The training camp is part of a four-year partnership between England Rugby League and Leeds Beckett, which provides the national team with access to high-performance facilities and sports science expertise. Head coach Stuart Barrow, who is also Head of the Women and Girls Pathway, said the facilities play a key role in supporting the teams preparation: We try to professionalise the sport as much as we possibly can at this level. To have access to amazing facilities like the gym we're stood in at the moment, the astroturf and the grass fields. Then to come in and do our recovery sessions in the cryobath and masseuses on hand as well has just been exceptional to give the players every opportunity to develop and advance in their careers. Involved in the training camps were current Leeds Beckett students Bella Sykes and Evie Cousins, plus alumna Tamzin Renouf and Keara Bennett, who are all looking to make it into the final world cup squad. Sean Scantlebury, Senior Research Fellow at Leeds Beckett and Lead Performance Coach for England Womens Rugby League, said the University provides an ideal environment for elite training. It's absolutely brilliant to have the England Women's Rugby League team here. To be able to utilise our facilities with such fantastic athletes gives us a real opportunity to prepare the players to the best of their ability ahead of the World Cup in October. We can do everything here, data collection, strength and conditioning, field sessions and then come back in and include recovery with sports mysticism with the cryobaths that we have, it means that we can do everything that we need to do to prepare the players for the world cup in one facility. The England camps follow a recent Player and Coach Education (PaCE) Day hosted at Leeds Beckett, which brought together the entire Women's Super League for league-wide testing, education and professional development. Together, the events highlight the role Leeds Beckett plays in supporting the development of womens rugby league, from league-wide testing and coach education to providing a training base for the national team and pathways programmes. Stuart Barrow explained: I think integral to the development of the women and girls game as well is this link with Leeds Beckett because I've come in five, six years ago and created a pathway that includes our under-16s P2P girls. They will also do a PaCE day, where they'll get tested for the first time ever in these sports science facilities so we're starting to gain data and information on the younger athletes as well. We also run our DICE programme which is our Diploma in Sporting Education and that's produced seven players already for the senior international women who also come here and have training days as well and we gather data on them and they get exposed to these facilities and they then want to do more of it and come to the senior women in the future so it's aspirational as well as supportive. As England continue their preparations for the World Cup, the collaboration highlights how elite sport, research and athlete development come together at Leeds Beckett.
As Professor of Health Partnerships and Knowledge Exchange, Duncan connects universities, NHS partners, local authorities, and industry to deliver solutions to real-world challenges, shape workforce development, strengthen communities, and improve health outcomes. As a scientist, Duncans inter-disciplinary approach to research included electrocuting tomatoes and origami to understand metabolism. After a tap on the shoulder asking him to act into a leadership role, Duncan began to consider how to create the environments for others to thrive. Professor Sharp, who has represented Team GB and held the British record in bench press, said: Serendipity isnt luck we can create the right environments and have the right conversations to make great things happen. During my early work, openness to new directions enabled interdisciplinary research, innovation and real-world applications. These experiences demonstrate how research impact often develops when different subjects work together and when universities collaborate with partners outside academia. Almost everything I am proud of has been forged around partnerships - ones that last beyond a project, bring together different people and skills. Duncan, who has been Dean at Leeds Beckett since 2016, explored how an interaction between serendipity, strategic thinking and strong professional relationships defined his career path more than any plan. Duncan also reflected on his transition into leadership, and how to create the conditions for others to follow their own curiosity, build effective partnerships and be well-prepared take opportunities when they arise. The inaugural lecture celebrated not only Professor Sharps career achievements but also the wider role of universities in fostering partnership, innovation and positive social change. Under Duncans leadership, a strong focus on strategic partnerships has helped position Leeds Beckett University as a trusted partner across local, regional and national health, care, policy and research systems. Those partnerships, which are having real-world impact on policy and health outcomes, include: Board Member of the Leeds Academic Health Partnership (LAHP), which is supporting student placements and research while also helping the city to respond effectively to challenges like covid. Co-chair of Leeds Clinical Senate; which brings authentic community voice to health decision-making. Board Member of the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) Leeds Hub, the first hub outside of Whitehall, showcasing the innovation in the city and influencing national strategy around workforce and neighbourhood health policy . Professor Sharp added: These partnerships have delivered tangible public benefits, including increased research income, expanded placement and workforce opportunities, embedded research collaborations and greater influence on policy and professional practice. Duncan is a Principal Fellow of AdvanceHE (PFHEA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Biology (FRSB).
Using Facebook Messengers chatbot technology, the innovative Leeds Beckett bot, allows prospective students to have an online conversation to assess their suitability for undergraduate courses that are available during university Clearing. The chatbot, available both on desktop and mobile, uses a series of menus or keywords to guide students through the Clearing process and is available 24 hours a day. The bot uses keywords that the prospective students type in the chat line to assess which courses they are interested in studying, then requests details of their qualifications and exam results, before making them a provisional offer. A chatbot is a computer programme that holds natural language conversations, mimics human conversation and reacts to spoken or written prompts. Speaking about the bot, Dougal Scaife, Head of Digital at Leeds Beckett, said: We know that our prospective students already use lots of messaging software for communicating with their friends such as Snapchat, WhatsApp as well as texting, so developing a chatbot was a natural evolution in order to engage with our prospective students in a medium thats ubiquitous, familiar, and comfortable for them. Chris Watts, Director of University Recruitment at Leeds Beckett, added: We know that prospective students are undertaking more research prior to results day and are far more clear about both their course and their prospective career path. Unsurprisingly the majority of this research takes place online, with social media forming a key part of the relationship prospective students are building with institutions prior to accepting a place. At Leeds Beckett we continue to be at the forefront of employing new technologies in meeting the needs of our prospective and current students and the launch of this chatbot to make offers to prospective students is a response to this. The bot hasnt replaced more traditional methods of communication, its merely an addition to the already excellent service we seek to provide to all prospective students. Ourphone lines will continue to be open throughout the clearing process. For more information about courses available at Leeds Beckett during Clearing please visit www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/clearing
Current students Calum Wilkinson and Gemma Bridge will be competing alongside Alumni Tom Bosworth and Laura Weightman. Olympian Laura Weightman will kick off her campaign this evening. A 1,500m runner, Laura has been training hard at Leeds Beckett University and in particular with the Universitys Head of Athletics, Andrew Henderson, for the past seven years. Ive been looking after Laura for as long as shes been in Leeds, Andrew said She has come a very long way and Im hoping she can push on after her experience from the last World Championships and perform well this year. I hope that she goes all the way in making it to the final! Rabat 💎 League 4th 4:03.07@Diamond_League #RabatDL Next 1500m .... @London2017 😄🏃🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/ufDgWEg5RU Laura Weightman (@LauraWeightman) July 17, 2017 Meanwhile, Leeds Beckett will be heavily represented in the Race Walking events with three Race Walkers competing on the final day of the Championships, Sunday 14 August. 🚶♀️🚶The Festival of Race Walks take place in the most glorious setting in London.Enjoy this 🕊 over of the Mall #BeTheNext pic.twitter.com/l9XuRyfPlN IAAF World Champs (@IAAFWorldChamps) August 3, 2017 Olympian Tom Bosworth has had a brilliant qualifying campaign having beaten the World Mile Record last month in the Muller Anniversary Games. Toms record breaking walk comes off the back of a very successful 2016 Olympic Games, where he finished 6t h, and he will be looking to improve again in the World Championships. Tom will line-up alongside current Leeds Beckett students Callum Wilkinson and Gemma Bridge. Callum and Gemma will be competing in their first ever World Championships and have taken unique routes to reach the big stage. Callum will be looking to make a name for himself at the World Championships as the current Junior Race Walking World Champion. Meanwhile, Gemma switched from long distance running to race walking 12 months ago and has not looked back since, having qualified for the Championships in spectacular fashion. Good luck to @TomBosworth @CWilko97 @LauraWeightman @glbridge1 all are competing at the @IAAFWorldChamps starting this Friday #TeamBeckett pic.twitter.com/uamnYuVfBa Carnegie Sport (@carnegiesport) July 31, 2017 Gemma won the British and English Race Walking Titles at the British Trials last month, an achievement Andrew Henderson says shouldnt be taken lightly. Gemma has come from Running to Race Walking, this has been her first full year of competing in Race Walking and it just shows how far shes come, Andrew said Shes never competed at this level before so for her to go to the World Championships in her first year is absolutely massive. All three have benefited from the expertise and coaching of Andi Drake. Andi is currently with the athletes in London and is playing a crucial role in their final preparations. Andi deserves a lot of credit for the work that has been done, he has built the Race Walking programme from scratch along with the team into a World Class programme. Mick Hill, Senior Coach (High performance Enterprise) at Leeds Beckett said. All four athletes will be heading into the Championships with high hopes but for Head of Athletics Andrew Henderson, he hopes that all will be happy with their performances, regardless of the result. The dream would certainly be for one of our four athletes to get a medal in this World Championships. That would be fantastic, Andrew said But I just want them all to finish their events and be happy with what theyve achieved and hopefully go on and compete in more Championships in the future. Good luck to all four of our athletes for the World Championships!
Rhodri Thomas, Professor of Tourism and Events Policy at Leeds Beckett and Dean of the School of Events, Tourism Hospitality Management, will speak at the Contemporary Trends in Tourism and Hospitality conference (CTTH 2017), held in Novi Sad in Serbia on 1 and 2 September. Rhodris keynote presentation is entitled New spaces in cultural tourism: a role for universities in innovation? and will explore aspects of the conference theme from the prospective contribution of universities to innovation in local or regional cultural tourism. Rhodri will begin by reviewing what is understood about the dynamics of innovation and the role external knowledge plays in commercial, non-commercial and policy innovation processes in tourism. He will then consider knowledge production undertaken by universities and examine the contribution institutions might make to innovation in cultural tourism, events and festivals. In the presentation he will also consider how the challenges to collaboration might be overcome. CTTH 2017 is an international conference exploring research in tourism, leisure, hotel management, hunting tourism, gastronomy and multidisciplinary studies such are events and meeting industry, entrepreneurship in hospitality and the creative industries. The main aim of the conference is to put emphasis on the importance of cultural and event tourism as important factors for improvement of tourism and general economic image of certain country or region. This year the working title of the conference is New Spaces in Cultural Tourism and the conference is merged with one of the most exciting festival in Novi Sad The Street Musicians Festival. Rhodri Thomas is Professor of Tourism and Events Policy and Dean of the School of Events, Tourism Hospitality Management. Originally trained as an economist, Rhodri now engages in multidisciplinary research in the context of tourism and the events sector. His particular research interests are: (a) public policy studies, especially in relation to small firms, and (b) innovation and knowledge exchange. Rhodri has acted as a 'specialist expert' on policy issues for the OECD, the European Commission and for government departments and other agencies in the UK and elsewhere. He has completed several Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant and non-grant funded projects and is a member of their Peer Review College. His Chair was, uniquely, supported by the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) for five years.
The training camp is part of a four-year partnership between England Rugby League and Leeds Beckett, which provides the national team with access to high-performance facilities and sports science expertise. Head coach Stuart Barrow, who is also Head of the Women and Girls Pathway, said the facilities play a key role in supporting the teams preparation: We try to professionalise the sport as much as we possibly can at this level. To have access to amazing facilities like the gym we're stood in at the moment, the astroturf and the grass fields. Then to come in and do our recovery sessions in the cryobath and masseuses on hand as well has just been exceptional to give the players every opportunity to develop and advance in their careers. Involved in the training camps were current Leeds Beckett students Bella Sykes and Evie Cousins, plus alumna Tamzin Renouf and Keara Bennett, who are all looking to make it into the final world cup squad. Sean Scantlebury, Senior Research Fellow at Leeds Beckett and Lead Performance Coach for England Womens Rugby League, said the University provides an ideal environment for elite training. It's absolutely brilliant to have the England Women's Rugby League team here. To be able to utilise our facilities with such fantastic athletes gives us a real opportunity to prepare the players to the best of their ability ahead of the World Cup in October. We can do everything here, data collection, strength and conditioning, field sessions and then come back in and include recovery with sports mysticism with the cryobaths that we have, it means that we can do everything that we need to do to prepare the players for the world cup in one facility. The England camps follow a recent Player and Coach Education (PaCE) Day hosted at Leeds Beckett, which brought together the entire Women's Super League for league-wide testing, education and professional development. Together, the events highlight the role Leeds Beckett plays in supporting the development of womens rugby league, from league-wide testing and coach education to providing a training base for the national team and pathways programmes. Stuart Barrow explained: I think integral to the development of the women and girls game as well is this link with Leeds Beckett because I've come in five, six years ago and created a pathway that includes our under-16s P2P girls. They will also do a PaCE day, where they'll get tested for the first time ever in these sports science facilities so we're starting to gain data and information on the younger athletes as well. We also run our DICE programme which is our Diploma in Sporting Education and that's produced seven players already for the senior international women who also come here and have training days as well and we gather data on them and they get exposed to these facilities and they then want to do more of it and come to the senior women in the future so it's aspirational as well as supportive. As England continue their preparations for the World Cup, the collaboration highlights how elite sport, research and athlete development come together at Leeds Beckett.
As Professor of Health Partnerships and Knowledge Exchange, Duncan connects universities, NHS partners, local authorities, and industry to deliver solutions to real-world challenges, shape workforce development, strengthen communities, and improve health outcomes. As a scientist, Duncans inter-disciplinary approach to research included electrocuting tomatoes and origami to understand metabolism. After a tap on the shoulder asking him to act into a leadership role, Duncan began to consider how to create the environments for others to thrive. Professor Sharp, who has represented Team GB and held the British record in bench press, said: Serendipity isnt luck we can create the right environments and have the right conversations to make great things happen. During my early work, openness to new directions enabled interdisciplinary research, innovation and real-world applications. These experiences demonstrate how research impact often develops when different subjects work together and when universities collaborate with partners outside academia. Almost everything I am proud of has been forged around partnerships - ones that last beyond a project, bring together different people and skills. Duncan, who has been Dean at Leeds Beckett since 2016, explored how an interaction between serendipity, strategic thinking and strong professional relationships defined his career path more than any plan. Duncan also reflected on his transition into leadership, and how to create the conditions for others to follow their own curiosity, build effective partnerships and be well-prepared take opportunities when they arise. The inaugural lecture celebrated not only Professor Sharps career achievements but also the wider role of universities in fostering partnership, innovation and positive social change. Under Duncans leadership, a strong focus on strategic partnerships has helped position Leeds Beckett University as a trusted partner across local, regional and national health, care, policy and research systems. Those partnerships, which are having real-world impact on policy and health outcomes, include: Board Member of the Leeds Academic Health Partnership (LAHP), which is supporting student placements and research while also helping the city to respond effectively to challenges like covid. Co-chair of Leeds Clinical Senate; which brings authentic community voice to health decision-making. Board Member of the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) Leeds Hub, the first hub outside of Whitehall, showcasing the innovation in the city and influencing national strategy around workforce and neighbourhood health policy . Professor Sharp added: These partnerships have delivered tangible public benefits, including increased research income, expanded placement and workforce opportunities, embedded research collaborations and greater influence on policy and professional practice. Duncan is a Principal Fellow of AdvanceHE (PFHEA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Biology (FRSB).