An academic journal edited by a University of Salford professor has been rated as one of the best in the world by the authoritative Thomson Scientific.

The Journal of Transport Geography was ranked as the eighth best globally in the transportation category in the social science citation index, and 22nd for geography - in categories so fiercely contested that only highly respected journals which have existed for five or more years are included.

The Journal of Transport Geography, as a new entry to the list, has topped many established and renowned publications for the number of times its papers have been cited by researchers and its ongoing contribution to research.

Professor Richard Knowles of the University's School of Environment & Life Sciences has edited the journal since it was first published in 1993 and has worked over that time to build a truly international editorial board and submissions list.

The Journal currently counts 38 people from 18 countries as part of the board and, unusually for journals rated by Thomson Scientific, less than half of the papers published in it come from the UK or USA.

The diverse background of contributors, Professor Knowles believes, gives the journal a distinctive character. "Our perspectives come from all over the world, and that means that we get viewpoints and research which are often not noticed in the Anglo-American research community," he said.

Recent topics of papers have included the airline industry in China, labour mobility in Barcelona and the effect of transport costs on people's recreational habits in Sweden.

Professor Knowles concluded: "I am delighted that The Journal has achieved a high Impact Factor on the first occasion it has been included in Thomson's international Journal Citation Reports. Citations and this Impact Factor score show the high esteem in which peer-reviewed research papers published in The Journal of Transport Geography are held in the international transport research community."

To demonstrate that engineering isn't just a job for the boys, over 100 girls from the UK and countries including Nigeria and Belgium have been spending this week in Salford to learn about engineering.

As part of the Insight Programme from the Royal Academy of Engineering, 40 Year 12 girls spent four days in the city followed by a day for 60 Year 10 girls - visiting employers like the BBC and Airbus and taking part in practical experiments.

Under the supervision of recent MBE, Salford's Dr Haifa Takruri-Rizk, the girls were taken to BBC studios, the Airbus facilities near Chester and Ove Arup construction to hear from female engineers about how to get started in their careers.

They also got to look round the cockpit of Concorde at Manchester Airport and do practical engineering tasks such as building a bridge, experiments with solar cells and building prosthetic limbs.

Dr Haifa Takruri-Rizk was made MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her work encouraging women and minorities into science and engineering. She said: "This was a great experience for the girls. They got to see the huge range of jobs that the engineering profession can bring and had a great time as well. With only 10% of people in engineering women, hopefully they'll be encouraged to see themselves in this sort of career."

The week not only focused on careers, but also going to university. Meeting lecturers, students and graduates and staying on campus formed an important part of them realising how to get started in engineering.

Dr Takruri-Rizk concluded: "I'd really like to thank all the partners who made this possible - including companies, the University and Salford's business club, CAMPUS. Having so many of them on board delivered a rich experience - and hopefully a few budding engineers at the end."

The programme runs from 29 June to 1 July.

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Lord Peter Mandelson is to join business leaders at a major conference exploring how policy-makers can work with universities to build better, more sustainable cities.

The Smart City Futures Conference (Lowry, July 21 - 23) will bring together researchers and policy-makers from across the globe to investigate how universities can help them to develop cost-effective urban policies during the current difficult economic times.

The event is the culmination of a year-long initiative which has seen the Universities of Salford, Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan working in partnership with civic leaders, professionals and citizens in the region to forge stronger relationships between academics, businesses and the community.

The project is the first of its kind and is aiming to put Greater Manchester at the forefront of policy, strategy development and decision-making within the UK - and as a model for regions throughout the world.

Lord Mandelson will officially open the conference on Tuesday 21 July as a guest of Manchester's Commission for the New Economy, which is hosting the first two conference days.

He will be joined by leading business, regeneration and academic leaders including Lesley Gavin, BT's first female futurologist, and Professor Takeda Shuzaburo, Director of the Business-University Forum of Japan, at the University of Salford-hosted conference day on 23 July.

The University of Salford's Professor James Powell explained: "Our Smart City Futures event is about sharing knowledge, experience and challenges to explore solutions to sustainable cities during these challenging economic times.

"We want to provide an honest, open forum that will break down the barriers between policy-makers, industry leaders, universities and the communities they serve.

"It's all about building the foundations for a more sustainable future. We are delighted that Lord Mandelson and our other eminent speakers are supporting the project and I would encourage anyone interested in regeneration, regional policy, research and higher education to come along and get involved."

To find out about more events like this, join our weekly mailing list. Simply email 'events' to press-office@salford.ac.uk

A Salford University music lecturer is the brainchild behind Bury band Elbow's collaboration with Manchester's Hallé orchestra - and he will be conducting the sell-out performance live at the Bridgewater Hall on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 July.

Joe Duddell has arranged the music, run the rehearsals and even written two new pieces for the award-winning band to perform alongside the 80-piece symphony orchestra, as part of the Manchester International Festival.

Since August last year, Joe has worked with frontman Guy Garvey and the other members of Elbow, to create the gig, which will include well-known hits -all in conjunction with the Hallé orchestra and their 50-strong youth choir.

He said: "It's been a real privilege to work with such a successful band, and a long-established symphony orchestra. Mixing Elbow's distinctive music with the Hallé's orchestral sound was an interesting challenge, and I hope the audience will be really impressed with what they hear."

Joe is a graduate of Salford University and has recently returned as reader and programme leader in BA Music at the University's School of Music, Media & Performance. He has a background in both indie-pop and classical music, having previously drummed with 90's band Pullover, and has had three commissions for the BBC Proms.

The gig - which sold out in just three hours - will be the biggest and most high-profile performance he has arranged and conducted to date.

With final rehearsals underway, Joe is staying tight-lipped about the exact content of the performance. He said: "I'm not allowed to give anything away, but I'm confident that serious pop and classical music fans will all take something different from the evening. I'm really looking forward to it."

The Elbow gig will be broadcast live on a big screen in Manchester's Castlefield on Thursday 9 July. For more information go to www.mif.co.uk

A student from the University of Salford will be competing for Great Britain at this summer's World Transplant Games in Australia.

James Colbeck from Prestwich, who is studying for an MA in Communication Design at Salford, will be competing in the athletics discipline at the Games, which will take place between 22 and 30 August on Australia's Gold Coast.

Before he had a kidney transplant whist studying for his BA in Graphic Design at Salford, James was a keen athlete and competed for Bury Athletics Club.

In 2005 he suffered acute renal failure, the cause of which is still unknown. Later that year he was diagnosed with chronic renal failure, meaning he had to undergo kidney dialysis and that he had to defer the final year of his degree.

It was two years later when he received a kidney transplant after his mum agreed to be his donor. Since his operation James has been completing his studies at Salford and raising the profile of organ donation in the UK. He's been training for the World Transplant Games for the past 18 months, since he has been fit enough to do so.

The events he will compete in at the games include the 100, 200, 400 and 4 x 400 metres, the long jump and the javelin. He said "I'm taking part in these games to help raise awareness of the importance of organ donation and to raise money for Transplant Sport UK.

"The charity does a lot of amazing work and without them I wouldn't be competing for Great Britain. It's costing them a lot of money though. Somehow I need to find £3,000 to give to Transplant Sport UK to pay for my training, preparation and participation at the Games. That's why I need someone to sponsor me to help make it all possible."

The World Transplant Games are one of the largest international sporting events and have been in existence for over 25 years. Transplant Sport UK have topped the medal table at the event ever since the first games and will be looking to continue that success in the summer. James will be part of a 160-person team hoping to make this happen.

If anybody wishes to sponsor James to compete in these games, they can visit http://www.justgiving.com/jamescolbeck/

This week, inclusive design experts and volunteers from the University of Salford have been pitching in to help with National Falls Awareness Day - by taking a bus around Greater Manchester to highlight the issue.

The researchers, who specialise in improving designs of urban environment to make them safer and more accessible, were supporting Help the Aged by handing out questionnaires from the bus to older people and those who care for them.

The University's Maria O'Sullivan explained: "It is believed that a lot of older people suffer injuries while falling on buses, so Help the Aged wanted to collect more information on numbers and causes of accidents, so that they can address the problem more systematically.

"If there is found to be a problem then our design expertise can be used to solve it."

The bus, which was provided by First Group, visited Stockport, Gorton and Swinton, where questionnaires and leaflets were given to over 100 people.

"We were really keen to be involved in Falls Awareness Day," said Maria. "Our research group at the University is all about addressing issues like this, so it's important to us to get out and meet the people we're trying to help."

An office manager from the University of Salford has been appointed as Technical Director of a new local charity.

Terry George, who is Directorate Office Manager in Student Life at the University, has been helping Emerge Food to organise food demonstrations in the local community to encourage people to eat better and to educate people about what they are putting into their bodies.

The events have been part of an ongoing bid for funding which would help Emerge Food to set up a state of the art Food Education Centre in the city. They are currently taking place at Gorton Market, which is one of the possible sites for the new centre.

These exhibitions have been developed as the charity felt that people in this area have a lack of knowledge regarding nutritionand how to cook inexpensive healthy food. Some of the recipes that have been demonstrated include chicken with orange and ginger stir-fry, vegetable risotto and healthy burgers.

Terry George said: "At these events we have been showing people healthy, low cost meals that they can easily cook at home, and the benefits of eating freshly cooked food. Healthy home-cooking is usually cheaper, and better for the nation's health, than going to the take-away."

The demos have been going ahead due to a grant that Emerge Food received from Food Futures. The charity's aim was to show that there is a demand for services like this and that people would attend a Food Education Centre.

The charity has received a lot of positive feedback from members of the public who have seen the demonstrations at Gorton Market to support their funding bid. If they were to win the funding bid then they would receive further funding to build the new centre.

They are optimistic of winning the funding due to the success of the demonstrations and the feedback that they have received.