ActiveQuote, one of the UK’s leading protection insurance comparison websites and brokers, has been working with Cardiff University to develop machine learning algorithms to improve sales processes. The application of this technology has had an immediate impact and has improved sales opportunities by 30%.   Cardiff University’s School of Computer Science and Informatics has an established and very successful track record in applying machine learning and data science through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships has teamed up with ActiveQuote to develop an…

Photograph – Rob Payne from South Wales Freemasons meeting Prof Paul Morgan   Research into a crucial protein linked to the development of Alzheimer’s has been supported by a £76,000 grant from South Wales Freemasons. The grant is funding an Alzheimer’s Research UK PhD student, Aurora Veteleanu, at the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) at Cardiff University. Scientists know that small changes to a gene that provides the instructions for producing a protein called clusterin are linked to an…

The question of how brown trout (Salmon trutta) can live in waterways polluted by toxic metals is being tackled by PhD student Daniel Osmond in a new collaboration between the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Wales and Exeter and Cardiff Universities. Daniel, who is a NERC funded GW4 FRESH* PhD student, is working with the GWCT Wales team this summer to examine the UK-wide impact of metal pollution and how populations of brown trout are able to persist in rivers…

BBC journalist George Alagiah has spoken to a woman with advanced bowel cancer about life in lockdown and her devastation at having an operation cancelled due to coronavirus, in an exclusive videocast for Bowel Cancer UK. ‘In conversation with George Alagiah’ sees the newsreader talk to 41-year-old Beth Purvis, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer four years ago, and was due to have surgery to remove a tumour from her lungs at the end of March. Bowel Cancer UK CEO…

A flagship centre where ideas will spark invention has been ‘topped out’ by Cardiff University and Bouygues UK. sbarc | spark – Cardiff’s #HomeofInnovation – brings together researchers, entrepreneurs, student start-ups and academic spinouts in a state-of-the-art building at the heart of Cardiff Innovation Campus. More than 70% of site contractors and labour are based locally, bringing economic benefits to Wales during the construction phase. Featuring commercial units, a visualisation centre, auditorium and fabrication lab, the hub provides the seedbed…

A Cardiff University-led consortium has won a £43.7m bid to develop a Compound Semiconductor (CS) powerhouse in South Wales. Government funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund will build a world-leading cluster of excellence in CS technologies – CSconnected – bringing economic investment and high quality jobs to the region. The winning consortium connects Cardiff University, Swansea University, a range of key regional industrial partners including IQE, SPTS, Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), Cardiff Capital Region…

Organisers of the Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival have announced that the 14th edition of the Cardiff based festival will go online this October, and will be available for free. They also confirmed that the £30,000 Iris Prize, supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation, will be presented to a filmmaker to produce another short film on Saturday 10th October. The festival will open on Tuesday 6th October and close on Sunday 11th October, with all screenings, talks and events available…

The environmentally-friendly grounds care practices being adopted by Cardiff University are being recognised this year by the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards as the university’ grounds team is shortlisted for a major nationwide accolade – the Ransome’s Environmental and Ecology Strategy Award. The IOG awards highlight the high standards of volunteer and professional groundsmanship, from grassroots to professional stadia level. Independent judging at each venue will now take place and the winners will be announced Oscars-style at the IOG…

Cardiff University’s drama society, Act One, have outdone themselves once again. Normally I would attempt to keep readers on their toes and reveal my verdict at the end of a review, but having been inspired by the topic of the show itself, I feel there’s no need to have a ‘little voice’ about it. This is a show to shout about! The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright, performed at the YMCA Theatre last weekend to raise…

Members of the student activist group Cardiff University People & Planet and other members of the student body went on a 1-day fast in solidarity with their hunger strikers yesterday. They sat outside the gates of their main building between 12pm and 2pm to highlight the urgency of full fossil fuel divestment. Two members of Cardiff University People & Planet have been on a hunger strike for eight days. Students from the University of Bristol organised a similar action on…