Nottingham Trent University has been recognised as a Policing Academic Centre of Excellence (P-ACE) in a new initiative to ensure that policing is shaped by the latest and best scientific expertise.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPPC) has created nine P-ACEs across the UK to drive collaboration among academia and policing, with NTU receiving £600,000 funding from NPCC, in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The Centres will share and apply key insights and findings from their research in ways that directly support policing. They will also address the evidence needs and challenges raised by police forces, working in partnership to develop new research projects and knowledge-sharing activities.

Led by researchers across the University’s School of Social Sciences, School of Science and Technology, and Nottingham Law School, NTU-PACE brings together 15 policing, industry and community partners to translate research findings into actionable, transferable, and sustainable policy interventions, supporting the Home Office mission of ‘reducing harm, rebuilding confidence’.

NTU’s research combines expertise in safety, security, and sustainability to address key challenges that impact everyday life.

The University works to reduce crime such as burglary, anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls, knife crime, shoplifting, and offences on public transport, by shaping both local and national policy.

NTU also focuses on strengthening public trust and fairness, tackling urgent issues like gender inequality, the impact of COVID-19, modern slavery, hate crime, and the effects of the digital world, with a strong commitment to protecting vulnerable and marginalised groups.

With an embedded scientist for the Climate Security National Foresight Group, its internationally recognised climate research will support NPCC to prepare for adverse weather, addressing climate-related risks, lowering carbon footprints, mitigation and adaptation, and cost-saving sustainability initiatives.

Furthermore, the University has a proven track record in surveillance and sensing, developing advanced tools for crime investigations, including novel sensors, forensic analysis, and intelligence-led policing.

Each Policing Academic Centre of Excellence will be promoted across the policing sector as an accessible source of leading academic experts aligned with Policing’s Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) and evidence needs. The P-ACEs will support policing with adopting new technologies, developing new tools and techniques, improving training and skills, and increasing public safety.

The project will be led at NTU by Andy Newton, Professor of Criminology and Policing at the School of Social Sciences, along with Professor Rowena Hill, School of Social Sciences, Professor Loretta Trickett, Nottingham Law School, and Associate Professor Rachel Bolton-King, School of Science and Technology.

Professor Newton said: “At NTU we are dedicated to research that tackles the real challenges communities face, and we are recognised internationally for having real world impact at the intersection of environmental sustainability and civic security.

“The P-ACE is supported though a seven-year research infrastructure prioritising institutional level interdisciplinary research, encompassing safety, security and sustainability. We will work with partners to translate these research findings into actionable, transferable and sustainable policy interventions.

“Being recognised by the NPCC as a P-ACE ensures our work directly informs policing practices, driving meaningful improvements in public safety and community wellbeing. This partnership strengthens our ability to turn research into real impact where it matters most.”

Professor Paul Taylor, Police Chief Scientific Adviser, said:“Academia and policing have a long history of collaborative working on issues as diverse as forensic science, crime prevention, and analytical technologies. The P-ACEs will fortify this connection, providing a focal point for research and knowledge exchange.

“I’m particularly excited about what the P-ACEs can bring to early career scientists who are interested in tackling the complex challenge of keeping the UK public safe. The P-ACE community will, I hope, provide them more opportunities and greater support as we look to forge deep and lasting partnerships over the next decade.”

Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), said: “The Policing Academic Centres of Excellence will forge closer relationships between police forces and researchers, providing the police with data and evidence to make the justice system work better.

“By bringing experts in policing practice together with social scientists and data scientists across the country, the centres will provide knowledge and insights to drive service improvement. These centres of excellence demonstrate our commitment to reducing crime and making Britain a safer place.”

For detailed information about the expertise each P-ACE can offer visit science.police.uk

Three Cardiff Metropolitan University BA (Hons) Ceramics Degree graduates art works are now on show at Wales’ most famous pottery, Nantgarw China Works, near Cardiff.

Home to the famous Nantgarw porcelain, Nantgarw China Works is the last remaining 19th century porcelain factory in the UK. Now a museum and visitor attraction, the heritage site produced porcelain so fine it was bought by royalty.

Thanks to new funding created by the Contemporary Art Society for Wales (CASW), the emerging artists from Cardiff Met have had the chance to produce and show new work, fostering creative talent in Wales.

Each of the Cardiff Met graduates work was inspired by Wales’ heritage. Bringing a range of artistic styles and ceramic techniques from the experimental, to the precise art of Japanese nerikomi.

Toni de Jesus, based in Cardiff, graduated from Cardiff Met in 2018 and is an emerging artist, winner of the FRESH award at the British Ceramics Biennial 2019 and has already had work shown at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea.

Taking inspiration from her hometown in the south Wales valleys, Naomi Palmer, who graduated in 2024, creates striking, translucent artworks., using porcelain and parian clays.

Sophie Jo Edwards, from Llandysul, graduated from Cardiff Met in 2024 and has also brought a unique artistic response to Nantgarw using materials foraged from the heritage site.

Sophie said: “Being invited to create work for Nantgarw has been a privilege which has provided momentum in my transition from student to artist, and it’s been meaningful to contribute to the museum’s rich history.”

Nantgarw is the only surviving early-1800s porcelain works in the UK and the porcelain produced here is still considered some of the finest ever made. Opened in 1813, it continued for a century as a pottery, also making household wares and tobacco pipes.

Now operated by a charitable trust, visitors today receive a guided tour of the original factory buildings, a historic and contemporary ceramics collection, as well as a chance to relax with a cuppa or browse the gift shop, perfect for pottery-lovers.

Duncan Ayscough, Senior Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Ceramics Degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University said: “It is great to hear that three Cardiff Met ceramics degree graduates, Toni, Naomi and Sophie Jo, have been selected for this prestigious award.

“The Nantgarw China Works is renowned for its relentless pursuit of technical excellence and creative innovation. These makers all understand the values of this pottery in their own creative journeys and have developed their own distinctive materials and creative language, creating intriguing and beautiful works that engage with contemporary societies values and challenges.”

New work by each of the artists have been acquired by the museum thanks to support from the Contemporary Art Society for Wales (CASW) creators of the prize funded by the gift of the late Professor Bryan Hibbard and named in memory of Bryan and his late wife, Dr Elizabeth Hibbard, both long-term supporters of CASW.

Rowland Davies, Chair of CASW said, “CASW is delighted that the first Hibbard Prize has been awarded to Nantgarw China Works Museum and has been used to acquire such exciting new ceramic works.”

Cardiff Metropolitan University has been awarded silver for improving sustainability throughout its estate in the AUDE Awards 2025 – an organisation which works with estates and facilities management professionals at universities.

The annual AUDE awards celebrate the exceptional achievements of estates and facilities professionals in the UK higher education sector.

Cardiff Met was awarded silver in the AUDE Sustainability Impact Initiative category – which gives recognition for a specific initiative having a significant impact on the institution, the sector, or profession.

The University received the award for their Smart Estate initiative which addresses systematic challenges in estate management through a scalable, data-driven framework that optimises space utilisation, improves internal environments, and reduces energy waste and emissions.

By integrating sensors and real-time analytics, the University avoided the need for construction works valued at £5.1m that would have emitted 457 tonnes of CO2 for planned works in 2023/24, while evidence-based analysis has mitigated the need for future planned construction works estimated to otherwise cost £53m for growth in general teaching space.

When the awards were submitted, phase two of the initiative, which focuses on energy reductions, had achieved a 483 MWh reduction in gas and electricity over five months compared to the prior year.

Since the original award submission, the University has achieved a 1.6 giga watt hour reduction in energy consumption in an eight month period, comprising a reduction of more than 18% in gas and 7% in electricity compared to the prior year, saving over £500k as a result.

Graham Lewis, Chief Officer University Environments and Property at Cardiff Metropolitan University said: “Receiving an AUDE silver award is a huge achievement for Cardiff Met and we are delighted to have been able to counter some of the false narratives about the cost of net zero. Our initiative has resulted in significant reductions in cost and carbon without the need for major investment or disruption. In celebrating this award I’d like to shine the spotlight on our estates and facilities team who made this possible.

“So often our operational teams are invisible except when things go awry, so it is fabulous that the hard work of our energy manager Lee Davies and the rest of the team has been recognised in this way. We thank them for their ongoing commitment to improving our campus for staff and students, and the work they are doing to put sustainability at the top of the agenda.”

Cardiff Met’s win at the AUDE Awards is further testament of the work the University is doing to transform campus spaces and save money and carbon. The Aude Award builds on earlier industry recognition of our sustainability activities, supported by AI-powered building analytics company SmartViz, with whom we won the ‘best use of technology’ TechFest Award at the Festival of Innovation and Technology.

The AUDE Awards team congratulated this year’s winners, saying: “The AUDE Awards are an annual highlight for the association, giving us a chance to focus on some of the fantastic estates and facilities teams, and their projects, that contribute so significantly to the success of our universities, year-round. 

“Many congratulations to all of our award winners, shortlisted and nominated individuals, projects, organisations and teams.”

Cardiff Met is currently ranked 12^th in the UK and is the most sustainable university in Wales in in the People and Planet University League 2024/25 – the only comprehensive and independent league table of UK universities ranked by environmental and ethical performance.

Find out more about sustainability at Cardiff Met on the University webpage.

Baby monkeys who receive more care from their mothers develop stronger facial expression recognition skills as they grow, which could help them to navigate vital social groups more effectively.

The study by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) involved 83 rhesus macaques from 15 different social groups. Babies were observed with their mothers during their first 14 weeks of life to measure behaviours such as grooming, cradling, and mother approaching the infant

Once the macaques were at least one year old, researchers observed how they responded to images of primate faces displaying different facial expressions, such as threatening faces or submissive bared-teeth expressions.

When shown images with increasing levels of threat, their attention grew as the intensity of the threat increased, showing they were sensitive to the subtle differences in the facial expressions.

Lastly, the research tested their reaction to an unexpected change in facial expressions. The macaques were shown a sequence of five identical facial expressions, followed by one which was unexpectedly different. They spent significantly more time looking at the final, different face, suggesting they recognised the change.

Findings showed that the macaques who experienced higher quality maternal care – more grooming and cradling – during infancy were better at processing the facial expressions.

Researchers also found that facial expression processing skills improved with age until around four years old, suggesting that facial expression processing is not purely instinctive and fixed, but that experience and environmental influences play a role, much like in humans.

Olivia O’Callaghan, PhD researcher at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, said: “Most primates are highly social animals that depend on social relationships to thrive. Having strong social connections within their group can have a positive effect on primates’ health and survival, as it could have benefits such as increased mating opportunities, access to food and protection from threats.

“The ability to interpret facial expressions is believed to help primates navigate complex social systems and hierarchies and could help them to predict future actions of group members.”

Project lead, Professor Bridget Waller, said: “Facial expression has evolved as a key method of communication in primates, including humans, and these findings show how these skills rely on social experience to develop properly.”

The work is part of a European Research Council funded project led by NTU’s Professor Bridget Waller. Individual differences in facial expressivity: Social function, facial anatomy and evolutionary origin(FACEDIFF) is an interdisciplinary project investigating the evolution of facial expression and how this results in benefits or costs in an individual’s social engagement.

Maternal care predicts facial expression processing in macaques by Olivia O’Callaghan, Dr Jamie Whitehouse, Associate Professor Annika Paukner, Dr Claire Witham (Centre for Macaques), and Professor Bridget Waller has been published in the journal iScience.

This summer marks a major milestone for Volunteer Zambia – a pioneering international sport initiative that has empowered over 160,000 young people across Zambia and the UK since its launch in 2005. Cardiff Metropolitan University is proud to celebrate 20 years of involvement in the programme, which continues to inspire change through the power of sport.

Volunteer Zambia was established in 2005 as the flagship initiative of the Wallace Group – a collaboration between leading UK sport universities. Now in its 20th year, it brings together British universities committed to sustainable international development. Its members include Cardiff Met, Durham University, Loughborough University, Northumbria University, University of St Andrews, University of Stirling, University of Edinburgh, and University of Bath.

Conceived as a partnership with Zambia’s leading sports non-governmental organisation, Sport in Action, Volunteer Zambia enhances the quality of life for Zambian youth through sport and recreational activities. Over the past two decades, Cardiff Met volunteers have supported the initiative to evolve into a multifaceted programme focusing on increasing participation, education and leadership opportunities within deprived Zambian communities.

Students and staff who participate engage in various roles, including coaching, teaching, sports development, marketing, media and event management. Their collective efforts have reached over 160,000 children and supported multiple sporting organisations across Zambia.

The programme’s impact is exemplified by the development of community sport hub sites, which have significantly expanded access to sports for young people, particularly girls. These hubs have facilitated the training of numerous local leaders and coaches, fostering a sustainable and empowering environment for youth development.

In celebration of its 20^th year, volunteers past and present – affectionately known as the ‘Zamfam’ – met at UNESCO World Heritage Site, Durham Castle on 5 April to mark two decades of achievements.

Speaking at the event, Ben O’Connell, Director of Sport at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Chair of the Wallace Group, said:​ “Having been fortunate enough to visit Zambia in 2023, I left feeling inspired and committed to doing more to help support the great work and continue to develop life-changing experiences for our students.

“As Volunteer Zambia commemorates two decades of dedication and achievement, it stands as a testament to the enduring power of international collaboration and the unifying spirit of sport in driving positive change.”

Cardiff Met Sport’s Digital Media and Marketing Officer, Rhys Russell, accompanied five students to Zambia last summer. He recalls the impact the experience had on him: “The project is about so much more than sport. It’s about empowering young people, especially girls, fostering leadership, and creating opportunities that inspire long-lasting change. I’ve seen how the local coaches grow in confidence as they step into leadership roles, and how the children light up with excitement and joy as they engage with sport in a safe and supportive environment.”

Scientists have been able to remotely detect, capture and analyse the sound of the invasive Asian hornet in flight, in a move which could help save honeybee colonies from distress and destruction.

The Nottingham Trent University team  are the first to characterise and differentiate Asian hornet from honeybee hovering flight sounds, using microphones and machine learning techniques capable of automatically identifying the predator as soon as it arrives at an apiary.

As part of their study the researchers, in close collaboration with scientists from the University of Coimbra in Portugal and Ghent University in Belgium, were able to detect hornet presence when there was just one individual in the vicinity of a hive.

Asian hornets are an invasive species which has been spreading across Europe since 2004 and was first sighted in the UK in 2016.

Honeybees are one of the main food sources of the Asian hornet, which capture and eat bees moving in and out of the hive on foraging trips.

The hornets seriously impact colonies as the bees become so stressed by their presence around the hive that they reduce, or in some cases completely stop their foraging activities.

Because the bees are too terrified to leave to collect resources, they enter the winter period with smaller food stores, which puts the survival of the colony at risk.

Unlike Asian honeybees, European honeybees have not co-evolved with the hornets and so they lack practice or experience in defending themselves against the threat.

As part of the pilot study the researchers were able to reveal repeating features in the flight sounds – or wingbeat frequencies – of Asian hornets and honeybees specifically linked to their hovering.  

They also found that the hornet reliably produced these features as they tend to hover continuously, while honeybee hovering is much shorter in duration as they are mostly coming in and out of the hive with little or no hovering at all.

Using an inexpensive microphone, paired with the team’s algorithm, the team was able to detect the presence of Asian hornets at an apiary at the University of Coimbra in Portugal with almost 100% accuracy over three seasons.

They are now working towards a follow-up study using longer-term data to further develop their method.

The researchers argue their system could be left in apiaries long-term to continuously distinguish between Asian hornet and honeybee flight sounds.

This could allow beekeepers to be immediately alerted to hornet presence, even just one individual, via their smartphone and enable them to quickly enforce hornet control methods before too much distress is caused to colonies.

Currently, Asian hornet monitoring is costly and time-consuming. They are identified and controlled using ‘in-person’ techniques such as citizen science schemes and nest detection methods, which involves people walking around on foot and using thermal cameras to spot nests in trees for future destruction.

“Invasive species such as the Asian hornet are a serious threat to biodiversity,” said lead researcher Dr Harriet Hall.

She said: “Our native honeybee hasn’t evolved alongside this predator and because of this its defences against the hornet are low. Identifying Asian hornet presence at apiaries early on would be highly beneficial for beekeepers who could then take immediate action.

“We have been able to discriminate between Asian hornet and honeybee sound data and this provides excellent potential for use as a remote alert system for hornets, where beekeepers could be immediately alerted that hornets have arrived.”

Dr Martin Bencsik, a physicist at Nottingham Trent University, said: “Asian hornets are a significant threat to European honeybees and we need to find new ways to identify their presence quickly. In spite of overlapping features of the sound spectra of honeybees and hornets, it is amazing to see that their hovering sound features are very different, and it is fortunate, for this detection technique, that hornets hover around hives far more than bees do.”

In 2023 the Nottingham team revealed how a tiny parasitic honeybee mite had a distinctive walk – and that by listening for the unique vibration caused by its stride pattern it could help them spot if it is infesting a hive.

The latest study is published in the journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.

This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme as part of the Giving Beekeeping Guidance by cOmputatiOnal-assisted Decision making (B-GOOD) consortium under grant agreement No. 817622.