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e-Bulletin

Announcements, news, events and notices for all staff

 QMUL

Fellowships and honorary awards presented at QMUL summer graduation 2017

Last week, we celebrated our summer graduation ceremonies at the Mile End campus. Fifteen ceremonies were held over five days, with around 11,000 guests, families and friends celebrating the achievements of our graduates. Take a look at #QMULgrad on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to see some of the amazing photos taken throughout the week.

Four people were made fellows of QMUL during the 2017 summer graduation ceremonies. The fellowship is normally conferred on a person or persons of distinction who has rendered significant service to QMUL or to the community, or with a demonstrable connection to or affiliation with QMUL. Those given the distinction at last week's ceremonies were Kazi Ruksana Begum, Virginia Simpson, Jane Hill and Dajit Nagra.

Three honorary degrees were also awarded, celebrating feminism, space education and computer science. Those awarded were Peggy Shaw, William Jeremy Curtis and Professor Simon Peyton Jones. Find out more and see photos on Connect.

Celebration of Athena SWAN and update on next steps

The Principal, Professor Simon Gaskell, hosted a lunch on Tuesday 20 June to celebrate QMUL’s achievement and commitment to advancing gender equality through the Athena SWAN programme. Professor Edmund Burke, who chairs the Athena SWAN Project Board commented at the event: “This is a key moment in QMUL’s development. It required a high level of commitment and dedication from across the institution and I am proud to have played a role in obtaining this important award for QMUL. However, we mustn’t rest on our laurels. We have an ambitious action plan that will enable us to build upon this achievement and which will facilitate continued improvement and review of our work on gender equality.” More.

QMUL students excel at British Conference of Undergraduate Research

In April, the Learning Development team supported 35 students to attend the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) at Bournemouth University. Funded by the Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Engineering faculties and the Annual Fund, QMUL students were able to experience the excitement that comes from presenting their research to a community of scholars, and from participating in an interdisciplinary conference. After the host institution, QMUL was the biggest participant in BCUR 2017, and our students did an excellent job representing the university and showcasing their research. More.

QMSU student society successes

Two of the Students’ Union student societies have enjoyed incredible success in Europe-wide competitions over the summer. At the end of last month, the cheerleading squad QMAngels placed second in the European Cheerleading Championships in Prague within the co-ed elite division. Watch a video of their routine on Twitter. Last week, the Queen Mary Formula Student team took their single-seat racing car to Silverstone to compete in the Europe-wide Formula Student competition. The QMUL team won the best newcomer award at the event, which was organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Latest newsletters

  • Centre for Trauma Sciences (C4TS) newsletter summer 2017 | Read
  • Lifelines from Workplace Options summer 2017 | Read

Queen Mary in the Media

If you would like to receive daily updates on Queen Mary in the media or submit a story to the PR team, please email press@qmul.ac.uk.

QMUL People

Rhys Davies recently joined QMUL as the new Chief Information Officer. He tells us about his plans for the future of IT at QMUL, as well as his ambition to support each area of the university with a personalised approach. Read.

Notices

Update on Professional Services Leadership Team

There have been some key appointments to the Professional Services Leadership Team, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, Laura Gibbs. Sarah Cowls has been appointed to the role of Director of Student and Academic Services, starting on Monday 4 September. Catherine Murray will be joining us on Tuesday 29 August as our new Director of Planning. Maggie Leggett will join on Monday 18 September as our new Director of Marketing and Communications. Rhys Davies joined as our Chief Information Officer on Monday 24 April. Find out more about them on Connect.

Important notice regarding sleeping overnight in academic buildings

It has come to the attention of the fire safety team in Health and Safety that colleagues may occasionally sleep overnight in academic buildings. This is not an acceptable practice, and is potentially dangerous, given that we do not have the required level of fire detection to alert people sleeping in these buildings. Additionally, some buildings go into lockdown, which would prevent escape in an emergency. The institution would be in breach of the Regulatory Fire Safety Order and liable to enforcement and prosecution action under this order if found culpable. For these reasons, if anyone is found sleeping overnight in our academic buildings, they could be liable for disciplinary action.

Applications invited for role of Academic Lead for Internationalisation

The Principal wrote to all staff recently informing them of the upcoming retirement of Professor David Sadler, Vice-Principal (International). This noted the intention to seek expressions of interest from colleagues in the role of Academic Lead for Internationalisation, which would act as a focal and co-ordinating point for activity while a replacement for David was sought. A job description for this role is now available to download from Connect.

Reports of an increase in phishing emails

IT Services is receiving reports of a rise in phishing emails from unknown sources. Please report all phishing emails to report-phishing@qmul.ac.uk, and do not click on any links provided or respond to the email. QMUL will never send you an email asking for your password or bank details. If in doubt, please call the IT Service Desk on x8888 or raise a ticket. Free cyber security awareness training is available for staff and students on QMplus.

Vote for QMUL’s Cigbreak quit-smoking app video

Dr Elizabeth Edwards is an NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) In-Practice Fellow working at the Centre for Primary Care and Public Health within the Blizard Institute. She is part of a team at QMUL that has developed a gamified smoking cessation app called Cigbreak. Dr Edwards has been shortlisted for best video in the NIHR digital competition and needs your help in the public vote to win – vote for Cigbreak before Wednesday 2 August.

Aurora Programme – application deadline extended

The Aurora Programme is a unique partnership bringing together leadership experts and higher education institutions to take positive action to address the under-representation of women in leadership positions in the sector. The application deadline has been extended to tomorrow, Thursday 27 July at 5pm. Find out more on Connect.

Consultation on Tower Hamlets Community Engagement Strategy and Framework 2017-20

Tower Hamlets Council has developed the Community Engagement Framework 2017-20 to help and encourage local communities to play a greater and more active role in the things that matter to them most. The framework will help decide the priorities for the borough going into a challenging period. They would like to get your views and opinions as QMUL staff who work (and may live) in the borough on the commitments in the framework.

Life Sciences Initiative (LSI) Microbiome Network: Call for PhD presentations

The next LSI Microbiome Network meeting will be on Tuesday 19 September, 2-6pm at the Charterhouse Square campus. For this meeting, PhD students and postdocs are invited to give short, 10-minute presentations of their microbiome-related work. Please submit titles to Rebecca Fowles and Naheedah Choudhury at lifesciences@qmul.ac.uk by Friday 25 August. Following the presentations, there will be a discussion session on plans for capacity building and expertise sharing for microbiome work, followed by networking drinks. Register your attendance through Eventbrite.

Save the date: Bioresource and bioinformatics for cadiovascular research across UCLP

A workshop to share experience and knowledge across UCLPartners (UCLP) will take place on Friday 8 September in the afternoon (venue and exact timings TBC). A series of talks and discussions will bring together clinicians and academics to explore the opportunities for cardiovascular research, the challenges faced and how we might address these to improve translational outcomes for patient benefit. You are warmly invited to attend by Steffen Petersen, who is the Centre Lead of Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging within the William Harvey Research Institute, and Chair for UCLP Cardiovascular Academic Medical Centre.

Vacancies at Queen Mary

Recent vacancies advertised on the HR website include a Public Engagement Officer in the Office of the Principal, an Administrative Officer in the School of Geography and a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute. For more information, see jobs.qmul.ac.uk.

 

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e-Bulletin is sent out by the Internal Engagement team every Wednesday. The deadline for copy is the Monday before publication.