An audience of more than 400 people heard Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Arthur open the conference which, fittingly in this Olympic year, was on the theme of Excellence.

Delivering the Ed Wood Memorial Lecture at the conference was Jim Parry, former head of Philosophy at Leeds and now Professor of Philosophy at FTVS, Charles University in Prague. As the country gears up for the 2012 Olympics, Jim will be Visiting Professor of Olympic Studies at Gresham College, London. He explained the aims of Olympism as a philosophy of sport and education, expressed in terms of ethics and politics - towards personal and social development - and the relevance of these aims to students in higher education.

Recent Leeds graduate Claire Cashmore, who is representing Great Britain in the 2012 Paralympic Games, gave the afternoon keynote speech. Her presentation covered how the various forms of support she received at Leeds helped her achieve excellence in both her sporting career and academically.

Delegates had a choice of nearly 40 sessions to attend on subjects, including employability, engagement, creating exciting research experiences, feeding research into teaching, and using technology to help students learn.

New look for Michael Sadler foyer

Delegates to the Student Education conference were also amongst the first to take advantage of the refurbished foyer of the Michael Sadler building.

Under the 'Space to Learn' initiative, the area has been transformed into a pleasant, informal learning and social space.  It's hoped that better access, new furniture, improved wireless provision and fixed PCs, together with vending machines and piped water, will attract more people into the previously under-used foyer.