We wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a festive new year!

Congratulations to all of 2023-2024 MSc students graduating in January 2025.

The department would also like recognise the winners of the following MSc prizes:

Best Overall Data Analytics student: Pak Ho Gordon Sy

Best Overall Computer Science student: Olly Wortley

Best Data Analytics dissertation: Tianyi Huang

Best Computer Science dissertation: Olly Wortley

Ella Kaye has been selected as an SSI Fellow, recognising her as an ambassador for good software practice, and providing a grant and mentorship for nurturing the rainbowR community.

Astrophysicist Dimitri Veras of The University of Warwick has been awarded the prestigious George Darwin Lectureship by the Royal Astronomical Society.

The Department of Chemistry is currently recruiting to six funded PhD Studentships within the Centre of Experimental Fuel Technologies (CEFT). bit.ly/3VOMiCN

Professor Rosemary Collier, an entomologist and applied ecologist, has been awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours List for her pioneering work in horticultural science.

The New Year’s Honours list recognises individuals across the UK for their exceptional contributions to society. The honours celebrate those who have made a significant impact in various fields, acknowledging their outstanding service.

Based at Warwick Crop Centre, Professor Collier's research focuses on sustainable pest management in horticultural crops, using methods that minimise ecological impact. This includes biological and physical strategies, host plant resistance, and novel technologies for pest monitoring, offering valuable insights to farmers, growers, and gardeners.

Professor Collier said, “I’m extremely pleased and proud to be awarded this honour. I consider myself very fortunate to work in an area that combines my personal and professional passions for animals, plants, the natural environment, and food.

“Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege to work with exceptional colleagues and engage with the UK’s fresh produce industry, which contributes significantly to national health and happiness”.

Expert comment from Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of Safe Autonomy at WMG on the UK Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan

“I welcome this timely and ground-breaking AI Opportunities Action Plan by the UK Government. We thank both the UK Government and Matthew Clifford CBE for laying a solid foundation for the UK’s AI development and deployment in the coming decade.

‘‘AI has huge potential to help develop different life-changing technologies. However, AI, when used in safety-critical applications such as Self-Driving vehicles and Advanced Driver Assistance technology, needs to be trusted. With the lack of internationally-agreed methodologies or mechanisms to prove that AI is safe, we urge the government to prioritise safe AI in this plan.

‘‘We welcome the announcement of AI Growth Zones, which could attract significant investment into the UK in high-growth sectors such as Safe Automated Mobility. For example, at WMG we have partnered with leading AI developer Wayve on our £1.9 million-research project, DriveSafe AI, to develop scalable engineering safety guidelines and mechanisms to prove AI is safe for self-driving technology while sharing with the ecosystem and building on international standards like ISO/PAS 8800.’’

Read more about WMG’s Safe Autonomy research here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/research-areas/safeautonomy

The Warwick team competed at the International Student Team Competition in Mathematics 2024, Katowice, Poland, winning several medals.

To improve access to advanced optical microscopy in educational and resource-limited settings, researchers in Warwick’s Centre for Mechanochemical Cell BiologyLink opens in a new window have developed the eduWOSM (educational Warwick Open Source Microscope), an open hardware platform for transmitted-light and epifluorescence imaging in up to 4 colours, including single molecule imaging. Read the paper hereLink opens in a new window.

YouTube channelLink opens in a new window - Video explaining what the eduWOSM is, what it can do, and how to use it.

Dieter Wolke's evidence is mentioned at several places on how prematurity creates inequality in developmental outcome and how to improve transition into school.