Reading in the news - Mon 11 Sept

League tables: Reading is ranked 38 and 44 in the UK, according to the inaugural Daily Mail and latest Guardian UK university rankings, respectively.

Natural History Museum: Plans for the new NHM science and collections centre at the University’s Thames Valley Science Park are going on display this week, reports BBC News, Yahoo! News, Greatest Hits Radio, Rocket News and Daily Advent. The scheme will bring “significant opportunities” for Reading students and academics, says Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Van de Noort.  Read our news story.

#PlanetPartners: working with global partners to protect the environment 

• BBC Berkshire spoke to Dr Pete Inness (Meteorology) on the hot weather forecasted in the UK and its ‘Scandinavian block’ cause.  
• DW News interviewed Jeff Da Costa (Geography and Environmental Science) on the heatwave and floods that have devastated parts of Greece this summer.
• Teller Report mentions air pollution hindering pollinators from finding flowers. Dr James Ryalls (Sustainable Land Management) is quoted. Read our news story.  
• WKRN, Rochester First, ABC4, FOX59 and several other US news media report on air turbulence being worse than usual, quoting Professor Paul D. Williams (Meteorology).  
• DW and Lastly quote Associate Professor Adrian Tagg (Construction Management and Engineering) on RAAC being commonly used in buildings across Europe, after safety concerns with the material arise.

Culture and heritage:

• Daily Advent republishes an article by The Stage about Reading Rep Theatre hosting a year-long programme of workshops, projects, and performances. The programme will be co-delivered by the University of Reading’s BA theatre course.  

Health and wellbeing

• Professor Darius Widera (Pharmacy) speaks about the ethics and technical challenges of research showing how human organs could be grown using pig embryos. Quoted in CNN, Xinhua, People’s Daily Online, CGTN, South China Morning Post, Bangladesh Post, Urdu Point and WION, Sion Daily and Transcontinental Times.
• Express Digest and Sound Health and Lasting Wealth republish an article by The Daily Mail which quotes Professor Ian Jones (Biomedical Sciences) on the general trend of new Covid variants.  
• Dr Alice Pollit (Biomedical Sciences) has been awarded £443,154 to develop a full humanized model for understanding platelet function, NC3RS reports.

Food and farming: 

• The Daily Mail reports on supermarket claims about ‘health food’, quoting Professor Gunter Kuhnle (Food and Nutritional Sciences). Also republished by Sound Health and Lasting Wealth and MSN. 
• Yahoo! News republishes an article by Deseret, quoting Claire Williams on the benefits consuming wild blueberries has on cognitive function.  

Other Coverage: 

• BBC Berkshire reports that the University of Reading has won the Official Fairtrade University and College award. Read our news story.
• Heart Berkshire spoke to Associate Professor Alexandra Cox (Law) about HMP Wandsworth, the prison from which suspected terrorist Daniel Khalife escaped.
• Medium reports on collaborative research, which includes the University of Reading, aiming to digitize scents by combining AI and olfaction science.
• Wokingham Choral Society is holding an open rehearsal for new potential members. The group is working towards a concert to take place at the University of Reading’s Great Hall, Wokingham Today reports.

Alumni: 

• Tomas Jones was interviewed on BBC Wales, detailing how to identify and prevent the spread of potentially invasive plant species.
• Talking Biz News mentions that Senior Reporter at The Independent, Joe Middleton, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Reading.
• Prima News spoke with ICAN President, Innocent Okwuosa, a former lecturer at the University of Reading.