The Problem:

Real-world problems are usually (if not always) considered hard to be solved because:

* Problems cannot always be represented and solved with a straightforward mathematical approach.
* A lot of parameters and constraints are involved.
* The number of possible solutions to a problem can be huge.
* Good solutions need to be found fast
* Checking every possible solution, for finding the best one, is time consuming and sometimes not even feasible.
* The quality of a solution may vary according to time, thereby; more than one different solution might be required.

Heuristic Search:

Heuristic search refers to techniques with the aim of finding ‘good’ solutions for a very hard optimization and decision within a reasonable amount of computation time.

Heuristic Local Search:

* A basic heuristic search technique that works with complete solutions and seeks to find better solutions by making small local changes.
* All heuristic search techniques share similar concepts; e.g. the search space, feasible/infeasible solutions, neighbourhoods, and the relation(s) between neighbours.
* Good understanding of the above concepts and how a basic local search works, is a key knowledge necessary to anyone who wishes to learn and work with heuristic and metaheuristic algorithms for solving hard real-world optimization problems.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Autumn semester 2009.

Infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The body fights infection through the functions of the immune system, whose power has been harnessed by the development of vaccination (immunisation).

Suitable for study at: Undergraduate levels 1 and 2.

Dr Ian Todd, School of Molecular Medical Sciences.

Dr Ian Todd is Associate Professor & Reader in Cellular Immunopathology at The University of Nottingham. After reading Biochemistry at The University of Oxford, he carried out research for his PhD in Immunology at University College London. He then undertook post-doctoral research at The Oregon Health Sciences University and The Middlesex Hospital Medical School. His main research interest is in the molecular and cellular bases of autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a recipient of the Lord Dearing Award for Teaching & Learning.

Important Copyright Information:

All images, tables and figures in this resource were reproduced from 'Lecture Notes Immunology' April 2010, 6th Edition, published by Wiley-Blackwell and with full permission of the co-author and faculty member, Dr Ian Todd.

No image, table or figure in this resource can be reproduced without prior permission from publishers Wiley-Blackwell.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught in Autumn Semester 2009

This module has two essential components: Evidence-Based Medicine and Public Health. Evidence-Based Medicine was introduced as a new discipline because traditionally the teaching of medicine was heavily reliant on an apprenticeship-type system with emphasis on learning from observing one’s teachers. One of the guiding principles in the NHS today is that all health care should be based on research evidence. One of the aims of this module is to cover core concepts in epidemiology and basic statistics so that you are able to understand the evidence presented in research papers and apply it to your clinical practice.

The Public Health component of this module will provide you with insight into the factors affecting the health at a population level and how these may be addressed. It also aims to show how these factors may be distributed and how this can contribute to inequalities in health between populations.

Suitable for study: Undergraduate level year 1

Dr Puja R Myles, School of Community Health Sciences - Epidemiology and Public Health

Dr Puja Myles is an Associate Professor of Health Protection and Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She trained as a dentist at Panjab University, India and worked as a dentist in India before completing her specialist training in Public Health in the East Midlands. She completed a doctorate in Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She is currently part of the Health Protection Research Group at Nottingham and her research is primarily in respiratory disease epidemiology. She is also interested in evaluation methods and is currently involved in some public health service evaluations.

In this presentation from the Institute of Film and Television Studies' Ephemeral Media Workshops Charlie Mawer from Red Bee Media, discusses his company's work on the branding and promotion of television channels; from BBC channels through to new channels like Dave.

Presentation produced/delivered: June/July 2009

Suitable for undergraduate study and community education

Charlie Mawer, Executive Creative Director, Red Bee Media

Charlie Mawer, after a spell of writing comedy, joined a fledgling BBC creative department eventually becoming Executive Creative Director. In 2005 he helped transform the company into Red Bee Media.

Since then he has overseen high profile work including the rebranding of BBC1, BBC3, Virgin1 and the network rebranding of UKTV including the IPA gold winning creation of Dave.

Red Bee Media works globally with media brands including Disney, Discovery, ESPN, Canal+, and has produced branding for CCTV – China Central Television’s Olympic channel, the host broadcaster for the Beijing Olympics.

In this presentation from the Institute of Film and Television Studies' Ephemeral Media Workshops Charlie Mawer from Red Bee Media, discusses his company's work on the branding and promotion of television channels; from BBC channels through to new channels like Dave.

Presentation produced/delivered: June/July 2009

Suitable for undergraduate study and community education

Charlie Mawer, Executive Creative Director, Red Bee Media

Charlie Mawer, after a spell of writing comedy, joined a fledgling BBC creative department eventually becoming Executive Creative Director. In 2005 he helped transform the company into Red Bee Media.

Since then he has overseen high profile work including the rebranding of BBC1, BBC3, Virgin1 and the network rebranding of UKTV including the IPA gold winning creation of Dave.

Red Bee Media works globally with media brands including Disney, Discovery, ESPN, Canal+, and has produced branding for CCTV – China Central Television’s Olympic channel, the host broadcaster for the Beijing Olympics.

This package was originally designed for undergraduates in Medicine at the University of Nottingham. It will also be useful to students in nursing, allied health professions and pharmacy. Practitioners in these fields, who are new to the ICF, will also find it a useful introduction.

It describes the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), a classification system published by the World Health Organisation to describe health status.
This system is widely used in rehabilitation research and practice to describe impairments of body structure and function and how these impact on activities and participation.

By the end of this package you should be able to:
- List and describe the five domains of the ICF.
- Apply the ICF to real-life patient scenarios in order to understand your patient's health status.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Autumn Semester 2010/2011.

This module introduces students to the study of international political economy (IPE) and global development. It examines the reciprocal, interactive relationship between politics and economics or between states and markets in the contemporary international system by exploring how political factors influence international economic relations and how the international economy in turn shapes domestic and international politics.

The module introduces the main theoretical approaches in international political economy and global development and illustrates the contributions of these approaches to our understanding of the global political economy.

The module surveys the interactions between state and societal actors at the interface between the domestic and international domains in a variety of issue areas. These include international trade and monetary relations, transnational production, economic development, and global governance. In studying these issues, the module examines the causes and effects of policy choices that states and societal groups make to regulate international economic relations, of international and regional co-operation and conflicts over trade, monetary, development and other policies, and of global market integration.

This module is designed in such a manner that it will provide second-year politics students with an accessible introduction to the basic concepts of political economy and global development and sensitise them to interdisciplinary methods and models in the study of international relations. The module not only provides a comprehensive introduction to international political economy and global development but also serves a foundation course that qualifies students to take further options in the political economy of international trade, monetary relations, financial markets, development, and globalisation.

Module Code: M12089

Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 2

Credits:20

Dr Xiaoke Zhang, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Xiaoke Zhang is an Associate Professor in political economy and Asian studies in the School of Politics and International Relations, the University of Nottingham. Before joining the School of Politics and International Relations in September 2003, Dr Zhang was a lecturer in the International School of Humanities and Social Sciences and a research fellow in the Amsterdam School of Social Science Research, both at the University of Amsterdam.

Dr Xiaoke Zhang's major research interests are in comparative and international political economy, with a regional focus on Asia-Pacific.

The aim of this session is to cover the basic theory of compact linear operators on Banach spaces. This includes definitions and statements of the background and main results, with illustrative examples and some proofs.

Target audience: This material is accessible to anyone who has a basic knowledge of metric space topology, and who knows what a bounded linear operator on a Banach space is. It is most likely to be suitable for postgraduate students or final year undergraduates.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught in Autumn Semester 2010.

This module is designed to provide an introduction to the analysis and performance of drama. It has three main aims:

1) To provide an introduction to the analysis of drama;
2) To give a taste of the wide range of performance convention in history, from Ancient Greek tragedy to nineteenth-century naturalism;
3) To foreground drama as a performance medium rather than a form of literature.

At Nottingham, we approach drama as a performance medium: an event within a specific time, space and locale, in which real people and objects are presented to other people in real, shared space. It is always a social event, so we learn to think about the people who do the performing, the place they perform in, and the people they perform to. Written texts may be looked at as much for information about the modes and places of performance as for what they represent or ‘say’. It is to be understood that the space itself and the mode of performing in it create meaning as much as do pre-scripted words.

We emphasise the fact that performance analysis is not literary criticism, and that play scripts should not be read simply as texts. The interpretation and analysis of drama requires different skills. The seminars on the module will provide opportunities for you to develop these skills yourself, while the lectures are designed to provide you with the kind of information necessary for an analysis of performance as an event in real historical time and space.

The module also aims to introduce a range of historical examples of theatre practice, drawn from several different moments in theatre history. The lectures will explore what we know about the performance conventions of Greek tragedy, medieval religious plays, Shakespeare's plays and Restoration/Augustan comedy, turning lastly to the arrival of naturalism as an approach to performance in the late nineteenth century.

Finally, we believe that a seminal way of learning to understand how theatre works is getting involved in performance itself. The workshops held in the Autumn semester provide structured opportunities to discuss the kind of decisions that are taken when a script is realised on stage and to experience the practical consequences of a theatre director’s decision making. More information on the format of workshops is provided below.

Suitable for study at undergraduate level 1.

Dr James Moran, School of English Studies.

Dr Moran's research is primarily concerned with modern drama. His monograph Staging the Easter Rising (2005) explores the connections between literature and politics, and was reviewed as 'a brave, confident book' in the Times Literary Supplement and as a 'terrific read' in the Irish Times. He also edited Four Irish Rebel Plays (2007), a volume described as 'fascinating' by Books Ireland and by Studies in Theatre and Performance. His latest monograph, Irish Birmingham: A History (2010), has been published by Liverpool University Press and reviewed as follows in the Irish Times: 'Even if you have no ties with Birmingham, if you are interested in culture or history, you'll enjoy Irish Birmingham: A History...Moran is a splendid writer, and a very engaging one'.

Dr Moran is currently Head of Drama at the University of Nottingham.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Semester 1 2009/2010.

There are no pre-requisites to taking this module and in particular there is no assumption of any prior knowledge of economics. For those who have taken A-level economics or any other version of economics some of the module content will appear familiar to you. However, the methods of analysis and the approach to teaching will quite probably be very different to anything experienced before and thus it is very important that good lecture notes are made, essays are thoughtfully written and background reading is undertaken. If not, then a degree level of understanding of the material will not be achieved.

This module is suitable for study at undergraduate level 1

Dr Wyn Morgan

Dr Wyn Morgan has been a member of staff at Nottingham since 1990 and became Associate Professor in August 1999. His research interests lie in imperfect competition in vertically related markets; price transmission, and futures and commodity markets. Since 2005 he has been an Associate Director in the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning for Integrative Learning at the University of Nottingham. In 2006 he was appointed to be the University's Director of e-Learning and in August 2007 he became the University's Director of Teaching and Learning.

He is also an Associate Director of the Economics Network of the Higher Education Academy and an Associate of the Learning Sciences Research Institute.

As taught Semesters 1 and 2, 2011

This learning object identifies characteristics common to all muscle cells, and introduces skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle. This learning object is used as part of the level 1 Biological Sciences module delivered by the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy.

Dr Andy Meal, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Autumn Semester 2010

Most history students, when applying to university, say they want to widen their knowledge of the past. As a School we take you at your word, teaching history from AD 500 onwards. This module introduces you to Europe in the Middle Ages (500-1500), a period in which Nottingham University has a distinguished tradition, built up by Jim Holt, Donald Bullough, Robert Markus, Bernard Hamilton and Michael Jones, and continued, we hope, by ourselves. The period covered by the module runs from the end of the Roman Empire in the west to the Renaissance. The legacy of this period is still with us: disputed notions of what constitutes European ‘unity’; profound divisions between West and East (and North and South); clashes between Christian and non-Christian cultures, especially Judaism and Islam. The module will introduce you to current historical debates and to a range of primary sources, in English translation, which will allow you to test your existing critical skills on unfamiliar and challenging material; in this respect it links effectively with the Learning History module. We hope that you will enjoy learning about this distant but formative period of European history, highly relevant to many of the dramatic changes taking place in Europe and the wider world today. If you do, remember that you can continue to study it throughout your time here.

Module Code: V11219

Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 1

Credits:20

School of History:

Our teaching and learning methods, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, are strongly focused on 'active learning'. We emphasise that effective learning in History comes especially from one's own enquiries, critical thinking, and reflection.

You will therefore be encouraged to become independent learners and thinkers, whilst being guided by expert tutors. Active participation and involvement in class discussion and group activities are therefore given priority as a means of developing skills required for learning, researching and employment.

Our academic staff are central to our success and create our lively and inclusive research culture. All of them are nationally or internationally recognized scholars in their fields.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught in Spring Semester 2010.

This 10 credit module will look at some of the ways in which German has been developing in recent years. In particular, we will look at variation and change in sentence structure; ways in which new modes of communication (such as texting, chat rooms and other forms of internet communication) are influencing language use; and the use of particles (little words like doch, mal, schon, etc.). By the end of the module, you will have carried out a small research project that allows you to compare Germans’ actual language use with what the dictionaries, grammar-books and other reference works say.

Suitable for study at undergraduate level 2.

Dr Nicola McLelland, School of Modern Languages and Culture.

Dr McLelland studied German and French at the University of Sydney, Australia, where, after studying for two years in Bonn, Germany, also gained a PhD in medieval German literature. After an MPhil in linguistics at the University of Cambridge, Dr McLelland developed her current interest in the history of people's ideas and beliefs about language, especially German.

Dr McLelland has three main research areas: i. the history of linguistic ideas, especially the history of German grammar-writing, and the history how German has been presented to English learners of it; ii. contemporary sociolinguistic theory as applied to German and to other Germanic languages; iii. narrative techniques in medieval German literature, especially in Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught in Autumn Semester 2009/2010

This module consists of a detailed examination of the critical period in Japanese history from the end of the Pacific War through the U.S. Occupation between 1945 and 1952 and recovery in the 1960s and beyond. The lectures and seminars examine the following topics:

Japan’s Road to War
The Japanese experience of war and defeat
The A-bomb in history and memory
The ‘Allied’ Occupation of Japan
The changing Japanese family
Japan’s economic recovery in the 1950s and 60s
The environmental costs of rapid economic development
The Asia-Pacific War in Japanese memory and popular culture

Suitable for: Undergraduate year one students

Dr Susan C. Townsend, School of History.

Dr. Townsend is Associate Professor of Japanese history in the School of History, University of Nottingham. She has published on Japanese intellectual history, including Yanaihara Tadao and Japanese Colonial Policy: Redeeming Empire (Curzon, 2000) and her most recent monograph Miki Kiyoshi 1897-1945: Japan’s Itinerant Philosopher (Brill, 2009). She is now developing a major collaborative project entitled Motor Cities: A Comparative History of Nagoya, Japan and Birmingham, England in the Twentieth Century in association with the University of Leicester, Birmingham City University and Nagoya University. A major focus of the project is the role of the motorcar and the automotive industry in city-centre design and regional development.

On 11 December 2009, Nottingham University's Centre for British Politics held a conference at the British Academy that drew together politicians, writers and academics to explore the interaction of British politics and fiction.

In addition to the conference several video interviews were conducted with some of the speakers on the day.

In this interview taken at the Fiction and British Politics Conference in London, MP and author Chris Mullin talks about his own political fiction and explains why the line between political reality and fiction is much thinner than you'd think.

Suitable for Undergraduate study and community education

Chris Mullen, Former MP, Author and Journalist

Chris Mullen was a Member of Parliament for Sunderland South between 1987-2010. His books include political diaries "A View from the Foothills" and novels such as the classic political thriller "A Very British Coup" and "Error of Judgement - the truth about the Birmingham Bombings" both of which were adapted for TV.

The Centre for British Politics is based in the University's School of Politics and International Relations. www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/cbp

On 11 December 2009, Nottingham University's Centre for British Politics held a conference at the British Academy that drew together politicians, writers and academics to explore the interaction of British politics and fiction.

In addition to the conference several video interviews were conducted with some of the speakers on the day.

In this interview taken at the Fiction and British Politics Conference in London, MP and author Chris Mullin talks about his own political fiction and explains why the line between political reality and fiction is much thinner than you'd think.

Suitable for Undergraduate study and community education

Chris Mullen, Former MP, Author and Journalist

Chris Mullen was a Member of Parliament for Sunderland South between 1987-2010. His books include political diaries "A View from the Foothills" and novels such as the classic political thriller "A Very British Coup" and "Error of Judgement - the truth about the Birmingham Bombings" both of which were adapted for TV.

The Centre for British Politics is based in the University's School of Politics and International Relations. www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/cbp

On 11 December 2009, Nottingham University's Centre for British Politics held a conference at the British Academy that drew together politicians, writers and academics to explore the interaction of British politics and fiction.

In addition to the conference several video interviews were conducted with some of the speakers on the day.

In this interview taken at the Fiction and British Politics Conference in London, playwright James Graham (Toryboyz, Little Madam, Sons of York) talks about his approach to political fiction and what inspires him.

Suitable for Undergraduate study and community education

James Graham, Political Playwright

James Graham writes for theatre, radio, film and television. He won the Catherine Johnson Award for the Best Play 2007 for his play Eden's Empire and was awarded the Pearson Playwriting Bursary in 2006. He is Writer in Residence at the Finborough Theatre and a member of the Royal Court/BBC 50 scheme.

James's play Tory Boyz for the National Youth Theatre caused a storm during its run at the
Soho Theatre for its portrayal of young, gay men in the modern Conservative Party and
received excellent reviews. His first film for television, Caught in a Trap, was broadcast on ITV1 on Boxing Day 2008 and was picked as one of the Broadcast Magazine Hotshots in the same year. He is under commission from a number of TV companies and his play The Whiskey Taster premieres at the Bush Theatre in early 2010.

The Centre for British Politics is based in the University's School of Politics and International Relations. www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/cbp

On 11 December 2009, Nottingham University's Centre for British Politics held a conference at the British Academy that drew together politicians, writers and academics to explore the interaction of British politics and fiction.

In addition to the conference several video interviews were conducted with some of the speakers on the day.

In this interview taken at the Fiction and British Politics Conference in London, playwright James Graham (Toryboyz, Little Madam, Sons of York) talks about his approach to political fiction and what inspires him.

Suitable for Undergraduate study and community education

James Graham, Political Playwright

James Graham writes for theatre, radio, film and television. He won the Catherine Johnson Award for the Best Play 2007 for his play Eden's Empire and was awarded the Pearson Playwriting Bursary in 2006. He is Writer in Residence at the Finborough Theatre and a member of the Royal Court/BBC 50 scheme.

James's play Tory Boyz for the National Youth Theatre caused a storm during its run at the
Soho Theatre for its portrayal of young, gay men in the modern Conservative Party and
received excellent reviews. His first film for television, Caught in a Trap, was broadcast on ITV1 on Boxing Day 2008 and was picked as one of the Broadcast Magazine Hotshots in the same year. He is under commission from a number of TV companies and his play The Whiskey Taster premieres at the Bush Theatre in early 2010.

The Centre for British Politics is based in the University's School of Politics and International Relations. www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/cbp

On 11 December 2009, Nottingham University's Centre for British Politics held a conference at the British Academy that drew together politicians, writers and academics to explore the interaction of British politics and fiction.

In addition to the conference several video interviews were conducted with some of the speakers on the day.

In this interview taken at the Fiction and British Politics Conference in London, former MP and writer Joe Ashton reveals how much truth there is in his writing and explains why politicians often turn to writing fiction in order to spill the beans on what goes on behind closed doors.

Suitable for Undergraduate study and community education

Joe Ashton, Former MP and Author (Grassroots, Majority of One)

The Centre for British Politics is based in the University's School of Politics and International Relations. www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/cbp

On 11 December 2009, Nottingham University's Centre for British Politics held a conference at the British Academy that drew together politicians, writers and academics to explore the interaction of British politics and fiction.

In addition to the conference several video interviews were conducted with some of the speakers on the day.

In this interview taken at the Fiction and British Politics Conference in London, former MP and writer Joe Ashton reveals how much truth there is in his writing and explains why politicians often turn to writing fiction in order to spill the beans on what goes on behind closed doors.

Suitable for Undergraduate study and community education

Joe Ashton, Former MP and Author (Grassroots, Majority of One)

The Centre for British Politics is based in the University's School of Politics and International Relations. www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/cbp