Three University of Warwick academics have been recognised in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

The Coventry Very Light Rail (VLR) is an innovative light rail system which will be battery powered, lightweight and rail-based. In March 2019 a 3D simulation of the vehicle was released, and even with Covid-19 lockdowns, the vehicle build is progressing on schedule at NP Aerospace in Coventry.

In July 2020, Chancellor Rishi Sunak requested a review of capital gains tax. The recommendations of the review were published on 11 November, and draw significantly on research by Arun Advani, CAGE Impact Director and Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick.

Whilst the UK has been in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gill Frigerio, an Associate Professor in the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Warwick, has been crocheting coronaviruses to raise money for local charities.

The Building Fabric team from Estates Maintenance has recently completed a community project at St Peter’s Primary School in Leamington Spa.

With the majority of the team on furlough, colleagues wanted to put their building maintenance skills to good use during this time, to help the community.

Team member Nicola Austin, whose daughter attends the school, identified the project and set the ball rolling several weeks ago. She liaised with the school, doing the preparation work and co-ordinating the team throughout.

Discover how our academics in the Zeeman Institute are contributing to the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and providing scientific evidence to support the UK's response to COVID-19.

Charlotte Croft has swapped the lecture theatre for a hospital theatre after returning to nursing to help the UK's National Health Service (NHS) fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Associate Professor of Human Resource Management left her role as a nurse at Nottingham University Hospital in 2013 to work in academia, but decided to answer the Government's call to return to the frontline to help the thousands suffering from coronavirus.

Three Warwick Business School MBA students have set up a programme of free weekly online seminars for healthcare workers across the world to help them cope with the coronavirus crisis.

Mya Krishna-Kumar, a first year Maths student at the University of Warwick, was inspired by the weekly clap for carers. She wanted to find a way to connect people with NHS staff, to give a more personal touch. A couple of weeks ago, Mya set up 'Letters for the NHS' – a pairing system where anyone can write to a hard-working healthcare worker.

Dr Kate Bailey, a Principal Engineer at WMG, is an expert in food supply chains and has shared her thoughts with us on the challenges our food supply chains have been facing in recent weeks.

Doing the weekly shop, or putting in your regular online delivery order, was something most of us took for granted until the COVID-19 crisis hit. Since the social distancing ‘lockdown’, something as basic as going shopping, or popping to the chemist to pick up a prescription, has become increasingly difficult to navigate for vulnerable and elderly people, as well as those who have found themselves in financial difficulty due to a reduced income.

Thankfully, dozens of community support initiatives have quickly sprung into action to support these groups, and many of our students and staff have been getting involved to help get food and assistance out to where it’s most needed.

Lisa Randle, Chef de Partie in Warwick Conferences’ Rootes kitchen, has been putting her writing skills to good use by volunteering as a pen pal befriender through Hope Coventry’s Good Neighbours programme. She is writing letters to vulnerable local people in Coventry.

Dr David Gregory-Kumar reports for BBC Midlands Today on University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire conducting tests for COVID-19 and how Warwick Medical School staff and students are involved.

There are many ways in which universities can actively assist in the response to the pandemic.

Many of our staff and students have not just been asking how they can help but they have simply got on and done so. Here are just five of things those colleagues and students are doing now, some of whom are named below.

Learn how the CWLEP is supporting two of the University's transformational major projects.

A new autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) is being developed to transform the horticultural sector and tackle the labour shortage. The model which will work in glasshouse and outdoor areas moving trays and boxes around the production area, is being designed by researchers from WMG at the University of Warwick. The project is part of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board SmartHort programme, which aims to improve labour efficiencies through technology and automations.

The British Transplant Games are arriving in Coventry this summer, with our Sports and Wellness Hub one of the host venues. There will be a wide range of sports across campus including swimming, athletics, cycling and more. Learn more about the Games and organ donation, and register to take part.

Just under 1000 seed samples from different crop species including kale, carrots and cauliflower are to be deposited at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Arctic Norway on the 25th February 2020, from the UK Vegetable Genebank (UKVGB) at the University of Warwick Wellesbourne campus.

The latest round of awards for collaborative research projects contributing to Coventry City of Culture have just been announced. Now in their third year, these collaborative projects are jointly funded between Coventry University and the University of Warwick, and have been granted funding of up to £2,000 for projects to partner with a Coventry-based organisation to undertake locally impactful research that invites the general public to participate

A new tool to help carers manage the daily challenges of life when caring for a friend or loved one has been presented to the Minister of State for Care at Westminster.

Professor Jeremy Dale of the University of Warwick has met with Caroline Dinenage MP from the Department of Health and Social Care to demonstrate Care Companion, a new online support tool developed by Warwick Medical School to support people with caring responsibilities across Warwickshire and Coventry.

Autonomous pods born in Coventry are now able to swarm together in a world first, thanks to research by WMG at the University of Warwick in partnership with Aurrigo and Milton Keynes council.

With the concept of driverless pods now more realistic than futuristic, the vehicles are one step closer to being put to use, as they can now help each other to drive and navigate through pedestrian areas around people.

Two Warwick researchers have contributed to a new report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics calling for a more ethical and collaborative approach to conducting research during global health emergencies such as infectious disease outbreaks.

Professor Simon Caney from the Department of Politics and International Studies, and Dr Sharifah Sekalala, Associate Professor in the School of Law, were members of the Working Party which conducted an in-depth inquiry, reviewing the policies and practices of global health emergency research, and presented 24 recommendations for improvement in the form of an "ethical compass" to guide the decisions of those on the ground.

Three of the University of Warwick's new Honorary Graduates have shared insights from their careers, discussed the challenges facing the world today and passed on their advice to new Warwick graduates at the Warwick's Winter 2020 Graduation ceremonies.

In receiving their degrees, Dr Reuel J Khoza, Professor Michèle Lamont and Dr David Halpern joined an illustrious list of world leaders as honorary graduates of the university, which includes Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, Janet Yellen, former Chair of the US Federal Reserve, Dame Stella Rimmington, former Director General of MI5, and Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Industry specialists, researchers and staff – past and present – gathered at Warwick’s Wellesbourne campus on 18 December to mark 70 years of crop research on the site.

The meeting heard from a range of speakers who relayed past successes and described work on future developments. Invited keynote speaker and expert in food policy, Professor Tim Lang, spoke about the importance of vegetables in the UK and Sue Kennedy from Elsoms Seeds gave a commercial perspective on vegetable genetics and breeding – past, present and future.

'Science on the Hill' is a new programme of public engagement events jointly hosted by the University’s School of Life Sciences and the Wellcome-Warwick Quantiative Biomedicine Programme at Warwick Medical School. These interactive two hour events taking place across the academic year will feature 20 researchers giving a birds-eye view of the latest exciting developments in their discipline.

Five free public events that will showcase the cutting-edge research being performed at the Gibbet Hill campus into the building blocks of life, futures in medicine and the factors that define our health are scheduled up to July 2020.

A very special graduation took place in December thanks to the partnership between the University of Warwick and national education charity, IntoUniversity.

The graduation ceremony, for Y6 pupils from Frederick Bird School in Coventry, marked the end of FOCUS week, a five-day programme designed to introduce the youngsters to university-style learning and give them a taste of what higher education is all about.

A new £3 million National Institute of Health Research Blood and Transplant Research Unit to advance pioneering research on the manufacture of red blood cells from stem cells and their translation from the lab to human trials has been announced.

What is expected to be the biggest UK study on the effect of physiotherapy on women after breast cancer surgery is to be led by Warwick Medical School in partnership with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust.

The ESRC Festival of Social Science 2014 was a huge success with over 200 events across the UK. This year the Festival will be taking place from 7-14 November 2015. The call for applications is now open and will close at 16.00 on 8 May for applications for sponsorship and 15 May for applications for participation only. Further details are available at:
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/festival/index.aspx?utm_source=eNews&utm_campaign=8ea778f6b5-eNews_APR_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4a06f0b327-8ea778f6b5-129183521

Labour Value - Trade Unions and the Politics of the Common Good
Wed 25 Feb 2015 6pm
Jon Cruddas MP will give a for a thought-provoking talk at Warwick Arts Centre on the need to rethink the role of trade unions as a force for the common good in our post-industrial society. This talk is part of a series of Imagining the Future talks as part of the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture Series, in celebration of the University of Warwick’s 50th Anniversary.
Tickets are free - book in advance in person at Warwick Arts Centre or by calling 024 7652 4524.

Dozens of topical issues from the war in Syria and domestic abuse, to breast cancer and cybercrime are set to be covered at an exhibition by students from Warwick and Coventry universities this weekend. The showcase, at the city’s Herbert Art Gallery, is being held to promote the importance of social science research in helping to build a better society.

Thursday 1 May 2014, 4.40pm-6pm
“The Girl Effect: Why tackling gender inequality can transform the developing world”
Rt Hon. Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for International Development will deliver the first International Development GRP Annual Public Lecture. The event is open to all – but you must register for a place in advance here.

Tuesday 29 April 2014, 6pm
'Getting every child into school and learning; why wait?'
Sir Michael Barber, Chief Education Adviser, Pearson, will examine the task of getting all the world's primary age children into school and learning. All are welcome to attend - but registration is essential.

The Warwick Global Research Priority group on Food and the Institute of Advanced Study are holding a free public lecture with three visiting experts in food security on Wednesday 5 March 6-7.30pm. Find out more and register here.