University Updates
6 November 2009
Official news
New Pro-Vice-Chancellor appointed
Professor Bernard Morley has been appointed to serve as its new Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning & Teaching from 1 March 2010. He will succeed Professor Ian Jamieson who is retiring after 24 years of service with the University. Professor Morley is currently Director of the Graduate School of Life Sciences & Medicine at Imperial College, London.
Individual mitigating circumstances
The University has approved new principles and procedures for dealing with Individual Mitigating Circumstances (IMCs) that affect students’ assessments. These are effective from 2 November 2009 and are designed to ensure that all students are treated consistently.
Council summary
Meeting held on 22 October 2009
Senate summary
Meeting held on 21 October 2009
News
Bath featured in ‘excellence group’ of new German league table
The University of Bath has been highlighted as one of only 34 UK universities to attain excellence group status in league tables produced by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) in Germany. The CHE excellence rankings focus on the academic disciplines of economics, political science and psychology.
Wanted: Interesting stories about Winter graduands
Do you know a student who has had to overcome challenges in order to graduate this winter? The University Press Office is looking for moving or unusual stories in the run up to the winter graduations, as part of its publicity plans for the December event. If a student you teach has an interesting story alongside their academic achievement and you’d like to share it, please contact Faye Lockier, email or ext 4220.
Blogs from abroad
A number of Modern Languages & European Studies undergraduates are currently on their placement year abroad. They are writing blogs which describe their experiences.
Delights of the digital age
A workshop for women interested in promoting their businesses online is being held at the University as part of National Women’s Enterprise Day on Wednesday 18 November.
Information
How satisfied are you with Purchasing Services?
In an effort to improve the services offered to departments across campus, Purchasing Services has introduced Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that seek to annually measure customer satisfaction with the services provided. If you deal with Purchasing Services, please could you complete their survey?
News from Hospitality about food outlets on campus
Thanks to all those who completed Hospitality's online surveys in May 2009. Since then the Hospitality team has been working hard to address some of the issues raised. They have outlined some of the actions carried out as a response to your suggestions.
Changes to 20A & 20C timetables
As of 2 November there have been some alterations to the timetables which may affect you.
Swap Shop wiki
Does your department need to get rid of something that might be useful to another department? Why not use Purchasing’s Swap Shop wiki to swap it (or possibly just give it to them!)
Pilot Sabbatical Leave Scheme - call for applications
Individuals wishing to apply for sabbatical leave should submit an application for sabbatical leave via their Head of Department/School by 27 November.
Jobs
Vacant posts: www.bath.ac.uk/jobs
Alumni & development news
Latest issue of BA2 now available
Copies of issue 15 of the alumni magazine BA2 are now available from the Alumni Office.
Bath graduate helps Jenson Button win F1 title
Mike Collier, Sport & Exercise Science graduate, has helped Jenson Button win this year’s Formula One driver’s championship. Collier is physiotherapist and trainer to Button and part of the Brawn GP team which has triumphed over economic uncertainty during this season’s F1 championship.
New scholarship in memory of engineering professor
The family of the late Professor Frank Wallace has set up a scholarship to help Chinese students to undertake a full masters programme at the University in Automotive Engineering.
Research volunteers wanted
- Pregnant women needed to take part in labour pain study
The Pan Bath & Swindon Primary Care Research Consortium based at the University hopes to recruit 225 pregnant women from the Bath, Wiltshire and Bristol area to take part in a study into labour pain drugs. - Win £25 voucher: Survey on safety of cervical cancer vaccine
A group of Pharmacy researchers are looking into the safety of the HPV vaccine in the prevention of cervical cancer since this is currently a topical issue that is being debated amongst the general public and health professionals alike. Please help by completing a short online survey.
- Judge how well six scenarios describe privacy (5-minute survey)
- School for Health researcher David Moore is offering £5 to all staff and students who volunteer to participate in an experiment which takes no more than one hour and involves computerised reaction time tasks, questionnaires, and a mildly painful heat or pressure sensation.
- Want to vent about a privacy violation that kept you up at night? Fill out our 10-minute survey and tell us how you feel!
In the media
- Richard Whitman (ESML) was interviewed on the BBC TV News Channel about the ratification of the Lisbon treaty and Conservative proposal of a referendum.
- John Hudson (Economics) commented on the likely economic impact of Bath's new SouthGate shopping centre. BBC website. He also appeared on TV (BBC Points West), BBC Radio Bristol & BBC Radio Wiltshire.
- Celebrity chef Gizzi Erskine was invited on campus by the Students' Union to give a healthy eating cookery demo and BBC Points West came and filmed it.
- David Wainwright (School for Health) responded to new NICE guidelines to tackle stress in the workplace on Bath FM and
Radio Bristol.
- Gymnobot, the robotic fish being developed by William Megill's team (Mechanical Engineering), was featured in the National Geographic. A video-report of Gymnobot appeared on the Discovery Channel, Canada. (The clip is preceded by a 30 second advert.)
- Simon Bond (Bath Ventures) talked about a SetSquared mission which will send entrepreneurs to America this month to face a Dragons’ Den-style panel of investors offering up to £13m to develop their low-carbon technologies. Sunday Times
- Joe Devine (Social & Policy Sciences) discussed 'extreme poverty' in the most recent edition of the Daily Star magazine - Bangladesh's most popular news journal supplement.
- The journal Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, edited by Sue Martin (formerly by Bill Scott), has just been accepted for coverage in the Social Science Citation Index from volume 33 (2008). This means that the journal will receive its first Impact Factor in the 2010 journal citation report (published mid 2011). The Journal is published seven times a year by the Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Training & development
- Workshop on running tutorials & seminars 10 November
- Project management (Two spaces) 13 November
- Chairing recruitment panels 9, 11 or 17 November
(It will be mandatory for Chairs to have attended this course from 1 January 2010) - Women’s Development Network lunch - Women & Fitness 20 November
- GTA/PGR intensive teaching course 24 November
- Leading research teams 24 November
- Publishing in academic journals: tips from the experts 25 November
(Only open to academics and research staff) - ILM Level 2 team leading award January-February 2010
- CMS training courses
- Staff Development programme | PDF to print
- e-Learning staff development programme
- Monthly learning & teaching paper lunches
Forthcoming lectures
Public lectures
The programme of free lectures open for staff, students and the general public is available online.
Podcasts
Catch up on any lectures you may have missed.
Professor Jaan Valsiner, a visiting professor from the USA, is giving a lecture on the role of culture in psychology on Monday 9 November.
Bath Science Café explores science and religion
Yvonne Aburrow (Web Services) will explore the relationship between science and religion (in particular Paganism) at the next meeting of the Bath Science Café on Monday 9 November at the Raven pub, Bath.
Sex, conflicts and cooperation: the family life of birds
Professor Tamás Székely (Biology & Biochemistry) will give his inaugural lecture on Wednesday 11 November, revealing that the family dynamics of birds are not all they may seem.
Intimations of immortality – the changing face of death in an ageing society
For years no-one spoke about it, but now death is an openly accepted part of life. The changing faces of death and how ways of acknowledging it are beginning to be reinvented will be examined by Malcolm Johnson (Centre for Death & Society) in a public lecture at the University on Wednesday 11 November.
Lady Miller of Batheaston, the origins and achievements of her poetical assemblies
A free public lecture about the elusive 18th century Lady Miller of Batheaston, and her poetry gatherings, will take place on campus on Wednesday 18 November.
The cosmic web
We have so much more to learn about the Universe that surrounds our world but a public lecture on campus on Thursday 19 November will give people the chance to find out how physicists are weaving together ideas to explain how it came to be.
Dates for your diary
- Fireworks display 7 November
- University Carol Service 9 December
- Winter graduations 15/16 December
What's on
More details - www.bath.ac.uk/whats-on/
Monday 9
13:15 PM Actuarial work - what's it all about, is it for me?
13:15 PM Interview success
13:15 PM Complexity/BICS seminar - The verifiable virtual organisation? Dynamic coalition
18:30 PM Faith Forum
18:30 PM Creative thinking
19:30 PM Chinese classical gardens
Tuesday 10
10:15 AM Aptitude tests
12:15 PM Midweek Eucharist/Holy Communion Service
12:45 PM Oxfam lunch
18:30 PM Insight into public practice
21:30 PM Vyb:Ez Club - launch night
Wednesday 11
10:55 AM Two-minute silence/Act of Remembrance
12:15 PM The Bath Award - info session
13:15 PM 'Research, policy & funding - Academic treadmills and the squeeze on intellect
13:15 PM Job hunting - beyond
14:15 PM Verbal reasoning test only
18:00 PM Jazz improvisation workshop
18:15 PM Family life of birds: Sex, conflicts & cooperation
18:30 PM Going Dutch
Thursday 12
13:15 AM Interview skills for international students
20:00 PM Singularities: Kadialy Kouyate - African harp-lute
Friday 13
14:15 PM Assessment centre workshop
14:15 PM Numerical reasoning test only
Arts
Full details: www.bath.ac.uk/icia
Concerts and Performances:
Choral & Orchestral Society - Remembrance Concert | St Michael’s Church, Broad Street, Bath | Sunday 8 November, 7.30pm
With proceeds to the Royal British Legion and St Michael’s Church, this concert features the University’s Philharmonic Orchestra, Concert Band and Choir.Singularities: Kadialy Kouyate - Kora | Music Room, University Hall | Thursday 12 November, 8pm
Kadialy Kouyate, born in Senegal, is a master of the Kora, a 21-stringed African harp-lute. He draws on his West African heritage and its traditional songs to create his own mesmerising compositions.bgroup about around | ICIA Arts Theatre | Saturday 14 November, 6pm & 8pm
Paying reference to the timeless tradition of a circular gathering, about around places its audience in an intimate ring of 50 seats. The dancers enact a sequence of events that chart the passing of an hour, exploring ritualistic conventions from primitive to modern day.
Workshops:
Singing Workshop | Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex | Saturday 7 November,10am-5pm
A workshop for singers from all genres. Various repertoire and techniques will be used to improve your sound.Jazz Improvisation | Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex | Wednesday 11 November, 6pm-9pm
Trumpeter, drummer and composer Andy Hague delivers a workshop covering a variety styles and approaches to improvisation.
Exhibitions:
Alex Pearl - Goodbye to most of the daydreams | ICIA Art Space 1 | Until Friday 19 February
Alex Pearl applied to the British Antarctic Survey proposing not to go to the South Pole. He then documented his non-journey. Both haunting and humorous, his mini epic films, texts, drawings and sculptures carry an acceptance of failure and disappointment as important parts of the human condition.Lucy Harrison - Remains ICIA Art Space 2 | Until Friday 18 December
Remains is a new body of work which explores demolition sites and brings together material from East London, East Germany and the University of Bath campus. Harrison’s work combines photographs, observations and chance encounters with published documents.
Sport
Hockey trio to feature in Wales World Cup qualification campaign
Three TeamBath Buccaneers are currently in New Zealand with the Wales national team preparing to take part in the men’s World Cup qualification tournament.
The Welsh side is captained by TeamBath Buccaneer Matt Ruxton, and he is joined by Lewis Prosser, who is studying Sports Performance at Bath, and Ben Carless, a Mechanical Engineering student at the University.
Bronze for coxless pair
Charlotte Lang (Politics with International Relations) and Nikki Godbold (Mathematical Sciences) stormed their way to an impressive bronze medal at the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Small Boats Head event in Lincolnshire. The Bath University Boat Club pair’s medal-winning performance in the women’s coxless pair race was all the more remarkable as it was their first session rowing together.
