Kent Magazine - August 2011 by University of Kent

KENT The Magazine for the University of Kent | August 2011

Honorary graduates Gulbenkian: Beacon of culture

Welcome Dear colleagues, As we look to the end of the academic year, we should be proud of what has been an outstanding year for the University. Demand for places is high, with international and postgraduate student numbers continuing to increase. NSS scores are strong and we have had our best ever performance in league tables. We have also received significant grant income and achieved an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) doctoral training centre. I was particularly pleased to learn that Kent Hospitality was awarded an Investors in People gold award. Of course, this has been a challenging time when discussions over the future of HE has hardly ever been out of the newspapers. We have had the Browne review, the coalition government’s spending plans, secondary legislation around increasing fees and the long-awaited White Paper. There is no doubt that these events herald a very different regime for home and EU students. However, we have now received OFFA’s approval of our fees and student support package for 2012; our fund of £6m will allow us to offer a range of bursaries and fee waivers to low-income families who satisfy a range of socioeconomic criteria, as well as scholarships for academic, musical and sporting excellence, which will be available to all students. As part of our preparation for these changes, the University has increased its investment in both people and infrastructure. We have made a number of new appointments throughout the year to add strength to our academic portfolio, and have made a £5 million investment in the School of Arts at Medway. At Canterbury, we are about to complete 500 new study bedrooms and have begun work on the new music building. These, and other investments, mean that we will be even better placed to face the challenges of the next few years. I am pleased that many academic schools already have plans to change their undergraduate programmes and to articulate better what is on offer to prospective students, including the excellent five reasons to study each discipline at Kent. I thank you all for your commitment this year and for all that we have achieved across the institution. I look forward to working with you over the next academic year.

Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow DBE, CBE Vice-Chancellor

3 News 6 Honorary graduates 8 Research 10 Enterprise 11 Gulbenkian: Beacon of culture 12 Human Resources 13 Association of University Administrators/Books 14 Kent in the news/Obituary 15 Sport/Green news16 What’s on Special thanks to: Lesley Farr, University Design & Print Centre. Photographs by Matt Wilson, Alison Hollis, Mick Norman, Lucy Birkett, Vicky Fitzgerald, Tempest. Bagpuss © 2011 Daniel Postgate & Peter Firmin. www.coolabi.com www.bagpussshop.co.uk

News

KENT We have set up a readers’ panel for staff. Please get in touch if you would like to become a member. We are keen to have your feedback and letters are welcome from all our readers. Simply email the editorial team at kentmagazine@kent.ac.uk

Kent makes top 30 in universities ‘Table of tables’ The University of Kent is now a top 30 institution according to the combined results of the UK’s university league tables.

of tables is very much due to a combination of excellent academic provision and high levels of student satisfaction.

Kent is also available online at www.kent.ac.uk/campusonline/ kentmagazine

Kent has moved up five places to be placed in 30th position in the annual Times Higher Education (THE) ‘Table of tables’.

Editorial team: Posie Bogan, Acting Director of Communications & Marketing; Colette O’Reilly, Publications Officer; Wendy Raeside, Publications Officer (Communications & Marketing); Fiona Jones, Alumni Relations Officer (Development Office); Karen Baxter, Press Assistant, (Communications & Marketing), University of Kent.

The improvement follows hard on the heels of a rise of four places in last month’s Guardian University Guide 2012, which saw Kent ranked 23rd out of 119 UK institutions.

‘As we prepare to enter a new era of university funding, where students increasingly see themselves as consumers, it is good to see that our position as one of the UK’s top universities is being reflected consistently across the different league tables.’

Next issue: the deadline for the next issue is 26 September, with a publication date of 28 October.

Welcoming the latest rise in league table position, Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow said: ‘Kent’s position in this table

It is the first time the University of Kent has entered the top 30 in the THE ‘Table of tables’, which is now in its fourth year.

Pointing the way to student employability An innovative project that gives reward points to University students as they increase their employability skills and provides opportunities for work experience has been given an enthusiastic ‘thumbs up’ by employers. More than 1,000 students took part in a year-long pilot project at Kent to earn clubcard-style points for activities ranging from community volunteering and mentoring to participating in events and workshops.

KENT The Magazine for the University of Kent | August 2011

Honorary graduates Gulbenkian: Beacon of culture

Cover story: Bagpuss

Students receiving the most reward points under the scheme – which is thought to be unique in UK higher education – then went forward to be chosen by sponsoring employers for a range of exciting work experience opportunities relevant to individual student skill-sets. Among the major businesses supporting the University of Kent Employability Points Scheme were defence and aerospace company BAE systems, construction consultancy SKANSKA and business consultancy Chaucer. Stephanie Barwick, University Enterprise Development Manager, said: ‘Our Employability Points Scheme is innovative in that it bridges the gap between offering students a way to enhance

their own employability and providing employers with easy access to some of our most outstanding students. ‘The pilot proved that this is a win-win solution for both students and employers. We had anticipated around 300 students taking part but ended up with over 1,000 participating. We also had 30 businesses involved in sponsoring prizes that included mainly paid work placements and internships as well as other work shadowing opportunities.’ Professor Alex Hughes, University Pro-ViceChancellor (External), said: ‘This University is continued overleaf...

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News

committed to ensuring all our students graduate with the skills they’ll need to succeed in today’s challenging knowledge-based economy. ‘The fact that so many leading businesses supported this pilot project highlights the value employers place on University of Kent graduates and I’m sure that our Employability Points Scheme will go from strength to strength.’

VC appointed to the Council for Science and Technology Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow has been appointed to the Council for Science and Technology (CST) by Prime Minister David Cameron. Dame Julia is one of 11 new members appointed to the CST. Reporting directly to the Prime Minister, the CST is the government’s top-level advisory body on science and technology policy issues.

CBE for Professor Jan Pahl Jan Pahl, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, has been made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours. She received her CBE for services to social science.

Music award winners Seven students at the University have been awarded prizes for their outstanding contribution to music during the past year. Awards presented include the Canterbury Festival Music Prize, the Colyer-Fergusson Music Prize, and the University Music Prize. This year’s Canterbury Festival Music Prize was awarded by Director of the Canterbury Festival, Rosie Turner, jointly to Politics and International Relations student, Alice Godwin, and English and Comparative Literature student, Kate Lumley. Both are final-year students who have made an outstanding contribution to the Symphony Orchestra and the Concert Band at the University as principal woodwind players. The Colyer-Fergusson Music Prize, awarded to a student who has made a major contribution to organising music at the University, was presented by Jonathan Monckton, Chairman of the Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust. The prize was jointly received by Alanya Holder, law

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student, choral and jazz singer, and this year’s President of the Music Society, and Anna Shinkfield, English and American Literature student, singer and saxophone-player, and acting Secretary of the Music Society. School of Architecture student, Chris Gray was awarded the University Music Prize for his allround musicianship as a tuba player and singer, and for his organisational work for the student Music Society. Guitarist and mathematician, Andrew Kitchin received an award for his dedication to the ‘Jazz @ 5’ series; he has performed at every one since its inception in 2008. Historian, Kathryn Redgers, who has made a tremendous impact on music in her first year as a flautist, was also a recipient. Susan Wanless, Director of Music, said: ‘I am continuously amazed at the breadth and range of the music-making among our students. This is all the more remarkable as they have to do all their rehearsing and performing out of academic hours, alongside their degree study. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Canterbury Festival and our other supporters, we can highlight their achievements and give them the recognition they so richly deserve.’ Work has begun on the new Colyer-Fergusson Centre for Music Performance, located near the Gulbenkian Theatre on the Canterbury campus, and is expected to be completed in 2012.

Monitoring parents event An event organised by the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies (CPCS), part of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, and Kent Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality will reflect on the problems of the rise of ‘parenting science’ and the ‘parenting expert’. ‘Monitoring parents: Science, evidence, experts and the new parenting culture’, takes place at Kent’s Canterbury campus, 13-14 September, and will challenge the claim that neuroscience provides reliable evidence about how parents should raise their children, and question its influence over social policy. The speakers include: John T Bruer, President of the James S McDonnell Foundation; Stuart Derbyshire, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Birmingham; and Glenda Wall, Associate Professor of Sociology at Wilfred Laurier University, Canada. Raymond Tallis, philosopher, poet, novelist, cultural critic and retired medical doctor will also address wrongheaded understandings and applications of neuroscience in a third keynote session. The event will be opened by Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at Kent, together with Janet Golden, Professor of History at Rutgers University and Stefan Ramaekers from the University of Leuven. Further information: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/ parentingculturestudies/pcs-events/forthcomingevents/parenting-science

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Music award-winners Architecture students contribute to Margate’s regeneration

Don’t bin it!

designed to encourage language study and cultural awareness among 12-13 year-olds.

A tidy-up campaign at Kent has benefited local charities, as well as helping new students. The campaign, over the last three days of term, saw collection points across the Canterbury campus for departing students’ unwanted clothing, food and kitchen items. Staff and students, supported by the Creative Campus team, distributed the food to local homelessness charity, Porchlight, as well as making donations to charity shops.

Both days began with a theatre performance in French or Spanish and finished with a hotlycontested European Quiz final. Workshops were run by University staff, student ambassadors and teachers from participating schools. They included introductions to Italian, Arabic, German, Russian, Japanese, Bulgarian and Mandarin and practical sessions on Flamenco, Indian music and dance, and Spanish and French drama.

Other collected items have been donated to a free campus shop, which will open in the next academic year for new students to stock-up on things for their new homes. Campaign organiser and environmental social sciences student, Stephanie Robinson said: ‘We were determined to do something about surplus food and other items left behind at the end of term. With this collection, we have benefited new students, as well as the local community.’

Architecture students contribute to Margate’s regeneration Kent School of Architecture (KSA) students are contributing to the high-profile regeneration of Margate with their involvement in two ambitious projects: the reimagining of the 200-year old Fort Road Hotel and the redevelopment of the decommissioned Dreamland leisure park. The Fort Road Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in Margate. Derelict for more than 20 years, it has become a symbol of Margate’s decline. However, as part of a multi-faceted campaign to transform the fortunes of the hotel, second-year students from KSA’s Interiors programme have explored how the building could be adapted into a 21stcentury boutique hotel, while retaining its unique historic character. (The first symbolic step towards the rebirth of the hotel has been the commissioning of the neon artwork iconic site, on the front of the building.) For the Dreamland project, second-year Master of Architecture (MArch) students were invited by the Dreamland Trust to help restore the site. The students’ contribution involved critiquing the current brief as well as writing new briefs for the 17-acre site. The design teams came up with a range of proposals which included residential, office and retail space as well as a new-build facility to include at least one of the following: an art school; a centre for the history of British youth culture; a museum for the British seaside holiday;

Young scientists rise to the challenge

an annex of the Zoological Society of London, to include a salt-water aquarium; a wholesale and retail fish and farmers’ market; and a residential culinary institute.

Sports injuries clinic opens A sports injuries clinic run by the University and featuring state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment facilities has opened to the public. The clinic is aimed at people of all sporting standards who have picked up an injury and require treatment and rehabilitation to get them active again. Assessment and treatment are carried out by University students, supervised by highly-qualified tutors. Professor Louis Passfield, Director of the Centre for Sports Studies, explained: ‘Our University staff supervising at the clinic are all experts in their field and are also involved in research to improve even further our understanding of how to treat sports-related injuries.’ For details, including how to book appointments, see: www.kent.ac.uk/sports-studies/clinic

World Language Days The University played host to around 470 local schoolchildren to mark its two World Language Days at the Canterbury and Medway campuses. Organised by the Partnership Development Office, working with the School of European Culture and Languages, and the Centre for World Languages, the annual language days are

150 year 8 and year 9 pupils from 12 schools in Kent participated in the Kent Science & Technology Challenge Day at the Canterbury campus. Directed by a team of students from the School of Physical Sciences (SPS), the pupils worked in mixed-school teams in order to solve practical and applied science problems, as well as technology challenges. Event themes included forensics, robotics, electronics, mechanical engineering and construction. The SPS students assessed each team’s planning, collaborative skills and their solutions to each challenge. Councillor Hazel McCabe, Sheriff of Canterbury, presented awards to members of the winning teams. The overall winners – Ellie Purvis and Mitchall Cowell from Brockhill Park School, and Fred Webb and Rhys Cowdrey-Howes from Norton Knatchbull School – were invited to compete in the Regional Challenge Final.

Fourth win for Kent’s accommodation For the fourth successive year the University’s accommodation has won the category ‘Best University Accommodation for Groups’ at the annual Group Travel Awards. The award is voted for by readers of Group Travel Organiser magazine and Kent beat off stiff competition from the other six short-listed institutions – Exeter, LSE, Durham, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Reading. Commenting on this unique achievement, Group Travel Organiser’s editor said, ‘The team should be proud that GTO readers have consistently rated the University of Kent’s accommodation as the best in the country for groups’.

KENT Magazine

Honorary graduates

Anne Dudley

Vikram Seth

Baroness Hale of Richmond

At congregrations ceremonies in Rochester and Canterbury in July, the University was delighted to confer honorary degrees on the following people.

Professor Dr Paul Van Cauwenberge has been Rector of Ghent University since 2005. Born in Belgium in 1949, Professor Van Cauwenberge has had a distinguished research career, specialising in rhinology. He was President of the International Society of Rhinology from 1991 to 1996, President of the World Allergy Forum from 1999 to 2003 and President of the Royal Belgian Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck surgery in 2004.

Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE, PC, LLD, FBA was born in January 1945 in Yorkshire. She was educated in Richmond and later studied at Girton College, Cambridge, where she graduated in Law in 1966. She then taught Law at Manchester University, also qualifying as a barrister and practising for a while at the Manchester Bar. She specialised in Family and Social Welfare Law.

Oscar-winning musician and composer, Anne Dudley was born in Chatham in Kent in 1956. Although she trained as a classical performer, Anne Dudley moved into the record world as a session musician. She developed a professional relationship with pop producer Trevor Horn and made a significant contribution to ABC’s classic album The Lexicon of Love. She went on to work with stars such as the Pet Shop Boys, Rod Stewart and Robbie Williams. Anne Dudley was a founding member of the successful band Art of Noise, and helped pioneer the use of sampling within pop. She has also composed and produced soundtracks for dozens of award-winning films and TV shows, and won an Oscar for The Full Monty in 1998. Award-winning author and poet, Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta in India in 1952 but spent part of his youth in London before returning to India in 1957. He returned to England to Tonbridge School in Kent before studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he developed an interest in poetry. Vikram Seth has had a range of fiction and nonfiction published, including novels A Suitable Boy (1993) and A Suitable Girl (2013) and his family memoir Two Lives (2005). Among many literary prizes and awards have been the W H Smith Literary Award in 1994 for A Suitable Boy. His first popular success, however, was the travel book From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet in 1983, which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. Vikram Seth has also published five volumes of poetry.

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He has had more than 300 papers in journals listed in the Web of Science and has edited or authored 22 scientific books. He was made an Officer in the Order of Leopold II in Belgium in 1996 and a Commander in that country’s Order of the Crown in 1999. Professor Van Cauwenberge created the U4 consortium of the universities of Groningen, Uppsala, Göttingen and Ghent and a similar collaboration with Kent and Lille. Stevie Spring graduated in Law and spent four years in marketing, and two years launching TV-am with the ‘famous five’, before starting a 16-year career in advertising agency management. During that time, she worked nationally and internationally at agencies including Grey, Gold Greenlees Trott and Young & Rubicam. From 1999 to 2006, she was UK Chief Executive of Clear Channel, the world’s largest out-of-home media and live entertainment company. In June 2006, she joined Future plc to become one of the few women running fully listed public companies. Future produces 150 consumer magazines, apps, websites and events – and is both the largest exporter and the largest licensor of magazines from the UK.

In 1984, she became the first woman to be appointed a member of the Law Commission. In 1994 she became a High Court judge, the first to have made a career as an academic rather than a practising lawyer, then in 1989, the second woman ‘Lord Justice of Appeal’ in the Court of Appeal for England and Wales. In 2004, she became the first woman Law Lord. With her fellow Law Lords, she became a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom when that court was established in 2009. Ursula Brennan was born in 1952. She has a degree in English and American Literature from Kent. Ursula Brennan has spent most of her career in what is now the Department for Work and Pensions, culminating with leadership of the strategy on welfare to work and benefit fraud. She joined the DHSS in 1975 and later became Director of Change Management at the Benefits Agency. In 1997, she returned to policy, with responsibility for benefits for long-term sick and disabled people. Ursula Brennan became Permanent Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence in November 2010. Prior to the Ministry of Defence, she was DG Corporate Performance in the Ministry of Justice. Prior to joining the Ministry of Justice, she was Chief Executive of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Honorary graduates

Mark Mardell

Sir Donald Sinden

Joanna Motion

BBC political correspondent, Mark Mardell was born in September 1957. He grew up in Banstead in Surrey and was educated at Epsom College before studying Politics at Kent.

Since 1981, he has been Chief Executive of RPS Group plc, an international consultancy providing advice on development and environmental issues. He has developed the international scope of the business following a management buy-out in 1980. Dr Hearne is a past Chairman of the Association of Environmental Consultancies and is a Companion of the Chartered Institute of Management and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport and the Royal Society of Arts.

After six years at Kent, Joanna Motion was appointed to a position at CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, a notfor-profit membership association linking 3,500 educational institutions in 70 countries.

His first job in journalism was at Radio Tees in Stockton. He later moved to LBC/IRN in London as an industrial correspondent, covering the miners’ strike and Wapping protests. After a spell at Channel Four on the weekly The Sharp End programme, Mark Mardell joined the BBC in 1989 as a political correspondent. He has since covered British politics, from the fall of Thatcher to Blair’s last election victory, as a political correspondent, Newsnight Political editor, BBC Chief Political Correspondent and diarist for This Week. He is currently BBC North America editor. Distinguished actor, Sir Donald Sinden has enjoyed a long and successful career on stage and screen, appearing in many notable Royal Shakespeare Company productions since the 1960’s as well as being well-known for television roles including the English butler Robert in Two’s Company and Sir Joseph Channing in Judge John Deed. He was knighted in 1997. Born in Devon in 1923, Sir Donald grew up in Sussex and now lives near Tenterden in Kent. After training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, he made his first appearance at the Brighton Little Theatre in 1941. His early career featured a seven-year contract with the Rank Organisation at Pinewood studios and he subsequently starred in many outstanding British films of the 1950s including The Cruel Sea. Dr Alan Hearne was born in 1952 in London. He studied Economics and Social History at Kent, graduating in 1974. He completed his PhD at the University of Aston Management Centre in 1978.

From 1978-79, he was a Social Science Research Council Fellow within the University of Aston Management Centre and is currently a Council Member at the University of Kent. Professor Martin Daunton was born in Cardiff in 1949 and attended Barry Grammar School for Boys. He read Economic History at the University of Nottingham. At Nottingham, he specialised in urban history and decided to continue in this field by moving to the University of Kent. His first book dealt with Cardiff as a centre of the coal export trade. In 1997, he became Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge and, since 2004, has been Master of Trinity Hall. During this time, he completed a second volume on the economic history of Britain to 1950 and edited the modern volume of the Cambridge Urban History of Britain. From 2004 to 2008, he was President of the Royal Historical Society. Joanna Motion was born in India and is a graduate in English Language and Literature of the University of Oxford. She started her career at Oxfam. Then, working in alumni relations and development, she was appointed successively to external-facing roles at the universities of Hull, East Anglia, Melbourne and Kent.

As CASE’s Vice President for International Operations, Joanna Motion has overseen membership growth in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America. She served on the EU’s Expert Panel on philanthropy for university research, on the UK Treasury Gift Aid Forum and is currently a member of the Voluntary Giving Advisory Board. Science writer and broadcaster, Dr Simon Singh MBE was born in 1964 and grew up in Somerset. He attended Wellington School before studying at Imperial College London, where he graduated in Physics. He later completed a PhD in Particle Physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and at CERN, Geneva. Dr Singh joined the BBC’s Science and Features Department in 1990, where he was a producer and director working on programmes such as Tomorrow’s World and Horizon. He directed his BAFTA award-winning documentary about the world’s most notorious mathematical problem Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1996. This was also the subject of his first book of the same title. His latest book is Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial co-authored with Professor Edzard Ernst. Dr Singh was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2003 for services to science, technology and engineering in education and science communication.

KENT Magazine

Research

Imagining autism project secures £350k grant 'There are three main impairments in autism, each of which have a close relationship with drama: imagination, interaction and communication. We think that participating in a multi-sensory, live and immersive drama environment can create an opening into the autistic child’s world,’ she said. Senior lecturers in Drama, Dr Shaughnessy and Dr Melissa Trimingham, will lead the project, together with autism expert Dr Julie BeadleBrown, of the University’s Tizard Centre, and cognitive psychologist Dr David Wilkinson, of the University’s School of Psychology. The team will now develop the drama interventions in three Kent special schools. They will make use of a range of measures to evaluate the impact of the performance activities on three groups of six primary school children, all with a diagnosis of autism.

Drama-based activities may hold the key to helping autistic children communicate, socialise and play imaginatively following a new research project beginning at Kent. Researchers will investigate how children with autism can benefit from a range of drama interventions centring on live, interactive performance using puppetry, light, sound and digital media. The study will include psychology and autism experts from the University, who will evaluate the impact of the drama interventions on 18 children during the 30-month project. Results from the study, which has received £350k in research funding, could lead to a full-scale trial and may also prompt changes in approaches to other communication disorders in children. Principal researcher, Dr Nicola Shaughnessy, of Kent’s School of Arts, said: ‘Autism affects as many as one in 100 people in the UK but there is no cure and no single effective intervention.

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‘In this research we will test the hypothesis that many aspects of autism can be ameliorated through participation in dramabased activities, specifically live, interactive performance.

‘Imagining autism: Drama, Performance and Intermediality as Interventions for Autistic Spectrum Condition’ is a £430,000 project, a figure that includes £344,187 in research grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). ‘Imagining autism’ was one of only 19 projects to receive funding from the AHRC’s current large research grant allocation.

Research awards list Some recent research awards Dr Ruey-Leng Loo (Medway School of Pharmacy) £389,128 from the Medical Research Council for ‘Analyses of ‘OmniHeart urine samples’. Professor Mick Tuite (School of Biosciences): £1,880 from the Society for General Microbiology for ‘Investigating the prion species barrier in Saccharomyces yeasts’, and £1,440 from the Nuffield Foundation for ‘Analysis of the prion-like properties of a glutamine/asparaginerich protein in a closely-related Saccharomyces (yeast) species’.

Professor Marialena Nikolopoulou (School of Architecture): £110,408 and £49,299 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for, respectively, ‘Shades of Grey – towards a science of interventions for eliciting and detecting notable behaviours’ and ‘Integration of active and passive indoor thermal environment control systems to minimise the carbon footprint of airport buildings’. Dr Sakis Pappous (Centre for Sports Studies): £7,173 from the European Commission for ‘EuroVolNet: a network for developing voluntary competence in sport associations’.

Research

Postgraduate ‘excellence’ studentships Fifteen social sciences postgraduate researchers at Kent have been awarded prestigious ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) studentships by the South East Doctoral Training Centre (DTC). The PhD studentships, for the 2011/12 academic year, have been awarded on the basis of the academic excellence of both the candidate and the research proposal. Kent joined a consortium with the universities of Reading, Royal Holloway and Surrey earlier in the year to form one of only 21 DTCs nationally to receive ESRC accreditation to award the postgraduate studentships.

Captive chimpanzees show behavioural abnormalities New research from Kent has shown that serious behavioural abnormalities, some of which could be compared to mental illness in humans, are endemic among captive chimpanzees. These include self-mutilation, repetitive rocking, as well as the eating of faeces and drinking of urine. The research was conducted by Dr Nicholas Newton-Fisher and Lucy Birkett from the University’s School of Anthropology and Conservation and is published by the online journal PLoS ONE. The study was conducted among 40 sociallyhoused zoo-living chimpanzees from six collections in the USA and UK. After determining the prevalence, diversity, frequency, and duration of abnormal behaviour from 1200 hours of continuous behavioural data, the researchers concluded that, while most behaviour of zooliving chimpanzees is ‘normal’ in that it is typical of their wild counterparts, abnormal behaviour is endemic in this population despite enrichment efforts such as social housing. Such abnormal behaviour has been attributed to the fact that many zoo-living chimpanzees have little opportunity to adjust association patterns, occupy restricted and barren spaces compared to the natural habitat, and have large parts of their lives substantially managed by humans. Controlled diets and provisioned feeding contrast radically with the ever-changing foraging and decision-making processes of daily life in the wild.

Dr Newton-Fisher, a primate behavioural ecologist and expert in wild chimpanzee behaviour, said: ‘The best zoo environments, which include all zoos in this study, try hard to enrich the lives of the chimpanzees in their care. Their efforts include providing unpredictable feeding schedules and extractive foraging opportunities, and opportunities for normal social interactions by housing chimpanzees in social groups. There are limits to what zoos can provide, however; the apes are still in captivity. ‘What we found in this study is that some abnormal behaviours persist despite interventions to ‘naturalise’ the captive conditions. The pervasive nature of abnormal behaviour, and its persistence in the face of environmental enrichment and social group housing, raises the concern that at least some examples of such behaviour are indicative of possible mental health problems. ‘We suggest that captivity itself may be fundamental as a causal factor in the presence of persistent, low-level, abnormal behaviour – and potentially more extreme levels in some individuals. Therefore, it is critical for us to learn more about how the chimpanzee mind copes with captivity, an issue with both scientific and welfare implications that will impact potential discussions concerning whether chimpanzees and similar species should be kept in captivity at all.’

ESRC studentships provide UK candidates with tuition fees and a maintenance grant. EU candidates are provided with tuition fees.

National report showcases University research Two groundbreaking research projects at the University have been highlighted as some of the most important pieces of work currently taking place in universities in the Big Ideas for the Future report. The report, which was published jointly by Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Universities UK, pulls together the leading research projects taking place across UK universities and Kent’s projects were selected for inclusion from hundreds of submissions. At Kent, Emeritus Professor of Human Aging, Iain Carpenter is the UK lead researcher in an EUfunded project to analyse over 4,000 residents of nursing homes in eight European countries. The study will result in the biggest ever data set of older people’s wellbeing in nursing homes. The other Kent research project featured is led by Dr Rana Jawad into what positive social action is being taken to advance social justice and address social inequality in the Middle East. Both academics are members of the University’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research.

‘How Abnormal Is the Behaviour of Captive, Zoo-Living Chimpanzees?’ is available at: www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371 %2Fjournal.pone.0020101

KENT Magazine

Enterprise

Innovation celebrated at ICE Awards

The University celebrated innovation and partnership at the ICE (Innovation, Creativity, Enterprise) Awards on 16 June. More than 40 representatives of businesses, including IBM, Dstl, 3M and Denne Construction, attended the evening event, hosted by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Denise Everitt, at Canterbury Innovation Centre. The awards celebrated achievements over four categories. The Business Academic Collaboration Award: tied between Erlang Solutions Ltd with Professor Simon Thompson, School of Computing and Martec Ltd with Dr John Batchelor and Winston Waller, School of Engineering and Digital Arts. Both demonstrated how the strong collaboration established with the University has delivered growth within the companies. Most Innovative Project Award: Dr Nicola Shaughnessy and Dr Melissa Trimingham, School of Arts for using drama, puppetry and play to facilitate communication and social interaction for autistic children. This Universitysupported project, has secured additional

Battery Group fully charged for collaboration Predicted high growth rates in the Lithium battery market, linked to developments in the hybrid electric vehicle market, led to Dr Maria Alfredsson, with Dr Gavin Mountjoy, Dr Donna Arnold and Dr Serena Corr (the Advanced Battery Research Group (ABRG)), working with Kent Innovation & Enterprise (KIE) to explore how their research could attract external interest. KIE analysed the battery market and its market segments, to understand which areas would benefit from the group’s Li-ion battery technologies and identified the defence sector as a target market. Links with the Defence Science Technology Lab (Dstl) were pursued and the University held an event to explore opportunities for closer collaboration. As a result

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funding of £430,000, which includes a £344,187 research grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to carry out further work in this area. Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Ben Dodd, Computing student, who started his own company, Dodd’s PC Repairs. Employability Points Award: Alexandra Marsanu, Kent Business School student, for her outstanding work.

of the discussions, the ABRG worked with the Antennas Research Group at the School of Engineering and Digital Arts, to develop body armour with integrated non-metallic Li-ion battery and communications. The Dstl are now eager to explore funding opportunities for this project. Dr Maria Alfredsson says ‘The high energy put into the work by KIE has enabled us to target our research and attract the right partners.’ For more information on how you can attract external partners and funding for your research contact Christina Schönleber, C.M.Schoenleber@kent.ac.uk

Denise Everitt said: ‘The awards evening provided an opportunity for the University to showcase the achievement of networks such as ICE and other schemes in supporting and increasing business and academic partnerships. Many of the collaborations that have been supported in this way were able to gain significant funding from government and Research Councils to implement their project ideas.’

the fourth KTP between Erlang and Kent. The academics involved are Dr Fred Barnes, School of Computing and Winston Waller, School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA). Erlang Solutions is the world’s largest service and support company for the Erlang programming language. The aim of the project is to design, validate and take to market a software package, with supporting services, to accelerate the adoption of the programming language as a technology used in embedded systems.

Fourth KTP project secured

The funding award reflects the company’s excellent growth and the strong partnership established with the University, which has seen projects with a combined value of almost £500,000 undertaken.

ICE Award winner, Erlang Solutions Ltd has secured funding of £136,306 for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the University –

For information on KTPs, contact Lesley Chater, L.E.Chater@kent.ac.uk or call 01227 827376.

Gulbenkian news

Beacon of culture The Gulbenkian has been a fixture on the Canterbury campus since 1969 and has always had a reputation for bringing the best of film, comedy, theatre, music, children’s shows and dance to Kent. Over the past year, thanks to the committed and enthusiastic support of the University, and with Pam Hardiman, Deputy Director at the helm, the Gulbenkian has had one of its busiest and most successful years ever. In 2010, over 234 shows were presented and the theatre achieved an amazing 82% attendance level in the autumn, with an overall attendance rate of 75% since September. The Gulbenkian’s intimate auditorium and warm welcome are loved by performers and audiences alike, and make it possible for the theatre to attract established names such as Chris Packham, Russell Howard, Wayne Sleep and Lesley Garrett, as well as award-winning new talent such as Tim Crouch, Little Bulb Theatre, Bandbazi, Daniel Kitson and Inspector Sands. The music programme also contributed to last year’s success with sell-out shows for legendary groups, The Searchers and Show of Hands, and for Olivier Award winners OperaUpClose, who took over the stage and Café Bar with their groundbreaking production of La Boheme.

Did you know?

43 shows SOLD OUT in the theatre since September 2010. Over 47,000 tickets sold in 2011.

195 different films were screened in 2010.

The Gulbenkian started regular subtitled screenings in February 2011 with The King’s Speech which was seen by over 2,000 people.

340 local primary school children participated in the Start programme, funded by The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts.

The Gulbenkian regularly features the work of student and local amateur groups, who have put on 15 productions since August 2010.

The Gulbenkian complex also includes a cinema, which this year was upgraded and now boasts a digital projector, generously funded by the University and the Digital Screen Network, which allows for 3D screenings, and special screenings for the hearing impaired. The sound system has also been improved with the latest Dolby Digital stereo equipment. With generous support from Europa Cinemas, the cinema continues to screen European and international films not seen anywhere else in Kent, alongside BFI classics in traditional 35mm. The Gulbenkian intends to build on its success, with a range of exciting shows planned for the season ahead. The line-up will feature comedy from Jason Byrne, Reginald D Hunter and Chris Addison, dance from Ballet Black, music from Ralph McTell and Blake, and a wide range of theatre from classical to immersive and aerial – and even a piece in a tent. The highlight will be the Gulbenkian’s biggest ever Christmas show, Bagpuss – direct from a fantastic run at the Soho Theatre, London. Bagpuss creators Peter Firmin

and Oliver Postgate both received honorary degrees from the University in 1987. Pam Hardiman is delighted to be bringing the stage version of Bagpuss to The Gulbenkian, she said: ‘I have many happy memories of Bagpuss myself and loved the show when I saw it in London. I am really looking forward to welcoming kids and nostalgic parents alike to see Canterbury’s favourite resident cat.’ For more details of performances at the Gulbenkian, go to our ‘What’s on’ listings on the back page.

No booking fees! Book tickets By phone: 01227 769075 Online: www.thegulbenkian.co.uk In person:The Gulbenkian, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NB See our website for full listings www.thegulbenkian.co.uk

KENT Magazine

Human Resources

Making connections The Learning and Development team would like to hear from schools and professional service departments that would be willing to share examples of innovation or good practice in the area of people management and development. These case studies will be used to provide ideas and examples for use across the University.

An example of the kinds of innovation we are looking for came in the Development Office’s Awayday led by Alison Coles. The focus of the day was to reflect on the achievements of the previous year and set out plans for 2012 to support each of the University’s six strategic themes. The innovation came in the decision to involve colleagues from outside the Development Office in the afternoon session. Anthony Manning, Director of the Centre for World Languages, was invited as a critical friend to share his experience of working towards University strategy and building and leading his own team. Questions were posed with the intention of challenging the Development teams in their thinking processes; Stephen Wallis and Gary Hughes, from the International Office and the Communications team respectively,

provided information and updates on their own areas of expertise and offered technical input to inform the ideas being generated.

The advantages of these contributions were: • they reminded the Development Office teams that they are not working in isolation, and gave them insights into the bigger picture • they highlighted the range and levels of expertise available within the University • the questions and issues raised strengthened the discussions and the outputs • there is now an understanding with the external contributors that Alison is willing to take a similar role in their awaydays • the external contributors took away ideas they hadn’t seen before to use with their teams. Marcia Fry, a member of Council, attended for the last session of the day to celebrate the successes and highlight the achievements of the individual team members. We would like to thank Alison and the Development Office for providing this example and would welcome any ideas from other

Learning and Development Awards Ceremony

departments. Please contact any of the following staff with your own examples:

Cindy Vallance, Head of Organisational Development, ext 3795, email C.D.Vallance@kent.ac.uk Anne Rushworth, Learning and Development Manager, ext 7897, email A.Rushworth@kent.ac.uk Tracey Lamb, Learning and Development Adviser, ext 3395, email T.A.Lamb@kent.ac.uk

Policy update A number of new University policies have recently been introduced; these cover fixedterm contracts, Criminal Records Bureau disclosures and personal relationships within the workplace. Reviewed documents are now in place for Dignity at Work and over the next few months, reviewed redeployment documents will be launched. For further information go to www.kent.ac.uk/ hr-staffinformation/policies/a-z.html

Sienna comes to Kent Human Resources hosted its first European Mobility staff placement in April, when Laura Sechi from the University of Sienna spent a week with us under the Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme. Laura works in the HR Planning office in Sienna, and her primary interest was in exploring the similarities and differences in higher education across two European countries, with a specific focus on strategies relating to the effective management of staff and the planning of financial resources for recruitment and development of staff.

The annual Learning and Development Awards Ceremony took place in July with approximately 60 awards presented by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow. Awards ranged across a wide spectrum from accredited professional qualifications, such as AAT

KENT Magazine

Accounting awards, to the University of Kent Staff Certificate in Volunteering. For more information about the ceremony and to view photographs of all recipients visit the Learning and Development website: www.kent.ac.uk/hr-staffdevelopment/awards.html

Laura’s programme of activity included meetings with members of the HR team; a briefing on the Single Equality Scheme and Disability; a visit to the Medway campus and social events organised by the University AUA branch and the HR Managers. Thank you to everyone who helped to make Laura’s visit a success, particularly to Primrose Paskins in the European Office for her support and expertise.

Association of University Administrators

Sharing knowledge and experience The Association of University Administrators (AUA) this year celebrates 50 years in UK universities.

Formed from a merger of the Association of Polytechnic Administrators (APA) and the Conference of University Administrators (CUA), membership of the AUA provides administrative, clerical and management staff with opportunities to learn more about isues in higher education (HE), network with colleagues, develop career pathways and attend conferences, lectures and international study tours. Currently, Kent has around 40 members who regularly take part in networking events and workshops on campus, as well as attending external conferences and seminars. In April, a group of nine members attended the AUA Annual Conference at the University of Nottingham where they took part in a variety of workshops, debates and presentations. On

17 June, Kent staff were invited to a lunchtime event, run jointly by the AUA branch and Learning and Development, so that the group could give feedback on their experiences.

Margaret Ayers, Director of HR, opened the event, and emphasised the importance of continuous professional development for staff and the value of sharing learning experiences and development opportunities with colleagues; she also recognised the important role the Kent AUA branch has to play in both of these areas. Melissa Bradley, Humanities Faculty Administration Manager, then spoke about the benefits of AUA membership for individuals, but also emphasised the benefits a strong AUA branch supporting professionalism and good practice across the University, will bring to Kent. There followed four parallel sessions where presentations on the following areas were made: • How to put together a conference presentation • The AUA Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and the role and work of the International SIG

• The AUA Conference experience • The AUA Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice.

Jon Pink, Academic Registrar, closed the event by thanking the organisers, the presenters and the participants, and gave his support to the growth of the branch and possible links with AUA members at the University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church University.

Join us at AUA If you would like to join AUA, please apply online at www.aua.ac.uk/membership/join The Kent branch will be organising a series of seminars during the forthcoming academic year. Please check campus online and the next issue of KENT for details. If you would like more information about AUA membership, please contact Melissa Bradley (M.V.Bradley@kent.ac.uk) or Alison Chapman (A.R.Chapman@kent.ac.uk).

Books The Last Gift Abdulrazak Gurnah, Bloomsbury Booker-shortlisted University novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah had his latest novel published in May by Bloomsbury. The Last Gift continues Professor Gurnah’s previous themes of postcolonial cultural identity and transformation and has attracted reviews in, among others, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times newspapers. Guardian reviewer, novelist Giles Foden, wrote: ‘Gurnah has often been praised for his prose style, and The Last Gift delivers in that respect’. And in the Financial Times, novelist Aminatta Forna ended her review by writing: ‘Gurnah is a master storyteller. The Last Gift is majestic in

scale, transporting the reader from small-town Norwich back in time and across continents to Zanzibar. The secret Abbas has been hiding, when finally revealed, might well have pulled his family apart, but it doesn’t – the problem never lay in the secret itself, but in the not knowing. The Last Gift is a subtle and moving tale of a family coming to terms with itself: one to read at leisure and absorb at length.’ Professor Gurnah, who is Director of Graduate Studies at the University’s School of English, said: ‘I am happy that the book has been so wellreceived.’ The author of seven previous books, his fourth novel Paradise was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994. His main academic interest is in postcolonial writing, particularly as it relates to Africa, the Caribbean and India.

KENT Magazine

Kent in the news

Staff at the University continue to make a strong contribution to international, national and regional news with their research and expertise. Over the past few months, there have been contributions from, among others, the Centre for Sports Studies, the School of Politics and International Relations, the Centre for Journalism, the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, the School of Anthropology and Conservation, the School of Psychology and the School of Arts. Dr Sakis Pappous, of the Centre for Sports Studies, gained international exposure for his research on whether the London 2012 Olympic Games will leave a lasting participation legacy. This included coverage on Greece’s SKAI TV. Dr Gülnur Aybet was interviewed on Al Jazeera for an overview of the NATO operation in Libya. At the Centre for Journalism, Professor Tim Luckhurst was much in demand for his views on the News International phone hacking scandal by, among others, The Michael Smerconish Show in the US and BBC World Service. Lesley Phippen, also of the Centre for Journalism, was interviewed on the same subject for American Public Media’s Marketplace. Hannah Swift, and Professor Dominic Abrams of the School of Psychology, featured on the BBC World Service, and BBC Radio Merseyside and KMFM, respectively to discuss their research on ‘Predictors of attitudes to age across Europe’. Professor Luckhurst also featured extensively in national coverage of the phone hacking scandal, being interviewed on the BBC’s 5 live and Radio 4 among others. Professor Jim Mansell, of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, was another to appear in national news broadcasts, including ITN News, to comment on issues raised by the BBC Panorama programme ‘Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed’. Regional coverage included ITV’s Meridian News’ feature on Dr Oliver Double of the School of Arts and ten years of stand-up comedy writing at the Kent. Another School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research expert to be used by the media was Professor Iain Carpenter, who was interviewed on BBC Radio Kent about the Dilnot review of elderly care. Print and online coverage included coverage of research by the School of Anthropology and Conservation’s Dr Nicholas Newton-Fisher and Lucy Birkett, showing ‘serious behavioural abnormalities’ among captive chimpanzees, which featured in Science Daily and The Hindu among others. The School’s Dr Zoe Davies, featured extensively for her research on the importance of planting large trees in urban areas to store carbon. She appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, New Scientist and Radio Netherlands Worldwide. The University’s project to build a new music concert hall at its Canterbury campus was covered by the Kent Messenger series.

KENT Magazine

Obituary

Ray Pahl, 1935-2011 Ray Pahl was a founding member of the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology in 1965 and stayed at Kent until the mid1980s when he moved to the University of Essex. Ray’s contributions were outside academia as well as within and this interaction was no doubt a stimulus to his sharpness of perception. He acted as sociological adviser to various planning bodies and was a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ‘Faith in the City’ group which challenged government policy on the inner city. Ray published a long series of influential books. His Urbs in rure (1964) was based on research in Hertfordshire villages, and Readings in Urban Sociology (1968) and Patterns of Urban Life (1970) were followed by Managers and their wives (co-authored with Jan Pahl, 1971). His key work in urban sociology, Whose City? (1970, 1975) set a new research agenda which focused on the state, power, social inequality and social conflict and placed Ray at the heart of international debates. In the late 1970s, Ray undertook a study of work in the Isle of Sheppey. The resulting book Divisions of Labour (1984) concluded that the informal economy was not an alternative to the formal economy, and that those who lost their paid jobs also lost their ability to participate in the informal economy. He later published After Success: Fin de Siècle Anxiety and Identity (1995), a study of the meaning of success based on research on ‘successful’

individuals, and On Friendship (2000) and Rethinking Friendship: Hidden Solidarities Today (with Liz Spencer, 2006). Ray was a founding member of the International Sociological Association RC21 (Regional and Urban Development) in 1970, and President from 1974-1978, a founder of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research in 1977, first Chair of Trustees of the Foundation for Urban and Regional Studies in 1995, a Fellow of the British Academy and Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was also instrumental in developing ties with Eastern European sociologists. Ray was a highly stimulating colleague; he admitted to having the ‘adult teacher’s disease of being compulsively provocative’. He was well-known for advancing new ideas and arguments. He was also a very generous and sociable person and was a great social networker. Perhaps ‘urbs in rure’ captures the continuity between his first research, his final home and his belief in the importance of social networks in theory and in life. Professor Chris Pickvance

Sport

Sport for all August passport Kent Sport are offering nonmembers the opportunity to try out our facilities this summer with the August passport. With the passport you get five visits for £10, and a 10% discount on annual membership purchased before 31 September. The August passport gives a saving of £11.50 on the pay-as-you-go prices and gives you access to all activities. Further details can be found on our website at www.kent.ac.uk/sports or from the Sports Centre and Pavilion receptions.

Shaw Award Kent Sport is pleased to announce the launch of the ‘Shaw Award’ which marks the achievement of Sports Centre users who

demonstrate ‘commitment through adversity’.

Exercise Referral Scheme

The Shaw Award has been developed in partnership with Howard Shaw, an ex-Kent employee, in memory and honour of his late wife, Maria Shaw, who demonstrated her own commitment through adversity during her battle with cancer between 2007 and 2010.

The sports department now offers services to people who have been referred to the NHS's Exercise Referral Scheme by their GP.

Following guidance from her doctors, Maria frequented the Sports Centre as often as her health would allow and her progress in the Fitness Suite improved her quality of life during her battle with illness. The Shaw Award was launched with a lunch at the Sports Pavilion Café to celebrate the realisation of Maria’s legacy. It was attended by those involved in creating the award, as well as friends, family and guests of Howard Shaw.

The Exercise Referral Scheme is designed to initiate long-term lifestyle changes by encouraging people to increase their physical activity levels and overall fitness through specific, instructor-led exercise sessions/classes. Co-ordinated by fully qualified Referral Instructors, the scheme at the Sports Centre (Canterbury campus) is of particular benefit to people who are inactive or suffering from a diagnosed medical condition. For more information about the scheme, please ask your GP or Practice Nurse or speak to Liz Coult at the Sports Centre (E.l.Coult@kent.ac.uk).

Beekeeping at Kent

Kent staff member, alumnus and campus garden volunteer, Amanda Riley is learning to become a beekeeper: ‘I was delighted that Kent Union were able to fund some of the equipment needed. There’s a lot to learn, both theory and practical skills. I did a beginners’ course with my beekeepers’ association; they also provide mentoring during your

first year, so both novice beekeeper and bees get a positive start.’ The hive pictured was funded by Kent Union. It contains a starter colony of honeybees (Apis mellifera). In this first year, the colony will be ‘drawing out’ the comb, ready for more eggs, for pollen stores, and for honey storage. If they come through their first winter safely – and the beekeepers will help by feeding them regularly with sugar syrup during the winter – extra layers will be added to the hive where the worker bees will store extra honey which can be harvested.

ALLPORT CARS. Our business is picking up. City of Canterbury Licensed cars, specialising in airport and long distance travel with competitive prices. Contact us on: 01227 370 370 or 07722 597 700. Visit the website at: www.allportcarsltd.co.uk or email: allportcars@btinternet.com Samantha Osborne IT Consultancy offers tailored oneto-one IT tuition according to level and ability. Other IT support also available: repairs, software loading, virus protection. Apple Mac specialist. Reasonable rates. Email info@samanthaosborne.com or phone 07976 815406 WHITSTABLE flatshare available. Super location, two minutes from the beach. Would suit staff or PhD student seeking a bright and peaceful living space. £400 per month, fully inclusive including WIFI. Contact Jill: 07857 107164. For Sale: 35 St Dunstan’s Street, Canterbury CT2 8BZ, price range £250,000 – £280,000. three bedrooms, spacious living area, Period Grade II listed. Six minutes walk to Canterbury West station, 20 minutes walk to University of Kent. Please contact Ward & Partners 01227 766669

Green news Money raised from the sale of carrier bags in Kent Union’s retail outlets has been used to fund two beehives for the campus garden in Canterbury, providing opportunities for people who are interested in learning about beekeeping.

Small ads

The other Kent Union-funded hive is ready to be made during the autumn/winter and, hopefully, a second colony will start in the spring.

Canterbury Licensed Cars. Air Line Taxis Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted. All other destinations quoted for up to 4 people. Bookings confirmed in writing. We accept UK debit/credit cards 07884 294055/01227 491010. airlinelinetaxi@yahoo.com

If anyone would like to know more about the bees and getting involved then please contact Amanda on A.J.Riley@kent.ac.uk

KENT Magazine

What’s on

Gulbenkian Theatre highlights

Saturday 1 October, 7.45pm, King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys.

Saturday 3 September, 7.45pm, An Evening with Gordon Giltrap

Saturday 8 October, 7.45pm, Ballet Black, Cassa Pancho's award-winning company of black and Asian ballet dancers present entirely new work from a range of dynamic choreographers.

Saturday 11 September, 7.45pm, The Hamsters, on their farewell tour, perform one final show at the Gulbenkian. Thursday 22 September, 8pm, Show Me The Funny – LIVE! features the series winner and the two runners-up from ITV's comedy reality show. Friday 23 September 7.45pm, The Seagull Effect, Total Theatre Award-nominees Idle Motion use multimedia and personal recollections to reflect upon the waves of destruction and the paths crossed during the 1987 storm in Britain. Saturday 24 September, 7.45pm, Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle. The original group expanded the frontiers of folk in the 60s and 70s. Thursday 29 September, 7.45pm, Daniel Sloss – Joker, Scotland’s half-man-half-Xbox, hormone-ridden comic prodigy is currently one of the fastest rising stars of UK comedy.

Tuesday 11 October, 7.45pm, A Rake’s Progress, an extraordinary evening of rousing songs, eccentric masks and rumbustious puppets inspired by William Hogarth’s satirical etchings. Thursday 13 October, 7.45pm, BandBazi present Mind Walking, a hard-hitting but funny family aerial drama which explores notions of home, cultural identity and family bonds. Friday 14 October, 7.45pm, Show of Hands present their inimitable style of music.

NOW BOOKING Sunday 4, Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 December, Ballet Theatre UK present The Snow Queen. Tuesday 6 – Tuesday 20 December, Soho Theatre & Birmingham Stage Company present Bagpuss. For full details of times and ticket availability, please go to www.thegulbenkian.co.uk

Gulbenkian Cinema highlights Friday 5 August – Thursday 11 August, Tree of LIfe (12A) Friday 12 – Sunday 14 August Larry Crowne (12A)

Saturday 15 October, 7.45pm, Tom Stade, costar and co-writer of Tramadol Nights.

Tuesday 16 – Thursday 18 August, A Separation (PG) (Persian with English subtitles)

Tuesday 18 October, 3.30pm, 7.45pm, The River People present Little Matter, an epic tale exploring one man’s inner self and the potential for change.

Tuesday 23 – Thursday 25 August, Last Year in Marienbad (U) (French with English subtitles) Friday 2 – Thursday 8 September, Sarah’s Key (12A) Friday 9 – Tuesday 13 September, In a Better World (15TBC) (Swedish with English subtitles) Friday 16 – Thursday 22 September, The Skin I live In (15) (Spanish with English subtitles) Friday 23 – Thursday 29 September, Jane Eyre (PG) Monday 26 September, Taxi Driver (18) Friday 30 September – Sunday 2 October, One Day (12A) For full details of times and ticket availability, please go to www.thegulbenkian.co.uk