This year the Fragile X Society organised a very special event to help to combat the lack of awareness of Fragile X Syndrome.

Around 35 volunteers, including families affected by Fragile X, descended upon King’s Cross Station in London to perform a specially-choreographed flash mob dance on a busy Friday evening.

Watch the video

Included in this group of volunteers was Becky Hardiman, a PhD student from the Tizard Centre at the University. Becky commented:

‘The event was such a positive way of raising awareness and so many people were asking questions about the condition. In my research I am focusing on Fragile X Syndrome, and I feel privileged to have been able to meet so many amazing families through this. At the beginning of my studies, I began volunteering with this fantastic charity and I am delighted that I will be starting work as Chief Executive part-time, alongside my PhD part-time, at the end of the month. The Tizard Centre have been very supportive in allowing me to develop my involvement and I look forward to helping to disseminate the Centre’s fantastic work to families.’

The flash mob was part of a wider awareness raising day on 10 October organised by the European Network of Fragile X Organisations.

You can also look on Twitter to see the #fragileXtraordinary campaign, which aimed to celebrate a group of amazing people who happen to have fragile X syndrome, and the ways that they face the challenges that may be associated with the condition. Hundreds of photos and stories were shared, with the hashtag reaching over half a million people.

What is Fragile X Syndrome?

‘Fragile X Syndrome? I’ve never heard of it!’ That is the response most of the fragile X community get when discussing their loved one’s disability, with public and professionals alike.

However, 1 in 4000 males and 1 in 8000 females have Fragile X Syndrome, which the most common inherited cause of learning disability and the most common known single gene cause of autism.

In addition to learning deficits, individuals with fragile X may have language delay, ADHD, clinical anxiety and in some cases epilepsy.

Surprisingly, 1 in 200 females and 1 in 400 males in the general population are carriers of the gene, meaning that future generations might have fragile X.

Carriers themselves may also experience problems with anxiety, early menopause, tremors and ataxia.

Receiving a diagnosis can be a life changing experience, particularly as fragile X is an inherited condition, meaning multiple members of the same family may be affected. Early diagnosis makes a huge difference but is not easy to come by as no one’s heard of it!

If you get an email about your student loan, with this subject line (or similar):

• Important loan information from SFE

It is likely to be fraudulent. Do not click links or reply to it.

The Student Finance England logo may be included to make it look convincing.

If you think an email about your loan is genuine and need to take action:

• Go to the student loan company’s website yourself instead of clicking on email links (if you know the web address, type it in manually – or find their website using a search engine). From their homepage you should be able to find what you need.
• Why is this necessary? Because even if links look genuine, they may go somewhere else when clicked.

Fake emails are regularly received by staff and students from malicious sources (who want your username and password, financial/personal data, or want to plant virusues). We take action to block them, but some still get through.

The University will never ask for your password by email.

Fakes can look very convincing, with a ‘from’ address looks genuine and official: if you have entered your Kent password into a website that may be fraudulent, change your Kent password immediately and contact us.

Tips on staying safe:

• never send passwords by email
• if you’re worried your password may have been compromised, contact us and change your password immediately
• don’t click on links: manually type the web address into a web browser instead, or search for the main website and navigate from there.
• don’t open attachments unless you’re sure they are from a trusted source.

If you are suspicious at all about a message, but feel it may be genuine, please contact us for advice.

Fake email sent to students at York recently:

From: Student Finance England

Date: 14 October 2014 17:00
Subject: Important loan information from SFE
To: studentloan.listserve@york.ac.uk

Dear student,

We have noticed that your account has not completed the required update necessary for future payments by the Student Loan Company. To ensure that your payment is not delayed, please kindly update your account to the newest version standard by submitting your details we have on record via the secure webpage below.

Link to: ‘Secure update page’ (which was a fraudulent link and NOT to the Studentfinanceengland).

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Student Loan Company

A new Research Assistantship Scheme enabling undergraduate and postgraduate students to gain valuable research-related work experience has been successfully piloted by Kent Law School.

The scheme ran over the course of three weeks in September, with 18 students selected from a large pool of applicants to work on 12 short-term research projects. Research assistants (RAs) were paid and received training before conducting desk based legal and socio-legal research under the close supervision of academic staff from the School.

Students were also tasked with producing a final report summarising their research findings, which they shared with staff and students on a day of presentations at the culmination of the scheme.

Law Lecturer Dr Sinead Ring said:’The presentation day was an excellent opportunity for RAs to share their research journeys, ideas and enthusiasm and for all of us to celebrate our strong research community.’

Dr Ring led the Research Assistantship team in collaboration with Scheme Coordinator Serena Natile and the Law School’s Employability and Career Development Officer, Jayne Instone.

Dr Ring said: ‘The pilot RA Scheme brought students and academics together to work on staff research projects. Staff were delighted to have such motivated students and students learned lots about what exactly is involved in doing legal research. We hope to expand the Scheme next year.’

Research Assistant Oliver Hartland said: ‘The project is something that I have been delighted to be involved in and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to have taken part. I feel that personally, academically and professionally I have benefited enormously from this scheme and, hopefully it is one that will continue next year.’

This year’s Careers Fair is taking place on Tuesday 4 November in the Sports Centre.

It is set to be the biggest campus has ever seen, with over 100 companies attending, offering graduate opportunities, internships and placements, information and advice, and volunteering opportunities.

Top tips for standing out from the crowd

1. Get ready for the Careers Fair by watching our video guide.
2. Research the employers you want to speak to – the logos on our webpage go straight to the companies’ websites.
3. Dress to impress, and bring a copy of your CV.
4. Write a 30-second pitch about yourself, to really grab the employers’ attention