Researchers have developed a new mathematical model that accurately describes the evolution of ancient empires. The computer model can predict with 65% accuracy where and when the largest complex societies arose in human history.
The research, which suggests that intense warfare is the evolutionary driver of large complex societies, is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It was carried out by researchers from the University of Exeter in collaboration with University of Connecticut and the National Institute for Mathematical and...
The One Planet MBA, offered exclusively by the University of Exeter Business School, has come third in the world in the Global Green MBA Survey, announced today (September 23). It also scooped first place in the UK as well as coming top in the global rankings for ‘smaller’ programmes. Undertaken by Corporate Knights, this inaugural Global Green MBA survey is the definitive annual list that examines how universities around the world are faring at integrating sustainability into the academic experience. The survey, which had focused on Canadian schools over the past decade, was expanded...
Named The Sunday Times University of the Year in 2012, the University of Exeter has risen two places in this year's combined The Times and The Sunday Times League Table to 8th in the UK and second in the South West (after the University of Bath). Applications have jumped 19% in the last year at Exeter University, intensifying competition for places. One of four institutions to join the Russell Group of leading research universities last year, it is becoming established in the top ten in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide league table, thanks particularly to consistently...
The first intake of Medicine students have embarked on the path to becoming a doctor at the University of Exeter Medical School.
The class of 2013 is made up of 130 students have enrolled for the five year degree which will see them working in NHS Trusts across the South West.
Professor Steve Thornton, Dean of the University of Exeter Medical School, said: “This is a real milestone for us, and we’re extremely excited to welcome our first Medicine students. The NHS is under extreme pressure from an increasingly aging population amid squeezed resources. Our ethos is to train...
The Academy of Social Sciences has conferred the award of Academician on 51 leading social scientists, including Professor Anne Barlow from the University of Exeter’s Law School and Stephen Hinchliffe, Professor of Human Geography within Exeter’s College of Life and Environmental Sciences. The national Academy represents distinguished academics, societies and practitioners in the social sciences. It has over 900 individual Academicians, who are eminent scholars and practitioners from academia and the public and private sectors. Recipients have a wide range of expertise in the social...
The 10ft cube of Islamic graffiti art, standing in front of Exeter Cathedral forms part of a University of Exeter research project which investigates how Muslim belief has developed through theology, spirituality, law and the creative arts. On Saturday 7 September between 7 – 8.30pm there was a special event in the Cathedral focusing on the role of Christianity and Islam in public spaces. A range of speakers discussed the role and positive contribution that religion brings to the society in which we live. The topics varied from how religious art can assist as a useful form of communication...
A new approach that can calculate the cost of damage caused by flooding is to be presented at the International Conference of Flood Resilience: Experiences in Asia and Europe at the University of Exeter this week. The method combines information on land use with data on the vulnerability of the area to calculate the cost of both past and future flooding events.
Climate change, along with increased building on flood plains, has led to both a greater likelihood and a higher impact of flooding across the globe.
The method has already been employed to estimate the damage caused...
The first systematic review of related research confirms a positive impact on cognitive function, but an inconsistent effect on mild cognitive impairment.
Over recent years many pieces of research have identified a link between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of age-related disease such as dementia.
Until now there has been no systematic review of such research, where a number of studies regarding a Mediterranean diet and cognitive function are reviewed for consistencies, common trends and inconsistencies.
A new study has revealed that global warming is resulting in the spread of crop pests towards the North and South Poles at a rate of nearly 3 km a year.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change and carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford, shows a strong relationship between increased global temperatures over the past 50 years and expansion in the range of crop pests.
Currently 10-16% of global crop production is lost to pests. Crop pests include fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes....
Volunteering may be good for your health, reveals a large systematic review and meta-analysis published in the open access journal BMC Public Health .
Volunteering can improve mental health and help you live longer, finds the study which pools and compares data from multiple experimental trials and longitudinal cohort studies. Some observational evidence points to around a 20 per cent reduction in mortality among volunteers compared to non-volunteers in cohort studies. Volunteers also reported lower levels of depression, increased life satisfaction and enhanced well-being, although...
