Momentum - July 2024

Swansea University has been ranked among the top 100 universities in Europe, according to the second edition of the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2025.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be helping people learn about semiconductor technology, vital for everything from mobile phones and electric vehicles to satellites, through new interactive kiosks developed by Imersifi, a virtual reality company, and Swansea University experts.

In his new book, The President’s Kill List: Assassination in US Foreign Policy Since 1945 (Edinburgh University Press), Dr Luca Trenta, a specialist in US Foreign Policy and associate professor of International Relations at Swansea University, provides a comprehensive overview of the US government’s involvement in assassinations from the early Cold War to the present day.

Healthcare professionals of the future are now reaping the benefits of Swansea University’s groundbreaking training facilities. Swansea University Simulation and Immersive Learning Centre (SUSIM) houses the largest installation of immersive wall technology globally across its two sites.

A Swansea University-led project hopes to help stop the concerning rise of skin cancer in Wales by exploring current perceptions of tanning in children, parents/carers, and educators. The results will support the development of a new sun-safety educational toolkit for the Welsh curriculum.

A project team from Swansea University, led by Professor Geoff Proffitt, visited The Gambia to investigate the multiple threats to the country's mangroves and undertake a comprehensive assessment of the mangrove forests, assess water resources and develop more effective restoration methods. 

Many strategies to support breastfeeding focus on providing practical support for women at an individual level. Whilst this is important, Professor Amy Brown’s research explores wider psycho-social-cultural influences that damage breastfeeding, particularly poor societal level understanding of how breastfeeding works and normal baby behaviour.

To mitigate the harm caused by tourism Professor Sarah Nicholls, in partnership with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA), has developed an effective events management process that will enable the PCNPA, and other protected areas across the UK and beyond, to better facilitate enjoyable and safe experiences for all users whilst also maintaining the special qualities of protected lands.

In this episode of Exploring Global Problems, Professor Yogesh Dwivedi and Dr Laurie Hughes discuss the potential benefits, challenges and risks associated with using generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT in education and the implications that the adoption of generative AI may have for individuals, organisations and institutions in wider society.

In this article from The Conversation, Dr Irene Reppa discusses the science of beauty, and how much we like something and how beautiful we find it, can have a compelling effect on our experience and behaviour.

Dr Jun Yang is a Lecturer in English-Chinese Translation and Interpreting. Her research centres on online collaborative translation which broadly includes crowdsourcing translation and fan translation.

Gargi Naha is undertaking a PhD in Medical and Health Care Studies. His research aims to investigate the role of sex and deprivation on young people’s experience of emergency acute asthma care and the outcomes following Emergency Department presentation in Wales.

The Global Drug Policy Observatory aims to promote evidence and human rights based drug policy through the comprehensive and rigorous reporting, monitoring and analysis of policy developments at national and international levels.

Physicists from Swansea University and Åbo Akademi University have made a significant breakthrough in solar cell technology by developing a new analytical model that improves the understanding and efficiency of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices.

Nurses in Mauritius will be able to benefit from Swansea University’s award-winning healthcare training as part of a new international collaboration. The University will be providing a one-year BSc Nursing (Top-up) programme after signing a partnership agreement with Mauritian-based Uniciti International Education Hub (UIEH).

Innovate UK has awarded funding to further optimise a unique and flexible floating offshore wind platform for applications in the Celtic Sea, a collaboration involving Swansea University. Led by Marine Power Systems, Swansea University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering will be working with Ledwood Mechanical Engineering, Tata Steel UK, ABP (Associated British Ports) Port Talbot, and the Port of Milford Haven on the project, which is worth over £800,000.

An international research team from Swansea University and UBC Okanagan (UBCO) has uncovered a new insight into human evolution by comparing humans’ hearts with those of other great apes.

New research by Swansea University and the University of Zurich has found that sharks retained high levels of functional diversity for most of the last 66 million years, before steadily declining over the last 10 million years to its lowest value in the present day.