Published: 06.02.08

Nearly 800 students from the University of Brighton will descend upon the city's spectacular Dome on Friday 8 February to receive their awards.

The new graduates will collect awards, which range from diplomas to doctorates, from the university's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Julian Crampton and the chairman of the Board of Governors, Sir John Mogg, who will be attending the graduation ceremony as chairman for the third time.

Professor Crampton said: "Award ceremonies are very special days for the university. I am struck by the wealth of talent and the sense of community which exists at the university."

"Universities are about people and it is the students and staff of the university that make these ceremonies possible. For staff, this is a high point of the academic year - for graduates, it is a significant milestone. I would like to offer all the students my warmest congratulations."

Honorary graduates set to attend include Joe Edwards QPM (pictured right), who until last year was the Chief Constable of Sussex.

He has worked closely with the university to establish the Foundation Degree in Policing in Partnership with Communities which admitted its first students in April 2006.

Hanneke van Bruggen (pictured right) will also be awarded. A Dutch citizen, Hanneke is possibly the most outstanding occupational therapist in the European Union. Recently, she was honoured by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), granting her a rare fellowship for her exceptional contribution to the development of occupational therapy in Europe.

Ms van Bruggen is connected with the university's School of Health Professions which runs one of the modules in the European Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. This is one of the prestigious projects emanating from the European Network for Occupational Therapy in Higher Education.

Case studies

A flying visit
Commuting between Oslo, Norway and Eastbourne, as well as holding down a full-time job were just two of the challenges facing Bjørn Bergslien (pictured right) as he completed his MA in Sport, Culture and Media.

Initially Bjørn lived in London and travelled to Eastbourne for lectures and seminars. However, when he was offered a job in Norway his commute suddenly got longer.

"It was a huge challenge," said Bjørn. "There were no connections between Oslo and Gatwick, so I had to fly to either Stansted or Heathrow – not really that convenient in terms of public transport. It is also financially expensive to travel that much – not to mention it isn’t good for the environment."

"I did however manage well, as both the course coordinator and the supervisors were helpful and were doing everything in their power to facilitate the process and make it easier for me to communicate with the university."

It was the people at the university that first attracted Bjørn. "I had a look at the various media-related courses and corresponded with one of the course coordinators at the Chelsea School. The study programme seemed interesting and the facilities were also great including the library in Eastbourne which was updated in terms of new books."

Bjørn is now employed at Norway’s second largest IT company, ErgoGroup, where he is responsible for updating the content for the company's corporate website. He said: "It's a great job and ErgoGroup is a solid company to have on my CV and it will undoubtedly open doors for me."

Graduate scoops top prize for green construction
Is construction going green? Richard Woodward (pictured right) has just won a top prize for his postgraduate research into eco management in the building sector.

The award was given for Innovative Environmental Research, which recognises the increasing importance of environmental issues in construction.

The study looked at ways that partner organisations working on a joint project could combine their individual environmental management systems into one system. With partnerships now common for large building and engineering contracts, the problem of bringing together the cultures and structures of the partner companies has become increasingly relevant.

Basing his study on the design and construction partnership of Holleran Mouchel Parkman, which builds pipelines for Southern Water, the method which Richard developed can be applied to other joint ventures across the construction and civil engineering sector.

Richard, who has since joined Mouchel, a consulting and business services group, full-time as an environmental consultant, explained: "The work touched on several contemporary issues in the construction industry, such as sustainable construction, environmental management and issues around integrating systems in joint projects. It is clear that, unless partner companies think carefully about how they combine their systems, good intentions over environmental management can get lost in a muddle of mixed messages and poorly defined responsibilities."

He continued: "By avoiding the need to develop an entirely new system from scratch, the research aimed to find a cost-effective way by which joint ventures can combine the most effective and relevant elements of their individual environmental management systems."

The day I got the best job in town
Postgraduate physiotherapy student, Matthew Daly (pictured right), has just been headhunted to set up the university’s new physiotherapy clinic based at the Leaf Hospital in Eastbourne. Matthew has just completed an MSc in Manipulative Physiotherapy and first assumed the position of musculoskeletal clinical lead with the local primary care trust, before accepting the challenge to set up the clinic.

The clinic, due to open in the spring will serve the local community as well as university students and staff. It will aim to provide a top class service for people with a range of problems affecting joints and muscles. It's also envisaged that the clinic will provide placements for the university’s physiotherapy students.

Matthew's new job is a long way from his first job as a recreation specialist in Saudi Arabia. "As a personal trainer I would see clients who had a range of aches and pains that I could not help with," he explained. "I wanted to become a physiotherapist to really help improve people’s long-term health and fitness."

"I chose to study my postgraduate degree at the University of Brighton because the course content fitted with my career aims and the tutors were well respected in the world of physiotherapy. I also felt that it was important for my career development to take a qualification that would ultimately change my practice and help me become an advanced practitioner."

"The course has provided me with a range of options that have directly enhanced my career and practice. The modules were interactive combining both academic and clinical skills and the clinical placements also stretched and developed me."

"This all helped me get the best job in town!"