18 February 2011
Important updates
Fees and access – update on national and institutional developments
The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, called a meeting on Tuesday 8 February 2011 to discuss the issues of fair access and widening participation in the university sector. Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Glynis Breakwell, along with several other vice-chancellors, was invited to attend.
Conclusion of 2010/11 pay round
The University has been advised to implement the 0.4 per cent pay award in February 2011 (with arrears backdated to 1 August 2010), although there has not been unanimous acceptance of the offer by all the unions. For more information, please read the message from Ian Cheetham, Director of Human Resources, which explains the background in fuller detail.
Vice-Chancellor appointed to West of England LEP Board
Glynis Breakwell, (Vice-Chancellor) has been appointed as the Higher Education representative on the Board of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). The new LEP is one of a network created across the country to replace regional development agencies.
University of Exeter joins expanding SETsquared partnership
The SETsquared Partnership is being expanded by the addition of the University of Exeter which will provide further impetus to the Partnership’s drive to create research led economic growth.
Is engineering a man’s world? We don’t think so!
When James Brown sang ‘It’s a man’s world’ he could well have been talking about the field of engineering. However, six Mechanical Engineering students are trying to prove this is no longer the case.
Foreign Languages Centre day for local A level students
The Foreign Languages Centre at the University of Bath hosted an Open Day on campus for year 12 students who are studying French, Spanish and German at AS or A level (or equivalent).
Information
Watching your speed on Claverton Hill
Staff and students who use Claverton Hill to drive to and from the A36 are being asked to watch their speed on this narrow stretch of road, and to take extra care in icy conditions.
Frome Road to close for three months
A reminder that a section of Frome Road was closed on Monday 7 February 2011 for up to three months.
New wireless internet access on campus – eduroam
Eduroam allows internet connectivity in existing wireless zones at the University. What makes eduroam different to other wireless access methods, is that once you are set up to use eduroam, you can log on to the network at any eduroam-enabled organisation without needing to apply for a temporary username and password.
Vouchers Wanted
If you have Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers or Tesco for Schools and Clubs vouchers and don't know what to do with them then Westwood Nursery would like to hear from you
Recycle & save
Purchasing Services' Swap Shop wiki aims to make use of University assets more productively, saving on your departmental budget.
Welcome to all staff who joined the University in January
Find out who started working at the University of Bath last month
Jobs
Vacant posts: www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/
Learning & teaching
Have left this because I know we were keen to keep the section but haven't had time to consdier what could be put into it yet. So your choice what to do
Nominations & deadlines
Pilot Sabbatical Leave Scheme Next deadline - 4 March
Chancellor's Prize for best final year undergrad
If you think you might be teaching the best final year undergraduate student cyrrently studying at the University of Bath then you may want to nominate them for the Chancellor's Prize.
University of Bath Learning & Teaching Awards 2011
Do you know someone at the University who deserves recognising for the quality of their teaching. Nominations are now open for the University of Bath Teaching Awards, which encourage and recognise significant contributions by staff to the academic lives of students.
Bids for CPD Development Fund Deadline -Monday 28 February
The fund seeks to encourage University staff to work with external employers to investigate and develop Continuing Professional Development opportunities which meet the needs of their workforce.
Conferences
Creative societies for health & wellbeing 24 February
Peter Johnson (Computer Science) is hosting a day-long event held in the City of Bath which will focus on different issues connected with the role creative, social activities play in fostering and preserving health and wellbeing. The aim of the day is to raise awareness of current activities, current issues & challenges and to identify opportunities for achieving greater impact through research, development and application. Harry Daniels (Education) will talk about 'Social cultural perspectives on health & wellbeing' and Hilary Johnson (Computer Science) will give a presentation on 'Creativity support tools'.
New CPD course on photonic crystal fibres is huge success
Delegates from across the globe attended the Physics Department’s first Continuing Professional Development course last month. The two-week non-accredited course was co-ordinated by Dmitry Skryabin and delivered by staff and postgraduate students from the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials.
Research & Knowledge Transfer
Eating disorders linked with autism in school children
Researchers at the University of Bath and Great Ormond Street Hospital have found that school children who show tendencies towards eating disorders also have traits associated with autism.
New guide helps builders tackle ‘embodied carbon’
A new guide by the University of Bath is set to help the construction industry measure and tackle the full carbon footprint of building materials and reduce negative impact on the environment.
Funding awarded for research into internet & smartphone addiction
Neal Hinvest (Psychology), has been successful in securing funding for his proposal on ‘internet, video-game and smartphone addiction’.
KT Fellowship: Hydrogen – number one element, number one fuel
Tim Mays (Chemical Engineering), has been awarded a part-time Knowledge Transfer Fellowship from the EPSRC Knowledge Transfer Account for one year, starting on 1 January 2011.
Protocol for surveying students
A new process for surveying groups of more than 250 students at the University of Bath has now been approved for use.
In the media
www.bath.ac.uk/news/bathinpapers/
- A variety of publications including the Bristol Evening Post & the Bath Chronicle featured Mark Bronsan's (Psychology) discovery of a link between autism and eating disorders, he was also interviewed by BBC Radio Bristol.
Tony Walter (Social & Policy Sciences) spoke to BBC online about the 'taste wars' occuring in many of Britain's cemeteries. - The success of badminton ace Chris Coles (Sports Performance) who reached the national semi-finals was featured by the Bath Chronicle.
Volunteering
Would you like to know how you see your quality of life & wellbeing?
Alison Llewellyn is a PhD Researcher in the World Health Organisation’s Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, here at the University of Bath.
Is breakfast the most important meal of the day for you?
Researchers at the University of Bath are looking for volunteers to take part in an innovative project designed to explore how important breakfast is to our health.
Find out how best to lose weight & improve your health
James Betts and Dylan Thompson (Health) are looking for volunteers to take part in a project designed to explore how diet and exercise affects health.
Work perks
Organic fruit and veg box scheme on campus
If you fancy some fresh locally sourced fruit and veg this weekend then this latest campus scheme could be for you.
Staff Discounts
An updated list of all discounts available to those working at the University of Bath. If you have family or friends who run a business and would like to participate in the Staff Discount Scheme, please ask them to contact Alison Flindall, HR Manager.
Get 15% discount at new Physiotherapy & Massage Suite
The Sports Injury Clinic is happy to announce that their new Physiotherapy & Massage Suite, based at the Sulis Club, is now open. The expansion into the Sulis Club will allow the Sports Injury Clinic to offer its highly regarded service to more people than ever and the best news is University of Bath staff get a 15% discount.
Designated Car Share parking spaces
6 reserved Car Share spaces have been created in both the East and West car parks in order to encourage car share users, as displayed in the photographs below.
Training & development
NVQs awarded to Hospitality & Accommodation Staff
45 members of Hospitality & Accomodation were presented with NVQs at an afternoon ceremony held in Wessex house. The awards were in areas including Housekeeping Cleaning & Support Services; Customer Service; Hospitality Supervision; Food and Drinks Service and Multi Skilled Hospitality Services.
- Mental Health First Aid - Next 2 day course - Friday 11 & Friday 18 March
- Advanced video conferencing (AGN) demo - Saturday 26 March
- Researchers: Find out what it's like to be a science journalist
- KTA seminar: Practical networking Tuesday 29 March
- IT skills new training timetable available
- Staff Development semester 2 programme
- e-Learning staff development programme
- Training opportunities for researchers
- Training for the occasional trainers - Thursday 10 March 2011
- Enterprising Academic event | Plymouth University - Friday 4 March
Lectures & seminars
Jade Goody and the internet: a new way of looking at death
Jade Goody’s public death in the tabloids and magazines, and how the internet can make death a less isolating experience, are two of the topics being discussed at a seminar at the University on 4 March.
Mysterious cases of misbehaving molecules! | Thursday 24 February 2011 | 4.15pm | 3WN 2.1
Ever wondered why chocolate goes white with age? Have you heard of the thalidomide tragedy? Did you realise that a US pharmaceutical firm recently lost over $250M because the molecules of an anti-HIV drug started sticking together badly? Find answers to these questions and more in this lecture by Chick Wilson.
Faith forum what happens when we die
This issue is discussed in the annual three faiths forum held at the Chapliancy.
The prehistory of Bathampton Down - Bath's sacred landscape | Wednesday 23 February 2011 | 5.15pm | Lecture Theatre 8 West 1.1
There have been a series of significant prehistoric cultures in Bath, with features well represented on Bathampton Down - many of which are unknown to the people of Bath. The talk will consider stone circles, Bronze Age round barrows, the ancient field system, the Iron Age enclosure and a new Iron Age site. Learn more about pre-Roman society and the vulnerable local landscape that needs to be protected.
Birds & bees - threats & survival | Friday 25 February 2011 | 1pm | Carpenter House
This lecture discusses the conservation project aiming to re-introduce the great bustard to Sailsbury Plain and a major threat to the UK's bee population.
What's on
www.bath.ac.uk/whats-on
Monday 21 February
19:30 PM A failed affair of states? The prospects for a foreign policy for the EU
Tuesday 22 February
12:45 PM Oxfam Lunch
13:15 PM Gender & Sexuality Research Network Seminars
16:30 PM Sustainability & learning: What role for the curriculum?
Wednesday 23 February
12:15 PM Eucharist/Holy Communion
13:15 PM SPS Placements Conference 2011
Thursday24 February
11:00 AM Volunteer Fair
12:30 PM Lunchtime workshop: Small group teaching to enhance learning
17:15 PM Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Graduate School Open Evening
19:30 PM Bath University Student Theatre - Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Friday25 February
19:30 PM Bath University Student Theatre - Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Saturday 26 February
19:30 PM Practice
Sunday 27 February
10:30 AM Workshop: Introduction to writing for performance
Arts
www.bath.ac.uk/icia
Concerts & performances:
Choral & Orchestral Society Recital | University Hall | Saturday 19 February , 7.30pm,
Featuring solo ensembles and chamber performances, showcasing the talent of students from one of the University’s most popular societies.
ICIA Evening Concert Takafumi Abe | University Hall, Music Room | Wednesday 23 February, 5.15pm
Limited Seating Available. Programme includes Prelude "The Bells of Moscow" by Rachmaninov, Nocturne No.13, 20 by Chopin, Allegro for Concert by Granados.
Bath University Student Theatre Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw | The Mission Theatre, Corn St, Bath | Thursday 24 & Friday 25 February , 7.30pm
This Shaw classic witnesses Professor Henry Higgins' attempt to create an ‘ideal woman’ out of the cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle. Is the notion of an ‘ideal woman’ even possible?
Exhibitions:
Class Wargames Present Guy Debord’s The Game of War | ICIA Art Space 2 | Until Saturday 26 February, Monday -Saturday 10am-5pm
Class Wargames is a collective of artists, academics and activists. Their multimedia exhibition is inspired by The Game of War, the life’s work of French anti-capitalist intellectual, Guy Debord, begun after the riots of May 1968.
Swindon College Lines of Enquiry 7 | ICIA Art Space 1 | Until Friday 18 March , Monday -Saturday 10am-5pm
The seventh in a series showing work by graduates of the BA Fine Art Drawing at Swindon College’s School of Art & Design.
ICIA music tuition scheme for staff : Places still available
Continue your music studies or try something new by signing up to ICIA’s subsidised instrumental and vocal tuition scheme taught by professional tutors.
Sport
Netballers aim to bounce back after wafer-thin Mavericks defeat
TeamBath's televised netball fixture against Leeds Carnegie has been moved to the Sports Training Village. Following a wafer-thin defeat away to Hertfordshire Mavericks last time out TeamBath will be hoping this change of venue will provide the boost they need tor ecord another super league win.
Jamieson leads way as Bath finish runners-up at BUCS swimming champs
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Michael Jamieson led the way as the University of Bath finished as runners-up at the British Universities and Colleges Sport long course championships.
Bath Half Marathon
Are you running the Bath Half for charity this year?
Let us know your name, department and the charity you are raising money for (with www.justgiving link) and we'll add you to our list. Email comms@bath.ac.uk with 'Bath Half' in the subject line. Good luck with your preparations.