As you fight your way through the Christmas crowds, ponder this theory from the University of York - far from indulging in an orgy of materialism and acquisitiveness, the frenetic shopping activity you are engaged in is really part of a fundamental search to discover the 'real me' and to convince yourself that you really do exist.

Five scientists from the University of York have won a national competition for budding biotechnology entrepreneurs. The team picked up £1,000 prize money and the prestigious Biotechnology YES (Young Entrepreneurs Scheme) award at the competition final, held in London yesterday (9 December 2002).

Experts in post-war reconstruction and conflict resolution from the University of York are today (10 December) leading a Cabinet seminar in Kabul on the development of the Afghan public administration.

If your national football team does well, your country is likely to have a good health system - at least if you compare FIFA statistics with those of the World Health Organisation. Or does this just go to show that simplistic statistics can prove anything?

The playwright, David Edgar, will be giving a talk today about his play ‘Albert Speer' which explores the controversial life of the architect who became the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany and the closest Hitler had to a friend.

New charity born out of Foot and Mouth crisis

How the Media Engineering Group could change our hi-tech life

Paul Sykes and Yorkshire Forward invest in new facility

In 2001 nearly 42,000 people were studying psychology degrees in British universities. It is estimated that of these, over 2,800 had some sort of disability.

Nobel prize winner and eminent geneticist Sir John Sulston is to give a public lecture at the University of York later this month (Wednesday 27 November) on the human genome project.

As a rising tide of violent crime threatens to divert attention from serious economic issues in some developing countries, research has begun at the University of York into what does and doesn't work in tackling crime.

Hollywood giant Alfred Hitchcock comes under the spotlight at the University of York on Thursday (7 November)in a lecture by leading cinema academic Professor Charles Barr.

Heather Stoney, the actress and prime-mover behind the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough along with her husband Alan Ayckbourn, will take part in an evening of conversation at the University on Thursday 24 October.

Two University of York students whose bright ideas helped companies save thousands of pounds and a great deal of time have won national honours.

The long-term psychological and social effects of cancer on child patients and their families - including the diagnosis, the illness and the treatment - are to be assessed in a new study at the University of York in order to help improve the support available.

A major conference to examine current methods of assessing children and adolescents for the Courts will take place on Friday 11 October. The University of York conference - ‘Child Assessments for the Courts' - will bring together professionals involved in working with children and families in statutory work. They will include child and adolescent therapists, legal professionals, CAFCASS, psychologists, psychiatrists, managers and senior practitioners in Health, Social Services and voluntary agencies.

Professor Brian Cantor takes over as Vice-Chancellor of the University of York today (1 October). He joins York from the University of Oxford, where he was Head of the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Director of the Begbroke Business and Science Park.

Centre celebrates 30 years

The Minister for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education, Margaret Hodge, has praised the educational partnership ‘Higher York', which is to be launched on Thursday 26 September at the National Centre for Early Music.

What enables some youngsters to survive a troubled and disadvantaged childhood and go on to live reasonable lives as adults, while others do not?

A groundbreaking national conference aimed at involving more young people in the decisions the NHS makes is to be held by the University of York later this month (Friday 20 September).

Historic records about one of the most important English hospitals for the mentally ill, The Retreat, are to be made more accessible by the University of York via a new electronic catalogue. It will make the Archive easier to search by researchers and members of the public.

Five thousand potential students and their families from all over the country are expected to come to the University of York's Open Day this month (Thursday 26 September) to see whether they would like to study at York.

Major breakthrough could lead to successful treatment of viral cancers, without side-effects

An internationally-respected figure in the world of medical education has been appointed Director of Medical Education at the new Hull York Medical School (HYMS).

Study aims to help GPs treat knee problems

Square bubbles, bubbles inside bubbles, bubbles as large as a hula-hoop and even dry-ice carbon-dioxide bubbles are making chemistry fun for schoolchildren from across the country in a summer chemistry camp at the University of York this week. (19-23 August).

A specialist in software engineering at the University of York has received one of the highest distinctions in the academic world.

Very high patient satisfaction has been reported from NHS patients in Southeast England sent to France and Germany for treatment. An evaluation by the York Health Economics Consortium at the University of York of the initiative to send waiting list patients to Europe for treatment, found that almost 80 per cent of patients said they were very satisfied.

A national newspaper league table has placed York first amongst UK Universities for the quality of its teaching.

For the fourth time the Daily Telegraph 'league table' of teaching quality in British universities places the University of York second out of 99 universities.

Permanent home for collection which includes Charlotte Bronte's will and the Halifax war diaries

Some of Europe's most important archaeological sites will be available online shortly. Information for professional and leisure use is to be brought together on one site by academics at the University of York.

Over 2,700 undergraduate and postgraduate students will graduate on 10, 11 and 12 July at the University of York. Students will graduate in the Arts, Social Sciences and Sciences and will receive their degrees from the Chancellor, Dame Janet Baker and Vice Chancellor, Sir Professor Ron Cooke.

Prince Hassan of Jordan outlines creative approaches at York discussion

York teachers spoke of their appreciation of the University of York's Student Tutoring Programme at an awards ceremony held in Heslington Church recently.

. . . and the link between a baby's nappy and an aircraft

Researchers were busy moving into the University of York's new £25 million Biology Building today. The building, which will be dedicated to York's cutting-edge biology research, gives researchers working in many different fields of biology access to the very latest scientific equipment and techniques.

Disabilities campaigner Phillippa Russell is to receive an honorary degree from the University of York this month (Friday July 12) for more than 30 years working to improve rights and conditions for disabled children and their families.

A major new University building, to be named after social pioneer, Seebohm Rowntree, will be opened on Friday 28 June at 12.15pm.

Dr David Potter, inventor of the Psion personal organiser, is to receive an honorary degree from the University of York next month. (Thursday 11th July).

RiboTargets, a structure-based drug discovery company that develops novel anti-bacterial and anti-cancer therapeutics, has begun research at its new facilities in the recently opened York Bioincubator building.

High-tech is turning to high fashion as devices such as mobile phones and personal organisers are increasingly expected to look good as well as work well. Researchers at the University of York are working on technical solutions for small and increasingly mobile devices.

Researchers at the University of York have participated in a major scientific project which has led to a breakthrough in identifying a gene involved in a potentially lethal form of skin cancer.

The University of York is examining the work-life balance for employees as part of the Department of Trade and Industry's Work-Life Balance Challenge.

The Prime Minister has appointed Sir Ron Cooke a trustee of the National Museum of Science and Industry for a period of three years, it was announced today.

The lives of ordinary people are revealed in startling detail in a special exhibition to mark 50 years of the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research in York.

The actors Penelope Wilton and Berwick Kaler are amongst eight people who will be awarded honorary degrees by the University of York this summer.

Many of Britain's plants are now flowering two weeks or more earlier than they did a decade ago, a new paper in the journal Science has shown. The authors believe this is one of the clearest signs as to how powerfully climate warming is now affecting the natural world.

The Departments of Computer Science and Biology were ranked at the top of their subject tables in the Guardian University Guide 2002.

Teachers can now apply for special Fellowships to help them raise the aspirations of their pupils to study at a university.

One hundred scientists, policymakers, and members of the public are to be questioned by academics at the University of York about their perceptions of the ownership and control of genetic research.

York, a city celebrated the world over for its unique heritage, has today been named in an independent survey as the most profitable business location in Britain.

The historic beauty of the main function rooms in York's Elizabethan Heslington Hall has been restored after a major renovation project.

The University of York is hailed as the Financial Times' 'outstanding performer' in its annual league table of 100 higher education institutions.

York appears 8th in The Times 'Good University Guide' rankings for 2002.

Britain’s oldest medieval guildhall sets out its blueprint for conservation

A revolutionary method for detecting which human embryos are most likely to develop successfully to the stage at which they implant in the womb has been developed by scientists at the University of York and clinicians at Leeds General Infirmary.

Just like modern businesses, insects have had to diversify to survive, according to University of York scientist Peter Mayhew.

Composer Trevor Jones, who wrote film scores ‘Notting Hill' and ‘The Last of the Mohicans,' will visit the University's Department of Music on Friday 26 April at 7pm to give a free lecture at the Jack Lyons Concert Hall.

The Universities of Nanjing and Zhejiang are the first universities in China to join the Worldwide Universities Network, the higher education alliance formed by six UK and five US universities.

A massive multi million pound computer research system which will bring some of the best brains in the region together, has been developed by three Yorkshire universities.

Small businesses could save themselves time and money by taking on a bright student this summer, says the University of York

The Hull York Medical School, (known as HYMS) becomes a reality with the arrival of its new Dean and the launch of its first prospectus.

The Salters Festival of Chemistry will be taking place at the University of York's Department of Chemistry on Friday 19 April 2002.

Conference invites teenagers to participate in feminist discussions

Visits to industrial sites and residential study courses at university are on the curriculum for school science teachers in two new programmes designed to enhance their teaching.

A new lectureship in Post-war Recovery Studies at the University of York is to be funded by the Altajir World of Islam Trust at the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) in the department of Politics.

New scientific analysis shows Southampton fans to be best singers in the FA Barclaycard Premiership

Celebrity chef Paul Rankin is at the University of York this week, teaching eight University chefs how to get ready to pep up their peppers.

The NHS Plan published in the summer of 2000 contained ambitious targets such as the aim to reduce the maximum outpatient waiting time to three months by 2005.

The University of York's strong performance in the Research Assessment Exercise is recognised in the funding agreement from the Higher Education Funding Council for the next academic year.

New research published in the British Journal of General Practice revealed that patients on the York Angina Plan, compared to those receiving a conventional educational session, reported a 40% reduction in the number of episodes of angina per week (a reduction of three from the baseline mean of seven attacks).

Future may focus on collaborative, not UK, projects

Science Minister Lord Sainsbury visits the University of York on Friday 1 March to hear about the University's pioneering work in science education and to see work on the £25 million building which will house cutting-edge research in biology when it opens later this year.

Science in York schools is to become more exciting and enjoyable thanks to the University of York as children are able to experiment with DNA fingerprinting and a Nobel Prize-winning technique which clones DNA.

Warm bread and cold drinks are on the menu as part of the University's contribution to Science Week next month.

York is to play a crucial part in the major Government investigation into the health effects of mobile phones.

Scientists at the University of York have been awarded a £234,000 grant for a powerful computer, called Beowulf, that will help them model large and fundamental happenings in the universe - from the evolution of the stars to the way in which DNA works.

Important historical records in the UK can now be searched swiftly and at their most up-to-date point using a radically different Web service which the University of York has helped to build.

A large number of disposable gloves used in surgery are punctured or damaged during operations, bringing a high risk of infecting medical staff and patients.

Professor Ron Cooke, Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, has received a knighthood in the New Year's Honours list announced today (1 January 2002). The honour is in recognition of his services to higher education.