CAMBRIDGE, Md. ? President Barack Obama's populist election-year pitch and middle-class message have unified House Democrats. The bitter divisions among Republican White House hopefuls have helped bring them together, too.
"Long may it last," said Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., on the prospect of a drawn-out, bare-knuckle GOP nomination fight between top candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.
House Democrats, who gathered for their annual three-day retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore, echoed many of the themes from Obama's State of the Union speech on economic fairness, boosting manufacturing and helping middle-class Americans, a reflection of campaign messaging and a recognition that their fate is inextricably linked to the president. They held a series of closed-door sessions on strategy for the coming year and later spoke to reporters.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will address the group on Friday. It's a more upbeat Democratic caucus than the one Obama encountered last year when backbiting and frustration split Democrats after a thrashing in the November 2010 midterm elections.
Being out of power for a year will do that. So will a week in which Democrats saw some positive signs, from Obama's address to polls showing more voters think the country is on the right track, to a daring hostage rescue of an American in Somalia. Signs of an economic rebound are prevalent; Commerce Secretary John Bryson told the Democrats that of the 3 million new jobs, 300,000 were in manufacturing.
As for the Democrats' own finances, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised more than $61 million last year and has $11.6 million cash on hand. It also eliminated a lingering debt.
"It's the first time I've seen Democrats this united," said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.
That unity will be tested by months of campaigning and legislative fights as well as clear signals from Obama that he will run against Congress.
While Democrats talked about message, Obama was on a three-day, five-state swing that included a stop in Aurora, Colo., where he told the crowd, "We're not going to wait for Congress," on some issues such as producing clean energy to power 3 million homes. He made similar arguments in his speech.
Democratic leaders said Obama should run against a "do-nothing Congress" to highlight for American voters how Republicans have obstructed his agenda. Yet that kind of campaign strategy could be equally damaging to Democrats, who hold 191 seats in the House and control the Senate by a narrow margin, 51-47, plus two independents who generally vote with them. Public approval ratings for Congress have hit all-time lows, dipping to the teens. Voters easily could send scores of members from both parties packing in November.
Republicans signaled they have a ready response to the White House strategy.
"The president can blame anyone he wants, but it won't change the fact that this year will be a referendum on his economic record," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
For now, Democrats will press ahead with an agenda and rhetoric that mirrors Obama's.
In his State of the Union speech, Obama called for requiring millionaires to pay at least 30 percent in taxes, the so-called Buffett rule, named after a recommendation by billionaire financier Warren Buffett, who benefits from a low 15 percent tax rate on investments, that he be required to pay a higher rate than his secretary. The president also pleaded for legislation that rewards companies that create jobs in the United States instead of shipping them overseas.
Senate Democrats said this week they will move ahead this year with legislation.
Obama also said he would sign a bill that would ban lawmakers from buying and selling stock based on insider information. Senate Democrats signaled they would consider a bill next week.
House Republicans, not Democrats, have the final say on what legislation comes to the floor. Still, House Democrats say the messaging is in sync.
"I think that's led to a real spirit of optimism for the election," Andrews said. "A realistic spirit but an optimistic one."
Democrats face a tough challenge in recapturing the House as Republicans have shored up their vulnerable lawmakers through redistricting. The GOP scoffs at the notion that Democrats can win the 25 seats necessary to take control.
Still, in a sign of Democratic boldness, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., sported a button that said "Thanks Obamacare," the derisive shorthand that Republicans use to describe the president's overhaul of the health care system.
Schakowsky said there may come a time when "Obamacare might be up there with Social Security."
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, shipped to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Tuesday, to be mated to its Pegasus launch vehicle. The observatory will detect X-rays from objects ranging from our sun to giant black holes billions of light-years away. It is scheduled to launch March 14 from an aircraft operating out of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
"The NuSTAR mission is unique because it will be the first NASA mission to focus X-rays in the high-energy range, creating the most detailed images ever taken in this slice of the electromagnetic spectrum," said Fiona Harrison, the mission's principal investigator at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.
The observatory shipped from Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Va., where the spacecraft and science instrument were integrated. It is scheduled to arrive at Vandenberg on Jan. 27, where it will be mated to the Pegasus, also built by Orbital, on Feb. 17.
The mission will be launched from the L-1011 "Stargazer" aircraft, which will take off near the equator from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. NuSTAR and its Pegasus will fly from Vandenberg to Kwajalein attached to the underside of the L-1011, and are scheduled to arrive on March 7.
On launch day, after the airplane arrives at the planned drop site over the ocean, the Pegaus will drop from the L-1011 and carry NuSTAR to an orbit around Earth.
"NuSTAR is an engineering achievement, incorporating state-of-the-art high-energy X-ray mirrors and detectors that will enable years of astronomical discovery," said Yunjin Kim, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
NuSTAR's advanced telescope consists of two sets of 133 concentric shells of mirrors, which were shaped from flexible glass similar to that found in laptop screens. Because X-rays require large focusing distances, or focal lengths, the telescope has a lengthy 33-foot (10-meter) mast, which will unfold a week after launch.
These and other advances in technology will enable NuSTAR to explore the cosmic world of high-energy X-rays with much improved sensitivity and resolution over previous missions. During its two-year primary mission, NuSTAR will map the celestial sky in X-rays, surveying black holes, mapping supernova remnants, and studying particle jets travelling away from black holes near the speed of light.
NuSTAR also will probe the sun, looking for microflares theorized to be on the surface that could explain how the sun's million-degree corona, or atmosphere, is heated. It will even test a theory of dark matter, the mysterious substance making up about one-quarter of our universe, by searching the sun for evidence of a hypothesized dark matter particle.
"NuSTAR will provide an unprecedented capability to discover and study some of the most exotic objects in the universe, from the corpses of exploded stars in the Milky Way to supermassive black holes residing in the hearts of distant galaxies," said Lou Kaluzienski, NuSTAR program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
NuSTAR is a small-explorer mission managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The spacecraft was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. Its instrument was built by a consortium including Caltech, JPL, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the Danish Technical University in Denmark, the University of California, Berkeley, and ATK-Goleta. NuSTAR will be operated by U.C. Berkeley, with the Italian Space Agency providing its equatorial ground station located at Malindi, Kenya. NASA's Explorer Program is managed by Goddard. JPL is managed by Caltech for NASA.
For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/nustar and http://www.nustar.caltech.edu/ .
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Story updated 3:50 a.m. ET: The iPhone accounts for more than half Apple's revenue for the first time, the Associated Press reports. Though Apple has other hit products, like MacBooks and the iPad, they can't keep up with the iPhone, whose sales more than doubled over last year from an already high level and accounted for 53 percent of Apple's revenue in the quarter.
Story published 5:00 p.m. ET: Apple Inc. Tuesday reported quarterly profits of $1 billion a week for its latest quarter, blowing past Wall Street expectations on robust holiday sales of its iPhones and iPads.
The consumer electronics giant posted earnings of $13 billion, or $13.87 per share, more than double the $6 billion, or $6.43 per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of $10.04 per share for the fiscal first quarter.
Apple's quarterly revenue of just over $46 billion handily beat the average Wall Street analyst estimate of $39 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
?We?re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,? said Tim Cook, Apple?s CEO. ?Apple?s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.?
Apple says it sold 37 million iPhones in the quarter, double the figure of the previous quarter, refelcting the introduction of the new iPhone 4s.? Apple sold 15 million iPads, compared with 11 million in the previous quarter.
Together iPhones and iPads accounted for more than $33 billion of the company's total $46 billlion in revenue.
"Apple's results were tremendous and the company continues to distance itself from industry peers," said Bill Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones. "Just the magnitude of the iPhone beat is very impressive."
Apple shares, already trading near record levels, jumped 9 percent in after-hours trading on the earnings news.
"It's a monster quarter," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial. "Their guidance is strong too, it's a holiday quarter. There's just a worldwide demand for Apple products."
"Going into 2012 I expect strength of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad should carry on into the year. said Hendi Susanto of Gabelli & Co. "Apple still has some tailwind including opening up new retail stores and expanding its distribution channels."
Story: Why Apple says it can't build an iPhone in the US
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
KIEV, Ukraine ? Emergency officials say a fire has badly damaged a 19th-century Orthodox church in southern Ukraine, including collapsing its dome.
No injuries have been reported.
The fire at the landmark Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in the town of Bolhrad outside the Black Sea port of Odessa broke out Thursday during renovation work, the Emergency Situations Ministry said on its website.
The church's dome collapsed before the fire was put out.
Officials say the fire could have been caused by a violation of safety rules during the renovation.
TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's parliament will begin debating a draft bill requiring the government to immediately halt oil exports to Europe, a prominent lawmaker said Wednesday, as Tehran weighs its options following the European Union's decision to stop importing oil from the country.
The EU embargo, announced on Monday, was the latest attempt to try to pressure Iran over a nuclear program the United States and its allies argue is aimed at developing nuclear weapons but which Iran says is for purely peaceful purposes. It came just weeks after the U.S. approved, but has yet to enact, new sanctions targeting Iran's Central Bank and, by extension, its ability to sell its oil.
Many Iranian lawmakers and officials have called for an immediate ban on oil exports to the European bloc before its ban fully goes into effect in July, arguing that the 27 EU nations account for only about 18 percent of Iran's overall oil sales and would be hurt more by the decision than Iran. China, a key buyer of Iranian crude, has blasted the embargo.
"The bill requires the government to stop selling oil to Europe before the start of European Union oil embargo against Iran," lawmaker Hasan Ghafourifard told the parliament's website, icana.ir. Debate on the bill is to begin on Sunday, he said.
The U.S. sanctions had outraged Iranian officials, prompting repeated threats from various officials that the country could shutter the vital Strait of Hormuz if measures are enacted that affect its oil exports. Roughly a fifth of the world oil passes through the narrow waterway, and the U.S. and others have warned Iran they will not allow it to impede the free flow of traffic in the area.
Iran is OPEC's fourth largest producer and most of its crude goes to Europe and Asia.
Iranian officials have said the sanctions will have no effect on the economy and they will find other willing buyers. Analysts and diplomats also have played down the likelihood that Iran will actually move to close the strait ? a step that could bring it into direct conflict with U.S. and other Western naval and ground forces stationed in and around the Persian Gulf.
"The door to dialogue remains open for Iran," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Berlin Wednesday. "But it also is clear that we in the world cannot accept Iran's government reaching for nuclear weapons. So the sanctions are necessary."
"If they are applied comprehensively and supported by as many as possible in the world, that makes the probability of success all the greater," Westerwelle said after meeting his Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd.
The sanctions debate comes at a time when the country's economy and currency are under increasing pressure following a series of other economic sanctions that already have been imposed.
The rial has shed about 50 percent of its value relative to the dollar over the past month, a decline that the central bank governor, in a moment of rare candor, attributed at least partially to the "psychological effects" of the U.S. sanctions. The currency, which was trading at 15,000 rials to the dollar on the black market at the start of the year, hit a record low of 22,000 rials to the U.S. currency by the weekend.
After weeks of criticism over his inaction, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad approved a decision by monetary authorities that would raise the interest rates on bank deposits to roughly 21 percent, the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting Economic Minister Shamseddin Hosseini.
The move was a reversal of his earlier opposition to the decision by Iran's Money and Credit Council that would have boosted the interest rates to a level above the inflation rate. Economists said such a step was crucial to absorbing market liquidity and buoying the rial.
Banks would be instructed to enact the new rates starting Thursday, Hosseini said.
The market reacted to the announcement immediately, with the rial trading at 19,000 rials to the dollar within hours of Hosseini's remarks.
Ahmadinejad's refusal to sign off on the council's decision stoked a rift between fiscal authorities and the president, with Central Bank Gov. Mahmoud Bahmani warning earlier in the month he may quit if the government continues to interfere in shaping monetary policies and does not approve an increase in bank deposit interest rates.
Bahmani was quoted on state television on Wednesday as saying that a single foreign currency rate will be offered within the next 48 hours as part of the central bank's measures to stabilize the currency exchange market.
Analysts say that the main reason behind the currency's depreciation was a decision to lower interest rates on one-year deposits to 14 percent from 17.5 percent. The rate cut prompted Iranians to pull their money out of banks and buy gold and foreign currency, instead.
Contact: EPSRC Press Office PressOffice@epsrc.ac.uk 44-179-344-4404 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Innovative sensors have been developed that will dramatically improve the ability to spot early warning signs of corrosion in concrete.
More resilient and much longer lasting than traditional corrosion sensors they will make monitoring the safety of structures such as bridges and vital coastal defences much more effective.
The carbon steel bars used to reinforce submerged concrete in tidal zone areas are at particular risk of corrosion caused by wet conditions*.
The breakthrough has been made by researchers based at City University London and Queen's University Belfast following several research projects funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Because the sensors can withstand long-term placement within concrete unlike any equivalent sensors currently available they can constantly monitor conditions, enabling a warning to be sent when conditions for corrosion threshold have been crossed.
Thanks to an internet connection, the notification can be sent in the form of an email or text to the structure's maintenance team.
A trio of novel, robust probes is at the heart of the team's work: one that monitors temperature, one for humidity while the other senses chloride and pH levels. Changes in these factors indicate the onset of the potentially destructive corrosion. Within the probes are advanced optical sensors specifically designed and built for this project in City's laboratories. These have been patented for potential commercial exploitation.
Tong Sun, Professor of Sensor Engineering at City and Principal Investigator on the project says: "Key to this successful prototype is our monitoring the variation of the sensor signals of a sample as an indicator of corrosion levels. This means we can use optical sensors made of polymer, which is much more resistant to the high alkaline environments of these structures than sensors currently on the market."
Traditional optical corrosion sensors have only a limited lifetime, usually of several weeks, because of the corrosive alkaline levels within concrete. The new sensors are expected to last for several years, with proper protection, even where pH levels are higher than 12. For comparison, domestic bleach has a pH value of between 12 and 13.
"Our design means several probes can be installed semi-permanently in a structure and then connected to a computer data logger, which will constantly collect readings.
This can be left until the readings indicate conditions have changed enough to warrant a full investigation. Remedial work will be simpler, cheaper and more effective at this stage, rather than waiting until there is visible damage, such as parts of the concrete coming away," said Professor Sun.
###
Notes for editors
The four-year project 'Corrosion Monitoring Systems for Structures in Extreme Marine Environments', began on 31 March 2006 and concluded on 30 March 2010. It received EPSRC funding of 243,145 to City University London and 244,788 to Queen's University Belfast.
The success of the sensor development and its potential value to industry means the research team were also awarded a follow on grant by the EPSRC (110,125 to City and 65,318 to Queen's University Belfast) to explore the commercial potential of these sensors. This project will see further improvement on the sensor design, especially chloride sensors and their subsequent testing of the probes which will then be put forward for the patent update before being made available for next-stage commercial exploitation.
The integrity of marine structures can face serious risks from a combination of chemical, biological and physical actions presented by the sea. The cost to the owners in the event of a failure can amount to millions of pounds annually for repair, replacement and for removing any sections that have fallen into surrounding water.
*In structures such as bridges it is the steel rebar embedded in the concrete that is at risk of corrosion: most at risk are the tidal and splash zones which experience continual wetting and drying.
Seawater contains a cocktail of dissolved inorganic material of which the chloride ion plays a major role in the corrosion of marine structures. This applies to the air above water as well as in the splash zone and below the surface.
The sensors within the temperature and humidity probe utilise the fibre Bragg grating. A fibre Bragg grating is a type of reflector made of a length of optical fibre that only reflects specific wavelengths of light while transmitting all others. This is created, usually by ultraviolet laser treatment, which alters the fibre core's refractive index. A pair of gratings, with one being coated with a polymer layer, was used to separate the temperature and humidity parameters.
Due to the commercial sensitivity of the design, details of the sensors inside the chloride / pH probe are not being disclosed. But it can be revealed that it is capable of measuring free chloride concentrations as low as 20 millimoles per litre (a mole is a unit measuring the concentration of a substance by counting the number of atoms or molecules in it).
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
The Engineering and Physical Sciences research Council (EPSRC) is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests around 800m a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. . www.epsrc.ac.uk
City University London
City University London is an international university with a commitment to academic excellence, a focus on business and the professions and a central London location. It is placed in the top 5% of universities around the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010-11 and is ranked in the top 30 UK higher education institutions by the Times Higher Education Table of Tables 2011. The University's Student Centre holds the 2011 Times Higher Education Leadership & Management Award for Outstanding Student Services Team. City is a broadly-based university with world leading strengths in business; law; engineering and mathematical sciences; informatics; health sciences and the arts including journalism and music. The University attracts over 21,000 students from more than 160 countries and academic and professional staff from over 50 countries. City University London's predecessor, the Northampton Institute, was founded in 1894. City will celebrate its first half century as a university in 2016. www.city.ac.uk
Queen's University Belfast
A member of the Russell Group of the UK's 20 leading research-intensive universities, Queen's University has gained global recognition for the impact of its research and education. The institution has won five Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Further and Higher Education for world-class achievement in cancer research, green chemistry, environmental research, palaeoecology and law.
Four prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Awards further recognise the University's contribution to society. Queen's received the award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts in 2008, was awarded the title of the UK's Entrepreneurial University of the Year in 2009, the Outstanding Engineering Research Team of the Year in 2010 and Most Innovative Teacher of the Year in 2011.
Founded as Queen's College in 1845, Queen's became a university in its own right in1908. An international centre of research and education rooted at the heart of Northern Ireland, it offers a life-changing student experience to students from more than 80 countries. Queen's is a magnet for inward investment, a patron of the arts and a global player in areas ranging from cancer studies to sustainability, and from pharmaceuticals to creative writing. www.qub.ac.uk
For further information contact:
Professor Tong Sun, at City University London, tel: 020 7040 8128, e-mail: t.sun@city.ac.uk
Dr Su Taylor, at Queen's University Belfast, tel: 028 9097 4010, e-mail: s.e.taylor@qub.ac.uk
Images are available from the EPSRC Press Office, e-mail: pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk, tel: 01793 444404.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: EPSRC Press Office PressOffice@epsrc.ac.uk 44-179-344-4404 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Innovative sensors have been developed that will dramatically improve the ability to spot early warning signs of corrosion in concrete.
More resilient and much longer lasting than traditional corrosion sensors they will make monitoring the safety of structures such as bridges and vital coastal defences much more effective.
The carbon steel bars used to reinforce submerged concrete in tidal zone areas are at particular risk of corrosion caused by wet conditions*.
The breakthrough has been made by researchers based at City University London and Queen's University Belfast following several research projects funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Because the sensors can withstand long-term placement within concrete unlike any equivalent sensors currently available they can constantly monitor conditions, enabling a warning to be sent when conditions for corrosion threshold have been crossed.
Thanks to an internet connection, the notification can be sent in the form of an email or text to the structure's maintenance team.
A trio of novel, robust probes is at the heart of the team's work: one that monitors temperature, one for humidity while the other senses chloride and pH levels. Changes in these factors indicate the onset of the potentially destructive corrosion. Within the probes are advanced optical sensors specifically designed and built for this project in City's laboratories. These have been patented for potential commercial exploitation.
Tong Sun, Professor of Sensor Engineering at City and Principal Investigator on the project says: "Key to this successful prototype is our monitoring the variation of the sensor signals of a sample as an indicator of corrosion levels. This means we can use optical sensors made of polymer, which is much more resistant to the high alkaline environments of these structures than sensors currently on the market."
Traditional optical corrosion sensors have only a limited lifetime, usually of several weeks, because of the corrosive alkaline levels within concrete. The new sensors are expected to last for several years, with proper protection, even where pH levels are higher than 12. For comparison, domestic bleach has a pH value of between 12 and 13.
"Our design means several probes can be installed semi-permanently in a structure and then connected to a computer data logger, which will constantly collect readings.
This can be left until the readings indicate conditions have changed enough to warrant a full investigation. Remedial work will be simpler, cheaper and more effective at this stage, rather than waiting until there is visible damage, such as parts of the concrete coming away," said Professor Sun.
###
Notes for editors
The four-year project 'Corrosion Monitoring Systems for Structures in Extreme Marine Environments', began on 31 March 2006 and concluded on 30 March 2010. It received EPSRC funding of 243,145 to City University London and 244,788 to Queen's University Belfast.
The success of the sensor development and its potential value to industry means the research team were also awarded a follow on grant by the EPSRC (110,125 to City and 65,318 to Queen's University Belfast) to explore the commercial potential of these sensors. This project will see further improvement on the sensor design, especially chloride sensors and their subsequent testing of the probes which will then be put forward for the patent update before being made available for next-stage commercial exploitation.
The integrity of marine structures can face serious risks from a combination of chemical, biological and physical actions presented by the sea. The cost to the owners in the event of a failure can amount to millions of pounds annually for repair, replacement and for removing any sections that have fallen into surrounding water.
*In structures such as bridges it is the steel rebar embedded in the concrete that is at risk of corrosion: most at risk are the tidal and splash zones which experience continual wetting and drying.
Seawater contains a cocktail of dissolved inorganic material of which the chloride ion plays a major role in the corrosion of marine structures. This applies to the air above water as well as in the splash zone and below the surface.
The sensors within the temperature and humidity probe utilise the fibre Bragg grating. A fibre Bragg grating is a type of reflector made of a length of optical fibre that only reflects specific wavelengths of light while transmitting all others. This is created, usually by ultraviolet laser treatment, which alters the fibre core's refractive index. A pair of gratings, with one being coated with a polymer layer, was used to separate the temperature and humidity parameters.
Due to the commercial sensitivity of the design, details of the sensors inside the chloride / pH probe are not being disclosed. But it can be revealed that it is capable of measuring free chloride concentrations as low as 20 millimoles per litre (a mole is a unit measuring the concentration of a substance by counting the number of atoms or molecules in it).
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
The Engineering and Physical Sciences research Council (EPSRC) is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests around 800m a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. . www.epsrc.ac.uk
City University London
City University London is an international university with a commitment to academic excellence, a focus on business and the professions and a central London location. It is placed in the top 5% of universities around the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010-11 and is ranked in the top 30 UK higher education institutions by the Times Higher Education Table of Tables 2011. The University's Student Centre holds the 2011 Times Higher Education Leadership & Management Award for Outstanding Student Services Team. City is a broadly-based university with world leading strengths in business; law; engineering and mathematical sciences; informatics; health sciences and the arts including journalism and music. The University attracts over 21,000 students from more than 160 countries and academic and professional staff from over 50 countries. City University London's predecessor, the Northampton Institute, was founded in 1894. City will celebrate its first half century as a university in 2016. www.city.ac.uk
Queen's University Belfast
A member of the Russell Group of the UK's 20 leading research-intensive universities, Queen's University has gained global recognition for the impact of its research and education. The institution has won five Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Further and Higher Education for world-class achievement in cancer research, green chemistry, environmental research, palaeoecology and law.
Four prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Awards further recognise the University's contribution to society. Queen's received the award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts in 2008, was awarded the title of the UK's Entrepreneurial University of the Year in 2009, the Outstanding Engineering Research Team of the Year in 2010 and Most Innovative Teacher of the Year in 2011.
Founded as Queen's College in 1845, Queen's became a university in its own right in1908. An international centre of research and education rooted at the heart of Northern Ireland, it offers a life-changing student experience to students from more than 80 countries. Queen's is a magnet for inward investment, a patron of the arts and a global player in areas ranging from cancer studies to sustainability, and from pharmaceuticals to creative writing. www.qub.ac.uk
For further information contact:
Professor Tong Sun, at City University London, tel: 020 7040 8128, e-mail: t.sun@city.ac.uk
Dr Su Taylor, at Queen's University Belfast, tel: 028 9097 4010, e-mail: s.e.taylor@qub.ac.uk
Images are available from the EPSRC Press Office, e-mail: pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk, tel: 01793 444404.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
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