10 March 2010

Sheffield joins forces with Futurity

The University of Sheffield, along with six other members of the UK´s Russell Group of leading universities, have joined forces with the US research news website Futurity (www.futurity.org). The move will allow discoveries made by scientists at British institutions to have a much bigger impact across the Atlantic and all over the world.

Since launching in September 2009, Futurity has attracted more than 400,000 visitors to stories covering topics such as health, culture, the environment, science, engineering and technology.

The site features the latest discoveries from 46 research universities in the United States and Canada—all of which are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU). The project was co-founded and is led by Duke University, Stanford University, and the University of Rochester.

Recent posts have profiled a massive black hole devouring a distant star discovered by University of Sheffield astronomers and the finding by University of Leeds researchers that communication between family doctors, specialists and patients can be as effective as drugs in some cases.

Membership of Futurity has been restricted to leading universities in North America to ensure the high quality of research but in January, Futurity's members agreed to expand membership to the Russell Group, which represents the 20 leading research universities in the UK.

Michael Schoenfeld, a Futurity cofounder and vice president for public affairs and government relations at Duke University said: "Futurity's expansion in many ways mirrors the close scientific and scholarly relationships that already exist between our North American and British members. The universities of the AAU and Russell Group are known for rigorous standards and excellence. This partnership allows Futurity to aggregate today's most salient research and to deliver that news to a global audience."

Since January, seven British universities have joined Futurity:

• The Universities of Cardiff, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield, and Warwick
• King's College London
• University College London

Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group added: "The Russell Group members have been impressed by the depth and quality of Futurity's research news—and by the freshness of its approach. Our universities have some great stories to tell about the discoveries made by their world-class research teams and this is an excellent opportunity to do so. We're thrilled to join Futurity, and see the site as a very modern vehicle for reaching new audiences, both in the UK and abroad."

Futurity is edited by Jenny Leonard, based at the University of Rochester. She said: "Futurity has found an audience among consumers of news who find less and less about research in the newspapers and television they see every day. Those 'traditional' consumers are joined by younger readers who prefer to find their news 'unfiltered' on the Web. We are trying to serve both groups, and we are delighted with the enthusiasm that our new British partners bring to the effort."

Most Futurity stories include links to published reports and supplemental materials that allow readers to explore topics in more detail. Visitors can post comments, direct questions to researchers, and sign up for a daily e-mail update. Fans can follow Futurity on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Futurity plans to release mobile apps for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android this spring.

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