Recent news

Check here in each edition of Hartley News Online for the latest news from the University and your alumni and supporter community…

Some incredible recent news: Southampton has once again risen in the prestigious QS World University Rankings, now placed 77th globally! Thanks to everyone who’s helped us continue climbing the table – including of course our amazing alumni and supporter community, achieving remarkable things out in the world.

Congratulations to Southampton alumnus Giles Scott (BSc Geography with Geology, 2008), who – shortly before time of publication – defended his Olympic title by winning gold in the Finn class for men’s sailing. We’ve got our fingers crossed for further alumni success!

On a related note, catch up on one of our recent special events below – ‘Sailing on the Edge’ – which features four alumni from the world of sport and science, including broadcaster John Inverdale.

The summer edition of Re:action, our research and enterprise magazine, celebrates EU-funded research taking place at the University. We put the spotlight on fascinating and world-leading work on carbon capture and storage, nurses’ wellbeing, underwater pollution, materials discovery, the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19, quantum communications – and more!

Check out the University’s 360 Degrees podcast, with recent episodes interviewing a plethora of alumni – including Jon Sopel. Available to listen on Spotify and all main platforms.

To mark World Environment Day in June, alumnus Owen Gaffney (BEng Aeronautics, 1991) co-authored Breaking Boundaries – a new book revealing the full scale of our planetary emergency, which accompanies a David Attenborough-narrated Netflix documentary.

In April, HRH Prince Philip sadly died. The Duke of Edinburgh was an honorary alumnus of Southampton, seen below accepting his degree in 1967. Across the University, we continue to express our sorrow at his passing.

Meet Ali Safari (BEng Mechanical Engineering, 2016), the entrepreneurial alumnus who’s using artificial intelligence to fight climate change.

Alumnus Augustine Asamoah (MSc Public Health, 2014) – who was a Commonwealth Scholar at the University – has been profiled by the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission on his incredible healthcare work in Ghana.

We’d like to extend our congratulations to alumnus and donor Grenville Cross (LLB Law, 1973), who has been awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star – one of Hong Kong’s highest honours. Grenville has had an illustrious career, most notably as the region’s Director of Public Prosecutions after its handover in 1997. Check out when Hartley News Online interviewed Grenville.

And from our last edition…

Good news for Southampton in the 2021 QS World University Rankings by Subject! Congratulations to everyone involved – especially Nursing, Statistics and Operational Research, and Geology for all placing in the top 50. See which other subjects feature in this year’s rankings.

In case you missed it this March, catch our ‘in conversation’ event with Jon Sopel in full on YouTube. The Southampton alumnus and BBC North America Editor gives his take on Donald Trump and last year’s extraordinary US election.

Global COVID-19 treatment trials opened for interferon beta – a drug developed and first trialled at Southampton, which prevents worsening of the disease in those most at risk. The initial work was partly funded by generous donations from our community to the Southampton Coronavirus Response Fund.

A huge congratulations to Southampton alumnus, Charlie Dalin, who became the first person to cross the finish line in the 2021 Vendée Globe – the world’s most challenging single-handed, round-the-world yacht race.

2020 was a difficult year – but also one full of hope and accomplishment. Check out this video of University and community highlights, introduced by Vice-Chancellor Mark E. Smith.

We were saddened to hear of the death of John Roundell Palmer, the 4th Earl of Selborne, who served as the University’s Chancellor from 1996 to 2006. Lord Selborne continued to engage with the University even after leaving, and generously supported our philanthropic activity. Read his full obituary here.

Two leading academics from the University’s Faculty of Medicine – Professor Keith Godfrey and Dr Nisreen Alwan – were awarded MBEs in the Queen’s New Year Honours for 2021.

Did you miss our annual Wade Lecture in January? You can still watch the fascinating discussion over on YouTube with our Chancellor, Ruby Wax, about her personal and family history of depression, her training in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and her role as a mental health campaigner.

In January, Future Worlds took University startups to (a virtual) CES 2021, marking the sixth year in a row that Southampton has been the only UK university exhibiting at the world’s most influential tech show.

Congratulations to rising-star researcher (and alumnus) Dr Wassim Dbouk on becoming a member of the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort ahead of COP26. A core focus will be turning climate research into policy action.

Meet the researchers! The new edition of Re:action, the University’s research and enterprise magazine, throws the spotlight on the people behind some of the amazing research taking place in Southampton. We reveal the results of a survey into the impact of COVID-19 on our Early Career Researchers, and take a look at research into diverse areas from AI in football, to sonic journalism, to data in nursing.