University of Suffolk Staff Newsletter issue 16 Spring 2023

WELCOME

Thank you for taking a moment to look at our latest newsletter. We committed to aligning our work with our values; transformative, collaborative, empowering, professional, inclusive and creative, so I thought I would use them as a way of introducing some of the wonderful work you will find in this edition.

Our Chancellor’s recent open lecture epitomised how one person can influence the transformation of themselves and their society. Similarly, well done to our legal team for the Legal Advice Centre award, an initiative where the team is helping students to transform into great graduates of the future, and enhancing their student experience.

Our sustainability team are a great example of where empowerment can bring about huge achievement. Well done to them for driving our green agenda and claiming the Greenest County Business of the Year award.

The collaborative Spotlight Suffolk event saw us host a panel discussion, ‘Ipswich as the first City in Suffolk?’ leading to great conversations with a range of partners across the region, and very well received.

This edition also showcases a number of conferences, and the first Connection Week for our alumni, which was a huge success. We

received many comments on how professional our approach was, and the team should be proud of the feedback they received. Well done team.

The Dragon Boat Race in which we had two teams taking part, the international festival; and the WhatUni Awards, are all great examples of how being inclusive helps create an environment in which everyone feels they belong and are valued.

Our initiatives on dentistry, cost-of-living and Estates developments, demonstrate that we are a creative community, and innovative at finding new ways and solutions to advance the boundaries of knowledge and address real life issues.

So well done all, on a great edition giving us much to be proud of.

Professor Helen Langton Vice - Chancellor and CEO

IN FOCUS Connection Week

The University was very proud to hold an inaugural event to celebrate alumni and supporters. Connection Week, running from 17 to 21 April, focused on providing opportunities for them to connect, reconnect and reunite with the University, staff, and friends.

The full week of activities offered a range of ways for graduates to reconnect with the University: campus tours, careers sessions, drop-in sessions and local discounts were all on offer. Online ‘Lunchtime Lives’ each day reached an audience of over 4,500 during the week, and this number is still climbing as the sessions continue to be viewed. The University hosted an Honorary Graduates and Supporters drinks reception where fifty guests were able to meet with several of our student/alumni authors of ‘Suffolk Arboretum’ and receive signed copies of the anthology. This event has currently raised nearly £7000 and donations from generous supporters continue to be received.

The week concluded with the first ever Alumni Reunion, where over 70 graduates came back to the University to celebrate their achievements, reminisce, and reunite with old friends. The event coincided with the final day of the first Alumni Fine Art Exhibition, with guests surrounded by stunning and inspiring art, celebrating featured works from

42 Fine Art graduates from 2007–2022 curated by University alumni, friends and the Fine Art team.

Overwhelmingly positive feedback was received both internally and externally about each aspect of the event, with participants feeling that the University “had grown up” and the “professionalism of the staff and students was evident and clear.”

This inaugural event took place on the Ipswich campus, however, in future the team plan to look at events with the University’s UK and International partner institutions.

Connection Week was a true collaborative effort, and huge thanks go out to all colleagues who supported the event.

Kate Burgess, Alumni Relations and Development Manager, said, “Connection Week was a passion project from start to finish for our team. We wanted to provide an opportunity for as many alumni to re-acquaint themselves with the University as possible and we definitely achieved that. Our alumni and supporters are so very passionate about their university and it was an absolute delight to hear such positive comments on how we have grown and the impact that their journey with us has had on their lives.”

University jumps up another 20 places

The University was heartened to see yet another improvement in our league table position when results were released this month. Following a year of further investment in our Estates and an ongoing commitment to constantly improve facilities and the student experience, it is fantastic to see this reflected in the league table results. Continuing the positive, league table trajectory of 2022 with an improvement of 26 places, this year saw another a leap forward of a further 20 places.

The Complete University Guide league table results are based on independent measures aligned to the values of students and parents such as, student satisfaction with teaching, and post-graduation employment figures. The metrics covered include; entry standards, student satisfaction, quality of research, graduate prospects, student-to-staff ratio, spending on academic services, degree completion, and spending on student facilities.

Its ascent up the rankings by 20 places makes it the joint-fourth highest number of positions gained by a university for this year nationally. The league table results coincided with the release of

the spring 2023 figures by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) last week, with the University achieving an 85.71 per cent positive outcome rate for undergraduate students, based on 2021 graduates 15 months after graduating. A positive outcome is defined as any kind of employment or further study.

‘Quality of Work’ measures in the HESA data — which attempts to measure whether the skills learned during their studies have been helpful, if their work is meaningful and if it helps their future plans – ranked the University as top out of all providers for those in employment or further study.

Professor Helen Langton, Vice-Chancellor and CEO, commented, “The University of Suffolk is continuing to demonstrate that the quality of learning and the experience for students is high and reflected in the results of two national sets of data.

“It’s clear Suffolk is a real destination of choice for students and, with further plans in the pipeline, we are sure there are more exciting times ahead.”

NEWS AND UPDATES

Chancellor delivers open lecture

The University of Suffolk was delighted to welcome its Chancellor, Professor Helen Pankhurst, to give a lecture to a full house in May.

The lecture was entitled “Sylvia Pankhurst: A Life of Purpose — But What Relevance to Suffolk in 2023?” and reflected on the life of Professor Pankhurst’s grandmother, who together with her sister Christabel and her mother Emmeline, founded the suffragette movement.

Sylvia went on to lead a long, fascinating and purposeful life and as well as championing votes for women, she was a writer, editor, artist and poet.

Part of the evening was given over to a panel discussion with staff and students from the University, which echoed themes from Sylvia’s life and their relevance in today’s world.

Supporting our staff and students during the cost‑of‑living crisis

Reflecting the core values of collaboration, empowerment and inclusivity, the University has partnered with the Students’ Union (SU) to help staff and students tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

Free parking across campus has been extended until the end of the academic year and a web page Cost of Living | University of Suffolk has been developed.

The SU offered a free, weekly breakfast and dinner in the social space. Comments received while the team were gathering feedback on this offer included: “Dinner is a fab way of making sure students are having a hot meal, nutrients and a good portion of food” and “Having access to free hot drinks has improved my days a lot.”

Embracing inclusivity and a targeted approach, the University linked with a local community church at Christmas to provide over 150 bags of

food and gifts, shared amongst identified groups of students likely to be remaining on campus over the Christmas break including estranged, careexperienced and international students.

In addition, free sanitary products are also now available in all female and inclusive toilets across campus.

Spotlight Suffolk Talk Series

Ipswich, and the potential for it to become a city of the future, was the subject of a major event organised and hosted by the University in collaboration with Ipswich Central.

The panel discussion, and audience question and answer session, were the first in a series of similar events planned by the University to address a wide variety of themes and topics.

Spotlight Suffolk: Ipswich — the first city in Suffolk? took place at The Hold in Ipswich and was chaired by actor, comedian and Suffolk resident, Omid Djalili.

Panellists included: Professor Helen Langton, University Vice-Chancellor; Alex Gooch, President of the Students’ Union; Sophie Alexander-Parker, CEO of Ipswich Central and All About Ipswich; John Dugmore, CEO of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce; Elma Glasgow, founder of Aspire Black Suffolk and Karen Turnbull, Economic Strategy Specialist at Colchester City Council.

A large audience at the venue joined the panel discussing the economic, cultural and educational issues around Ipswich potentially one day achieving city status, and the experience of neighbouring Colchester which became a city last year.

NEWS AND UPDATES

Suffolk Green Business of the Year Award

The University has been named as Suffolk’s, Green Business of the Year at the County Council’s, Creating the Greenest County Awards.

The Greenest County Awards were established over a decade ago to celebrate environmental excellence across Suffolk, and this year’s ceremony at The Hold, home of Suffolk Archives in Ipswich, saw nine awards presented.

The University highlighted its sustainability programme within its operations, teaching and research as it aims to become carbon neutral and net zero.

Headlines have included cutting carbon emissions by 76%, seeing 90% of its electricity come from renewable sources, reducing waste production and establishing wildlife spaces.

Tim Greenacre, Chief Operating Officer, said, “The University is thrilled that the work of the Sustainability team has been recognised in this way.

“Driving down carbon emissions is a global priority and we must all play our part in this.

“Delivering year on year improvements against a backdrop of exciting campus developments has not been easy, but we remain on track to meet our scopes 1 and 2 carbon neutral target by 2030 and be net-zero by 2050.”

Justine Oakes, Head of Sustainability and Programmes, said, “We are completely thrilled to win the Greenest County, Green Business Award.

“Often the sheer scale of what needs to still be done to get to where we need to be, can seem overwhelming, meaning we don’t always take the time to reflect on what we have already achieved.

“These awards give us an opportunity to come together, pause, celebrate and share our collective journeys.”

Judges praised the University for demonstrating a “consistent vision for environmental excellence” and highlighted its broad range of environmental

improvements including renewable energy, green roofs, EV salary sacrifice and a full, life cycle approach to procurement.

A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said, “By 2030, the University will be recognised for the major contribution it makes to the health and wellbeing of the people in the region and acknowledged for lasting social and sustainable economic transformation.”

Legal Advice Centre Highly Commended Award

The University of Suffolk Legal Advice Centre, a collaboration project between staff and students, was thrilled to achieve a highly commended for Best New Pro Bono Activity award at the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards in April, held at the House of Lords, Pavilion Terrace.

Set up by Director, Eleanor Scarlett in November 2021 with a Steering and Planning Group, Suffolk Law students played a key role in the process electing to focus on family law and provide new business advice, working with staff to develop the service delivery and build key community partnerships.

Since launching, the Centre has advised over 40 clients on family law issues, including divorce, child arrangements, co-habitation, trusts, nonmolestation orders, occupation orders, financial remedies and consent orders.

In addition, advice has been given to seven new businesses on issues including company structure, franchise agreements, intellectual property and terms and conditions of sale.

Legal Advice Centre Director, Eleanor Scarlett, said, “Our students have shown great commitment in establishing our Legal Advice Centre,

developing partnerships with our stakeholders and of course, advising clients. It’s an opportunity for students to put classroom learning into practice, whilst supporting the community by improving access to justice.”

Several charities and organisations have praised the work of the Centre, including Anglia Care Trust, which supports people in a number of ways including health and wellbeing and safety. A spokesman for the charity said, “It is a fast, effective, cost-free solution that we can offer to service users with low incomes and in situations where legal advice is paramount to improving safety for victims and their families.”

A spokesman for Ormiston Families, a charity supporting the wellbeing of families locally, said, “I sing the praises of the Legal Advice Centre, Eleanor Scarlett and the students daily, to other professionals, prisoners and their families too.

“They are on hand to support me with any general questions and advice which has strengthened the service that Ormiston Families offer at HMP Hollesley Bay.”

Contact

What’s new in Brightspace

Panopto and Digital Attendance Registers for 2023–24

This academic year, the Learning Design team introduced two new tools into the University digital landscape; replacing two existing systems with Panopto and Digital Attendance Registers.

Panopto is a session capture platform providing improved, automatic accessibility features to all staff and students, without requiring additional lecturer support. Panopto provides automated, editable captioning and a keyword search feature. Students can customise the display of their session recordings, adjust the speed, vary the font size and format of the captions, and download the recording file both as a video and as a podcast to listen offline. When uploading PowerPoint slides to Panopto, each slide heading is automatically added to a table of contents, allowing students to quickly find specific sections from the recorded session.

Digital Attendance Registers will replace the swipe card system and Brightspace registers, allowing students to mark and monitor their own attendance records. For international students, producing accurate records is of particular importance when facing visa complications, and

Sports facility development

Inspire and the University of Suffolk have teamed up to provide students and young people with improved sporting facilities. The partnership with Inspire, a charity dedicated to supporting young people on to a positive future, will strengthen the aims of both organisations to provide students and the community with state-of-the-art sports facilities which, subject to planning, will begin development this year.

Facilities will include an enclosed, full-size, floodlit grass pitch to BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) standards, and an all-weather pitch. In the second phase, working together there is the potential to provide a social space and improved home-and-away changing facilities. These facilities will enable students to participate in a variety of sports and activities

for apprentices whose apprenticeships are in jeopardy, if they miss too many sessions.

Both new tools will also provide benefits for staff. Panopto offers editing options for recorded sessions so academic staff can remove breaks in the session or edit out non-essential material. The Digital Attendance Registers allow staff to view records for all their modules, complete a register during or after a session, and take attendance for online, in-person or hybrid sessions, where appropriate.

The Learning Design team are committed to ensuring that staff and students have the necessary support to use these tools effectively in the 2023-24 academic year.

Panopto workshops will be held every Wednesday and Thursday in August 2023 to achieve this goal (details on LibCal from the first week of June).

For further support with Panopto and Digital Attendance Registers, please contact the Learning Design team

which will in turn improve their health and wellbeing.

Tim Greenacre, University of Suffolk’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “Our partnership with Inspire will deliver great assets for University and community use. This will be a modern sporting facility which generations of our students and local people can use and enjoy.

Alex Gooch, outgoing President of the University of Suffolk Students’ Union, said, “The Students’ Union is very excited about the development of these facilities and the quality of these plans to improve the experience of our students.”

Terry Baxter, CEO of Inspire, said, “Physical activity is really important for good mental health, so we are excited for this partnership.”

Estates update — grounds and landscaping services

The University of Suffolk has welcomed Vertas (part of the wider Vertas Group) as its new grounds and landscaping services partner.

Vertas is one of Great Britain’s largest integrated facilities management companies and currently provides experienced grounds and landscaping services to over 220 schools, churches, care homes, leisure centres and other organisations across East Anglia and the East Midlands.

The University’s green spaces make up a large part of the campus footprint as well as forming an integrated part of the wider Ipswich environment. This resource is therefore an important asset to the student, staff and visitor experience and wider Ipswich community. Over the coming years the University will develop the campus environment with partners and student volunteers to extend pollinator pathways, restore the wildflower meadow, and maintain and create spaces for everyone to enjoy.

Head of Sustainability at the University of Suffolk, Justine Oakes, said, “We’re delighted to start this new collaboration with Vertas.

“Natural capital has a valued management emphasis within our estate strategy and

operations; through an improvement programme that seeks to address urban biodiversity loss, whilst additionally educating and creating research opportunities for a deeper understanding on the impact of restorative nature benefits on nature itself, campus health and wellbeing and climate resilience.”

Contracts Manager at the University of Suffolk, Sam Phillips, who has taken the lead on scoping and developing this new service said: “Vertas boasts an award-winning grounds service, offering quality and a great service and will be joining us to help implement our landscaping, maintenance and biodiversity programme”.

Karen Burrowes, Vertas’ Operations Director, commented, “We are very excited to be partnering with the University. At Vertas, our grounds teams and colleagues have a real passion for supporting improved biodiversity across the country at the locations we service, and we are really looking forward to supporting the University’s aims, alongside our own.

If you would like to know a little bit more about the Biodiversity Plans and Actions please visit our sustainability web page and scroll down to the bottom of the Sustainability Policy for document links.

Students’ Union update Staff

Student Officer elections took place earlier this year, and all roles were open for nomination and voting. This year saw an increase of 36% in voter turnout, culminating in a Results Night celebration in the Students’ Union (SU) Social Space.

Lewis Woolston President of Education

Having been involved with the SU for the past two years, I am looking forward to being able to implement my ideas and improve the student and staff experience.

I ran with three manifesto points: improving the personal academic coach system, improving employment opportunities for all students and ensuring student extenuating circumstances were met. Katie and I also have a joint manifesto point of increasing student participation and engagement across the University.

My passions mainly lie within sports; I will soon complete my undergraduate degree in Sports Performance Analysis and I’m a season ticket holder at Ipswich Town. I enjoy football and cricket and am also interested in music and travelling.

Katie Pickard President of Activities

and Wellbeing

Since starting my Early Years Primary Education degree in 2020, I have been involved with the SU in Communications and Event Assistant, and Front of House Assistant roles. I have also been President of the Netball team for the last two years which included planning events and fundraisers.

The manifesto points I am aiming to achieve are: providing food and drink facilities in all University buildings, holding monthly wellbeing events or socials, ‘home away from home’providing support for those living in student accommodation.

I enjoy playing netball and badminton and am a very social person. I love keeping busy with

theatre trips, meals out and trips away, and also have a slight obsession with cow print!

The SU are also pleased to announce the recruitment of two new staff members: Ancha Joof Prior, Student Voice Manager, and Jacob Love, Head of Operations.

With new appointments comes fresh ideas and perspectives which provides the opportunity to better serve the student community. Details of all staff can be found on the SU website.

Cost of Living

The cost-of-living campaign, pioneered by the President for Education has been one of the most successful student-led campaigns the SU has delivered. Dinner clubs have fostered friendships, random acts of kindness have made people smile, and the free parking has supported students’ attendance and presence on campus. Nomination for a Cost-of-Living Submission Award at the WhatUni Student Choice Awards demonstrates the SU’s active commitment to supporting and advocating for students during difficult times.

Advice

The team have broadened the way they engage with students, offering accessible appointments, creating drop-in sessions, and hosting coffee and cake sessions to offer an informal and personal service. There continues to be steady, year-onyear growth in terms of students seeking support.

Pop Up Vendors

A new initiative for the SU was inviting local food businesses into the SU Social Space to give students and staff lots of great lunch and snack options. It has been well received and with vendors keen to attend, it will continue every weekday 11.00am-2.00pm until the end of the academic year.

Activities and Sports

The BUCS sports season has come to an end, with successful seasons for men’s football and women’s netball teams. The free social sports campaign offered free sessions to all students and has been seen as a welcomed source of wellbeing.

Events

A programme of events over the summer is currently being planned for students who remain on-campus year-round. If any colleagues have ideas regarding what they’d like to see from these events, please contact the SU.

The Students’ Union Awards took place on 19 May, an annual celebration of the efforts and success

of all staff and students. Over 200 nominations were received which is a huge testament to the achievements over the past year.

From the nominations, the panel presented a shortlist and winners in each category, members of the University community who go above and beyond to make student life a little bit easier. The winners were:

SOCIETY OF THE YEAR: Computing Society

SPORTS CLUB OF THE YEAR: Football Team

SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: Carolina Porquer

PART-TIME OFFICER OF THE YEAR: Leesha Daniells

CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR: Cost of Living

ACADEMIC REP. ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Jade Read and Tyler Payne

INCLUSIVITY CHAMPION OF THE YEAR: Emmanuel Afolabi

FUNDRAISING CONTRIBUTION OF THE YEAR: The Netball Team

STUDENT VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR: Emmanuel Afolabi

LECTURER OF THE YEAR: Mark Power

SUPPORT STAFF (NON-ACADEMIC) OF THE YEAR: Linda Pepper

DEPARTMENT OF THE YEAR: Student Life

STAFF OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD: Sam Last

STUDENT OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD: Emmanuel Afolabi

MEET AND GREET

Lorraine

Mattis, CEO, University of Suffolk Dental Community Interest Company

Give us a bit of background about your career to date.

I have a background in NHS healthcare and the Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. My previous experiences have included over 20 years’ senior leadership working in the acute sector, community, and primary care in the NHS.

Formerly a Board member and Executive Director in a Dental Community Interest Company (CIC) providing strategic oversight of transformation and oral health, with extensive experiences of leading community dental services, out-of-hours and prison dental services.

I’m also a Board Member on the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board.

What is your new role at the University of Suffolk?

My role as CEO of the University of Suffolk Dental CIC is helping local people across the community get access to the best oral health care, by removing barriers to the system, and supporting the reduction in health inequalities.

What are you most looking forward to?

I am passionate and energised by organisations which offer me the opportunity to realise ambitious and visionary, transformational change. I look forward to meeting and working with new colleagues to achieve this.

As we establish a new Dental CIC, I am really excited about being able to shape, influence, and grow, an organisation which strives to make a real difference to people’s lives, improve health outcomes and create opportunities. This is an amazing journey to be part of, and something which is truly rewarding, both personally and professionally.

What are your main priorities?

My main priority, core to our purpose, is to empower local people to improve their oral and general health, to lead a longer and healthier quality of life. To achieve this, my priorities will include:

„ Establishing effective partnerships.

„ Developing successful teams to deliver high-quality dental care and oral health promotion.

„ Creating education and training opportunities to build a sustainable, multidisciplinary dental workforce.

„ Fostering a culture which drives innovation to deliver a 21st century dental care model, whilst optimising the use of modern technology.

„ Delivering greater social impact by reinvesting profits to do more good work in the communities we serve.

And what do you see as the main challenges?

Access to NHS dental care and workforce is clearly a big challenge both locally and nationally. However, it also presents an opportunity to be part of the wider solution; establishing a Dental CIC to improve access, promoting prevention through education and training and working in partnership with key stakeholders to address some of these issues collectively.

Top Three Success at WhatUni Student Choice Awards

The University of Suffolk scooped a top three, and a top five place on the Whatuni Student Choice Awards.

These Awards are the largest annual university awards in the UK, voted for exclusively by students.

This year, against strong competition from across the country, the University of Suffolk was voted third in the postgraduate provision category, and fifth in the career prospects category.

The University was also one of the 10 institutions nominated nationally for their work with the Students’ Union in responding to the cost-of-living crisis.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Helen Langton, said, “To achieve such high-ranking places in these categories against such stiff competition is a

fantastic result and highlights the quality of the work we do and the services we provide.

“Once again, I would like to thank our students for voting for us and our staff for making this happen.”

Institute for Social Justice and Crime Conference

On 23 March, the Institute for Social Justice and Crime’s two areas of focus, Gender and Sexual Minorities (GSM) and Trauma, Injustice, Violence, and Abuse (TIVA), co-hosted a hybrid conference on gender-based violence (GBV) in public and private spaces.

Coordinated by Research Fellows, Megan Hermolle and Katherine Allen, this event explored concepts of the public and private, and how these shape our understandings of, and responses to, GBV.

The event featured speakers from across the UK and a wide range of professional backgrounds, including academics, Dr Ella Cockbain and Dr Rosa Heimer, and those with expertise in practice and advocacy, including Hidayah LGBT and Sistah Space.

Emerging themes included: how sex, ethnicity, sexuality and gender identity, shape and constrain access to public spaces, the implicit violence of the UK’s Hostile Environment, and how racialisation and other forms of minoritisation inform survivors’ experiences of reporting and seeking support.

Attended by over 50 participants, the conference generated positive feedback, and flagged areas of interest for potential, future conferences and workshops, including elder abuse, child to parent abuse, GBV and neurodiversity, prevention efforts and developing new interventions, and the experiences of male survivors.

Our Institute for Social Justice and Crime web page

Student New Angle Prize Awards 2023

New writing by students at the University of Suffolk was celebrated at this year’s Student New Angle Prize (SNAP) awards ceremony.

The winners were announced after their 500-word East Anglia-focused entries were judged by awardwinning author, Kate Sawyer.

Kate also delivered a writing workshop at the event and ran a micro-fiction challenge, asking attendees to capture a memory of East Anglia in under 30 words. The challenge was won by Amy Bessent and judged by last year’s SNAP winner, James Brown.

MA History student, Anya Page was announced as the winner of this year’s SNAP competition with her piece, An Abandoned Airfield, described by Kate as a multi-sensory piece of writing and which she praised as ‘traversing time’.

Anya said, “I get a lot of my ideas when I am out and about and store them in my head until I write them down.”

The runner-up was PhD Creative Writing student, Jayd Green, for North Sea, Over Night. Highly commended went to fellow PhD Creative Writing student, Muriel Moore-Smith, for Fire In The Sky.

SNAP offers all University of Suffolk students the chance to enter by submitting 500 words of original writing as prose or poetry. Like the New Angle Prize, entries must either be set in, or clearly influenced by, our East Anglian region.

Dr Lindsey Scott, event organiser and course leader MA Creative and Critical Writing said: “The SNAP competition is very special. It gives us a chance to discover new voices in the region.

“Hearing this year’s shortlisted entrants reading their work and inspiring others was wonderful.

“We received a record number of competition entries this year and it was a delight to bring this community of writers together and help celebrate their achievements.”

Jo Rooks said, “The Ipswich Institute is proud to sponsor the Student New Angle Prize and it was a great pleasure to attend the awards event. The standard of writing was extremely high and it was wonderful to hear the works read by the authors, all of those longlisted and shortlisted should be proud of their achievements.

Also supporting the event with a book stall was Ipswich’s independent bookshop, Dial Lane Books.

Horizon Grant

Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Marco Spada, will lead a University of Suffolk research group, after securing a prestigious Horizon grant.

In collaboration with a series of international partners and the University of Oxford, the University has recently won this significant grant (HORIZON-HLTH-2022-ENVHLTH-04) for the development of a web-based health platform to explore and analyse Health Impact Assessment (HIA), and create a predictive model of impact of environmental protection policies.

Marco said: “It is the first Horizon grant the University has won, an extraordinary opportunity for our community, and a serious approach to multidisciplinary environmental and geographic research.”

MISTRAL is the consortium created through this exciting multidisciplinary research process on geography, heritage and health, and is led by a team of researchers from top universities in

the EU and UK. The aim is to explore the concerning link between steel production and public health, in highlyinfrastructured and industrialized areas.

The University will participate in the study, with in-depth, groundbreaking analysis of the geographical distribution of pollution from the steel mills, using advanced mapping techniques and innovative geographical methods. The study also examines the ways communities have mobilized to address the challenges of proximity to polluted areas, including the formation of advocacy groups, and partnerships with public health organisations.

More information can be found at the European Commission Cordis EU research results web page

STUDENT AND STAFF SUCCESS

IpSWITCH Start‑Up Masterclass and Workshop series

Business Engagement, Careers and Employability have been delivering a series of masterclasses and workshops as part of an immersive guide to new business start-ups. The content is tailored to developing niche demands, where market gaps have been identified that could lead to successful business ventures.

Sessions have seen engagement from undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as alumni. The scenario-based journey sessions have seen participants ‘design think’ their own business ideas and tackle the potential obstacles and practicalities of ‘making it real’.

EVENTS

Amy Volkert, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Manager said:

“The enterprise team put this series of masterclasses online giving access to a greater number of students, and allowing them to participate whilst still attending their academic commitments. Furthermore, we ensured we had a variety of courses, from developing an idea, to getting investment, in order to suit students’ varying stages of their start-up journey”.

Fun and interactive face-to-face workshops are taking place through to July - sessions are available to book on FutureME.

Dragon Boat Race and Open Doors event

Competition was fierce at the Waterfront for the Brave Futures Annual Dragon Boat Race on 3 June.

Hundreds gathered, creating a fantastic atmosphere to watch the 32 teams representing local businesses and organisations battle it out, including two teams from the University: the Marketing Communications and International directorate ‘Drowning Dragons’ and Business Engagement, Careers and Employability ‘BECE Dragons.’

Despite great effort and a nail-biting third race in which both University teams took part, neither team made it through to the semi-finals, however

the more competitive colleagues are already looking ahead to taking part again next year!

Sponsored by Cory Brothers, the event raised over £30,000 for Brave Futures, a Suffolk-based charity providing a vital support service to child victims/ survivors of sexual abuse in Suffolk and Norfolk.

The University opened its doors to the public for the morning too. Visitors were welcomed to explore the facilities across the campus, try their hand at CPR with nursing staff, learn about our Research and find out more about working and studying at the University.

Together for Transformation Conference

The University showcased its nationally significant programme of research projects for the first time at a special conference in May.

Together for Transformation: Research for a Changing World brought together more than 80 speakers, with experts across the University’s research institutes sharing insights into their work alongside peers from other universities.

Researchers in areas such as culture and heritage, education, health and wellbeing, social justice, sustainability, and business and management talked about key projects, including the impact of traffic-related air pollution on primary school children, challenging harmful attitudes to sexual harassment, making sustainable plastics from bacteria, and tackling the postcode lottery of music education.

Keynote speakers for the event included Professor Anne Bamford OBE, formerly the Strategic Director of Education and Skills for the City of London, Ofsted’s Deputy Director for cross-remit education policy, Anna Trethewey, and former Suffolk Constabulary Chief Constable, Gareth

Wilson. The conference also featured International speakers from Fatima Jinnah Women University in Pakistan and Sport Ireland.

Professor Emma Bond, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research, said, “Since gaining our independence as a university in 2016, we have developed a highly impactful research agenda which is transforming lives regionally, nationally and internationally. Our research success is testament to the strategic investment the University of Suffolk has made in the last few years, and to the wealth of knowledge, expertise and passion, that our academics have for their work. As Pro Vice-Chancellor Research, I am tremendously proud of our vibrant research culture and this event evidences our superb achievements in research to date.

“Police ethics, narratives around sexual harassment, music education and menopause provide just a flavour of the themes our work is exploring, and by hosting this event we are able to add the expertise of our brilliant academic colleagues to inform new research directions nationally.”

EVENTS

Suffolk Show

The University once again had a stand at the Suffolk Show where approximately 90,000 people attended Trinity Park for the county’s biggest event of the year.

Staff from the Events and Student Recruitment teams, as well as academic colleagues, provided a number of interactive ways in which visitors could find out more about courses and areas of study at the University. The marquee soon came alive with a vibrant atmosphere, as attendees engaged in a captivating and interactive wildlife experience, observing a tank full of fresh water invertebrates collected that morning from a local pond and discovering new specimens from our local rivers through a microscope.

Other activities included life-saving CPR practice with the Paramedic Science team and anatomy demonstrations from the Diagnostic Radiography team, as well as colouring and ‘assembling an x-ray’ competitions.

International Festival

The University celebrated the diversity and culture of overseas students in April with three days of festival activity.

It began with a focus on sustainability, painting a new garden shed in the campus wildlife garden. On another occasion the Careers, Employability and Enterprise team ran a workshop on how to improve interview skills and create a standout CV.

The International Big Night In was an opportunity to meet up and make new friends, with a colourful celebration of traditional dress, crafts and games The festival was drawn to a close with a visit to Pin Mill and a long walk in the fresh air.

OVER TO YOU

We want this newsletter to be a reflection of all of the excellent projects, research and work being undertaken by our staff. If you have any feedback and suggestions for content please get in touch by emailing Atlanta Blair at atlanta.blair@uos.ac.uk. Thank you.