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Welcome to in Focus Update… |
Past Issues << | Issue 184: Friday 19 February 2010 |
Patrick McGhee held his first lunchtime Q+A session with Docklands and Stratford staff last week. The events were a huge success with staff queuing to hear what he had to say. Patrick outlined his vision for UEL to be the top University for Female Entrepreneurship in 10 years time and took questions from staff on issues ranging from our IT provision through to provision of services at both campuses.
Del Basi, Occupational Health and Safety manager said "Thank you very much for sharing your vision with myself and a number of other colleagues...Our students are our most valuable asset, along with our staff, and with all of us pulling in the same direction no doubt we will provide the high standard of student experience that they deserve."
Patrick is holding more Q+A sessions to try and hear as many views, both staff and student, as he can. The sessions are scheduled as:
All Staff: Docklands: Wednesday 10 March 2010 1pm - 2pm, East Building G.06
Students' Union: Tuesday 23 February 2010, 4 - 4.30pm, West Building, G.02 (contact the Students' Union for more details)
AVA: Wednesday 3 March 2010, 12 -1pm, AVA Building (contact Sian Harris to confirm your place and for room details)
RDBS: Friday 5 March 2010, 12 - 1pm, East Building EBG.08 (contact Rehana Patel to confirm your place)
Law: Thursday 22 April 2010, 12 - 1pm, Duncan House (contact Pat Berwick to confirm your place and for room details)
Dates for the remaining schools will be announced shortly. These sessions are open to both staff and students.
To attend either the main Stratford or Docklands events please RSVP to events@uel.ac.uk or ext 2042 / 2884. If you are unable to attend either session you can email your questions to events@uel.ac.uk by 5pm the day before the event and these questions will be put to Patrick.
Advances in Computing and Technology Conference, 2010The School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering held their 5th annual research conference, Advances in Computing and Technology (AC&T), at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Docklands on 27th January 2010, and was an excellent celebration of the School’s research achievements during the last year. The conference provides research students and staff within the School an opportunity to present their latest research results alongside the inputs from celebrated keynote speakers. The invited guests at this year’s event and the title of their presentations were: Professor Geoffrey Bullock from the University of Plymouth – Breaking Wave Impacts On Costal Structures, Professor David Limebeer from the University of Oxford – Suppression Of Burst Oscillations In Racing Motorcycles, Professor John Taylor from King’s College London – Can Consciousness Ever Be Modelled? and Dr Peter Song from the University of Birmingham – Antennas, How Many Do We Need? There were about 70 delegates who attended the conference, including industrial and academic partners. Many of the 28 papers which were presented reflected the applied nature of the School’s research, highlighting their potential and actual economic and social impacts. Prizes were awarded for the best student presentation to Mohammad Rabbani for his paper entitled ‘Optimum Design of Artificial Hip Joints’ and for the best poster presentation to Adnan Zainorabidin for his paper entitled ‘Fabric of Peat Soils Using Image Analysis’. For the conference details refer to http://www.uel.ac.uk/act/
Pictured L-R: AC&T 2010 Organisers, Delegates and Prize-winners - Hossein Saidpour (Organising Committee), Mohammad Rabbani (Prize-winner), Ravindra Jayaratne (Organising Committee), Roy Perryman (Chair of Organising Committee), Martin Marriott (Delegate), Adnan Zainorabidin(Prize-winner)
Public Lecture: Can God Survive the Scrutiny of a Science Lab?Thursday 25 February 2010, 5.30pm, EBG.08, Docklands
All welcome, admission FREE. Light refreshments available.
As part of the Lecture Series Costas Liantis will be giving a public lecture on the debate between theists and atheists, creationism as it is portrayed in the Book of Genesis vs. evolution theory long predates Darwin and the Origin of species. However, the rise of the 21st century has seen the anti-God position promoted with intensity and persistence by scientists such as Oxford Professor of Chemistry Peter Atkins, eloquent Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins and American philosopher Dan Dennett just to name a few. Scientists such as Dawkins, the author of the best seller book "The God delusion" perhaps intoxicated and thrilled by the ability of science to map, enumerate and revolutionize the nature of human experience have gone to the extend to blatantly dismiss any world view, philosophy or system that will stand up and defend itself against perfectly orchestrated misrepresentations of its beliefs and virtues.
The fact that there are sharp brains on both sides of the fence with strong evidence-based arguments arguing for and against the cosmological world views of a finite universe that has a designer, or an infinite universe based on intelligent design, pushes the discussion to a higher level were participants become more technical and rhetoric and were listeners eagerly demand a verdict. This lecture will attempt to present the main arguments concerning the 2 cosmological world views in a less technical and rhetoric way. As the title suggests, the world view of a "divine Force" responsible for the existence and sustainability of the universe will be put through the microscope of science in an attempt to discover if such arguments can stand the "science Lab test" as rational evidence based serious taken claims.
For further details and to confirm your attendance, contact our events team on 020 8223 2884 or events@uel.ac.uk
In Focus Update is now on Twitter. Follow us here. For the latest on our activities visit the news releases section of our website www.uel.ac.uk/news
Student Volunteering Week 22-28 February 2010
The Employability Team will be hosting a range of workshops and presentations during the week of 22nd February 2010 to 28 February 2010 to support student volunteering week and enhance our students’ employability. For further details on the events and activities please visit our website at http://www.uel.ac.uk/employability/news/events.htm
Come and join a debate on: Childcare in Europe: recent developments Monday 22 February 2010, 10am - 1pm, Docklands Campus
Professor Janneke Plantenga, Utrecht School of Economics, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands: The provision of childcare in Europe; the Barcelona Targets revisited? and Professor Helen Penn, Cass School of Education, University of East London: Early childhood education and care: competing trends in Europe.
Both speakers at the second seminar in the 2009/10 ICMEC seminar series recently produced major research reports for the European Commission; Janneke Plantenga for the Directorate General for employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and Helen Penn for the Directorate-General for Education and Culture. Professor Plantenga will provide an economist's perspective on childcare provision within the context of gender and employment issues, while Professor Penn will discuss international research evidence on the social benefits of early childhood education and care.
This seminar is free of charge, but to confirm your attendance please email Casey Edmonds at c.o. edmonds@uel.ac.uk <mailto:c.o.%20edmonds@uel.ac.uk> . Feel free to pass this invitation to a colleague. In the week beginning 15th February we will write to confirm your place and the room number at UEL's Docklands campus. Refreshments will be provided. For further information about ICMEC and how to get to UEL's Docklands Campus see www.uel.ac.uk/icmec <http://www.uel.ac.uk/icmec>
Black History Month 2010 Planning Meeting, Monday 22 February 2010, 2- 4pm EB1.39, Docklands
BHM takes place in October, but activities or events can take place throughout the year. So if you want to get involved in planning an event come along to the meeting. Staff and students are welcome. RSVP: Seta Perez, Equality and Diversity Administrator on 020 8223 6361 or e-mail seta@uel.ac.uk.
UELconnect - One year on... Wednesday 24 February Noon onwards, Knowledge Dock, Docklands Campus
An opportunity to..
- See the new projects we've worked with you on over the past year
- Hear the introduction from the new Vice Chancellor
- Come and discuss your how we can support your new ideas
A buffet lunch will be served at 12.30pm with the VC Address at 2.15pm, and drinks at 3.30pm
To book a place RSVP to: connect@uel.ac.uk by 10 February
Programme Leaders & Link Tutors Forum 24 February 2010 & 28 April 2010
Our half day forums aim to give Programme Leaders & Link Tutors the chance to network, discuss issues that are important to them as well as hear from others in UEL. Some of the topics covered at the forums include Advertising and Marketing - Issues of Relevance to Programme Leaders and Link Tutors, Managing Collaborative Partnerships including the use of UEL Plus and Turnitin and Programme Committee Management and Student Representation. For further information including programmes for each of the forums please see - Programme Leaders & Link Tutors Forum 2010
Please email to Nina Harding in Learning & Development n.harding@uel.ac.uk to register your place at one of the forums, stating your preferred date and any special dietary requirements.
Public Lecture: Can God Survive the Scrutiny of a Science Lab? Thursday 25 February 2010 5.30pm - 7pm, West Building G.08, Docklands Campus
Costas Liantos presents a public lecture on the debate between theists and atheists, creationism as it is portrayed in the Book of Genesis vs. evolution theory long predates Darwin and the Origin of species. However, the rise of the 21st century has seen the anti-God position promoted with intensity and persistence by scientists such as Oxford Professor of Chemistry Peter Atkins, eloquent Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins and American philosopher Dan Dennett just to name a few.
As the title suggests, the world view of a "divine Force" responsible for the existence and sustainability of the universe will be put through the microscope of science in an attempt to discover if such arguments can stand the "science Lab test" as rational evidence based serious taken claims. See www.uel.ac.uk/lectureseries for more information.
Fundraiser for Haiti Thursday 25 February , 5pm - 10pm, The Underground Bar, Docklands
To raise money for Unicef's Haiti appeal a fundraiser is taking place which will feature, African dancers, music, and poetry
. Bucket collections will be on both campuses during the day.
Crash Course in New Technologies Saturday 27 February 10am-11am or 11am - Noon, Thurrock Learning Shop, Grays
If you’re interested in knowing more about new tools
and technologies, the University of East London will be
running a free one hour taster session on a wide variety of
new technologies.
This session is aimed at anyone with an interest in
learning about new technologies and how they are used.
A basic understanding of computers and the internet is
desirable, but not essential.This session is restricted to 12 participants and places
will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
For further information or to book a place on this session
please contact: Debbie Brisco, Thurrock Learning Shop,
Tel: 01375 485490
Green Week 8 - 12 March 2010
A programme of events will be announced soon but will feature roadshows, stalls, talks and much more! For more information contact Sara Kasssam s.kassam@uel.ac.uk
Public Lecture: “From Personal Property to Speaking Subjects: Youth, Gender, and the Right to Credit in an Attention Economy.” by Theresa Senft Tuesday 9 March 2010 5.30pm WBG.02, Docklands Campus
This talk engages with the politics of female sexual self-display over the Internet, especially focusing on teens in America and the U.K. Theresa will begin by discussing a recent U.S. law suit filed by two Indiana teens against their high school principal after he punished them for posting risqué photos in a private section of their MySpace accounts. Echoing current wisdom that there is never a guarantee of privacy on the Internet, the American Civil Liberties Union (representing the girls) has chosen to frame their activities as free-speech acts, arguing that these teens were expressing themselves to themselves in two sorts of bedrooms: their real-life one, and their online one. In this talk, Theresa frames the case in terms of her recent work on a phenomenon she calls “micro-celebrity”: a new way to perform the self that combines the visual techniques of corporate branding with the distribution technologies of the Internet. Theresa is particularly interested in how sexism and ageism converge within micro-celebrity’s overwhelming investment in the so-called ‘attention economies of the Web.’ This speech returns to a question raiseded in her book Camgirls: “Why are women continually encouraged to express themselves in media through confession, celebrity and sexual display, yet punished with conservative censure and backlash when their representation becomes ‘too much’ to handle?” See www.uel.ac.uk/lectureseries for more information.
Staff Lunchtime Q+A with your new VC Wednesday 10 March 1 - 2pm, EBG.06, Docklands
Patrick McGhee will be holding lunchtime question and answer sessions on both the Docklands and Stratford Campuses. These are an opportunity for you to listen to his ideas for UEL and for him to find out what you think about UEL and our future. Lunch provided. To attend either event please RSVP to events@uel.ac.uk or ext 2042 / 2884. If you are unable to attend either session you can email your questions to events@uel.ac.uk by 5pm the day before the event and these questions will be put to Patrick.
First Lesbian Gay and Bisexual staff network meeting Monday 15th March 2010 1 - 3pm, EBG.11, Docklands Campus.
UEL has been a 'Stonewall Diversity Champion' since 2009 giving us an opprtunity to participate in a national benchmarking exercise, formally known as ' Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index'. Our ranking against 352 champion organisations will be revealed at the meeting by Brent Chamberlain our retained Stonewall consultant. The index although representative of all sectors is still very relevant to HEIs and it is interesting to note that Imperial College London is ranked 79th and Liverpool John Moores University is ranked 85th. Brent will also be available to give us advice on general best practice and possible options on how our LGB Network can best operate.
To book a place, please email Greg Price G.Price@uel.ac.uk, along with any items you wish to add to the following draft agenda.
Skills Module Leaders Fora Thursday 18 March 2010 12pm-4.30pm, UH3.12 Stratford Campus
The first in a new series
where Skills Module Leaders have an opportunity to network and discuss issues of importance to them. The first forum will be covering areas of relevance to Level One Skills Modules; our next two forums later in the year will focus on Employability and Research. We hope as many Skills Module Leaders as possible will attend. For further information including the programme please see Skills Module Leaders Forum 2010
Please email learn-teach@uel.ac.uk to register your place at the forum, including details of any special dietary requirements
Annual UELSports Awards 30 April 2010 6pm - 1am, West Ham Utd Football Club
The first Annual Sports Awards to acknowledge and reward the efforts of our students and sports clubs each year. For more information please contact Katy Hollands, k.hollands@uel.ac.uk
Mayfest, Wednesday 5th May 2010
Our annual cultural and arts extravaganza, more information coming soon! To get involved please contact Becky Williams, events@uel.ac.uk or ext. 2884
Open Days 2010
Wednesday 21 April 2010, 4-7pm, Stratford Campus only – Postgraduate advice evening
Saturday 26 June 2010, 12-4pm, Stratford and Docklands
Wednesday 1 September 2010, 4-7pm, Stratford and Docklands
Saturday 16 October 2010, 12-4pm, Stratford and Docklands
For more information about Open Days, contact Vicky Rossiter on v.rossiter@uel.ac.uk
Key links:
Academic Board: www.uel.ac.uk/qa/committees/acaboard
UEL Chaplaincy: www.uel.ac.uk/chaplaincy
Board of Governors: www.uel.ac.uk/governors
Graduation:www.uel.ac.uk/graduation
Mayfest: www.uel.ac.uk/mayfest
Open Days: www.uel.ac.uk/openday
Public Lectures: www.uel.ac.uk/lectureseries
Stonewall Information Service, for advice on housing, parenting, school, work, partnerships, health, immigration and crime call 08000 50 20 20. For details, visit: www.stonewall.org/info
See Events Calendar for a full listing: www.uel.ac.uk/marketing/support/eventscalendar.htm
UELSports on the webSpecific webpages promoting UELSports activities and clubs have recently gone live at www.uel.ac.uk/sports . The pages are designed to give students and staff upto date information on sport and physical activity programmes and opportunities.
Please take time to look through the pages. If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve the site please feedback to us as soon as possible. We expect that these pages will develop and change significantly over the year, and your views are appreciated.
Comments to uelsports@uel.ac.uk.
The first Annual Sports Awards to acknowledge and reward the efforts of our students and sports clubs each year. For more information please contact Katy Hollands, k.hollands@uel.ac.uk
British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), Scholarships. Deadline: 31 March 2010. BRISMES offers Research Awards to research students based in the UK working on a Middle Eastern studies topic. The annually available ceiling of £1,000 will either be given as a single award or divided (max. three). BRISMES also offers scholarships to encourage more people to pursue postgraduate studies in disciplines related to the Middle East in British universities. The scholarships will be for one academic year. The value of each scholarship will be £2,000. Two scholarships will be awarded. http://www.brismes.ac.uk/student-area/scholarships
Irish Museum of Modern Arts, Artists’ Residency Programme Bursary. Deadline: 31 March 2010. This includes a studio/ residency programme which provides opportunities for artists to research and develop their work practice. The residency programme provides a studio and accommodation, administrative support and a bursary worth 400 euros. http://www.imma.ie/en/subnav_13.htm
International Society for the Lingusitics for English. Richard M Hogg Proze. Deadline: 31 March 2010. This is awarded for a paper on any research-related topic in English language or English linguistics. The prize is worth £500. The Prize will be awarded in open competition. The competition is open to any individual who is both: (1) an early-career scholar, defined as a registered student not yet in possession of a doctoral degree, or a post-doctoral scholar within two years of the award of the doctorate at the time of submission; and (2) a member of the Society (membership can be applied for at the time of submission). http://www.isle-linguistics.org/prize/index.asp
Wellcome Trust. Society Awards. Deadline: 31 March 2010. These are for ambitious and creative projects that engage people with developments in biomedical science on a regional or national scale. Awards are for amounts over £30,000 for up to three years. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Public-engagement/Grants/Society-Awards/index.htm
Textile Society Museum archive, library or repository award. Deadline: 1 April 2010. This is made for a textile related project within the museum, archive, library or repository sector. The award is worth £1,000. http://www.textilesociety.org.uk/bursaries-awards/museum-award.php
British Ecological Society, Small Ecological Project Grants. Deadline: 1 April and 1 November each year. These aim to promote all aspects of ecological research and survey. Up to £1,000 for travel and up to £1,500 for other expenses are available. http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/grants/research/sepg.php
Missed an Update? All previously advertised funding opportunities are archived until their date of expiry at http://www.uel.ac.uk/gradschool/research/ResearchUpdate.htm or http://www.uel.ac.uk/gradschool/research/euroupdate.htm
£270,000 OF FUNDING AVAILABLE - THE SECOND CHALLENGE FUND CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IN 09/10 IS NOW OPEN
The Challenge Fund will provide development funding to projects that demonstrate that they address one of the following project streams:
Promote & Support Knowledge Exchange Activities
Knowledge Exchange Development
Business Engagement
Student Engagement
Challenge Fund workshops are being run at Docklands, Stratford and Duncan House during February and March giving a brief overview of the CF and the current call for applications. For dates and venues please visit the links below.
There will be additional calls for applications in the academic year 2010/11. For further information, application documents and workshop dates please visit:www.uel.ac.uk/gradschool o r contact Chris Anderson on ext. 3362 or c.e.anderson@uel.ac.uk.
The Challenge Fund is a 3 year funding programme aimed at raising the profile of knowledge exchange within UEL and increasing staff engagement in knowledge exchange activities.
For Learning and Development Course dates see: www.uel.ac.uk/staff-development/handbook
Crash course in new technologiesSaturday 27th February, 10am - 11am or 11am - 12pm, Thurrock Learning Shop, Grays
Don’t know your Twitter from your
Facebook or your Blogs from your Wikis?
If you’re interested in knowing more about new tools
and technologies, the University of East London will be
running a free one hour taster session on a wide variety of
new technologies.
This session is aimed at anyone with an interest in
learning about new technologies and how they are used.
A basic understanding of computers and the internet is
desirable, but not essential.
Technologies covered in this session will include:
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Podcasting
• Skype
This session is restricted to 12 participants and places
will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
For further information or to book a place on this session
please contact: Debbie Brisco, Thurrock Learning Shop,
Tel: 01375 485490
Come and join us at these workshop sessions to design new historical display boards to tell the story of Central Park throughout the years. Everybody welcome, we want your ideas!
Please send comments or contributions for in Focus Update to: infocus@uel.ac.uk
© 2010
