Kent Magazine - December 2011 | University of Kent

KENT The Magazine for the University of Kent | December 2011

Sharing shrines research Honorary graduates

Welcome Dear colleagues, On 17 November, we celebrated the University’s first Foundation Day – an official birthday if you like. Many universities acknowledge the anniversary of their foundation in this way and we felt it was time we too marked the occasion. There was an outstanding Foundation Day lecture given by Dame Jenny Abramsky, who spent her working life at the BBC where she was one of the first women to hold a senior executive position. She is now Chair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund. Her highly interesting and entertaining lecture focused on the nature of heritage and included a mention of our work on the Medway Campus. We had a fantastic dinner in Rutherford College as part of the celebrations, and I would like to thank all of those who made it such a memorable event.

The Foundation Day coincides with the November congregations and, as always, these were magnificent. It is always a pleasure to see students and their families, as well as staff, celebrating academic success and, this autumn, we welcomed four honorary graduates, including Dame Jenny. Awards were also given to Baroness Tessa Blackstone, the Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis and Amanda Cottrell OBE. Further information about the honorary graduates is on page 10. We always welcome nominations for honorary graduates from staff and to find out more go to www.kent.ac.uk/censec/other/honorarydegrees/honorary-degrees.html On a different note, HEFCE has now responded to the consultation on the White Paper on Higher Education. There are minor changes to the new regime for Home/EU undergraduates from 2012 and it was good to see that strategic and vulnerable subjects are somewhat protected from the changes. I know that all schools are working to maximise their applications in what are challenging times and I am particularly pleased that we are doing so well with our overseas recruitment. Not only are we up on last year’s figures, we are above that of the sector as a whole.

Despite the current uncertainty, staff continue to achieve great things both in and outside of work. Nancy Gaffield, Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics and Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges, won the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize 2011 and Dr Wei-Feng Xue, Lecturer in Chemical Biology, won the Society of Biology Photographer of the Year Award 2011. Lorna Collopy, Senior Lecturer in Law and a solicitor at the Kent Law Clinic, has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor as a Salaried Judge of the First-tier Tribunal, assigned to the Social Entitlement Chamber. We wish her all the best – Lorna has been a key member of the Law Clinic for many years and was a Law student here in the 1980s.

And finally, I wanted to reiterate just how impressed I was with the calibre of all those who took part in the recent academic promotions round. It was a pleasure to see just how high standards are.

I wish you a restful holiday over Christmas and the New Year, and look forward to working with you all in 2012.

Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow DBE, CBE Vice-Chancellor

3 News 6 Bringing peoples together 8 Research 10 Honorary graduates 11 Human Resources 12 Enterprise 13 Best practice 14 Kent in the news/Obituary 15 Sport/Green news 16 What’s on Special thanks to: Lesley Farr, University Design & Print Centre. Photographs by Glenn Bowman, Matt Wilson, Wei-Feng Xue, Tempest.

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KENT We have set up a readers’ panel for staff. Please get in touch if you would like to become a member.

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Vice-Chancellor welcomes East Kent investment

Kent is also available online at www.kent.ac.uk/campusonline/kentmagazine Editorial team: Posie Bogan, Acting Director of Corporate Communications; Wendy Raeside, Press & Corporate Publications Officer (Corporate Communications); Karen Baxter, Press Assistant, (Corporate Communications), University of Kent.

Next issue: the deadline for the next staff issue is 16 January, with a publication date of 10 February 2012.

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The government’s announcement on 31 October that £40 million will be allocated to East Kent from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has been welcomed by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow.

The RGF investment, which is part of a £950m national package, will protect or support the creation of new jobs and private investment in the districts of Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet.

The RGF is a £1.4bn fund which is designed to encourage enterprise, growth and jobs in the private sector and support areas and communities that are dependent on the public sector.

Christmas cards Dame Julia said: ‘This is a welcome and significant investment for East Kent. We look forward to working with existing and new partners to ensure that the region and its communities benefit from this opportunity.’

Medway redevelopment The University has also welcomed the proposal to transform 26 acres of ‘brownfield’ site at Chatham Docks into an employment-led mixeduse redevelopment containing homes, shops, offices and education facilities.

The University has for many years contributed to and supported the regeneration of Medway. As well as operating a multi-million pound campus at Chatham Maritime, it is currently developing a number of buildings at the Chatham Historic Dockyard for use as educational, exhibition and performance spaces.

Dame Julia said: ‘As an institution that has and continues to invest in Medway, we very much welcome this proposal. Such a redevelopment will help bring further benefits to the local community and economy; it will also contribute to Medway’s growing reputation as a centre for learning, tourism, culture and enterprise.’

Order online at www.kent.ac.uk/estates/design-print

KENT The Magazine for the University of Kent | December 2011

Head of Kent Law School becomes Academician Professor Joanne Conaghan, Head of Kent Law School (KLS), has been appointed an Academician at the Academy of Social Sciences.

Joanne Conaghan joined the University of Kent in 1984, and has also taught at the universities of Exeter and San Diego. She became Professor of Law in 2001 and Head of KLS in 2008.

Professor Conaghan’s appointment to the Academy, which promotes social sciences in the UK for the public benefit, brings the University's total number of Academicians to 20.

Honorary graduates Bringing peoples together

Cover story Sharing shrines research – Sufi Muslims praying in an Orthodox church in Macedonia (see p6).

Her appointment was by rigorous peer review, a process that focuses on outstanding achievement in the social sciences and commitment to the aims of the Academy.

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News

Former foreign secretary meets Kent students Former foreign secretary David Miliband chose Kent to begin a nationwide tour of UK universities to meet students.

we greatly value our relationship with SWUPL. I am delighted that we are building on current links with this prestigious institution, and look forward to many more years of fruitful collaboration.’

Star role for the University The Labour politician took part in a 75-minute Q&A session with students on the Canterbury campus on 12 October. He began the session by outlining what he felt were the main issues and trends in global, European and domestic politics, including the increasing scarcity of natural resources worldwide and the Greek debt crisis.

Students and staff in the audience asked questions about university participation rates and tuition fees, Islam and democracy, and the record of the last Labour government.

Professor Richard Sakwa, Head of the School of Politics and International Relations, said: ‘This was a great opportunity for our students to question one of the leading figures in the last Labour administration. As a foreign secretary, David Miliband was dealing with many of the issues that our politics and international relations students are learning about in their studies.’

Law students exchange Kent has renewed its agreement to exchange law students with Southwest University of Political Science (SWUPL) in Chongqing, China.

Kent and SWUPL have a longstanding relationship, with 18 students across both institutions having participated in the exchange since it was introduced in 2008. SWUPL is one of the leading Chinese universities in the area of law.

The new agreement was signed by ViceChancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow and SWUPL President Professor Fu Zitang during his visit to Kent on 6 October.

The signing was followed by discussions between Professor Zitang and colleagues and representatives from the Law School and School of Politics and International Relations. These discussions focused on developing research links in the area of Sino-European studies, with a view to holding the first of a series of conferences at SWUPL in 2012.

Professor Alex Hughes, Pro-Vice-Chancellor External, said: ‘Enabling our students to study in China is a strategic priority for the University and

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The University’s input to one of the world’s largest astronomy projects was in the spotlight in Singapore on 18 October.

Dr Nathan Gomes, Reader in Broadband Communications in the School of Engineering and Digital Arts, presented to a workshop during the 2011 IEEE International Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics.

Dr Gomes outlined Kent’s involvement in the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimetre Array) radio astronomy project, which will enable scientists to probe parts of the early universe for the first time. Once complete in 2013, it will comprise a giant array of 66 radio antennae installed over 5,000m above sea level in the Chilean Andes.

The ALMA project is an international collaboration between Europe, East Asia and North America in co-operation with the Republic of Chile. The Kent team helped develop the system for distribution of the synchronised reference signals over an optical fibre network – defining fibre types, where to place them and adjustments for environmental variations.

Key researcher in the University’s team, Dr Pengbo Shen, also visited the Chile site to check operation of the first fibre installations in 2009. This vital part of ALMA allows individual antennae to work together, as a single, large (kilometres wide) antenna, to provide extremely sensitive reception of distant signals from the first stars and galaxies.

Daily Mail Scholarships Two journalism students will spend four weeks in 2012 experiencing the professional buzz of one of the UK’s most demanding newsrooms after becoming the first winners of Daily Mail Scholarships at Kent’s Centre for Journalism.

The two postgraduates, studying for an MA in Multimedia Journalism, became the first winners of the new annual award when their respective comment articles and interviews were judged the best by a panel including the Daily Mail’s Executive Managing Editor.

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Joseph Downes, a Kent graduate, and Nick Gutteridge, who completed his first degree at Bristol University, will undertake a valuable work placement at the Daily Mail next year as well as having part of their University tuition fees covered.

Tim Luckhurst, Professor of Journalism and Head of the Centre for Journalism, said: ‘This is a huge opportunity for both Joseph and Nick to experience work in one of the country’s most successful news operations. I’m delighted for both of them. I am sure they will seize the chance to impress and to learn from one of the most professional teams in journalism.’

Bringing historic books to life Students are reading up on their book history with a new module based in Canterbury Cathedral.

The module, ‘Caxton to Kindle: The History of the Book’, is being offered as part of the Master's degrees in English and History. During the seminars in the Cathedral Library, students examine some of the earliest printed books, with the help of Cathedral Librarian, Karen Brayshaw.

Module leader Dr Paddy Bullard, Lecturer in English and American Literature, said: ‘This is the first time we have run a module like this, giving a unique insight to the Cathedral's extraordinary collection of 30,000 rare and beautiful books. Our students are able to see for themselves some of the first English books published by Caxton, an amazing copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle and fragments of one of Gutenberg’s bibles.’

Paper mill recordings presented to University Professor Tim Strangleman, from the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, has been presented with 50 hours worth of recorded experiences of workers at a former Kent paper mill.

News 1 New module in the Cathedral Library.

2 Winning Society of Biology photograph.

for tackling homelessness and enjoyed being able to get involved in Canterbury. They all commented how lovely it was to have a few hours away from their studies to do something a bit different that can make a big difference.’

Prestigious Leverhulme prize

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The recorded interviews of around 60 former employees of the historic Buckland Paper Mill in Dover, which closed in 2000, were made for the film Watermark, a 90-minute feature documentary produced by Dover Arts Development (DAD).

This collaborative project brings the mill back to life through archive film and photos and the recorded experiences of the men and women who worked there. As well as conducting interviews for the film, Professor Strangleman trained other members of the production team in oral history techniques.

Directed by Marianne Kapfer, with an original music composition by Faversham-based sound artist Robert Jarvis, Watermark will be given its first public screening at the Dover Film Festival on 6 March 2012.

Professor Strangleman described Watermark as ‘a filmic paean to work and working class culture’.

He also explained that oral histories are important ‘because they give us a real insight into a disappearing culture’. The recordings will be used by future students and researchers interested in industrial employment in Kent.

Students lend a hand Kent students took a break from their studies on 14 October to help homeless people.

The students spent a day painting communal areas in a 21-bed hostel run by local homelessness charity, Porchlight. Craddock House, in Canterbury, is a former army barracks that provides a home and individual support for people aged 18-65.

Student volunteers included Colum McGuire, Vice President (Welfare) for Kent Union. He said: ‘Our students always enjoy getting involved with the community and helping out. Many of the students volunteering on the day have a passion

exciting collaboration with the Leading Edge Group, which specialises in continuous improvement methodologies including Lean, Six Sigma and business process reengineering.

This agreement demonstrates our continued commitment to provide excellence in education through collaboration with industry.’

Internationally recognised research into German and modern European literature has won a University academic a prestigious Leverhulme Trust prize.

Top poetry prize for lecturer

Dr Ben Hutchinson, Head of German at the School of European Culture and Languages and Director of the Kent Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, received £70,000 in research funding following the Trust’s decision to award him one of only 30 Philip Leverhulme Prizes for 2011.

Tokaido Road by Nancy Gaffield, Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics and Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges, was published earlier this summer. The poems engage with visual images and associated texts based on Hiroshige's woodblock print series, Fifty Three Stages of the Tokaido.

The prize will help fund future research and book projects, and Dr Hutchinson said he was delighted to see the study of modern European literature acknowledged in this way.

The Aldeburgh Prize, among the UK's most influential and established poetry awards, was announced during the 23rd Aldeburgh Poetry Festival (4-6 November). The prize includes £1,000 cash, a week's writing time on the inspirational Suffolk coast and a fee-paying invitation to read at next year's Poetry Festival.

‘I’m very pleased to receive this award which will strengthen the research culture of German and modern European literature here at Kent. My main project with the prize money will be to write a book, provisionally entitled Constructions of Lateness in Modern European Literature, but I’m sure that this award will benefit the work of the whole school as well.’

Philip Leverhulme prizes are awarded to 'outstanding scholars who have made a substantial and recognised contribution to their particular field of study, recognised at an international level, and where the expectation is that their greatest achievement is yet to come'.

Business students benefit from international consultancy link Business students can access the very latest in business process best practice, thanks to a linkup with online learning, training and consultancy company the Leading Edge Group.

The collaboration between Kent Business School (KBS) and the Ireland-based Leading Edge Group will see new approaches to ‘lean thinking’ and ‘value chain management’ integrated as new modules within existing courses.

Professor Andrew Fearne, Director of the Centre for Value Chain Research at KBS, said: ‘This is an

A Kent lecturer's first poetry collection has won the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize 2011.

Nancy Gaffield completed the MA in Creative Writing at Kent in 2009. She has published a number of poems in magazines and anthologies, but this is her first major collection.

Photography award for biologist Dr Wei-Feng Xue, from the School of Biosciences, has won the Society of Biology Photographer of the Year Award 2011 for his eye-catching photograph of chestnut tree roots following the pattern of pavement stones in a garden in Hong Kong.

The theme of the competition was ‘What inspired you to be a biologist?’ and aimed to discover, through images, the many different ways entrants are inspired by the biological world. Sponsored by Olympus and the Wellcome Trust, the competition was part of the Society of Biology's annual celebration of both science communicators and aspiring photographers.

Dr Xue is Lecturer in Chemical Biology at the School. His research interests include biophysics, protein folding and protein aggregation. He is also an accomplished photographer, with his own photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/wfxue

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Feature

Bringing peoples together Shrine sharing Glenn travelled out to Jerusalem again in 1989/90 when the first Palestinian Intifada was breaking out. While there, he visited a town, Beit Sahour, which had had a visitation by the Virgin Mary. ‘The town council decided,’ he says, ‘that she didn’t just come to the Catholics, or to the Greek Orthodox, or to the Muslims, but to all the people of the town. It built a municipal shrine over the well where her image had been sighted.

This must have been one of the only, if not the only, non-denominational religious sites in the world. This communal solidarity was reflected in the town’s unity during the Intifada.’

When hostilities reached a peak in Israel/ Palestine in the early 1990s, Glenn continued his research in the ‘safer’ territory of then Yugoslavia. ‘I received a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to look at the meaning of national identity within a federal state and started fieldwork just as the war broke out,’ he says. The ESRC subsequently withdrew support from the project on the grounds that ‘we don’t pay researchers to get killed’.

Impact of walling

Halveti Sufi Muslims with Orthodox Easter eggs, Sveti Nicola, Macedonia.

War and religion divide peoples, but sites of communal gathering such as shrines can help bring them together. That’s the cornerstone of ongoing research by Kent anthropologist Glenn Bowman, acting Head of the School of Anthropology and Conservation.

Glenn is a leading authority on shrine-sharing – where Muslims, Christians and Jews have shared the same holy places – in regions such as Macedonia and Palestine. He is also looking at the impact of ‘walling’ or enforced separation of populations in Israel/Palestine, as well as Cyprus and Morocco.

‘I first went to Jerusalem in 1983, while researching Christian pilgrimage,’ he says. ‘I was really fascinated to see how one place could have so many different meanings. Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre, for example, drew pilgrims from 27 different Christian denominations. Usually, in such places, members of each community either ignore the others or, at times, treat them as threatening intruders.

‘However, I carried out fieldwork at a local shrine between Bethlehem and Jerusalem where local Muslims and Christians, drawn both by the powers of the site and the occasion of the festival, gathered as a community amongst the olive groves. That got me interested in the whole idea of sharing.’

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Glenn has continued working in both regions as well as, more recently, Cyprus. Following his experiences in the West Bank, he extended his research to cover ‘walling’ or the enforced separation of populations. ‘I look at areas where walling exists and compare those with areas where populations that are different are able to interact productively with each other,’ he says.

‘People who are denied contact with others are easily convinced of their demonic character; everyday contact, even in hierarchic relations, undermines simple stereotyping.’

As well as the obvious case of Israel/Palestine, Glenn has undertaken field research in Cyprus, looking at the ‘Green Line’ between North and South Cyprus, and has research students working in Morocco, focusing on the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Mellila.

Feature

‘Of course,’ he says, ‘I realise that there are situations that make it difficult for peoples to live together. But stories in the media make it sound as if it is impossible to bridge those differences.

I think it is vital for an anthropologist to share his or her knowledge about how inter-communal relations can work and to suggest that ‘tearing down walls’ may be a viable alternative to separation, caging and what I call encystation.’

London, to join a new interdisciplinary programme, Communications and Image Studies. More recently, he has been involved in establishing visual anthropology programmes within the School of Anthropology and Conservation and in the South East ESRCDoctoral Training Centre.

Research beginnings

As well as being a Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Glenn is currently acting Head of the School while Professor Douglas MacMillan is on sabbatical. Glenn sees his role as bringing together and encouraging interaction between academics, research and taught students across a school with diverse interests.

Glenn’s interest in why different peoples are variously represented began while a student of English and Comparative Literature in the 1970s.

‘I moved into anthropology from literature and theory,’ he says, ‘in part because I had realised that context is all-important when reading and understanding literature. That insight is easily extendable to understanding all forms of representation in culture and practice.’

Glenn came to the University of Kent in 1990, after teaching anthropology at University College

Encouraging interaction

He also convenes the MAs in Social Anthropology and the Anthropology of Ethnicity, Nationalism and Identity, as well as supervising ten PhD students. He is currently writing a new book, On Common Ground: the Practice and Politics of ‘Mixed Shrines’ in West Bank Palestine

Wall separating Rachel’s Tomb from the Muslim cemetery which traditionally surrounded it, Bethlehem.

and Macedonia (FYROM), which he hopes to publish in 2013, and has recently published a major piece of research on nationalising and denationalising the sacred, building on his earlier findings.

‘From my studies to date,’ Glenn says, ‘I firmly believe that different peoples living in one space can cohabit as neighbours without either separating into hostile units or dissolving differences into one homogenised communal mass. Kent is a good example of this with students and staff of a multitude of different cultures and nationalities mixing together to constitute a creative working community rich in cultural diversity.’

To find out more about Glenn’s research, go to http://www.kent.ac.uk/sac/staff-profiles/profiles/ social-anthropology/academic-staff/bowmanglenn.html

Local Muslim woman buying candles for votive offerings at the Monastery of St George, Khadr, West Bank Palestine.

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Research

Gurkha study backs economic impact The first ever study on Gurkha settlement and their integration process in the UK has revealed that working-age Gurkhas are the most economically active and self-reliant social group in Britain.

They are also outward-looking and actively seek advice before making important decisions, with almost 80% considering proficiency in English and having children in education, employment and training as most important. Seventy-one per cent are involved in voluntary work in their communities.

The South East Strategic Partnership for Migrationfunded study was conducted by researcher Nina Gurung, from Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, who surveyed 100 Gurkha men and women from Kent and the borough of Rushmoor, which covers the towns of Aldershot and Farnborough. These two areas have the largest Gurkha settlements in the UK. The study has also shown that: employment rates among Gurkha males and females are extraordinarily high with 95.1% for under 60s males and 92.6% for under 60s females; 92.5% of males and 61.3% of females are in full-time work; 87.5% of males and 77.5% of females travel away

Kent’s biometrics expertise helps Super-Identity model A biometrics expert at Kent, Dr Richard Guest, is playing a central role in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s (EPSRC) £1.9m Super-Identity project.

The three-year multi-disciplinary project aims to provide, via a Super-Identity model, a response to the many risks currently associated with both unreliable and counterfeit means of identification in a manner which existing models of identity and identification cannot keep pace with.

The assumption underlying the Super-Identity model is that while there may be many dimensions to an identity – some more stable than others – all should ultimately reference back

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from resident area to their place of work; 8.8% of males and 1.3% of females are self-employed or are an employer (with the highest number of jobs created by Gurkha employers being 370); and that 40% of Gurkhas are accessing education and/or skills improvement training (44%).

Despite their recent (since 2004) settlement in the UK, Gurkha home ownership rate stands at 56%, while many others rent privately. Reliance on housing benefit is mostly confined to older veterans due to low income. Eighty per cent of over 60s were on pension credits.

Nina Gurung explained that since Gurkha settlement began, Gurkha clusters are now emerging in the UK, with affordable housing and neighbourhood safety the important factors when choosing a settlement area.

She said: ‘Most Gurkhas are settled in mainly British areas (55%) and some in mixed Nepalese and British areas (27%). Most Kent-based Gurkhas live in mainly British areas. The main universal services accessed by Gurkhas are health services (100%) and children’s education services (75%); in large Gurkha settlement areas, this is likely to put pressure on relevant service providers.’

to a single core identity or a 'Super-Identity'; and that the recognition of such a core identity can be improved by the combination of identity measures across diverse domains (both realworld and cyber).

The first stage of the project is to define the set of identity measures of interest (for example, physical and behavioural characteristics, and online behavioural trends and interactions) across a diverse range of demographic populations. At this stage and throughout the life of the project, the researchers will explicitly examine the social, legal and ethical considerations associated with data privacy and data protection. Once this framework is in place, extensive testing will be conducted to determine the accuracy and reliability of automated and human identification from each measure and its application to a wide range of end-use scenarios.

Of the barriers to Gurkha integration, Nina discovered that these were: little knowledge about local community support providers (91%); access to adult education (70%); access to local leisure activities/facilities (63%); and information on children’s education, employment and training (78%).

Nina concluded: ‘These are important findings that could significantly help inform Gurkha settlement and integration policy-making process.’

Work on the Super-Identity model brings together experts from automated biometrics, psychology, forensic anthropology, human-computer interaction, mathematical modelling and complex data visualisation. The project is a collaboration between the universities of Kent, Bath, Dundee, Leicester, Oxford, Southampton and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA). It also has representation from several governmental and industrial stakeholders.

Dr Guest is a senior lecturer in the School of Engineering and Digital Arts. His work (receiving £343k of the funding) will focus on the computerbased evaluation of biometric indicators of identity such as facial characteristics, body shape, gait and fingerprint.

Research

Important discovery about one of key pigments of life University researchers have discovered a new way in which nature makes heme – the component that gives blood its colour and allows red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body.

Until now, it was not known that heme, one of the key pigments of life, can be made from a related molecule called siroheme by some very unusual and unexpected chemical processes – a discovery that principal investigator Professor Martin Warren has described as being similar in importance and scale to the ‘transformation of the first electronic calculators into the modern mobile phone’.

Heme performs many roles in the biology of a very large number of organisms. It is perhaps more well-known for the role it performs when it is found attached to the large protein globin – together called haemoglobin. Molecules attached to proteins in such a way that allows them to perform a role are known as ‘prosthetic groups’. Both the protein and the prosthetic group have to be synthesised from basic building blocks and then stuck together – all via various chemical processes in human cells.

In a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded collaboration with the University of Oxford and Portugal’s Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica (ITQB), the team from Kent’s School of Biosciences studied the process by which heme is synthesised in Archaea (a unique type of single-celled organism). Using state-of-the-art anaerobic facilities on the Canterbury campus, they showed at a molecular level that, within Archaea, siroheme is hijacked and brought into the chemical process that synthesises heme. In molecular and cellular biochemistry, this is a very rare example where one prosthetic group is cannibalised for the synthesis of another.

The project involved studying a number of very unusual biochemical reactions in glove-boxes that are completely devoid of oxygen. It was only under these unique conditions that the researchers were able to observe the reactions taking place.

Professor Warren, Head of the School of Biosciences, said: ‘This is a very important piece of basic science that offers an explanation as to how biochemical pathways evolve and become more complex. Moreover, we have learnt some new concepts about how chemistry can be used to change the shape and the character of larger molecules, which can then be applied for the

development of new compounds; for instance, in the pharmaceutical industry or the production of biofuels. In this respect, our research contributes to the field of synthetic biology.’

Anglo-Chinese collaboration on perfect appearance Collaborative research between psychologists at the University of Kent and China's Zhejiang University has resulted in the development and preliminary validation of a new diagnostic measure to gauge individual differences in people's hopes and concerns about a perfect physical appearance.

Named the Physical Appearance Perfectionism Scale (PAPS), it is hoped that this tool will help stimulate much-needed research into a personality disposition characterised by striving for flawlessness and exceedingly high personal standards, overly critical self-evaluations, and concerns about others' evaluations of one’s physical appearance.

PAPS was developed and tested by Kent's Dr Joachim Stoeber and Dr Hongfei Yang at Zhejiang. Their research involved eight separate studies with 2,316 students at Zhejiang's Xixi campus and Kent's Canterbury campus between 2006 and 2010. A paper, titled 'The Physical Appearance Perfectionism Scale: Development and Preliminary Validation' is being published by the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment.

Dr Stoeber said: 'Today's society places great importance on people's physical appearance.

We are surrounded by pictures of other people who look ‘perfect’ on billboards, in newspapers and magazines, on TV, movies and the internet.

Perfect looks are highly valued because they symbolise success, happiness and being loved and admired by others. Consequently, many people strive to look perfect, and many others are concerned about their physical appearance, worrying that they may not look perfect.'

Do lap dancing clubs make some people feel unsafe?

New research at Kent will provide the first evidence of how the sexualisation of nightlife may be creating discomfort among particular social groups.

Professor Phil Hubbard, of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, is working with Dr Rachela Colosi, of the University of Lincoln, on the research project which is being funded via a £117,839 grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Professor Hubbard, who has previously researched the regulation of prostitution and sex work, said: ‘Clubs offering sexual entertainment have become increasingly widespread over the last decade. This will be the first study of the ways in which the sexualisation of nightlife creates feelings of discomfort among particular social groups.

‘While recent changes in licensing laws mean councils finally have the power to respond to local concerns about lap dancing clubs, there remain many misconceptions about the clientele of such venues and their effect on local communities. No one has explored the impact lap dancing clubs have on the nightlife of British cities and this research will help those responsible for issuing licenses make betterinformed decisions.’

The 12-month study, ‘Sexualisation, nuisance and safety: sexual entertainment venues and the management of risk’, will culminate in a workshop for licensing officers and community safety groups attended by leading licensing solicitors Philip Kolvin QC and Leo Charalambides QC.

Research awards list Some recent research awards Dr Sarah James (School of English): £173,995 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for ‘Spreading the light: mapping the vernacular Elucidarium in medieval England’.

Professor Jon Williamson (School of European Culture and Languages): £308,228 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for ‘From objective Bayesian epistemology to inductive logic’.

Professor Simon Thompson (School of Computing): £443,305 from the European Commission for ‘RELEASE: High level paradigm for reliable large-scale server software’.

The year-long study, exploring the impact of lap dancing clubs in UK cities, will help council licensing officers and community safety groups make decisions on the suitability of the clubs in their communities.

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Baroness Blackstone was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Greenwich from 2004-11. In 2009, she became the Chair at Great Ormond Street Hospital Trust and, in 2010, she became the Chair of the British Library Board. She is also a trustee of the Royal Opera House.

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Labour peer Baroness Tessa Blackstone and the Chair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund Dame Jenny Abramsky DBE were among those receiving honorary degrees from the University at ceremonies in November.

Baroness Blackstone received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree at Rochester Cathedral on 16 November in recognition of her contribution to education, especially higher education nationally and in Kent.

Her academic career began at the London School of Economics where she taught for ten years. She became Master of Birkbeck College in 1987 and was awarded a life peerage that year. As well as working as a policy adviser in the Cabinet Office, Baroness Blackstone has served as Chairman of the ballet board of the Royal Opera House, the General Advisory Council of the BBC, the Institute for Public Policy Research and the RIBA Trust.

Students supporting students Staff and student mentors from various schools attended the Academic Peer Mentoring (APM) event on 12 October.

The event, hosted by the Student Learning Advisory Service in Darwin College, showcased some of the scheme’s achievements in Kent Law School, the School of European Culture and Languages and the School of Physical Sciences.

Student mentors’ certificates were presented by Pro-Vice-Chancellor External Professor Alex Hughes who said: ‘I am very impressed with the

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KENT Magazine

Dame Jenny Abramsky received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree at Canterbury Cathedral on 18 November in recognition of her contribution to the media and public life.

She spent her working life at the BBC, where she was the editor of the Today programme on Radio 4 and launched BBC Radio Five Live, BBC News Online and BBC News 24. As Director of BBC Audio and Music, she had responsibility for all BBC national radio networks, for the BBC’s digital radio services, and for music across television, radio, online and live events. She was also a member of the BBC Executive Board responsible for the delivery of BBC services and day-to-day operations across the organisation.

She was awarded the CBE in 2001 for services to broadcasting, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours list. She joined the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund as Chair in October 2008.

Also receiving honorary Doctor of Civil Law degrees at Canterbury Cathedral on 18 November were the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, the Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis DL, and the Chairman of Visit Kent, Amanda Cottrell OBE. The Rev Willis, who received an honorary degree in recognition of his contribution to public life and service, especially in Canterbury, was educated at Warwick University, Worcester College, Oxford and Cuddesdon College, Oxford. He was ordained in 1972 to serve as a curate in St Chad’s Church, Shrewsbury and, in 1975, became Vicar Choral of Salisbury Cathedral and Chaplain of the

Academic Peer Mentoring scheme and the achievements of the student mentors.’

The aim of the APM scheme is to encourage student-centred learning by training first, second or third-year student volunteers (student leaders/ mentors) to support other students (mentees) in their foundation or first year. The APM scheme started in 2007 with three schools: Biosciences, Computing and Physical Sciences. In 2011-12, eight schools are taking part, working closely with the Student Learning Advisory Service who are adapting the scheme to suit schools’ specific needs.

Baroness Tessa Blackstone Dame Jenny Abramsky DBE The Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis DL Amanda Cottrell OBE

Cathedral School. In 1978, he became Rector of Tisbury in Wiltshire, moving from there to be Vicar of Sherborne Abbey in Dorset. In 1992, he became Dean of Hereford Cathedral and, in 1999, he was elected Chairman of the Deans of English Cathedrals, a position he still holds. He has been a member of General Synod since 1985.

The Rev Willis became Dean of Canterbury Cathedral in 2001. Two years later, he enthroned Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury and then helped welcome the Lambeth Conference to the Cathedral in 2008. He sat on the Council of the University of Kent from 2003-9 and is an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University. He is Chairman of the Trustees of Jesus Hospital and also President of the Parkinson’s Disease Society in Kent. In 2008, he was made a Freeman of the City of Canterbury.

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Yale University in 2009 and a Knighthood of the Order of St John in the same year. In 2011, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Kent.

Amanda Cottrell, who received the honorary degree in recognition of her contribution to public life and service in Kent, was a magistrate for 23 years and, from 2006-7, was High Sheriff of Kent.

Now Chairman of Visit Kent, the county’s tourism promotion body, Amanda Cottrell is also a Trustee of Canterbury Cathedral, the Avante Partnership and the Godinton House Preservation Trust. She is Patron of Produced in Kent and the Caldecott Foundation, co-Patron of the Strode Park Foundation, a Vice President of the Canterbury Festival and of the Maidstone Museum. She is also County President of the Girl Guides Association and of the East Kent Stroke Association. She received the OBE in 2011 in recognition of her services to Kent, and has recently been appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.

Student mentors benefit greatly from the scheme – they not only develop their understanding of course content, but enhance their employability skills. Both Kent Union and Kent Enterprise recognise the students’ role in the APM, through the Kent Student Certificate in Volunteering and the Employability Points Scheme.

One student mentor, Subashini Sithamparanathan (Law LLB) said: ‘Dealing with students who understood things differently due to their cultural background gave me an insight into my own subject. I developed leadership skills as a peer mentor that have made me more confident.’

Human Resources

Mediation Service The University is working with mediation experts Total Conflict Management (TCM) Group to develop an effective in-house Mediation Service.

We all know that sometimes conflict in the workplace is inevitable. People have different personalities, goals and values and, sometimes, this can lead to conflict at work. By introducing mediation, and promoting a supportive and consultative culture, we hope to resolve potential conflict situations and reduce the associated costs in terms of time, money and unsatisfied and demotivated employees.

The Mediation Service provides an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service to all

employees of the University of Kent. It is completely free and confidential and offers you a positive, collaborative approach to resolving workplace conflict.

We will be setting up the service over the next few months; we’ve recently sent out leaflets with all payslips to let you know it is coming. We are also looking for staff to apply to volunteer as mediators. The service will go live in spring 2012.

If you are interested in finding out more about mediation, or becoming a mediator, please visit us at www.kent.ac.uk/mediation You can also contact the Mediation Co-ordinator on ext 7338 or at mediation@kent.ac.uk

New staff induction Arrangements for central staff induction have been reviewed over the past year by the Learning and Development team. As a result, the newly revised Staff Induction & Information Fair took place on 21 October, in Darwin Conference Suites.

Celebrating 25 years Staff who have worked at the University for 25 years celebrated in style at the Beagle Restaurant, Darwin College, on 14 October.

The lunch was hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow and attended by ten members of staff. As usual, it was an excellent meal and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event.

Picture shows (left to right, back row): Margaret Ayers, Winston Waller, Peter McGill, Derek Carpenter, Nigel Smith, Vicki Woolnough, Tony Varlese, David Nightingale; (front row): Professor Jennifer Beecham, Suzanne Duffy, Rosemary Baker, Paul Cambridge, Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow.

New members of staff were invited to presentations by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Keith Mander, Equality & Diversity and Safety, Health & Environment Unit. They were also able to find out about benefits and support provided to staff from University Services, as well as enjoying a buffet lunch and informal networking.

You can visit the Learning and Development website: http://www.kent.ac.uk/hr-learning anddevelopment/programmes/new-staff/ index.html to access information on staff induction, including the Induction Checklist and Good Practice Guidance for New Academic & Research Staff and New International Staff.

Promoting women in science Work at Kent to promote careers for women working in the sciences was acknowledged at two events this autumn.

The first highlighted the University's recent commitment to working towards the principles of the Athena Swan Charter. Keynote speaker was

New online staff community forum A new online staff community forum has been launched in Campus Online for members of staff to share information, publicise social events, conduct simple polls and post 'classified' ads.

Follow this link to go to the staff community forum www.kent.ac.uk/campusonline/forum/ The new forum allows any member of staff to post a story under a variety of headings and also comment on and reply to other staff messages. A simple set of guidelines is included within the forum and it also has a FAQ section on how to post and manage messages.

This is an ideal place to share knowledge of the local area and find out what's happening in your region – Canterbury, Medway, Brussels, Paris or Tonbridge.

Of course, the usual rules apply about adhering to the University IT regulations and the specific conditions associated with a service, abiding by the law and respecting other users. The only other rule we have is to not use the forum to promote your own business or benefit commercially.

Other than that – have fun and get posting!

Professor Dame Julia Higgins DBE FRS FREng. Dame Julia is not only one of the UK’s most esteemed scientists, but she has been instrumental in furthering the careers of women in the sciences. Dame Julia spoke about her own career experiences and emphasised the value of asking questions to promote cultural change.

During the second event – the Women in (Bio) Sciences day in the School of Biosciences – female former staff and students spoke about their careers and their experiences. Speakers included Lesley Thompson, Director of the Research Base at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Sarah Spurgeon, Head of the School of Engineering and Digital Arts; and Louise Naylor, Director of the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

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Enterprise

Joining forces The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) joined forces with Kent in November 2010 to explore and identify areas of interest and synergy with the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD’s) high priority science and technology areas.

Almost 50 staff from Dstl and the University spent a whole day exchanging information about key research priorities for Dstl and introducing main areas of research at Kent. Ultimately, the aim was to encourage greater networking between staff from both organisations and identify potential collaboration opportunities and funding areas.

One year on is a good time to explore what impact the event has had, and find out if any tangible projects have developed as a result.

Following the networking day, Dstl identified that specific research clusters at Kent supported the MOD’s science and technological priorities in the areas of Human Capabilities, Materials and Cyber Security and were keen to explore closer collaboration specifically within these research areas. To support this work, Dstl’s Jim Wilson and Kent’s Christina Schönleber were established as main contacts to enable the development of future collaborations.

As a result, activities in three key areas have gained particular momentum over the past year: Funding: Kent has developed much closer links with Dstl’s Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE), the gateway between MOD and the outside world.

Three CDE funding applications have been submitted since last year – Sam Marcora from the Centre for Sports Studies and Gareth Howells from the School of Engineering and Digital Arts have both received CDE funding approval – bringing

Kent’s total CDE funding to £106k. Maria Alfredsson from the School of Physical Sciences is currently waiting to hear the outcome of her CDE funding application.

Research Group Collaborations: The Advanced Battery Research Group in the School of Physical Sciences has started working with the Dstl’s power source capability. This has resulted in multidisciplinary project collaborations with the School of Engineering and Digital Arts, generating new industry links offering the opportunity to pitch for a proof of concept study (outcome pending) and a new visiting professor application.

Research Cluster Collaborations: Dstl’s Human Factors programme group has secured funding for an academic fellowship for the School of Psychology and is looking forward to a number of potential CDE applications in development across the Schools of Psychology and Engineering and Digital Arts.

According to Jim Wilson from Dstl, ‘Kent has a rich vein of hitherto untapped expertise in key science and technology areas that can help address Dstl requirements. The past year has provided the opportunity to explore mutual areas of interest such as energy, human capabilities and cyber security. We look forward to further strengthening the relationship with Kent.’

In the future, the aim is to strengthen already developed links and to optimise further opportunities specifically in the areas of cyber and information security. If you are interested in becoming involved with the Dstl or any other organisation operating in the security sector, please contact Christina Schönleber – c.m.schoenleber@kent.ac.uk

Faculties support Our role at Kent Innovation & Enterprise is to develop opportunities for external engagement and income generation, helping to secure external enterprise income and providing support to make the most of your intellectual property. Dedicated faculty support has been set in place to help with these activities.

Find out who your faculty contact is and how to get in touch with them: Humanities – Katrina Maydom, K.Maydom@kent.ac.uk Sciences – Miguel Alcalde, M.Alcalde@kent.ac.uk Social Sciences – Debbie Pay, D.A.Pay@kent.ac.uk

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KENT Magazine

Students win international prize

Three PhD bioscience students, William Humphries, Caroline Tolley and Claudia Rathje, together with Emma Perot, a law student, and Phoebe Maund, an anthropology student, represented Great Britain in the VT KnowledgeWorks Global Student Business Concept Challenge in Virginia, USA in August 2011.

The team, Biosense Diagnostics, presented a simple diagnostic test for the fast, efficient diagnosis of prostate cancer, based on the concept of the home pregnancy test. The team’s innovative idea impressed the judges and secured second prize and a $5,000 cash award.

Designed to highlight the important contribution university students make to the global economy, the competition organised by Virginia Tech University and VT KnowledgeWorks, celebrated the energy and ingenuity of university students.

Eight teams from across the world participated in one week of enterprise activities in the USA. The judges were very impressed with the Kent team’s well thought-through business case, presentation and competence during the Q&A session.

This is the second year Kent has participated in this challenging competition with the University teams securing second place in both years. This shows that our students have all the necessary entrepreneurial and business credentials to successfully compete on a global platform.

To find out more about business competitions and enterprise activities, contact Stephanie Barwick, Enterprise Development Manager, s.r.barwick@kent.ac.uk

Best practice

Celebrating excellence Prizes for excellence in teaching – from exploring architecture with local school-children to supporting study in Malaysia – were awarded on 3 October.

The annual Teaching Prizes ceremony, attended by around 70 staff, was organised by the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

Prize-winners were: Sciences Faculty Prize: awarded for the second time to Dr Peter Klappa (School of Biosciences) for his innovative use of multimedia in teaching.

Judges also highlighted his support for a new study abroad scheme in Malaysia.

Social Sciences Faculty Prize: three awards presented to Dr Ben Lowe, Des Laffey (both Kent Business School ) and Dr William Collier (School of Economics) for using Twitter to enhance student learning; Per Laleng (Kent Law School) for developing ‘moots’; and Govinda Clayton (School of Politics and International Relations) for his pioneering use of simulations in Master’s level teaching.

Humanities Faculty Prize: three awards presented to Dr Helen Brooks (Drama and Theatre Studies) for her use of new learning technologies; Sian Stevenson (Drama and Theatre Studies) for her work within the community and people with disabilities; and Dr Timothy Brittain-Catlin and

Dylan Haughton (School of Architecture) for introducing the study of architecture to pupils at Longfield Academy, near Dartford.

Barbara Morris Prize for Learning Support: awarded jointly to Dr Diana Newall and Dr Grant Pooke (School of Arts) for helping students prepare for job applications and further study; and to Dr Tracy Crowther, Stephanie Barwick (both Kent Enterprise Hub) and Dr Ulrich Weger (School of Psychology) for running successful Discovery workshops, an Innovate course and a work experience scheme involving local employers for University of Kent students.

Congratulating all the winners, who each received a certificate and cash award, ViceChancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow said: ‘There has never been a better time to focus on excellence and innovation in teaching.

As we approach the new fees structure in 2012, students and their parents will want to know what they’re getting for their money. Awards such as this show that Kent is ahead of many others in recognising the importance of high-quality teaching and we will continue to promote that.’

Process Mapping launched ‘Process Mapping’ is an innovative new project within the Academic Division, led by the Faculty Administration Managers and sponsored by Jon Pink, Academic Registrar.

All of our jobs, no matter what our roles, comprise a variety of tasks or ‘processes’.

Process Mapping aims to identify, share and explore these processes by using specialist software to map them. This enables us to visually present a process from start to finish, detailing every step of the way.

Once a Process Map is complete, it is stored in a library. The University of Kent Process Library went live on 7 September 2011 and, so far, contains maps from departments including Finance, Admissions and the Faculties Support Office.

The Process Library can be accessed across campus via the Academic Division website: www.kent.ac.uk/academic or directly: http://uokent.triaster.co.uk/processlibraries/ processlibrary/live/static%20html/sitehome.html Richard Douglas, Income Accountant, has taken the project lead in Finance: ‘Before I heard about the Process Mapping Project, I had asked my staff to think about the efficiency and effectiveness of their tasks and whether they could perform the task in a different way to save time. Process Mapping seemed an extension of this and offered a way to record the processes visually, step by step. Now that I have mapped quite a few processes, I feel familiar with the software and can see the benefits. We are now thinking about how our processes fit in with the rest of the University.’

Advantages of mapping your processes include:

• • • • • •

Sharing best practice and staff know-how Facilitating the training of new staff Improving quality and understanding Developing a consistent approach to tasks Identifying and fixing weaknesses in processes Avoiding repetition within processes

It is hoped that the number of staff involved with the Process Mapping Project will increase and that the Process Library will become an essential reference tool.

To find out more, see the Academic Division website: www.kent.ac.uk/academic or contact Laura Withers, Project Administrator, PA/Administrator to Jon Pink: L.Withers@kent.ac.uk

KENT Magazine

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Kent in the news

Obituary

Kent staff continue to make a strong contribution to international, national and regional news.

Leslie Pressnell, 1922-2011

International and national broadcast coverage included Dr David Hornsby, of the School of European Culture and Languages, who was interviewed on BBC Radio 2’s Simon Mayo Show, talking about regional accents.

Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby, of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR), was interviewed on the BBC’s World Service on his endorsement of Plan B as an alternative to current government economic policy. Professor Marion Fitzgerald, of the same school, featured extensively across BBC news channels, including BBC TV, with her analysis of the government’s re-launch of local crime maps. Also providing analysis for the BBC was Professor Tim Luckhurst, of the Centre for Journalism, who was a guest on the Politics Show.

Leslie Pressnell, who died on 6 September at the age of 88, has been the subject of obituaries in a number of leading newspapers.

International and national newspaper and online coverage included Nina Gurung, of SSPSSR, whose Gurkha study featured in the Daily Express, and, from the same school, Professor Phil Hubbard in The Sun for his research into the effects of lap dancing clubs and Professor Frank Furedi, in the Daily Telegraph, on new EU toy safety regulations. Martin Warren and colleagues within the School of Biosciences were featured in www.spectro scopynow.com for their research into the novel ways nature makes heme.

Regional broadcast coverage included Professor Roger Vickerman, of the School of Economics, being interviewed on BBC Radios Kent, Surrey and Sussex on the same day, talking about the economic impact of the Eurotunnel rail link and the M25 motorway. The Greek debt and eurozone crisis was the subject of BBC Radio Kent interviews with Dr Fragkiskos Filippaios, of Kent Business School, and Dr Neophytos Loizides, of the School of Politics and International Relations.

Having taught previously at Exeter, University College London, and the City University where he held a chair in Money and Banking, Leslie came to Kent as Professor of Economic and Social History in 1978, the direct successor of the founding professor, Theo Barker.

Already, Leslie enjoyed a research reputation that was outstanding by any standards. His earliest major work, Country Banking in the Industrial Revolution (1956) was, and remains, the classic study of the subject. Moreover, prior to coming to Kent, he had been appointed as the official historian of British external economic policy for the Treasury, under the auspices of the Cabinet Office. Volume I, entitled The Postwar Economic Settlement, appeared in 1987 and its successor, covering developments down to 1962, was moving close to completion at the time of his death.

Leslie’s period at the University of Kent was destined to be only a short one, for he retired from his full-time post in 1982 though continuing part-time for two more years. He continued to live in Canterbury with his wife, Sheila, for the rest of his days. Given the nature of his academic interests, it was natural that his research activities continued in the main to be focused in London and on the Monetary History Unit at the London School of Economics, which he had played the main role in establishing.

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KENT Magazine

Outside this context, and given his strong opinions as to what was right and proper, his views did not always sit well with the changing climate of academic life at Kent – or elsewhere. Nevertheless, he was willing to take a turn as Chairman of the Economic and Social History Board of Studies, as well as, on the teaching side, supervising a number of postgraduate students and offering undergraduate courses on Monetary and Commonwealth topics. These demanding courses attracted relatively small numbers, though the brave spirits who took them were often heard to speak warmly of their relationship with their teacher and of the personal care and kindliness that he extended to them.

Similar sentiments have often been expressed by those who encountered Leslie or worked with him in the research sphere. It is a mark of the respect and affection in which he was held that several specialists in the field were involved in the production of a festschrift entitled Money and Power: Essays in Honour of L.S. Pressnell (1987).

One of these described him, aptly and justly, as not merely a distinguished economic historian, but as the leading monetary historian in Britain during the second half of the 20th century.

Alan Armstrong, Emeritus Professor of Economic and Social History

Sport

The Vice-Chancellor’s Cup 2011 activities, culminating in a very wellattended presentation of the specially commissioned trophy. I look forward to next year's competition and urge more people to get involved in this fantastic addition to the sport and activities programme here at Kent.’

Graham Holmes (Director of Sport) and the Vice-Chancellor present the cup to Lesley Parker from Kent Sport.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Cup 2011 ended with a presentation lunch at The Pavilion’s Vista Vista restaurant on 24 October.

The Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow awarded the cup to Kent Sport who came top after taking part in the seven-event competition. Dame Julia said: ‘The inaugural VC's Cup has been a resounding success. It was wonderful to see so many people across a number of departments taking part in such a wide range of fun sports and

Green news

A full round-up of this year’s event is available on the Kent Sport website at www.kent.ac.uk/sports/vc including previously unpublished pictures.

Details of the 2012 event will be available soon.

Xercise Factor 2012 Applications for Kent Sport’s Xercise Factor are now being taken with auditions taking place in December.

Xercise Factor gives five lucky sports members the chance to take part in a six-week fitness and exercise plan in an effort to change their health and lifestyle habits. Each will be mentored by two members of the fitness team as they are first assessed and then supported through a strict regime in order to achieve their goals.

Bluebell Wood, Brotherhood Wood and Parkwood.

Hedgerows are a priority conservation habitat due to their destruction nationally. They are incredibly important because of the One of the greatest things about our rich diversity of species that they Canterbury campus is its green can support. Birds, amphibians, spaces. The total estate at Kent now mammals and invertebrates nest, stands at some 600 acres, including forage and breed in them and use the farmland stretching north towards the hedgerows as vital corridors Blean and the southern slopes facing across landscapes. the cathedral. These green spaces are a valuable resource to us, At Kent, we also have a number of especially for recreation, as well as aquatic habitats, with seven ponds an important habitat for campus of varying sizes located in very biodiversity. different areas, including the

My campus and other animals

The woodlands on the main campus equate to 35 hectares, mainly made up of oak, sweet/Spanish chestnut, birch and hornbeam to be found in

woodlands, grassland and main thoroughfares. Most people know of the Keynes duck pond and Jennison pond, but the others remain hidden away. These seven

If you are interested in taking part, pick up an application form from the Sports Centre reception or via the website www.kent.ac.uk/sports/ xercisefactor

Backing talent ‘Backing Talent Kent’ returned to the University in November. Following the success of last year’s event, Dame Kelly Holmes and her team delivered a day of fantastic opportunities for talented sports performers, their coaches and parents. The talented young performers, including the University’s Sport Scholars, received media training, pilates and circuit training with Dame Kelly, as well as some top tips for securing sponsorship. The coaches had a chance to try out a video analysis package and learn from UK AntiDoping as well as a Q&A session with double gold medallist Dame Kelly.

Follow-up sessions with athlete mentors will be offered to certain performers in the New Year.

ponds have been monitored annually by amphibian experts in the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology.

They have built up a good picture of what’s in them, including the European scheduled species, the great crested newt.

Finally, and most predominantly, we have a lot of grassland, an important foraging habitat.

To enhance our campus habitats and promote biodiversity, we need to collect as much information as possible about what we have, from the largest tree to the smallest insect. A Biodiversity Action Plan Steering Group is collecting this information, but we need your help.

Tell us your best nature spots – what you saw, when and where – by contacting Emily Crockford, e.e.crockford@kent.ac.uk.

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15

Music Saturday 10 December, 7.30pm, Eliot College Hall, Choral and Orchestral Concert by the University of Kent Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Susan Wanless. This concert showcases 20thcentury music from England and Russia, beginning with Parry’s famous anthem, I Was Glad, written for the coronation of Edward VII. The University Chorus will continue the English theme with a triumphant celebration of ‘universal song’ in Gerald Finzi’s homage to St Cecilia, the patron saint of music. By contrast, Lyadov’s short orchestral work of 1909, The Enchanted Lake, evokes a watery stillness, its delicate instrumentation and iridescent harmonies anticipating the music of the French impressionists. The second half of the concert features Mussorgsky’s musical promenade around an exhibition of paintings by his friend Victor Hartmann, enhanced by Ravel’s vivid palette of orchestral colour.

Tickets £13 (adults), £7 (students), £4 (balcony/standing) available from the Gulbenkian Booking Office, 01227 769075 or book online at https://uk.patronbase.com/_GUL/Productions /CC12/Performances Wednesday 14 December, 5pm, The Registry Garden (weather permitting!), Carols Round the Christmas Tree led by the University Brass Ensemble. Festive fun, roasted chestnuts and mulled wine.

Everyone welcome!

Friday 10 February, 2012, 7.30pm, Gulbenkian Theatre, The University Concert Band and Big Band.

Friday 24 February, 2012, 7.30pm, Canterbury Cathedral Crypt, The University Chamber Choir.

Gulbenkian Theatre highlights

Friday 16 December, 7.45pm, The Unthanks perform the music of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons.

Tuesday 20 December, 7.45pm and Wednesday 21 December 2pm and 7.45pm, Ballet Theatre UK presents The Snow Queen.

Thursday 26 January 2012, 7.45pm, The Movement present Twelfth Night, or What You Will.

Friday 27 January, 7.45pm, Gerry and the Pacemakers – Gerry Cross the Mersey. Join in this musical journey through the life and times of one of our greatest 60s icons Gerry Marsden.

Saturday 28 January, 2pm, The Elves and the Shoemaker presented by the Theatre of Widdershins.

Tuesday 6 – Tuesday 20 December, Bagpuss returns home to Canterbury this Christmas. This production by the Soho Theatre & Birmingham Stage Company features much-loved characters including Emily, the mice and their mouse organ, Gabriel the toad, Madeleine the rag doll and Professor Yaffle the wooden woodpecker. A perfect Christmas treat for excited children and nostalgic parents alike.

Monday 12 December, 2pm and 7.15pm, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – As told by Jacob Marley (deceased). From celebrated production company, Brother Wolf, and five-time award-winning actor/writer, James Hyland, comes a unique one-man show. Told from the perspective of Scrooge’s deceased business partner, this critically acclaimed theatrical adaptation promises thrills, chills and excitement aplenty.

Wednesday 14 December, 8.30pm, Kevin Precious Aging Punk Rocker. Freewheeling Funny Side MC Kevin Precious reflects on his youthful efforts as a part-time punk rocker, finding he still mistrusts hippies, the monarchy, the media and certain types of mainstream music.

Gulbenkian Cinema highlights Friday 9 – Sunday 11 December, Anonymous (12A) Friday 9 – Monday 12 December, The Help (12A) Sunday 11 and Sunday 18 December, It’s A Wonderful Life (U) Monday 12 December, Die Hard (18) Tuesday 13 – Thursday 15 December, Les Enfants Du Paradis (U) Friday 16 – Tuesday 20 December, The Deep Blue Sea (12A) Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December, Miss Bala (15) Sunday, 18 and Wednesday 21 December, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (15) For full details of times and ticket availability, please go to www.thegulbenkian.co.uk

© 2011 Daniel Postgate & Peter Firmin. www.coolabi.com | www.bagpussshop

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