It is now 50 years since Graham Cairns-Smith suggested that life may have originated from crystals, rather than directly through complex carbon-based molecules such as proteins and DNA.
At noon on 18 October 1966, the Royal Signature of Queen Elizabeth II granted the Royal Charter by which the University of Bradford was founded. As a College of Advanced Technology, the Bradford Institute of Technology, the organisation already had the staff, students, buildings and facilities of a university. All that was needed was the formal recognition of university status.
A study commissioned by The College of Optometrists (UK) and involving Bradford's School of Optometry and Vision Science and the Faculty of Health Studies, found that, when comparing spectacles bought online and those bought and fitted in optometric practices, customers preferred shop bought spectacles.
In July, the University's Special Collections service was confirmed as a fully Accredited Archive service.
University of Bradford engineering graduate John Platt has been appointed as chief executive of Air BP, the oil company's global aviation business.