In this case study, we hear from Dr Kelsey Joyce, a Research Fellow in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, who is working to understand whether wearable sensors can help predict acute mountain sickness in trekkers at high altitude. For thousands of trekkers every year, the journey to Everest Base Camp is the … Continue reading “From Everest Base Camp to Birmingham: can wearable sensors predict altitude sickness?”
Tag: bear
Summer 2026 BEAR Newsletter
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter This month’s Editor: Stephanie Thompson In Advanced Research Computing, we’ve been welcoming lots of new starters this month, some of whom will be supporting the Baskerville National Compute Resource, which was turned on for the first time last week! Find out how to be one of the first … Continue reading “Summer 2026 BEAR Newsletter”
June 2026 BEAR Newsletter
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter This month’s Editor: Debbie Carter Last week we were excited to welcome 60 undergraduate and taught postgraduate students to BEAR Challenge 2026! Supported by many members of the ARC team, they experienced High Performance Computing (HPC) for the first time and heard about career opportunities in this field. The … Continue reading “June 2026 BEAR Newsletter”
Exploring the dynamics of alien solar systems with BlueBEAR
In this case study, we hear from Alix Freckelton, a PhD student in Physics and Astronomy, who is exploring transit timing variations (TTVs). My research focuses on transit timing variations (TTVs): these are tiny irregularities in the times that we see exoplanets transiting their host stars. TTVs are caused in multi-planet systems by the planets … Continue reading “Exploring the dynamics of alien solar systems with BlueBEAR”
AlphaFold protein structure prediction to study DNA replication
In this case study, we hear from Paolo Passaretti, a postdoc in Cancer and Genomic Sciences, who is investigating how cells copy and protect their genomes during DNA replication. I am a postdoctoral researcher in Prof Aga Gambus’ Laboratory, in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, where we study how cells copy and protect … Continue reading “AlphaFold protein structure prediction to study DNA replication”
Reflections from the 15th BEAR Conference 2026
The following blog post has been written by Yaru Zhou, who is from the organising committee of the BEAR Conference 2026. The 15th Annual BEAR PGR Conference brought together postgraduate researchers from across the University of Birmingham for a day of interdisciplinary discussion centred around this year’s theme: AI x Integrity. Sponsored by Lenovo and NVIDIA, … Continue reading “Reflections from the 15th BEAR Conference 2026 “
De Novo Protein Engineering: Future-Proofing MRI Contrast Agents with BlueBEAR
In this case study, we hear from Sarah Berger, a researcher working in Bioinformatics, who has been using BlueBEAR to develop proteins that can bind to metals. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an essential diagnostic tool, particularly powerful when combined with contrast agents. Most state-of-the-art MRI contrast agents are based on the metal gadolinium, which has intrinsic physical … Continue reading “De Novo Protein Engineering: Future-Proofing MRI Contrast Agents with BlueBEAR”
May 2026 BEAR Newsletter
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter Members of the team attended a great BEAR PGR Conference at the end of April on the theme of AI, research integrity and ethics. There were some really thought-provoking talks on the implications of AI and some interesting examples of PhD research from across the university. The event was organised … Continue reading “May 2026 BEAR Newsletter”
BEAR Research Software Group Hackathon 2026
Author: Chris Greasley, Research Applications Specialist The Research Software Group (RSG) Hackathon returned for its third edition this April with a growing team and a new one-week format. Like previous editions, RSG members had time dedicated to taking part in a wide range of sessions. These covered everything from developing reusable container images for Continuous Integration (CI) pipelines to group discussions on career pathways. The broad range of sessions gave everyone the chance to work with others they don’t normally work with, which allowed the … Continue reading “BEAR Research Software Group Hackathon 2026”
Using AI to Bring Indigenous Storytelling Character Figures into Chemistry Education
In this blog, we hear from Dina, a second-year Ph.D. student in Chemical Education, School of Chemistry, who won the best short talk at the BEAR conference 2026. Dina, conducted research that intersects chemistry education, technology, and ethnochemistry. Ethnochemistry is a multidisciplinary field that explores the relationship between chemistry and the traditional wisdom, practices, and … Continue reading “Using AI to Bring Indigenous Storytelling Character Figures into Chemistry Education”