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Middlesex features in national campaign to highlight value of university research

05/06/2014
Middlesex University is featuring in a UK-wide campaign to highlight the value and importance of university research to our everyday lives.

Universities Week 2014 will be launched on Monday 9 June at the Natural History Museum in London where a week-long public event will showcase some of the best of UK university research.

Researchers from Middlesex University will join teams from 44 other UK universities represented at the Museum during the week. The exhibition will include research stations, pop-up performances, debates and live research demonstrations, covering a range of research themes.

The research team from Middlesex University will be highlighting their work in biomechanics and how it allows scientists to analyse the way athletes, the armed forces or the elderly move.  This important research aids understanding of the factors that cause injury and enables positive changes to be suggested, improves treatment during rehabilitation and can enhance performance in sports.

While moving on a treadmill, visitors will have their movement analysed and see themselves as a skeleton on screen using a motion capture system.  

The week will be launched officially on Monday evening 9 June by the Universities and Science Minister David Willetts MP at the Natural History Museum.

As well as the week-long exhibition at the Natural History Museum, there will be a range of other activities taking place across the UK as part of Universities Week 2014, to promote and engage the public with the value and importance of university research.

Middlesex University will also be holding 'Aspiring Ambition@MDX' event days on campus for secondary school children, where they will be participating in fun activities which reflect the student journey.  The motivational events will see just under a 1000 students attend with each day ending in a mock-graduation ceremony.   

Dr Andrew Greenhalgh, Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics, who will be running the activity at the Natural History Museum said: "Universities Week 2014 is an excellent opportunity to highlight how the work going on in our universities has an impact on people's everyday lives. It is also a chance for us to engage with the public on a large scale, bringing our research to life and hopefully inspiring people to go away and find out more about a topic."

Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, said: "The aim of Universities Week is to inspire the public about the world-leading research taking place in our universities.

"Led by some of the top researchers in the UK, the event at the Natural History Museum will be a fantastic showcase event for UK higher education. By hosting this free-to-attend and high-profile event, we hope that members of the public will be inspired and will leave having learned something new about how universities are helping to solve some of the UK's, and world's biggest challenges.

Middlesex will be at the Natural History Museum from Monday 9 to Wednesday 11 June 2014. There will also be a special 'LATE' event on Wednesday 11 from 6pm to 10pm.  The events are free to attend.

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