EuroScholars, a unique study abroad program in which advanced students from the United States and Canada conduct research at high caliber European institutions while taking language and culture classes, has announced students who are receiving its spring 2012 scholarships.

The scholarship recipients are:

Anne Patterson, Iowa State University, Leiden University, Biology, Institutional Award.

Catherine Lewis, Clark University, Université Genève, Psychology, Institutional Award.

Makoto Miller-Tsutsui, University of Minnesota, Leiden University, Psychology, Institutional Award.

Caroline Johnson, Clark University, Università degli Studi di Milano, Biology, EuroScholars Award.

Nathan Wright, University of Minnesota, K.U. Leuven University, Psychology, EuroScholars Award.

David Saenz, University of Florida, Université Genève, Biology, Institutional Award.

In other EuroScholars news, the EuroScholars 2012 meeting will be at 9 a.m. on May 31 during the NAFSA 2012 Conference & Expo in Houston, Texas.

Related posts:

1. EuroLearn Announces Spring 2010 EuroScholars Awards
2. EuroScholars Academic Achievements Get Notice From Campus Publications
3. Congratulations Study Abroad Scholarship Recipients

Five of La Trobe’s Free Educational Podcasts In Top 100 at ITunes U

La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, recently passed a significant milestone as more than one million free educational podcasts created by the University had been downloaded by people all over the world.

“Since its launch in October 2009, La Trobe University on iTunes U has become an important platform for engaging current and prospective students,” said Deputy Vice Chancellor (International and Development), Professor John Rosenberg, in a university news article.

“It provides an excellent environment for reaching a large Australian and international audience who would otherwise miss the opportunity of accessing the teaching of some of the best minds this country has to offer,” Rosenberg said. “It’s also the ideal place for us to show our academic knowledge and research to the world.”

Five podcasts from La Trobe have ranked in the ’Top 100’ on iTunes U and more than 450 are available to download. The University was recently the first in Australia to upgrade to the new iTunes U design 3.0.

Since 2009 the University has been providing  a wide range of free material including lectures, interviews, and videos, reaching  thousands of new listeners and potential students on a daily basis.

Notable interviews include former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser, Nobel Prize winner in medicine, Professor Harald zur Hausen, human rights and refugee advocate Julian Burnside, Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry, and many respected La Trobe University academics.

La Trobe University on iTunes U plans to develop its content by placing  selected courses, more lectures, podcasts and video content online.

‘The quality of our content is very important to us,’ said Professor Rosenberg. ‘We want our audience to know that what they find at La Trobe University on iTunes U  is indicative of the excellent research and teaching available at our Melbourne and regional campuses’  he added..

The top 10 podcasts on La Trobe University on iTunes U are:

1. How Islamic banking works – Dr Hayat Khan
2. Climate Change 101 (audio documentary)
3. The Science of Climate Change Skepticism – Dr Andrew Glikson
4. Water Management in Australia – Professor Lin Crase
5. Russian History – Dr Adrian Jones
6. The Evolution of Language – Dr David Bradley
7. The Politics of Climate Change Skepticism – Professor Clive Hamilton
8. Darwin and Social Darwinism – Tony Barta
9. Gay Rights – Professor Dennis Altman
10. In Defence of Dan Brown – Dr Chris Scanlon

La Trobe University on iTunes U can be accessed from
http://itunes.apple.com/au/institution/la-trobe-university/id380435656

No related posts.

Asia

Sichuan University Year-Abroad Student Posts Video Photo Collage

Amanda Bolduc, a student from the University of North Carolina – Wilmington who studied at Sichuan University during the past year, recently shared a photographic journey of her time in Chengdu, China, attending Sichuan University.

Bolduc, who received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad, said previously that studying overseas became a priority while she was in college. “I know that I will have college loans and expenses to pay once I graduate, so I have to make the best of the time I have while I’m in college,” she says, “not to mention that I honestly don’t know if I’ll get to do anything like this ever again.”

During her time abroad, Bolduc experienced many historic sites and excursions in and around Chengdu, as well as during extensive travels in Asia, which took her to Japan, Thailand and Tibet.

For more on her journey, view the video above.

Australia

University of Queensland Research On Aviation Biofuel Attracts Funding

A University of Queensland-led global consortium that aims to produce environmentally friendly aviation fuel from algae is one of four UQ research projects recently awarded a total $6.48 million in state government funding.

The grant means UQ’s St Lucia campus will become the base for world-first aviation biofuel research, which has airlines Boeing, Virgin Blue and United States-based green energy company Amyris as backers.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced the funding — including $2 million to the aviation fuel project — in Chicago at Bio 2010, the world’s biggest biotechnology conference.

UQ won almost half of the $13 million that was awarded under the National and International Research Alliances Program. Funding is going to two of UQ’s algae-sourced biofuel projects, and two medical projects – one on dengue fever, and one on repairing spinal cord damage.

The UQ projects receiving funding are:

• $2 million for Professor Lars Nielsen’s Queensland Sustainable Aviation Fuel Initiative, which is looking at several ways of producing bio-derived synthetic paraffinic kerosenes (bio-SPK or bio-jet-fuel), in work being done at UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.

• $1.48 million for Associate Professor Ben Hankamer’s research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience into high-efficiency microalgal biofuel systems that aims to produce a range of biofuels through “photo-bioreactors”.

• $1.95 million for Professor Scott O’Neill’s advanced work on curbing the spread of deadly dengue fever by shortening mosquitoes’ life cycle (work that also has won backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

• $1.05 million for Professor Andrew Whittaker’s nanotechnology study at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, which aims to mobilize the body’s own healing abilities to regenerate and repair damaged spinal cord cells, work being done in conjunction with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

Swinburne University of Technology Recognized By 2011 Good Universities Guide

Swinburne University of Technology‘s excellence in learning and teaching has been recognized in The Good Universities Guide 2011.  The guide has rated Swinburne the best university in Victoria for graduate satisfaction, continuing a successful track record of being best in Melbourne in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

“Over the past five years the university has increased its research intensivity, staff qualifications, teaching quality and graduate satisfaction ratings, while at the same time improving entry flexibility and positive graduate outcomes, ” said Professor Ian Young, Swinburne’s vice-chancellor, in a university news article.

The University has been awarded a five star rating across measures for:

• Teaching quality
• Producing graduates with generic skills
• Graduate satisfaction
• Staff qualifications

The guide also awarded Swinburne four stars for research intensivity, among the top three in Melbourne.
The Good Universities Guide is an annual comparison of universities and private higher education providers in Australia, rating universities in a number of important categories.

Europe

Stirling in UK Top Ten for Student Satisfaction

Satisfaction levels for University of Stirling students have risen for the third year in a row, according to the National Student Survey, putting Stirling in the United Kingdom’s top ten of comparable universities.

“I am delighted that so many students continue to rate their experience of Stirling so highly,” said Neil Keeble, senior deputy principal professor. “Student feedback and input is vital and this independent survey is a useful indicator of how well we are doing in our commitment to improving the student experience. However, we can always aim higher and will be looking closely at the detail of this year’s survey, taking action and making improvements in response to what our students are saying.”

The National Student Survey measures satisfaction by asking final year students to rate a range of criteria from teaching to IT. In answer to the key question, 89 percent of Stirling students said they were satisfied with the overall quality of their course, up from 88 per cent last year and 86 percent two years ago.

The latest figures rank Stirling equal third in Scotland with Aberdeen, just behind St Andrews and Glasgow. Rated against comparable universities in the UK, Stirling is equal ninth, while the extended table including higher education institutions sees Stirling in 15th position.

The University hopes to improve its satisfaction score even further next year with its new £13.9 million state-of-the-art library, which is due to open its doors to students shortly.

Related posts:

1. University Highlights: AustraLearn’s Full-Degree Efforts Recognized By University of Queensland, University of South Australia Professor Wins Prestigious Award
2. University Highlights: U of Auckland Children’s Study, University of Sydney’s Medical School in Canada, University of Adelaide’s Research On Space Vehicle
3. University Highlights: Newcastle’s New Campus In Sydney, Victoria University of Wellington’s New Guide

Kerri Hunter Recounts Rock Festivals, Volcanic Eruptions And Scientific Research Abroad For Home University Web Site

Kerri Hunter, a University of Manitoba graduate who recently did research at the University of Helsinki through the EuroScholars program, is a featured student on her university’s web site for her adventurous exchange experience – which included volcanic eruptions, rock festivals and biological research – in Finland.

Here’s an excerpt from the the full article, found here:

In 2008, Kerri, a Faculty of Science student, went to a Helsinki rock festival and had a blast.  She loved the festival, and she loved Helsinki. Even before she left Finland, she knew she just had to return.

Kerri Hunter has a bit of fun during her long-and-winding journey back to her host university in Finland following travel chaos this summer in Europe caused by Iceland's volcanic eruption.

When Kerri graduated (with First Class Honours) in May 2009, she hadn’t forgotten her dream of returning to Finland.  She discovered the EuroScholars program though an internet search, and she began to formulate a plan.

EuroScholars is a study-abroad program for advanced students where you can conduct research at a high-caliber European institution.  EuroScholars targets highly-talented students from the USA and Canada, and much to Kerri’s delight, one of the participating universities was the University of Helsinki.

Kerri applied to the program and after successfully completing two rounds of the selection process, was accepted.  She began her six-month stay in Helsinki in January 2010.

Finding a cure for HED

Her project in developmental biology was called: Molecular Regulation of Animal Development.  In the lab, she worked on mouse models with Hypohidrotic Excodermal Dysplasia (HED), a human genetic disorder that results in the abnormal development of the skin, hair, nails, teeth and sweat glands.  The exciting part of the work is that scientists have discovered that any variation in 3 specific molecules causes the disease, and they are very hopeful that a cure can be found.  Kerri’s part in the project included screening diseased mouse embryos for expression patterns of other candidate genes, using the Whole Mount in situ Hybridization (WMISH) technique.

The lab at the Institute of Biotechnology brought together people from around the world, and Kerri had the opportunity to work on the project with a Ph.D. student from France.

“At the Institute of Biotechnology, they are very particular about lab technique,” she explains.  She diligently worked on her project and honed her lab techniques.

The eruption of Eyjafjoell in Iceland dramaticallt changed travel plans

In 2010, the Euroscholars got together to present their work to a panel of professors and Ph.D. students in Zurich.  The presentation date coincided with the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjoell in Iceland, and the Euroscholars had fortunately converged in Zurich before the planes were grounded, but Kerri found that she was not able to fly back to Helsinki as planned.

To get back to Helsinki, Kerri braved the throngs of stranded passengers and traveled by train to Hamburg and by using a circuitous route involving six different trains, eventually arrived in Sweden. She was able to take a ferry back to Helsinki to arrive just in time to make her previously-booked student trip to Russia!

To read more about Hunter’s research, the impact of a volcanic eruption on her travel plans, and more, visit here.

Related posts:

1. Student Snapshots: EuroScholar Reflects On Netherlands Experience, AsiaLearn Video Blogger’s First Glimpses In Thailand, King’s College Circus Student Makes Local News, Canadian Degree Student Recognized By Bond Uni For Academics

Greece

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis Visits American College of Thessaloniki

Michael and Kitty Dukakis recently visited the American University of Thessaloniki for several dedications.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis and First Lady Kitty Dukakis recently visited Anatolia, Greece, to dedicate spaces on the Anatolia campus, home to the American College of Thessaloniki, a new EuroLearn program partner.

The Dukakakis’ visit commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Dukakis Chair in Public Policy and Service, according to a university news article. Having previously attended in a fundraising event in Los Angeles for Jewish victims of the German occupation of Greece in World War II, the Dukakis’ were invited to take part in the dedication of a classroom in the Ingle Hall Annex to the 94 Jewish Anatolia students who perished in the Holocaust.

They also participated in the dedication of a “Hope and Remembrance Garden” outside Eleftheriadis Library honoring Anatolians who were victims of human cruelty and brutality in the 20th century. These dedications were followed by a luncheon and symposium on Anatolia’s role as witness to such events.

Other highlights included a gala fund raising dinner at the Bissell Library celebrating the tenth anniversary of the launch of the Dukakis Chair at ACT, and Homecoming 2010. In addition, Governor Dukakis participated in an award ceremony for the 24 ACT students who collaborated in the Recycle Monster project as Dukakis Chair interns.

Prior to his departure, Governor Dukakis met on campus with representatives of Democrats Abroad Greece, who are in the process of creating a chapter in Thessaloniki.

The Michael S. Dukakis Chair in Public Policy, directed by David Wisner, was launched in September 1999 by Governor Dukakis and has since been host to more than 100 public events and public service initiatives (http://www.act.edu/dukakis_chair.jsp).

Australia

Monash University Researches Create New Blood Test

A new blood type test that costs less than 10 cents each, requires just one drop of blood, and is highly portable could save lives around the world, according to the Monash University developers who created it, says an EMax Health article .

Current blood type tests costs hundreds of dollars per test and involve intricate analysis using optical or microfluidic devices. Knowledge of a person’s blood type is essential for blood transfusions, because if the wrong type of blood is given to an individual, the person may die. It is also critical for pregnant women to have their blood typed, and blood type tests are also done to determine whether two people are likely to be blood relatives.

Human blood is typed by looking for certain markers, called antigens, on the surface of red blood cells. There are four main blood types—A, B, AB, and O—and the two most common blood type tests are the ABO and Rh tests.

New Zealand

Massey University Health Researcher Given Lifetime Achievement Award

Massey University Professor Neil Pearce.

Massey University Professor Neil Pearce of Wellington has received a lifetime achievement award for services to to occupational health, according to a university news article.

The noted epidemiologist who heads the University’s Centre for Public Health Research received the award at the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards in Auckland. The awards are organised annually by Thomson Reuters, publishers of Safeguard magazine.

Professor Pearce is regarded as a world leader in his field. His research has involved conducting international investigations into asthma and allergies in children. He leads one of the largest health studies in the world into asthma, involving more than a million children at more than 280 health centres in 100 countries. He has also led investigations that discovered meat workers, pulp and paper workers and farmers were at greater risk from certain forms of cancer.

Just a week prior to the award, the Health Research Council announced that Professor Pearce had won $1.19 million in funding over three years for research assessing whether occupational solvent exposure in spray painters is associated with neurological disorders.

Related posts:

1. University Highlights: AustraLearn’s Full-Degree Efforts Recognized By University of Queensland, University of South Australia Professor Wins Prestigious Award
2. University Highlights: Psych Study In Italy, ANU’s Green Award, Horse Surgery First At Massey
3. Cutting-Edge: Massey Prof’s Chromosome Work Earns Countrywide Recognition, Macquarie Researcher Studies Molecules Via Nano-Diamonds

University of Auckland Study Aims To Improve Lives of New Zealand Children

A new study is underway at the University of Auckland that will follow a group of 7,800 children from birth until they become young adults to provide information that can help improve the lives of  all New Zealand children.

Called “Growing Up In New Zealand,” the study is being led by the University of Auckland. It is designed to collect information about raising happy, healthy children so the lives of all New Zealand children can be improved.

University of Sydney Medical School Working With AustraLearn In Canada

The University of Sydney Medical School and AustraLearn are now working together in Canada so that Canadian students can apply directly through AustraLearn for entry into the University of Sydney Medical School for February 2011 entry.

Applications are now open for the University of Sydney Medical School for February 2011 entry. Interested students can apply direct through AustraLearn. For more information on the University of Sydney Medical School program please visit DegreesOverseas.com’s “Medical Degrees in Australia” page.

University of Waikato Engineering Student Finds Multiple Options After Graduation

Bhanu Sharma, a University of Waikato graduate in engineering, found multiple opportunities after graduation.

Bhanu Sharma finished her Waikato University engineering degree and found herself spoilt for choice. On the same day, within ten minutes, she was offered two jobs (in the same company but at different sites) and a place at Monash University in Australia to study for a PhD.

She chose one of the jobs, which came with company car, phone and laptop, according to a university news article. Sharma is now working for Sita Environmental Solutions in Melbourne which takes care of and recycles organic waste for the northern region of Australia’s second largest city.

Her Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree was in Biochemical Engineering and included a practical component where she worked at Fonterra in their Te Awamutu waste management plant.

“Definitely my degree and the work experience would’ve helped me to secure my new job,” says Sharma, who applied for the job online from New Zealand. “My job title is technical supervisor, so I’m dealing with any technical problems the site is having. The main job deals with analyzing the soil and compost and getting them up to Australian standards. I have to ensure that the site is running under occupational health and safety standards, carry out risk assessments and ensure all operators on site follow proper procedures.”

University of Adelaide In Space Flight Research Program

University of Adelaide researchers will help design a hypersonic aircraft as a first step towards cheaper satellite-launching space vehicles.

The University of Adelaide team is part of an international consortium granted $5 million under the Federal Government’s new Australian Space Research Program.

The partners will investigate and develop hypersonic scramjet propulsion technology for a future scramjet-based “access-to-space” industry, rather than just conventional rockets, according to a university news article.

Related posts:

1. University Highlights: Psych Study In Italy, ANU’s Green Award, Horse Surgery First At Massey
2. University Highlights: AustraLearn’s Full-Degree Efforts Recognized By University of Queensland, University of South Australia Professor Wins Prestigious Award
3. EuroScholar’s Research At Leiden University Published In Respected Physics Journal

“When I went abroad, I wanted to study something I wasn’t comfortable with,” says Sander Zandbergen.

By Stacey Hartmann
GlobaLinks NewsWire editor

Sander Zandbergen (left) participated in the spring 2009 EuroScholars program.

It’s not the typical student who uses words like “photonic graphene,” “optical analogue” and “alumina ceramic rods” when describing a great study abroad experience.

But Sander Zandbergen isn’t your typical undergraduate.

When the senior physics major at Case Western Reserve University searched out a study abroad program, he hoped for the usual fun and excitement of living and learning in another country.

“My faculty advisor said studying abroad is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities,” Zandbergen says.

But he also didn’t want his time abroad to slow down his academic momentum, which had him on track for a spring 2010 graduation with a near 4.0 grade point average.

So the 22-year-old from Edinboro, Pa., applied and was accepted to the EuroScholars Research Abroad Program, which is designed for advanced undergraduate students and postgraduates looking for an international research experience.

Zandbergen’s EuroScholars program encompassed a language class and an academic research project in quantum optics at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Assistant Professor Michiel J.A. de Dood supervised Zandbergen's phototonic graphene research at Leiden University.

“I didn’t know anything about the field before I left,” he says. “I’d done a lot of research in particle astrophysics here at Case. When I went abroad, I wanted to study something I wasn’t comfortable with.”

During the first month at Leiden University, he acclimated himself to the local area, campus, lab and materials that would be the focus of his research.

His quantum optics research was supervised by Michiel J. A. de Dood, PhD, an assistant professor at Leiden.

“He had quite an impact on me,” Zandbergen says. “He was very helpful, and he had a knack for conveying ideas in a way I could understand. He was a great adviser, but he did leave me space to work on my own and figure things out.”

Zandbergen’s specific research in Leiden centered on photonic graphene.

“You know what graphite is, it’s what’s in a pencil,” he explains. “Graphene is the two-dimensional form of graphite.”

Graphene is hot in the physics world because there are many possible applications for it, some resulting from the fact that it’s one of the strongest materials ever tested, Zandbergen says.

“We didn’t actually make graphene,” he says. “We made a photonic analogue of actual graphene. We weren’t studying the electrical properties. It was an RF analogue, so instead of thinking about electrons, we were thinking about microwaves.”

Zandbergen's father, who was born in Holland, visited his son during his son's time abroad.

As Zandbergen’s time at Leiden wound down, de Dood suggested they submit the results of their research for publication in an academic journal.

The result: The January 2010 publication in the prestigious Physical Review Letters of their research entitled “Experimental Observation of Strong Edge Effects on the Pseudodiffusive Transport of Light in Photonic Graphene.”

With not only academic credit but also a published research project, the likes of which is atypical of undergraduate-level work, Zandbergen’s spring 2009 semester abroad at Leiden University ended up surpassing all he’d hoped for experientially, socially and academically.

“I still don’t believe it actually happened,” he says. “I had the most amazing time. Sometimes I’d be riding my bike to the lab in Leiden, and I’d say, ‘am I actually in Holland?’”

Zandbergen and friends check out the sites in Holland.

Because of his research, Zandbergen was nominated by the EuroScholars program and GlobaLinks Learning Abroad for a Forum on Education Abroad Undergraduate Research award for 2010.

When his research experience abroad ended, Zandbergen returned to the United States with a different academic focus for his graduate school applications.

“As a result of my experience abroad, I’m interested in graduate work in the field of quantum optics,” he says.

He hopes one day to return to Holland and possibly work with de Dood again.

“That’s the great thing about the EuroScholars program,” he says. “It enabled me to do the research, have fun, and graduate on time.”

Related posts:

1. EuroLearn Announces Spring 2010 EuroScholars Awards

Professor’s Work In Youth Mental Health Recognized With National Honor

Patrick McGorry, a leading international researcher, clinician and advocate for the youth mental health reform agenda, is the 2010 Australian of the Year.

Patrick McGorry, 2010 Australian of the Year and University of Melbourne professor. Photo, Australian Of The Year.

McGorry, a professor of youth mental health at the University of Melbourne, is executive director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH), a world-renowned mental health organization for young people that has put Australia at the forefront of innovation in the prevention and treatment of mental illness.

With an emphasis on early intervention and a commitment to educating the community to the early signs of mental illness, Professor McGorry’s extraordinary 27-year contribution has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of young people the world over, according to a University of Melbourne news article.

“Pat McGorry has been a passionate advocate for youth mental health issues for almost three decades,” said John Dewar, the university’s acting deputy vice-chancellor. “He has transformed the lives of many young people with early psychosis and has helped to create much-needed awareness of these issues in our community.”

Professor McGorry is also a director of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation.

No related posts.

New Zealand Professor Named “Top 10 New Zealander” For Research Showing Chromosome Damage In Nuclear-Exposed Veterans

Retired Massey University Professor Al Rowland. Photo, Massey University.

A retired Massey University professor is one of the “Top 10 New Zealandars of the Year” for his work finding chromosome damage in former military personnel exposed to nuclear testing, according to a university news article.

Dr. Al Rowland, who retired earlier this year from the Institute of Molecular Biosciences on Massey University’s Manawatu campus, conducted research that found unequivocally that the veterans exposed to nuclear tests suffered genetic damage.

The veterans then won the right to sue the British Ministry of Defence for compensation for radiation exposure in Operation Grapple, the 1950s nuclear bomb tests in the Pacific.

Rowland, recognized earlier this year for his work by the New Zealand Herald newspaper, studied the cells of 50 veterans for damage at the request of the New Zealand Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association.

He found the veterans’ group averaged 29 chromosome translocations – when fragments of chromosomes are broken off and attached to other chromosomes – per 1000 cells vs. 10 chromosome translocations per 1000 cells for a control group of men the same age. Chromosome translocation is often a precursor to cancer and other health problems. By comparison, workers near the Chernobyl nuclear accident or involved in the clean up had 20 translocations per 1000 cells.

Rowland also was honored in 2008 as the inaugural winner of the Massey University Students’ Association (Manawatu) “Lecturer Of The Year” award.

Massey University attracts international students from more than 100 countries and is highly regarded for its innovation and research-lead education.

Macquarie Professor’s Use Of Nano-Diamonds In Imaging Garners Attention For Prospects Of Exploring Single Cells

For James Rabeau, nano-diamonds are proving a telling window into the behaviors of molecules to help researchers better understand complex diseases such as cancer.

Rabeau, an associate professor at Macquarie University outside Sydney, Australia, is using nano-diamonds – tiny particles of carbon with impurities that make them susceptible to magnetic fields – as a new imaging technique to explore the tiniest detail of a single cell.

“There’s so much information in single molecules and proteins and they are so important to the many functions of life,” Rabeau said in a Macquarie University news article. “The point of my project is to use nano-diamonds, which are sensitive to magnetic fields placed on probe tips as an imaging device.”

By exploiting the impurities in nano-diamonds, Rabeau hopes to eventually contribute to the creation of a super microscope.

“That is the big dream – to build a nano-diamond probe that biologists can use to take a picture of a single molecule,” he said. “From that you would look at engineering it into a real and practical device and eventually benefit people in the medical field or in drug therapy.

Related posts:

1. Macquarie Professor Key In Climate Change Talks In Copenhagen
2. University Highlights: Psych Study In Italy, ANU’s Green Award, Horse Surgery First At Massey

Europe

EuroScholars Alumna Idu Azogu Shares Her EuroScholars Experience on YouTube

Idu Azogu, a Rutgers University psychology major with a 2010 expected graduation, was interviewed by her university’s Office of Research and Instructional Technology recently for a video on her EuroScholars experience, which involved a research project at Leiden University in the Netherlands near Amsterdam.

“What I learned from the Dutch people: They are really blunt,” she says in the video. “They will tell you like it is no matter what. So it was easy to interact with them because they are honest about what they think. It was easy to see how they interact with other people.”

Such honest feedback during her department lab meetings proved very useful, Azogu says, because it helped improve her research.

“That’s what I really liked about it,” she says, “was the positive feedback or constructive criticism.”

During her time in Europe, she also traveld outside the Netherlands to Brussels, Bruge, and Stockholm where she visited the Vasa Museum, which houses the famous Vasa ship, the world’s only intact 17th century warship.

The EuroScholars program ” was one of the biggest experiences of my life,” Azogu says. “It has changed a lot of the ways I view research, and the way I interact with people. I see it as a great networking tool, because I got to meet a lot of diverse international students, got to hang out with them, have dinner with them. Just the outlook in Europe is beautiful. I feel like I really grew up and matured while I was over there.”

Asia

AsiaLearn Video Blogger Emily Nagle Gives First Glimpses, Impressions of Bangkok

Elmhurst College's Emily Nagle, AsiaLearn's video blogger, talks about her first impressions and experiences studying at Mahidol University.

Scenes of feeding elephants, walking through racks of colorful garments in an outdoor market, motorcycles passing by.

“It’s actually been an amazing experience. The food is all diferent. The people I’ve been meeting are from all over the world, and every day has something completely new.”

Since Thailand is still a developing nation, my firends and family think I’m kind of in the middle of nowhere, or in the jungle or a village, but Bangkok is definetly a six-milion-person concrete jungle.”

Her goals while abroad are pretty simple, she says: To travel and experience as much as she can and also run in the Bangkok half marathon. She’s already training for it at a park near her flat.

“Having unique goals really connects you to the culture in ways that are different than being a tourist,” she says, “not that being a tourist is bad because I’ve done my share of touristy activities, and it’s a lot of fun, like going to the zoo, going to markets, clubs, temples. It’s just a different way of seeing Thailand.”

View Nagle’s entire video blog post here and check back here for more of her experiences in Thailand.

Australia

King’s College Junior Highlighted For Studying At National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne

Adriane Kinner, a junior theater and mass communications major at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., was recently highlighted in a Star-Gazette article, “Horseheads resident does some serious clowning around in Australia,” for her studies through AustraLearn at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne, Australia.

“The AustraLearn program gives someone with little or no circus background a sense for all areas of art and gymnastics that the circus offers,” writes Jennifer Kingsley. “This includes juggling, rola bola, unicycle, clowing, silks (also known as tissues), the German wheel, the cloud swing, trapeze, human balancing and culture.”

Kinner, from Horseheads, N.Y., is the first student from King’s to participate in AustraLearn’s four-week A Taste of Circus program. To get a video glimpse of the program’s full-time students, visit here.

Canadian Degree Student From Alberta Earns Dean’s Scholarship At Bond University

Kirsten Faverin, a University of Calgary, Alberta, graduate, made Bond University‘s Vice Chancellor’s List of Academic Excellence for the 2009 May semester.

Faverin graduated from the University of Calgary in Alberta with a 3.95 GPA and earned a master’s degree in corporate communications from Bond in August 2009.

No related posts.