2022 in review: Highlights from an extraordinary year for students, staff and alumni

January

• Brighton and Sussex Medical School received a £7m grant to tackle neglected tropical diseases that harm millions around the world.
• Our School of Business and Law received a prestigious national charter award in recognition of its work with local enterprises.
• Professor Nick Webborn received a CBE in recognition of his hugely influential contribution to Paralympic sport and sports medicine.

Professor Nick Webborn © International Paralympic Committee

Product Design graduates at the Brighton Centre

February

• Over 3,500 students, friends and families gathered at the Brighton Centre as we welcomed the return of in-person graduation ceremonies.
• Brighton alumna and celebrated trans activist Munroe Bergdorf was the pioneering cover star of Cosmo UK's 50th anniversary issue.
• Professor Marie Harder received the city of Shanghai’s Magnolia Gold Award for her contributions to life in the Chinese metropolis. 

March

• Brighton scientists announced a groundbreaking project to transform the way wounds are treated by developing ‘smart dressings’ that stimulate tissue repair and report on the body’s healing processes.
• Postgraduate craft student Jo Cooper won an award for her innovative chairs combining traditional wood craft skills and recycled plastic.
• A new UK-wide research network led by University of Brighton is launched to transform the wellbeing of older people and boost the economy. 

Professor Matteo Santin

Professor Robert Mull

April

• Professor Robert Mull teamed up with architect colleagues in Ukraine to support their future amid the carnage of war with Russia.
• Dr Mark Doidge joined Dr Neville Lawrence OBE and footballer Anton Ferdinand at an event tied to Stephen Lawrence Day tackling racism in football.
• Student nurse Sammie Aplin combines her work on the Acute ward at Royal Sussex Hospital with scouring the local beach every day for plastic waste to make art.

May

• University of Brighton was recognised for producing research of "world-leading quality" which has "outstanding impact" on people's lives by the UK's higher education funding bodies.
• Our arts graduates presented their first in-person shows – our famous Summer Shows – for three years after the pandemic forced them online in 2020 and 2021.
• Alumnus Yama Yari returned to his old campus to share and reflect on his journey from refugee to major leadership roles in both Afghanistan and Europe.

Ambassador Yama Yari on his return to Falmer campus

Clothes designed by Lottie Allen

June

• Final year fashion students displayed their couture creations in a graduation catwalk show at our new Elm House academic building.
• The university was awarded £450,000 to boost its innovative arts and humanities-based research and impact initiatives over the next three years.
• Researchers in our School of Applied Sciences are working with local partners on a pilot project to create the world's 100% hydrogen-fired clay bricks.

July

• Student Ben Hickling and alumna Jess Gordon-Brown were selected for the England weightlifting team for the Commonwealth Games.
• Our Donor Research team of students and academics were awarded funding to support their work to encourage people from Minority Ethnic backgrounds to consider organ and blood donation.
• Leading figures from the worlds of healthcare, sport, human rights, medicine and the arts received honorary awards at our summer graduation.

Student organ donation champions

Leila Eskandary-Miles, Fashion Design with Business Studies - courtesy of Burberry

August

• Professor Bhavik Patel was awarded National Teaching Fellow in recognition of his innovative educational practice drawing an unlikely source of inspiration from TV show The Apprentice.
• Fashion students teamed up with Burberry to tackle industry waste by making clothes from surplus fabric.
• We celebrated the return of Brighton Pride for its delayed 30th anniversary, transforming the city with dozens of events in the first full-scale celebration since 2019.

September

• We joined institutions worldwide to put sustainability and the impact of climate change at the heart of nurse training and practice.
• Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, our Screen Archive South East created a short film capturing the Queen’s visits to Brighton during her record-breaking reign.
• Research by Dr Corina Ciocan on an overlooked cause of potentially health-damaging marine pollution was featured on The One Show.

Dr Corina Coican (left) with presenter Anita Rani

Opening of new Moulsecoomb bridge

October

• We celebrated the official opening of our new accessible pedestrian bridge linking our Moulsecoomb campus – the final part of the transformational Big Build project.
• Student Chloe Hook made it all the way to the final of Channel 4 series Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker, wowing viewers and the judges with her creations.
• The university was placed in the top tiers for delivering wide-ranging social and economic benefits through our knowledge exchange activities. 

November

• University of Brighton was shortlisted in both a team and individual category at the Times Higher Education (THE) awards 2022 – known as the Oscars of higher education.
• MPs have agreed to support Prof James Ebdon’s pitch for an investigation into an ancient foe of bacteria as a weapon against antibiotic resistance.
• Footballer Faye Baker swapped shot-stopping in the Women’ Championship for honing classroom skills as part of our Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeship. 

Phages attacking bacteria

Professor Claire Smith, Head of Anatomy at Brighton and Sussex Medical School

December

• A Channel 4 documentary filmed at Brighton and Sussex Medical School provided vital insights into the journey of cancer, boosting the understanding of the disease for both medical professionals and the public.
• The university has teamed up with local partners as part of a UNESCO-backed programme to reduce groundwater pollution from one of Brighton's busiest roads.
• Our students donated 288 bags of unwanted items to the British Heart Foundation as part of our Reuse Project. The donations saved two tonnes of waste from landfill and are set to raise over £4,000 to fund lifesaving research into heart and circulatory diseases.