but they also looked at other factors such as stress.

Professor Siwan Davies from the Department of Geography has received the Lyell Fund award by the Geological Society of London for her noteworthy published research within the past ten years. The Society, which is the UK's learned and professional body for Earth scientists, presented the award at President’s Day on 5 June. Siwan’s research focuses on establishing why climate has changed dramatically and abruptly in the past 100,000 years (up to 16°c in a matter of decades). She investigates volcanic ash deposits trapped in ice sheets and sediments to piece together the response of the ocean and atmosphere during these rapid climate-change events in order to pinpoint the possible climatic triggers.

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Leverhulme Research Fellowship for Physics Professor

Professor Gert Aarts (Department of Physics) has been awarded a two year Leverhulme Research Fellowship.

In his work, Prof Aarts investigates the behaviour of quarks and gluons under the extreme conditions of high temperature and/or density, by combining analytical approaches with high-performance computing techniques. This work is driven by the discovery of the so-called quark-gluon plasma at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven (New York, USA) and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, as well as by the intellectual challenge to understand one of the four forces in Nature, the strong force, described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), at its most fundamental level.

To kick off his Fellowship, Prof Aarts will spent the month of September at the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India, where he will be hosted by the Lattice QCD Group, headed by Rajiv Gavai and Sourendu Gupta. Prof Aarts says: "This Fellowship offers an excellent opportunity to make progress in research and I am very pleased to have received it. The Lattice Group at Tata provides a stimulating environment for discussion and collaboration and I am looking forward to the excitement that the Institute and Mumbai have to offer."

Community Generated Media

Swansea’s Department of Computer Science has been involved in putting together the Com-Me Toolkit which is a collection of hardware and software components providing solutions for content creation and sharing in locations around the globe where there is low textual and computing literacy and limited power and network coverage.

 

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Fascinating footage of glacier calving

Research into water availability in the Horn of Africa

Tephra’s research

The Department of Geography's Glaciology Group are engaged with trying to understand what controls the way glaciers and ice sheets change over time, especially in response to climate.  In the summer of 2010, Dr Tim James and some of the team, were out in Greenland on the south shore of Helheim Fjord, which is accessible only by helicopter from the town of Tasiilaq. They installed cameras that would take digital photographs of Helheim's calving.  The team had been in the field for 5 days and very little had happened.  Only very small bits of ice broke off which could be heard but not seen.  The team were camped about 4 km away from the fjord front.  After 6 days they had installed two cameras that were running nicely and were installing the third camera when out of nowhere they a really deep rumble that was shooting down the fjord. They hadn’t heard anything like that before.

Dr Iain Robertson has been awarded a grant from the National Geographic Global Exploration Fund to study water availability in the Horn of Africa. The main aim of the collaborative research is to extend records of water availability into the pre-instrumental era using tree cores from junipers growing in the Ethiopian Highlands.

Spring and summer 2013 has been a busy period for Geographers from the Swansea Tephra Group. Early results of the ERC-funded Tephra constraints on Rapid Climate Events (TRACE) project were presented by Dr Peter Abbott, Dr Anna Bourne, Eliza Cook and Adam Griggs at the Integrating ice core, marine and terrestrial records (INTIMATE) workshop held at Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Scotland. Professor Siwan Davies also presented the group's work in June at the NERC Response of Humans to Abrupt Environmental Transitions (RESET) wrap-up meeting at the British Museum, London. Some of these results are soon to be published in Journal of Quaternary Science, Climate of the Past and Quaternary Science Reviews. Team members continue their search for microscopic ash layers within marine cores and have sampled new records stored at the University of East Anglia, University of Bordeaux and the University of Bergen. In August, whilst sampling ice-cores at the University of Copenhagen, the team were joined in the freezers by a film crew from Cwmni Telesgop, producing a science documentary for S4C on the group's research on volcanic ash and rapid climate change.

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Chinese agri-food delegation visits research centre

A delegation from China recently visited Swansea University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR) as part of a mission to attract international companies to Wales.

The China State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (CSAFEA) is on a fact-finding mission, to learn more about UK agricultural research and development and to identify collaboration opportunities.

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NanoProbe for the Centre of NanoHealth

The Centre for NanoHealth has received a new piece of equipment called the UHV LT Nanoprobe and NanoSAM.

Nathan Smith of the Centre of NanoHealth said "The system is under Ultra High Vacuum at X10^-11 mbar, meaning we simulate an atmosphere similar to outer space. We have a preparation chamber which allows us to heat our samples via resistive heating and also direct current. This help to clean the samples and remove any residual water. In this chamber we also have an Argon sputter gun which allows us to bombard the sample with ions in order to further clean the sample."

The equipment took three weeks to install and has been purpose built. 

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OTHER NEWS AND EVENTS

Swansea to host London Mathematical Society meeting

Professor advises parliamentary enquiry into unaccompanied migrant children

The Department of Mathematics will host the annual London Mathematical Society South West and South Wales Regional meeting. The meeting will take place on the afternoon of Monday 16th December. The speakers at the meeting will be: Professors Stefaan Caenepeel of Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Shahn Majid of Queen Mary University of London and J. Toby Stafford of University of Manchester. The meeting will be followed by a three-day workshop on “Categorical and Homological Methods in Hopf Algebras” with invited speakers from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain, USA and the UK.

Back in November 2012 Professor Heaven Crawley, Director of the Centre for Migration Policy Research in the Department of Geography, was appointed as a Specialist Adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) for its inquiry into the human rights of unaccompanied migrant children in the UK.

The Committee's report, published in June, includes recommendations in relation to the asylum decision making, procedures for age assessment and guardianship based in part on Professor Crawley’s research over the past five years.

 

 

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Green Impact Awards

Green Impact is an environmental accreditation and awards scheme run by the National Union of Students in over 50 institutions around the UK.  The scheme brings staff and students together in teams within their workplaces to carry out positive ‘greening’ actions according to an online workbook – resulting in a bronze, silver or gold award depending on the level of action.  Swansea University was the first university in Wales to run Green Impact and the scheme has since been endorsed by the Welsh Government as an effective behaviour-change programme in Universities.  This year Dr Kath Ficken and Mrs Yvonne Jones (Department of Biosciences and Geography) won the Gold Standard Award 2012-2013 for "WISE Lab Rats" and Ms Jan Morgan (Biosciences) won the Bronze Award for "Go Green".

Communicating Medical Error

Professor appointed to asylum advisory group

Visiting Professor

Professor Harold Thimbleby (Departmnet of Computer Science) was an invited expert at a ‘Communicating Medical Error’ conference in Switzerland in March 2013. Professor Thimbleby's passion is designing dependable computer systems to accommodate human error.

Professor Heaven Crawley, Director of the Centre for Migration Policy Research in the Department of Geography has been appointed by John Vine, the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration to sit on the Independent Advisory Group on Country of Origin Information (IAGCI) which informs the asylum decision making process.

The Department of Geography is honoured to have Professor Karl Butler from the University of New Brunswick here on sabbatical visit, working with Dr Bernd Kulessa and Dr John Hiemstra on novel geophysical imaging of glacial sediments, glacial ice and glacial substrates.

 

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To read previous editions of the College of Science Newsletter:

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For further details on any item reported above, please contact the member of staff concerned, or email Mrs Sandra Kramcha

Croeso i Rifyn Haf/Hydref News Bites gan y Coleg Gwyddoniaeth sy’n cynnwys y newyddion diweddaraf a gwybodaeth am ddigwyddiadau. Os hoffech wybod mwy am y Coleg Gwyddoniaeth ewch i www.swan.ac.uk/science

GWEITHGAREDDAU MYFYRWYR

Traethawd Daearyddiaeth Gorau 2013

Ffilm Owen am foch daear yn ennill Ysgoloriaeth Geraint George

Myfyriwr MPhys yn dychwelyd ar ôl gwneud ymchwil yn CERN

Mae’r traethawd rhagorol a ysgrifennwyd gan Hannah Lee yn ystod ei blwyddyn olaf - “Variability and facies controls of soft-sediment deformation in the Torridonian Applecross Formation” - wedi cael ei gyflwyno ar gyfer dwy wobr genedlaethol: Gwobr Grŵp Ymchwil Waddodegol Prydain ar gyfer Gwaddodeg i Fyfyrwyr Gradd Gyntaf a chystadleuaeth ‘Early Career Geologist’ Cymdeithas Ddaearegol Llundain.

Enillwyd Ysgoloriaeth Geraint George gan Owen Bidder, myfyriwr PhD yn Adran y Biowyddorau, am ffilm yn ymdrin â moch daear.

Mae Alex Alampounti wedi treulio cyfnod yn CERN fel rhan o’i ysgoloriaeth ymchwil. Roedd yr ysgoloriaeth wedi’i threfnu a’i hariannu gan CERN a bu Alex yn gweithio ar yr arbrawf ALPHA. Bu hefyd mewn nifer o ddarlithoedd yn CERN gan ffisegwyr blaenllaw o bob cwr o’r byd.

 

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Matthew yn ennill Gwobr David Douglas 2013

Mae Matthew Gwynne, myfyriwr PhD yn yr Adran Gyfrifiadureg, wedi ennill Gwobr David Douglas 2013 am bapur yn dwyn y teitl "Generalising and Unifying SLUR and Unit-Refutation Completeness". Mae Matthew yn cael ei oruchwylio gan Dr Oliver Kullman.

Dyfernir y wobr i beirianwyr ifanc (hyd at 30 mlwydd oed fel arfer) sy’n aelodau o sefydliad proffesiynol cydnabyddedig. Mae Matthew yn aelod o Gymdeithas Cyfrifiaduron Prydain. Mae cyfrifiadura’n wahanol iawn i’r meysydd peirianneg arferol felly mae’n glod i esboniadau clir Matthew yn ei gyfweliad bod panel cyffredinol i beirianwyr yn gallu gwerthfawrogi prif syniadau ei bapur.

Sefydlwyd Sefydliad Peirianwyr De Cymru yn 1857 fel cymdeithas ddysgedig ar gyfer peirianwyr a gwyddonwyr yn yr ardal. Roedd yn trefnu darlithoedd ac yn cyhoeddi Proceedings of the South Wales Institute of Engineers. Yn 2007, cafodd y corff ei ailffurfio fel elusen dan yr enw South Wales Institute of Engineers Educational Trust (SWIEET2007).

Profiad gwaith Josella yng Nghanolfan Bywyd y Môr

Mae cael gradd mewn Bioleg Môr wedi bod yn uchelgais i Josella Hunt ers pan oedd tua 10 oed “…. ond mae bod yn y môr, neu o dan y môr, yn rhywbeth rydw i wedi ei fwynhau erioed. Mae pob myfyriwr yn gwybod bod profiad gwaith yn cael ei argymell o flwyddyn 10 ymlaen er mwyn cael gwaith yn y dyfodol, ond ers i mi fod yn astudio ar gyfer fy ngradd rwy’n gwybod ei fod yn hanfodol hefyd.”

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Ffair Arddangos Prosiectau Cyfrifiadureg

Bob blwyddyn, mae’r myfyrwyr cyfrifiadureg sydd ar eu blwyddyn olaf yn neilltuo dau semester ar gyfer eu prosiect blwyddyn olaf fel rhan o’u gradd. Er 2008, mae’r myfyrwyr hyn wedi bod yn cyflwyno canlyniadau eu prosiect i bobl eraill yn yr adran ac i ddiwydiannau TG lleol. Trefnir y digwyddiad hwn ar y cyd ag IT Wales, Cynghrair Meddalwedd Cymru a Technocamps. Nod y ffair yw rhoi amgylchedd proffesiynol i fyfyrwyr lle gallant:

  • Gyflwyno ac amddiffyn eu prosiectau blwyddyn olaf
  • Gweld sut mae eu prosiect yn ffitio i gyd-destun canlyniadau’r flwyddyn gyfan
  • Rhwydweithio’n broffesiynol â chwmnïau technoleg gwybodaeth.

Yn ystod y ffair, bydd myfyrwyr yn aros wrth eu mannau arddangos i drafod gydag ymwelwyr o gymuned gyfan ardal Bae Abertawe. Mae hwn yn gyfle gwych i ddod i gyfarfod ein grŵp diweddaraf o raddedigion yn ogystal â rhwydweithio ag ymwelwyr o’r byd academaidd a’r diwydiannau lleol.

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Myfyriwr PhD o’r enw Philip Harries wedi cyrraedd rownd derfynol Gwobrau Abertawe Gynaliadwy

Myfyrwraig Bioleg y Môr yn gweithio gydag Archipelagos

Daeareg blwyddyn gyntaf

Mae Gwobrau Abertawe Gynaliadwy yn gynllun gwobrwyo a gynhelir bob dwy flynedd er mwyn cydnabod sefydliadau a phrosiectau lleol sy’n gwneud cyfraniad ac ymrwymiad gweithredol i arferion amgylcheddol cadarn a datblygu cynaliadwy yn ardal Abertawe.

Cyhoeddwyd enillwyr gwobrau 2012 mewn seremoni wobrwyo a gynhaliwyd yng Ngwesty’r Marriott, Abertawe ar 22 Mawrth 2013.

Mae Rachel Seary wedi bod yn gweithio yng ngwlad Groeg gydag elusen gadwraeth ‘Archipelagos’ fel intern yn ystod ei blwyddyn allan fel rhan o’i chwrs gradd Bioleg y Môr. Erbyn hyn mae Rachel yn gwneud ymchwil i bysgodfeydd glaswellt y môr ar gyfer ei phrosiect anrhydedd blwyddyn olaf gyda Dr Richard Unsworth. Mae Archipelagos yn gweithio mewn cysylltiad agos â’r Grŵp Ymchwil i Ecosystemau Glaswellt y Môr. Ym mis Tachwedd bydd tri myfyriwr graddedig arall yn mynd i wneud prosiectau gydag Archipelagos ar ddolydd glaswellt y môr ym Môr y Canoldir.

 

Daeth y cwrs cyflwyniad i ddaeareg ar gyfer myfyrwyr blwyddyn gyntaf i ben ag ymweliad i oriel Esblygiad Cymru yn yr Amgueddfa Genedlaethol yng Nghaerdydd a phrynhawn gwaith maes ym Mro Morgannwg. Mae cynlluniau i ehangu’r ddarpariaeth ddaeareg yn 2013-2014 â modiwl gwaith maes newydd i fyfyrwyr sydd wedi cofrestru ar y cyrsiau gradd Gwyddorau Daear Ffisegol a Daearyddiaeth Ffisegol.

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Myfyriwr â Gradd mewn Cyfrifiadureg yn creu argraff ar ymchwilydd o Disney

Ymunodd Ben Spencer â’r Adran Gyfrifiadureg fel myfyriwr gradd gyntaf yn 2002. Enillodd radd dosbarth cyntaf ac aeth ymlaen i wneud cwrs PhD dan oruchwyliaeth Dr Mark Jones. Creodd ei ymchwil i rendro golau eang o safon uchel argraff ar lawer o bobl, a chyhoeddwyd ei waith yn rhai o’r prif gyfnodolion. Ar ôl cwblhau ei PhD, daeth yn ymchwilydd amser llawn yn yr adran, gan barhau â’i waith ym maes mapio ffotonau gyda Dr Jones ac ennill gwobr y Papur Gorau yn Eurographics 2013. Cyflwynodd ei waith hefyd mewn tiwtorial yn SIGGRAPH, y gynhadledd Graffeg ac adloniant fwyaf, o flaen cynrychiolwyr o bob un o’r prif gwmnïau yn y diwydiant. Creodd argraff yno ar ymchwilwyr o Disney, a chafodd gynnig swydd yn eu stiwdio yn Los Angeles. Ar ôl deng mlynedd lwyddiannus iawn yn yr adran, bydd Ben yn dechrau yn ei swydd yn Disney yn yr hydref. Dymunwn yn dda iddo.

Llongyfarchiadau i bob un o’n Graddedigion

Ysgoloriaeth Hyfforddi Athrawon Mathemateg

Adran yn falch iawn o weld myfyriwr S_oleg “ymroddedig” yn cael Dosbarth Cyntaf

Llongyfarchiadau i bob un o’n Graddedigion ac i bawb gafodd Wobrau Adrannol.

Llongyfarchiadau i Natalie Freestone ar ennill ysgoloriaeth gwerth £20,000 ar gyfer hyfforddiant athrawon gan yr IMA/LMS/RSS.

Enillodd Nick Hoad radd BSc Dosbarth Cyntaf mewn Sŵoleg yn yr haf, ar ôl astudio am dair blynedd yn Adran y Biowyddorau ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe.

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Myfyrwyr o’r Adran Gyfrifiadureg yn cael eu derbyn ar gyfer cystadleuaeth arbennig

Ben Jones, myfyriwr MRes Ecoleg a Chadwraeth D_r yn cofnodi ei waith ar ddolydd glaswellt y môr o amgylch y Deyrnas Unedig ym Mlog Glaswellt y Môr y Byd

Mae’r Coleg Gwyddoniaeth yn llongyfarch myfyrwyr MSc/MRes Rhyngweithiad Dynol-Cyfrifiadurol o’r Adran Gyfrifiadureg sydd wedi cael eu derbyn i gystadleuaeth Arloesedd myfyrwyr UIST 2013.

Harry Moynehan, Zoltan Hajnal, Ellis Knight a Dan Thomas o grŵp 2012-2013 yw un o’r 30 o dimau sydd wedi cael eu derbyn i’r gystadleuaeth a byddant yn brwydro am y wobr 1af neu’r 2il wobr yn y categori "Mwyaf Creadigol".

Mae Ben yn gweithio gyda’r Grŵp Ymchwil i Ecosystemau Glaswellt y Môr. Fel rhan o’i brosiect mae’n edrych ar statws iechyd dolydd glaswellt y môr drwy wahanol effeithiau sy’n cael eu hachosi gan ddyn, gan ymdrin yn benodol â chynnydd mewn maetholion ac ewtroffigedd. 

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Her "Gwneuthurwr" yr Adran Gyfrifiadureg

Richard yn darganfod gwyfyn prin - cliradain chwe rhesen

Ysgoloriaeth y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol

Mae’r Adran Gyfrifiadureg wedi buddsoddi mewn 50 pecyn sy’n cynnwys cyfrifiaduron raspberry pi, Arduinos a chydrannau cyfrifiaduro ffisegol eraill. Ym mis Hydref, byddwn yn lansio cystadleuaeth flynyddol ar gyfer gwneuthurwyr lle bydd timau o fyfyrwyr yn defnyddio’r pecynnau i ddatblygu gwasanaethau cyffrous a diddorol. Bydd y timau’n cyfarfod mentoriaid o blith staff ymchwil a darlithio’r Adran rhwng Hydref a Chwefror. Ar ddiwedd y gystadleuaeth, bydd arddangosfa i ddangos y syniadau a gwobrwyo’r rhai mwyaf arloesol.

Darganfu Richard Lewis, myfyriwr BSc Sŵoleg ar ei flwyddyn olaf, nifer o wyfynod cliradain ar y safle lle roedd yn gwneud ei draethawd hir, sef hen domen lo sydd bellach yn cael ei rheoli gan Gyngor Caerffili fel parc bywyd gwyllt.

Dyfarnwyd ysgoloriaeth PhD gan y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol i Gwydion Jones (BSc Daearyddiaeth 2012). Yn ystod y 3 blynedd nesaf bydd yn ymchwilio i newidiadau yn hinsawdd ac amgylchedd Cymru rhwng 15,000 a 10,000 o flynyddoedd yn ôl drwy ganolbwyntio ar waddodion llynnoedd a mawn: Llyn Llech Owain a Chors Carmel.

 

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Gwobr Abertawe Gadarnhaol yn cael ei rhoi i’r Gymdeithas Ecoleg Cadwraeth

Myfyriwr PhD newydd yn Adran y Biowyddorau yn ymgyrchu dros ddiogod ifanc amddifad

Mae’r Gymdeithas Ecoleg Cadwraeth sy’n cael ei rhedeg gan y myfyrwyr â chymorth SERTS wedi ennill “Gwobr Abertawe Gadarnhaol” gan Undeb Myfyrwyr Prifysgol Abertawe i gydnabod ei chyfraniad cadarnhaol i’r Brifysgol. Yn yr un seremoni wobrwyo, daeth hefyd yn ail am y wobr “Cymdeithas y Flwyddyn”.

Bydd Rebecca Cliffe, myfyrwraig PhD newydd yn Adran y Biowyddorau yn ymchwilio i ymddygiad diogod (sloths) yng Nghosta Rica gyda’r Athro Rory Wilson.  Mae wedi codi bron i £30,000 fel rhan o ymgyrch i ailgyflwyno diogod ifanc amddifad i’r gwyllt, fel yr adroddwyd yn yr Huffington Post.

 

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Myfyrwyr Daearyddiaeth Abertawe yn cael Gwobrau Cyflogadwyedd

Derbyniodd y myfyrwyr a ganlyn sy’n astudio ar gyfer graddau BA a BSc mewn Daearyddiaeth wobrau cyflogadwyedd a chawsant leoliadau gwaith gwych yn yr haf:

Clare Warwick a Megan Pickard– Lleoliad Discovery yn Zambia gyda phartneriaeth Abertawe-Siavonga

Alice Palmer – Gwaith gyda’r ymddiriedolaeth Camlesi ac Afonydd (Dyfrffyrdd Prydain)

Hollie Sansom – Swyddfa Masnach Deg gyda Chyngor Sir Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr

Aidan DAuncy – Adran Gynllunio Cyngor Dinas Abertawe

Alice Carter  - Adran Mapiau Masnachol Lovell Johns

Stephan Ellis – Parcmon Cefn Gwlad gyda’r Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol

Emma Dulson – Adran yr Amgylchedd, Rheoleiddio a Goruchwylio EDF Energy

Tom Lloyd – John Lewis

Michael Mustoe – Interniaeth 8 wythnos yn gweithio fel prosesydd hydrograffig gyda chwmni o ymgynghorwyr sy’n ymwneud â’r amgylchedd allan ar y môr

Amy Hulley – Chwaraeon dŵr Neilson, Kenya

Cwrs Maes Efrog Newydd

Cafwyd dechrau simsan iawn i’r daith. Trawyd yr awyren gan fellten fel yr oedd yn codi i’r awyr yn Heathrow, ac roedd hi’n storm eira pan oedd y myfyrwyr daearyddiaeth ddynol yn glanio ym Maes Awyr Newark. Fodd bynnag, erbyn amser cinio ar y diwrnod cyntaf yn ninas Efrog Newydd roedd yr haul yn tywynnu a’r digwyddiadau anffodus i gyd y tu cefn i ni! Yn ystod yr wythnos bu’r myfyrwyr yn edrych sut y mae tirweddau o bob math yn adlewyrchu pŵer cymdeithasol a diwylliannol unigolion, grwpiau a gwledydd – gan edrych ar nendyrau, safleoedd coffa fel Cofeb 9/11 a mannau cyhoeddus fel Central Park. Buont yn olrhain esblygiad boneddigeiddio drwy edrych sut y mae cymdogaethau amrywiol fel y Meatpacking District ar ynys Manhattan a Williamsburg yn Brooklyn wedi cael eu trawsnewid, i ddechrau, wrth i artistiaid a busnesau bach ymsefydlu yno ac, yn ddiweddarach, gan fusnesau sefydledig a oedd yn ceisio ymelwa ar ardaloedd a oedd yn cael eu hystyried yn flaengar. Mewn un diwrnod edrychodd y myfyrwyr ar gyfran o amrywiaeth diwylliannol y ddinas – gan deithio o Harlem (‘prif ddinas’ Affro-Americanaidd yr Unol Daleithiau o bosibl) i gymdogaeth Little Italy, sydd â llai o Eidalwyr erbyn hyn, ac ymlaen i Chinatown sy’n dal i dyfu. Aeth prosiectau grŵp y myfyrwyr â hwy i bob cwr o’r ddinas, a gwnaethant y gorau o’r nosweithiau yn y ddinas sydd byth yn cysgu i fynd i weld gwahanol chwaraeon, i fynd i’r theatr a hyd yn oed i siopa!

Bu’r myfyrwyr Daearyddiaeth hefyd ar gyrsiau maes ym Mallorca a Vancouver yn ystod Pasg 2013.

Cymdeithas Myfyrwyr Mathemateg y Brifysgol yn diolch

Myfyriwr Bioleg y Môr yn arolygu cymunedau o bysgod mewn dolydd glaswellt y môr yn y Caribî

Amy Jones yn ennill gwobr Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru/Hyfforddiant Doethurol yr ESRC am y Poster Gorau gan Fyfyriwr PhD

Ym mis Ebrill 2013 trefnodd Cymdeithas Myfyrwyr Mathemateg Prifysgol Abertawe bryd o fwyd i’r myfyrwyr a’r staff. Roedd hi’n noson hwyliog iawn, ac yn ddiweddglo da i gyfnod y myfyrwyr ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe.

Manteisiodd y myfyrwyr a oedd ar eu blwyddyn olaf ar y cyfle i gyflwyno cerdyn wedi’i wneud yn arbennig i’r staff, i ddiolch iddynt am yr amser da roeddent wedi’i gael. Roedd y staff wrth eu bodd â’r cerdyn, a’r pedair tudalen o sylwadau gan ddwsinau o fyfyrwyr, yn diolch am y gefnogaeth roeddent wedi’i chael ac yn dweud cymaint roeddent wedi mwynhau gwahanol agweddau ar y cwrs ac ar Abertawe ei hun.

Roeddent yn ddiolchgar iawn am yr arwydd hwn o werthfawrogiad. Roeddent wedi mwynhau eu dysgu, ac maent yn edrych ymlaen i’w gweld yn cyflawni pethau mawr yn eu gyrfaoedd.

Mae Ashley West, myfyriwr Bioleg y Môr sydd ar ei ail flwyddyn, wedi bod yn cynorthwyo Dr Richard Unsworth fel intern ymchwil drwy wneud gwaith maes ar nifer o brosiectau yn y Deyrnas Unedig a thramor. Cyn mynd i wneud modiwl maes ei ail flwyddyn ym Millport, bu Ashley yn helpu i arolygu cymunedau o bysgod yn nolydd glaswellt y môr Ynysoedd Turks a Caicos yn y Caribî. Maent wedi dal llawer o wahanol rywogaethau o bysgod, ac yn eu rhwyd yr wythnos diwethaf roedd siarc melyn ifanc. Mae’r gwaith ymchwil hwn yn rhan o raglen ar y cyd gan wyddonwyr o Brifysgolion Abertawe a Chaerdydd, sy’n cael ei hariannu gan fenter Darwin, ac sy’n gysylltiedig â’r Grŵp Ymchwil i Ecosystemau Glaswellt y Môr. Mae’r gwaith yn rhyngddisgyblaethol ac yn canolbwyntio ar ddeall y cysylltiadau rhwng dolydd glaswellt y môr a diogelu’r cyflenwad bwyd. Mae’r gwaith yn rhan o brosiect ehangach sy’n cael ei ariannu gan fenter Darwin (DEFRA) ac sy’n canolbwyntio ar y cysylltiadau rhwng glaswellt y môr a diogelu’r cyflenwad bwyd yn y Caribî.

Mae Amy Jones, myfyrwraig PhD Daearyddiaeth Ddynol ar ei blwyddyn gyntaf ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe, wedi ennill gwobr yng nghynhadledd gwyddorau cymdeithasol fwyaf Cymru. Yng Nghynhadledd Flynyddol WISERD (Sefydliad Ymchwil, Data a Methodoleg Gymdeithasol ac Economaidd Cymru) yn 2013, a gynhaliwyd ym Mhrifysgol De Cymru ar 25–26 Mehefin, enillodd ymchwil Amy i Lwybr Arfordir Cymru – dan y teitl ‘Walking Wales’ – wobr ar y cyd gan Gymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru a Chanolfannau Hyfforddiant Doethurol yr ESRC am y Poster Gorau gan Fyfyriwr PhD. Cafodd y posteri eu beirniadu gan Gymrodorion y Gymdeithas Ddysgedig a chyflwynwyd y dystysgrif a’r wobr gan Dr Lynn Williams, Prif Weithredwr Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru. Mae gwaith ymchwil Amy’n cael ei ariannu ar y cyd gan y Cyngor Ymchwil Economaidd a Chymdeithasol, Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru a’r Coleg Gwyddoniaeth, ac mae’n cael ei oruchwylio gan yr Athro David B. Clarke a Dr Sergei Shubin o’r Adran Ddaearyddiaeth.

 

 

 

GWEITHGAREDDAU ALLGYMORTH

Ysgol Haf Wyddoniaeth Abertawe

Trefnodd y Coleg Gwyddoniaeth ei Ysgol Haf Wyddoniaeth gyntaf ym mis Mehefin. Roedd yr Ysgol Haf yn cael ei hariannu gan Lywodraeth Cymru, a chymerodd 25 o ddisgyblion o ardaloedd Cymunedau yn Gyntaf ran ynddi.

Profodd y myfyrwyr gyfres o ddiwrnodau blasu ym mhum adran y Coleg Gwyddoniaeth, yn gwneud arbrofion ac yn cymryd rhan mewn gweithdai mewn biowyddorau, cyfrifiadureg, daearyddiaeth, mathemateg a ffiseg. Cawsant brofiad ymarferol gwerthfawr o wneud arbrofion gwyddonol go iawn gyda staff academaidd mewn labordy ymchwil. Nod y rhaglen oedd ‘dod â gwyddoniaeth yn fyw’, drwy weithdai fel ‘Mathemateg i jyglwyr’ a ‘Chwilio am blanedau y tu hwnt i’r system solar’.

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Cyflwyniad i Ffiseg Ronynnol

Dyddiaduron Anifeiliaid

Yr Athro Mike Charlton yn rhoi cyflwyniad i Ffiseg Ronynnol gyda Dr Tom Whyntie o CERN yng Ngŵyl Wyddoniaeth Cheltenham.

Yr Athro Rory Wilson yn siarad yng Ngŵyl Wyddoniaeth Cheltenham am ei ymchwil i ddeall rhagor am anifeiliaid gwyllt drwy’r tagiau arloesol y mae wedi’u datblygu.

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Eisteddfod yr Urdd

Ddiwedd mis Mai, bu Prifysgol Abertawe’n ymwneud â’r GwyddonLe (y babell wyddoniaeth) yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd yn Sir Benfro. Ymwelodd pymtheng mil o bobl â’r babell yn ystod yr wythnos.

Sefydlwyd y GwyddonLe tua 5 mlynedd yn ôl fel lle penodol i ddathlu gwyddoniaeth drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg yn Eisteddfod yr Urdd. Fel rhan o’r ŵyl ieuenctid fwyaf yn Ewrop, mae GwyddonLe yn rhoi cyfle i blant a phobl ifanc o bob cwr o Gymru gael profiad o wyddoniaeth, a dysgu am rôl ganolog gwyddoniaeth yn ein bywydau bob dydd.

Mae Prifysgol Abertawe wedi bod yn noddi GwyddonLe ers tair blynedd bellach, a bu gwyddonwyr o nifer o wahanol feysydd yn y Brifysgol, gan gynnwys y Coleg Gwyddoniaeth, yn cymryd rhan.

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Sesiwn Holi ac Ateb gyda David Henry Hwang pan oedd ei ddrama arbennig Yellow Face (2008) yn cael ei pherfformio am y tro cyntaf yn y Deyrnas Unedig

Dr Amanda Rogers (Yr Adran Ddaearyddiaeth) oedd yn arwain y sesiwn holi ac ateb cyhoeddus â’r dramodydd David Henry Hwang, enillydd gwobr Tony, pan oedd ei ddrama Yellow Face (2008) yn cael ei pherfformio am y tro cyntaf yn y Deyrnas Unedig. Cynhaliwyd y drafodaeth fywiog a barodd am 45 munud ar ddydd Sadwrn, 25 Mai, yn y Park Theatre yn Finsbury, yn Llundain, ac ymdriniwyd â nifer o faterion, gan gynnwys gyrfa gynnar David, beth sydd wedi dylanwadu arno fel llenor ac, yn sgil y sylw o’r newydd i Yellow Face, materion yn ymwneud â hil a’r theatr.

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Labordy Microalgaidd Symudol i Tata Steel

Allgymorth Daeareg

Mae tîm sydd wedi’i leoli yn y Ganolfan Ymchwil Ddyfrol Gynaliadwy (CSAR) wedi adeiladu a defnyddio labordy microalgaidd symudol ar safle gwaith dur Strip Products Tata Steel ym Mhort Talbot. Mae’r cyfleuster yn cael ei ddefnyddio yn y prosiectau ACCOMPLISH ac EnAlgae i ddilysu ac arddangos gallu microalgâu ffotosynthetig i leihau allyriadau carbon a darparu ynni cynaliadwy gan ddefnyddio ffrydiau gwastraff diwydiannol. 

Bu Geraint Owen (Daearyddiaeth) yn rhoi sgyrsiau ac yn arwain cyfarfodydd maes ar bynciau daearegol gyda Grŵp De Cymru Cymdeithas y Daearegwyr (20 Ebrill), Cymdeithas Ddaearegol y Brifysgol Agored (12 Mai), Ymddiriedolaeth Natur Morgannwg (11 Mehefin) a Chymdeithas Ddaearegol Caerfaddon (4 Gorffennaf) ac arweiniodd daith gerdded â thema ddaearegol o warchodfa natur Cwm Clydach i Gapel Gellionnen fel rhan o Ŵyl Gerdded Gŵyr ddechrau mis Mehefin. Gyda Charles Hipkin (Biowyddorau) a Michael Isaac (DACE) arweiniodd deithiau tywys ym Mannau Brycheiniog yng Nghraig Cerrig Gleisiad (9 Mehefin) a Phenwyllt (30 Mehefin), a gyda’i gilydd cynaliasant ddiwrnod hyfforddiant i wardeniaid gwirfoddol Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog yn Nyffryn Mellte ar 16 Mehefin.

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‘Things that go bump in the night’ – Dod i ddeall anifeiliaid enigmatig

Y Ganolfan NanoIechyd yn agor ei drws ar gyfer diwrnod o weithgareddau

Diwrnod Agored EnAlgae

Un o sgyrsiau Caffi Gwyddoniaeth Abertawe gan yr Athro Rory Wilson o’r Adran Biowyddorau, lle clywyd am bengwin ar felin droedlath.

Gwyddom fod morfilod pensgwar yn plymio dros filltir o dan y dŵr a hynny mae’n debyg i chwilio am fwyd yn y dyfnderoedd tywyll lle allwn ni eu gweld na’u dilyn. Ond mae’r rhan fwyaf o anifeiliaid allan o’n golwg y rhan fwyaf o’r amser, felly a ydym yn twyllo’n hunain wrth feddwl bod gennym ddealltwriaeth dda o hyd yn oed yr anifeiliaid mwyaf gweladwy? Does wybod! Mae dull cymharol newydd o ddeall anifeiliaid gwyllt yn defnyddio tagiau soffistigedig i gofnodi beth mae anifeiliaid yn ei wneud ble bynnag y maen nhw. Mae ‘dyddiaduron’ sy’n cael eu gosod ynghlwm wrth yr anifail yn rhoi cofnod rhyfeddol o weithgareddau gwahanol anifeiliaid, yn amrywio o 'siarcod yn sgrialu' i 'eliffantod digalon' i 'albatrosiaid yn troelli'. Rory Wilson, sydd wedi bod yn tagio anifeiliaid ers dros 30 mlynedd, sy’n egluro’r cwbl.

Cynhaliodd y Ganolfan NanoIechyd ddiwrnod o weithgareddau i arddangos ei harbenigedd a’i gallu ym mis Gorffennaf. Cymerodd myfyrwyr o Ysgol Gymunedol Dylan Thomas ran mewn cyfres o arbrofion a gweithgareddau gwyddonol hwyliog fel neidio ar flawd corn a gwneud hufen iâ â Nitrogen hylifol, cyn mynd i weld ardal arddangos posteri’r ganolfan.

Yn dilyn y diwrnod o weithgareddau daeth dros 40 o gynrychiolwyr cwmnïau ac arweinwyr ym myd diwydiant i rwydweithio a gweld y cyfleusterau a’r ardal arddangos posteri sy’n cyfeirio at ymchwil ddiweddaraf y ganolfan, gan gynnwys Meddygaeth Adfywiol (Celloedd bonyn, Atgyweirio cartilagau, Sgaffaldiau meinwe, Gwella briwiau), Genotocsicoleg a Diagnosio clefydau, Rheoleg, Biosynwyryddion, Micronodwyddau a Microhylifeg.

Enillodd Aaran Lewis wobr a oedd wedi cael ei rhoi gan ‘Learn About China’ am y poster gorau. Teitl y poster oedd “Investigation of Biochemical Fingerprints for Diagnosis of Lung Cancer”.

Cafodd yr ymwelwyr hefyd gyfle i fynd ar daith o amgylch y ganolfan a gweld y cyfarpar a’r cyfleusterau diweddaraf. Yn ôl un cwmni, “Roeddwn i’n meddwl bod y diwrnod yn llwyddiannus iawn ac roedd yr arddangosfa bosteri’n drawiadol iawn.”

Canolfan Ymchwil Ddyfrol Gynaliadwy (CSAR), Prifysgol Abertawe

Dydd Mawrth 15 Hydref 2013, 16.30-19.30

Mae’r Prosiect EnAlgae yn gwneud ymchwil er mwyn asesu hyfywedd marchnad algâu-i-ynni yng Ngogledd-orllewin Ewrop. Prifysgol Abertawe yw partner arweiniol y prosiect arloesol hwn ac ar 15 Hydref bydd yn agor y drysau i’w gyfleusterau ymchwil algaidd. Mae’r cyfleusterau yng Nghanolfan Ymchwil Ddyfrol Gynaliadwy’r Brifysgol lle mae gwaith yn cael ei wneud ar nifer o brosiectau dyfrol eraill hefyd.

Bydd y digwyddiad yn cynnwys:

Cyflwyniad i gyfleusterau Canolfan Ymchwil Ddyfrol Gynaliadwy Prifysgol Abertawe

Yr wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am ymchwil EnAlgae hanner ffordd drwy’r prosiect

Teithiau o amgylch y cyfleusterau cynhyrchu microalgâu

Cyfle i rwydweithio dros ddiodydd a canapés

Mae’r digwyddiad hwn AM DDIM ond mae angen archebu ymlaen llaw. Anfonwch ebost at l.c.stowe@swansea.ac.uk i neilltuo lle.

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Lansiad swyddogol WISE yn y Senedd

Mae Gweinidog yr Economi, Edwina Hart, wedi lansio rhan nesaf prosiect sy’n ceisio helpu busnesau yng Ngorllewin Cymru a’r Cymoedd i fod yn fwy cynaliadwy a chefnogi’r economi carbon isel.

Mae’r Rhwydwaith WISE yn brosiect ar y cyd rhwng prifysgolion Abertawe, Aberystwyth a Bangor sy’n galluogi busnesau ym mhob cwr o’r rhanbarth i fanteisio i’r eithaf ar y twf yn yr economi werdd.

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IT Wales

Tyrbin Llanw – G_yl Haf o Wyddoniaeth y Gymdeithas Frenhinol

Darllenwch y newyddion diweddaraf gan IT Wales, uned cyswllt diwydiannol yr Adran Gyfrifiadureg.

 

Roedd Grŵp Ymchwil Ynni Morol Prifysgol Abertawe’n arddangos yn yr Ŵyl Haf o Wyddoniaeth. Mae ei arddangosiad Tyrbin Llanw’n dangos sut y gall gwyddonwyr gynhyrchu trydan o’r môr, drwy ffrwyno’r ynni sy’n cael ei greu gan ffrydiau llanw a thonnau. Mae gwybodaeth arbenigol ffisegwyr, peirianwyr, biolegwyr a chemegwyr yn cael ei defnyddio i ddylunio strwythurau tanddwr i ddal yr ynni hwn, ac astudio’i effaith ar ecosystem y môr. 

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Cynnydd eto yn y nifer sy'n gwneud Mathemateg Bellach Safon Uwch yng Nghymru

Mae sail i ddathlu canlyniadau Mathemateg Bellach Safon Uwch yng Nghymru eto eleni, wrth i nifer y plant sy'n eu cymryd gynyddu o 9.4%. Mae'r canran o'r myfyrwyr Mathemateg a safodd Mathemateg Bellach Safon Uwch wedi codi i 11.2%, y lefel uchaf erioed. Ers lansio'r Rhaglen Gymorth Mathemateg Bellach yng Nghymru yn 2010, mae'r canran wedi codi'n gyson bob blwyddyn. Mae nifer y myfyrwyr yng Nghymru sy'n astudio Mathemateg Bellach wedi codi o dros 70%.

Cychwynnodd Rhaglen Gymorth Mathemateg Bellach Cymru fel cynllun peilot ym mis Hydref 2010, yn ardaloedd Sir Gaerfyrddin, Castell-nedd Port Talbot, Abertawe, a Sir Benfro. Lleolir Tîm y Rhaglen ar gyfer de-orllewin Cymru yn Adran Mathemateg Prifysgol Abertawe, lle cynhelir llawer o'r digwyddiadau trwy gydol y flwyddyn.

Mae'r Rhaglen yn cynnig hyfforddiant a mynediad at adnoddau arlein i gefnogi dysgu Mathemateg Bellach. Un o elfennau allweddol y Rhaglen yw amrywiaeth o ddigwyddiadau adolygu ac astudio, a gynhelir wyneb yn wyneb ar arlein. Byddai 97% o'r myfyrwyr a ddaeth i sesiynau adolygu wyneb yn wyneb ar gyfer Mathemateg Bellach Bur a Chymhwysol yn 2012/13 yn annog myfyrwyr eraill i ddod. Mae sylwadau'r myfyrwyr yn cynnwys: "Help mawr i'r holl fyfyrwyr", "Awyrgylch hwylus", "...defnyddiol iawn ar gyfer adolygu a hyd yn oed dysgu pethau newydd", "Paratoi rhagorol".

O fis Ebrill 2013, cynhwyswyd disgyblion o Rondda Cynon Tâf, Ynys Môn, a rhannau eraill o ogledd Cymru yn y prosiect.

Gwahoddir pob ysgol uwchradd a choleg yng Nghymru i gofrestru â'r Rhaglen yma, ac i ddatgan eu diddordeb mewn cymorth hyfforddiant trwy gysylltu â Chydlynydd y Rhaglen, Sofya Lyakhova ar 01792 602793. 

YMCHWIL YN Y NEWYDDION

Gwarchod bioamrywiaeth yr arfordir yn cefnogi ein pysgodfeydd

Y BBC yn lansio Partneriaeth Ymchwil i Brofiad Defnyddwyr

Y Gweinidog yn lansio teclyn sy’n olrhain symudiadau anifeiliaid

Mae ymchwil newydd gan Brifysgol Abertawe yn helpu i ddeall pwysigrwydd cynefinoedd arfordirol sensitif, yng Nghymru a’r Deyrnas Unedig, er mwyn cefnogi ein pysgodfeydd.

Mae’r ymchwil, sy’n defnyddio technoleg fideo stereo newydd, wedi bod yn asesu’r cymunedau pysgod a’u hystod oedran mewn gwahanol gynefinoedd o amgylch Cymru. Mae wedi bod yn canolbwyntio’n benodol ar geisio deall gwerth dolydd glaswellt y môr, fforestydd gwymon a gwelyau cregyn dilyw er mwyn cynnal pysgod ifanc, yn enwedig y rhywogaethau hynny sydd o bwysigrwydd masnachol.

Cynhaliwyd yr ymchwil gan aelodau o’r Grŵp Ymchwil i Ecosystemau Glaswellt y Môr yn y Coleg Gwyddoniaeth ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe a chafodd ei wneud ar y cyd â SEACAMS, Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru, ACA Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau a’r Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol. Mae wedi arwain at greu ffilm fer sydd i’w gweld ar wefan Seagrass.

Mae’r BBC wedi lansio Partneriaeth Ymchwil i Brofiad Defnyddwyr, prosiect hirdymor ar y cyd rhwng Adran Ymchwil a Datblygu’r BBC a phrifysgolion blaenllaw ym meysydd ymchwil i Brofiad Defnyddwyr a Rhyngweithiad Dynol-Cyfrifiadurol.

Mae Adran Gyfrifiadureg Prifysgol Abertawe’n un o’r partneriaid academaidd, ac mae pob partner wedi ymrwymo i gefnogi’r fenter am o leiaf bedair blynedd.

Drwy brototeipiau a chynlluniau peilot ar raddfa fawr, bydd y bartneriaeth yn edrych ar botensial mathau newydd o gynnwys a rhyngweithiadau mewn byd aml-lwyfan, ochr yn ochr â ffyrdd newydd o gynhyrchu cyfryngau a fydd yn helpu i wneud cynnwys yn fwy hygyrch i bob cynulleidfa. Bydd canlyniadau’r ymchwil yn cael eu rhannu gyda’r diwydiant er mwyn annog arloesi ehangach sy’n canolbwyntio ar y gynulleidfa, helpu i ddiffinio safonau agored a chynorthwyo’r diwydiannau creadigol i gynhyrchu cynnwys atyniadol yn y dyfodol.

Mae’r Gweinidog Cyllid wedi lansio cynnyrch newydd chwyldroadol sydd wedi cael ei ddatblygu drwy gydweithrediad unigryw rhwng dau brosiect arloesol sy’n cael eu hariannu gan yr Undeb Ewropeaidd.

Bu prosiect ASTUTE Prifysgol Abertawe (Technolegau Gweithgynhyrchu Cynaliadwy Uwch) a phrosiect SEACAMS Prifysgol Bangor (Ehangiad Cynaliadwy’r Sectorau Arfordirol a Morol Cymhwysol yng Nghymru) yn arddangos y tag Dyddiadur Dyddiol mewn brecwast busnes am ddim yn Stadiwm Liberty yn Abertawe.

Mae tag y Dyddiadur Dyddiol yn olrhain symudiadau anifeiliaid yn y môr ac ar y tir, ond gall hefyd olrhain symudiadau pobl. Datblygwyd y teclyn gan Wildbyte Technologies Ltd – cwmni yn deillio o grŵp ymchwil Labordy Symudedd Anifeiliaid Prifysgol Abertawe (SLAM) a sefydlwyd yn 2012. 

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Gallai ymchwil i ffyngau fod yn newyddion da i wenyn

Gwobr Cronfa Lyell i arbenigwraig flaenllaw mewn newid hinsawdd

Mae Labmate Online yn rhoi sylw i waith ar ffyngau fel pryfleiddiad, gan dîm sy’n cynnwys yr Athro Tariq Butt (Adran y Biowyddorau) a Dr Miranda Whitten o Brifysgol Abertawe.

Mae gwyddonwyr o Brifysgol Abertawe sy’n ymchwilio i ffyngau sy’n achosi clefydau mewn pryfed fel dewis diogel a naturiol yn lle plaladdwyr cemegol, a gwyddonwyr yn Rwsia a’r Almaen, wedi bod yn astudio math o wyfyn sy’n bla mewn cychod gwenyn. Fel rhan o’r gwaith daethant â 25 cenhedlaeth olynol o’r gwyfyn i gysylltiad â ffwng o’r enw Beauveria bassiana. Buont yn dadansoddi adweithiau’r gwyfynod i weld a oeddent yn datblygu ymwrthedd, ac yn edrych ar ffactorau eraill hefyd, gan gynnwys straen.

Mae’r Athro Siwan Davies o’r Adran Ddaearyddiaeth wedi ennill gwobr Cronfa Lyell gan Gymdeithas Ddaearegol Llundain am waith ymchwil clodwiw a gyhoeddwyd yn ystod y deng mlynedd diwethaf. Cymdeithas Ddaearegol Llundain yw corff dysgedig a phroffesiynol y Deyrnas Unedig ar gyfer gwyddonwyr Daear, a chyflwynwyd y wobr ar Ddiwrnod y Llywydd, sef 5 Mehefin. Mae ymchwil Siwan yn canolbwyntio ar ganfod pam y mae’r hinsawdd wedi newid mor syfrdanol a sydyn yn y cyfnod diweddaraf o 100,000 o flynyddoedd (hyd at 16°C mewn ychydig o ddegawdau). Mae’n edrych ar ddyddodion lludw folcanig sydd wedi cael eu dal mewn llenni iâ a gwaddodion i geisio darganfod sut y gwnaeth y cefnfor a’r atmosffer ymateb yn ystod y digwyddiadau newid hinsawdd cyflym hyn er mwyn darganfod ffactorau posibl sy’n achosi newid yn yr hinsawdd.

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Cymrodoriaeth Ymchwil Leverhulme i Athro Ffiseg

Mae’r Athro Gert Aarts (Yr Adran Ffiseg) wedi cael Cymrodoriaeth Ymchwil Leverhulme am ddwy flynedd.

Yn ei waith, mae’r Athro Aarts yn ymchwilio i ymddygiad cwarciau a glwonau dan amodau eithafol tymheredd a/neu ddwysedd uchel, drwy gyfuno dulliau dadansoddol â thechnegau cyfrifiadura perfformiad uchel. Mae’r gwaith hwn yn cael ei sbarduno gan y plasma cwarc-glwon gafodd ei ddarganfod yn y Peiriant Gwrthdaro Ionau Trwm Perthynolaidd yn Brookhaven (Efrog Newydd) a’r Peiriant Gwrthdaro Hadronau Mawr yn CERN, yn ogystal â’r her ddeallusol i ddeall un o bedwar grym Natur, y grym cryf, sy’n cael ei ddisgrifio gan Gromodynameg Cwantwm (QCD), ar ei lefel fwyaf sylfaenol.

I ddechrau ei Gymrodoriaeth, bydd yr Athro Aarts yn treulio mis Medi yn Sefydliad Ymchwil Sylfaenol Tata ym Mumbai, yn India, gyda Grŵp QCD Lattice, dan arweiniad Rajiv Gavai a Sourendu Gupta. Yn ôl yr Athro Aarts: "Mae’r Gymrodoriaeth hon yn gyfle gwych i wneud cynnydd ym maes ymchwil ac rwy’n falch iawn fy mod wedi ei chael. Mae’r Grŵp Lattice yn Tata yn darparu amgylchedd sy’n ysgogi trafodaeth a chydweithio ac rwy’n edrych ymlaen at gyffro’r Sefydliad a Mumbai."

Cyfryngau a Gynhyrchir gan Gymuned

Mae Adran Gyfrifiadureg Abertawe wedi bod yn ymwneud â’r gwaith o baratoi Com-Me Toolkit – casgliad o gydrannau caledwedd a meddalwedd sy’n cynnig atebion er mwyn creu a rhannu cynnwys mewn gwahanol leoliadau ar hyd a lled y byd lle mae llythrennedd testunol a chyfrifiadurol isel a lle mae’r pŵer a’r rhwydwaith yn gyfyngedig. 

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Lluniau anhygoel o rewlif yn hollti

Ymchwil i argaeledd d_r yn ardal Corn Affrica

Ymchwil i Teffra

Mae Grŵp Rhewlifeg yr Adran Ddaearyddiaeth yn ymwneud â cheisio deall beth sy’n rheoli’r ffordd y mae rhewlifau a llenni iâ yn newid dros gyfnod, yn enwedig mewn ymateb i’r hinsawdd. Yn haf 2010, roedd Dr Tim James a rhai o’r tîm, yn Greenland ar lan ddeheuol Helheim Fjord. Yr unig ffordd i fynd yno oedd mewn hofrennydd o dref Tasiilaq. Gosodasant gamerâu i dynnu lluniau digidol o Helheim yn hollti. Roedd y tîm wedi bod ar y safle am 5 diwrnod a doedd dim llawer wedi digwydd. Dim ond darnau bach iawn o iâ oedd yn disgyn i ffwrdd, ac er bod modd eu clywed, ni ellid eu gweld. Roedd y tîm wedi gwersylla tua 4 km o flaen y fjord. Ar ôl 6 diwrnod roeddent wedi gosod dau gamera ac wrthi’n gosod y trydydd pan ddaeth sŵn rhuo mawr i lawr y fjord. Doedden nhw ddim wedi clywed dim byd tebyg o’r blaen.

Mae Dr Iain Robertson wedi cael grant gan Gronfa Archwilio Byd-eang y National Geographic i astudio argaeledd dŵr yn ardal Corn Affrica. Prif nod yr ymchwil gydweithredol yw ymestyn cofnodion argaeledd dŵr i’r oes gyn-offerynnol gan ddefnyddio creiddiau o goed meryw sy’n tyfu yn Ucheldiroedd Ethiopia.

Mae gwanwyn a haf 2013 wedi bod yn gyfnod prysur i Grŵp Teffra Abertawe. Cyflwynwyd canlyniadau cynnar prosiect sy’n cael ei ariannu gan y Cyngor Ymchwil Ewropeaidd, Cyfyngiadau Teffra ar Ddigwyddiadau Hinsoddol Cyflym (TRACE), gan Dr Peter Abbott, Dr Anna Bourne, Eliza Cook ac Adam Griggs mewn gweithdy INTIMATE (Integrating ice core, marine and terrestrial records) a gynhaliwyd yn Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, yn yr Alban. Bu’r Athro Siwan Davies hefyd yn siarad am waith y grŵp ym mis Mehefin yng nghyfarfod crynhoi consortiwm RESET (Response of Humans to Abrupt Environmental Transitions), sy’n cael ei ariannu gan NERC, yn yr Amgueddfa Brydeinig yn Llundain. Bydd rhai o’r canlyniadau hyn yn cael eu cyhoeddi cyn bo hir yn y Journal of Quaternary Science, Climate of the Past a Quaternary Science Reviews. Mae aelodau’r tîm yn dal i chwilio am haenau o ludw microsgopig mewn creiddiau morol ac maent wedi samplo cofnodion newydd sy’n cael eu storio ym Mhrifysgol Dwyrain Anglia, Prifysgol Bordeaux a Phrifysgol Bergen. Ym mis Awst, pan oedd y tîm yn samplo creiddiau iâ ym Mhrifysgol Copenhagen, ymunwyd â hwy yn y rhewgelloedd gan griw ffilmio o Gwmni Telesgôp. Roedd y criw’n cynhyrchu rhaglen ddogfen wyddonol i S4C ar ymchwil y grŵp i ludw folcanig a newid hinsawdd cyflym.

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Cynrychiolwyr bwyd-amaeth o Tsieina yn ymweld â’r ganolfan ymchwil

Ymwelodd cynrychiolwyr o Tsieina â Chanolfan Ymchwil Ddyfrol Gynaliadwy (CSAR) Prifysgol Abertawe yn ddiweddar fel rhan o ymgyrch i ddenu cwmnïau rhyngwladol i Gymru.

Mae’r cynrychiolwyr o Weinyddiaeth Materion Arbenigwyr Tramor Tsieina (CSAFEA) yn casglu ffeithiau er mwyn dysgu mwy am ymchwil a datblygu amaethyddol yn y Deyrnas Unedig a chanfod cyfleoedd i gydweithio.

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NanoProbe i’r Ganolfan NanoIechyd

Mae’r Ganolfan NanoIechyd wedi cael cyfarpar newydd - UHV LT Nanoprobe a NanoSAM.

Yn ôl Nathan Smith o’r Ganolfan NanoIechyd, "Mae’r system dan Wactod Uchel Iawn ar X10^-11 mbar, sy’n golygu ein bod yn efelychu atmosffer tebyg i’r gofod. Mae gennym siambr baratoi sy’n caniatáu i ni gynhesu ein samplau drwy wresogi gwrtheddol a hefyd drwy gerrynt union. Mae hyn yn helpu i lanhau’r samplau a chael gwared ar unrhyw ddŵr sy’n weddill. Yn y siambr hon mae gennym hefyd wn tasgu Argon sy’n caniatáu i ni beledu’r sampl ag ïonau i’w wneud yn lanach fyth."

Cymerodd dair wythnos i osod y cyfarpar ac mae wedi cael ei adeiladu’n bwrpasol.

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NEWYDDION A DIGWYDDIADAU ERAILL

Cyfarfod Cymdeithas Fathemategol Llundain yn cael ei gynnal yn Abertawe

Athro’n cynghori ymchwiliad seneddol i blant sy’n mudo ar eu pen eu hunain

Bydd yr Adran Fathemateg yn croesawu cyfarfod blynyddol Rhanbarth De-orllewin Lloegr a De Cymru o Gymdeithas Fathemategol Llundain. Cynhelir y cyfarfod brynhawn dydd Llun, 16 Rhagfyr. Y siaradwyr yn y cyfarfod fydd: yr Athrawon Stefaan Caenepeel o Vrije Universiteit ym Mrwsel, Shahn Majid o Goleg Queen Mary, Prifysgol Llundain a J. Toby Stafford o Brifysgol Manceinion. Yn dilyn y cyfarfod cynhelir gweithdy tri diwrnod dan y teitl “Categorical and Homological Methods in Hopf Algebras” â siaradwyr gwadd o Ffrainc, yr Almaen, Hwngari, yr Eidal, Romania, Sbaen, yr Unol Daleithiau a’r Deyrnas Unedig.

Ym mis Tachwedd 2012 penodwyd yr Athro Heaven Crawley, Cyfarwyddwr y Ganolfan Ymchwil i Bolisi Mudo yn yr Adran Ddaearyddiaeth, yn Gynghorydd Arbenigol i’r Cydbwyllgor ar Hawliau Dynol ar gyfer ei ymchwiliad i hawliau dynol plant sy’n mudo ar eu pen eu hunain yn y Deyrnas Unedig.

Mae adroddiad y Pwyllgor, a gyhoeddwyd ym mis Mehefin, yn cynnwys argymhellion sy’n ymwneud â gwneud penderfyniadau ynglŷn â lloches, y trefniadau ar gyfer asesiad oedran a gwarcheidiaeth wedi’i seilio’n rhannol ar ymchwil yr Athro Crawley yn ystod y pum mlynedd diwethaf.

 

 

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Gwobrau Green Impact

Cynllun achredu a gwobrwyo amgylcheddol sy’n cael ei redeg gan Undeb Cenedlaethol y Myfyrwyr mewn 50 o sefydliadau ledled y Deyrnas Unedig yw Green Impact. Mae’r cynllun yn dod â staff a myfyrwyr at ei gilydd mewn timau yn eu gweithleoedd i gymryd camau ‘gwyrddu’ cadarnhaol yn unol â llyfr gwaith ar-lein. Bydd hyn yn arwain at wobr efydd, arian neu aur, gan ddibynnu pa lefel a gyrhaeddir. Prifysgol Abertawe oedd y brifysgol gyntaf yng Nghymru i redeg Green Impact ac mae’r cynllun bellach wedi cael ei gymeradwyo gan Lywodraeth Cymru fel rhaglen effeithiol sy’n newid ymddygiad mewn Prifysgolion. Eleni enillodd Dr Kath Ficken a Mrs Yvonne Jones (Adran y Biowyddorau a Daearyddiaeth) Wobr Safon Aur 2012-2013 am "WISE Lab Rats" ac enillodd Ms Jan Morgan (Biowyddorau) y Wobr Efydd am "Go Green".

Cyfathrebu Gwall Meddygol

Athro’n cael ei benodi i gr_p cynghori ar loches

Athro Gwadd

Roedd yr Athro Harold Thimbleby (Yr Adran Gyfrifiadureg) yn arbenigwr gwadd mewn cynhadledd ‘Cyfathrebu Gwall Meddygol’ yn y Swistir ym mis Mawrth 2013. Prif ddiddordeb yr Athro Thimbleby yw dylunio systemau cyfrifiadurol dibynadwy a all ddygymod â gwallau dynol.

Mae’r Athro Heaven Crawley, Cyfarwyddwr y Ganolfan Ymchwil i Bolisi Mudo yn yr Adran Ddaearyddiaeth wedi cael ei phenodi gan John Vine, Prif Arolygydd Ffiniau a Mewnfudo, i eistedd ar y Grŵp Cynghori Annibynnol ar Wybodaeth am Wlad (IAGCI) sy’n rhoi gwybodaeth ar gyfer y broses o wneud penderfyniadau ynglŷn â lloches.

Mae’r Adran Ddaearyddiaeth yn falch iawn o groesawu’r Athro Karl Butler o Brifysgol New Brunswick sydd yma ar ymweliad sabothol. Mae’n gweithio gyda Dr Bernd Kulessa a Dr John Hiemstra ar ddelweddau geoffisegol newydd o waddodion rhewlifol, iâ rhewlifol ac is-haenau rhewlifol.

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I ddarllen rhifynnau blaenorol o Gylchlythyr y Coleg Gwyddoniaeth:

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I gael rhagor o wybodaeth am unrhyw eitem y cyfeiriwyd ati uchod, cysylltwch â’r aelod o’r staff dan sylw, neu anfonwch ebost at Mrs Sandra Kramcha

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