Annual Review 2011

ANNUAL REVIEW 2011

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Constitution The University’s constitution is set out in its Royal Charter, Statutes and Ordinances.

The Court’s membership includes representatives from many sectors of the local and national community as well as staff, student and graduate members. An annual general meeting is held once a year at which an annual review of the University and the accounts are presented.

The Council is the executive governing body of the University and comprises lay, staff and student members, with a non-executive lay majority. The Statutes of the University define the powers and responsibilities of the Council (and of the Court and the Senate, see below). By custom and under the advice of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Council has responsibility for the ongoing strategic direction of the University, approves major projects and receives regular reports from Committees and Executive Officers acting under statutory or delegated powers.

The Senate is the academic authority of the University and comprises academic staff and student members. It directs and regulates the teaching and research work of the University.

The business of the University is conducted in accordance with the seven principles identified by the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public life (selflessness; integrity; objectivity; accountability; openness; honesty; leadership) and follows the further advice about governance from the Committee, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Committee of University Chairs. The Council maintains a Register of Interests of its members and staff of the University. The Government’s response to the Dearing Report on Higher Education (1998) endorsed a recommendation that the Council should be reviewed at least once every five years. The most recent review of the Council’s effectiveness was undertaken during summer/early autumn 2008. The review included a detailed report from an External Adviser, John Lauwerys, formerly Secretary and Registrar at the University of Southampton. The review concluded that overall the Council was effective. Some changes to further enhance its operational effectiveness have been put into effect.

The next review of the Council’s effectiveness will be in 2012/2013.

Enquiries about the constitution and governance of the University should be directed to the Secretary of the Council.

2011 Contents 2

Introduction

4

Winter 2011

10

Staff profile – Katie Truss

12

Spring 2011

18

Staff profile – Richard Sakwa

20

Summer 2011

26

Student profile – Beenal Joshi

28

Autumn 2011

34

Faculties

38

University of Kent, Brussels

39

Graduate School

40

Making an impact

42

Working to plan

44

Books

46

Open Lectures

47

Development and Alumni Relations

48

Summary of financial performance

50

Awards, appointments, promotions and deaths

52

Principal officers

28

4

20

29

6

13

23

31

8

15

24

32

9

16

25

33

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 1

2 UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011

INTRODUCTION

This has been a challenging year for higher education as the sector responds to changes in government policy. In April, we took the decision to set our tuition fees at £9,000 which, as a research-intensive institution, we believe will allow us to honour our commitment to deliver high-quality teaching into the future and to continue to provide first-rate facilities on our campuses.

Despite the challenges, I am delighted to say that the University is performing better than ever and we are achieving our highest ever positions in the various league tables.

The National Student Survey result placed us 17th in the UK and the last research assessment exercise was highly successful.

Kent is also among those UK universities included in the World University Rankings, placing us among the top 3% in the world.

Our global profile is growing steadily stronger, which is reflected in our excellent international recruitment figures. In the autumn, we visited Hong Kong and China where, thanks to the support of our alumni and others, we are making great strides with the development of our Portal project.

We also undertook a range of fundraising activities in the United States and, as always, have been immensely impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment to Kent of our US alumni.

We are developing our European presence and offer programmes in Athens and Paris, as well as our long-standing programme of postgraduate activity in Brussels. We also led a successful bid for EU Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate funding for its three-year Doctoral Programme in Cultural and Global Criminology. This is the second successful Kent-led bid for Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate funding, the first being Text and

Event in Early Modern Europe from the School of English. We are without doubt the UK’s European university.

We have seen an immensely strong round of academic promotions this year, and the appointment of Professor Joanne Conaghan, Head of Kent Law School, to the Academy of Social Sciences brings the number of these Academicians at the University to 20. We have also appointed David Brown, formerly Director of Structural Biology at Pfizer, as Chair of Structural Biology.

Professor Brown, and four ex-colleagues from Pfizer, will expand upon previous research links with the University by launching a new start-up company, Cangenix.

We have enjoyed further success with, for example, Nancy Gaffield, Lecturer in English Language & Linguistics and Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges, winning the prestigious Aldeburgh First Collection prize for her poetry collection, Tokaido Road. We were also shortlisted once again in the Times Higher Education Awards; this time, for work by students and staff from the Kent School of Architecture on two ambitious regeneration projects in Margate.

As we prepare for the 2012 new regime of funding for home and EU students, we do so from a strong platform and we continue to maintain a positive financial surplus.

We have ambitious plans for the future, reinforced by an active capital investment programme. Our success is reflected in the massive economic contribution we make to the south east. Derived from both the direct and indirect effects of the University’s activities and also the spending power of its students, we have an economic worth of £0.6bn. The region benefits too from our wide-ranging cultural, social and sportsrelated activities.

As a community, I believe that the University has much to be proud of. I look forward to working with staff, students, alumni and members of Council to make sure the University continues to flourish in what will clearly be interesting times.

Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow DBE, CBE, FMed Sci Vice-Chancellor

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 3

WINTER 2011

Biometrics for care environments Biometrics experts from the School of Engineering and Digital Arts have formed a partnership with InMezzo, one of the UK’s leading secure information specialists, to enhance identity authentication procedures in care environments.

The growing costs and demands on health and social care are leading to huge pressures to develop improved care for older people and the disabled in their own homes, using telecare technology to deliver the services. Telecare enables remote monitoring, alerting carers to client incidents, so that sound responses to events can be made 24/7. It often involves electronic transmission of highly personal health or welfare information, raising important issues about client confidentiality and safety.

University researchers have an established track record in developing novel and robust pattern recognition techniques to identify individuals from a range of biometric measurements. Working with InMezzo, researchers are exploring user-friendly ways in which recognition of individuals from their face and voice characteristics can enable patients and vulnerable individuals to gain much easier access to telecare systems and applications, using the audio-visual functions of the healthcare delivery platform SmartCare. It will also develop a door-entry system which recognises faces and voices of authorised carers and other visitors to improve the safety and security of people living alone.

Law students help villagers secure right to ramble A team of more than 12 law students at the Kent Law Clinic has helped villagers at Adisham secure their right to ramble on local woodland.

In January 2011, the villagers learned that four public rights of way – three footpaths and one bridleway – through ancient woodland adjoining the village had been confirmed by the Planning Inspector following a hard-fought campaign lasting many years. The Kent Law Clinic team, which included students Klara Holdstock, Marta Konieczna, Katarzyne Burdzy and Jim Kapches, helped the applicants and witnesses prepare evidence for submission to the Kent County Council and, later, for the Inquiry.

The Kent Law Clinic is a free legal service based at the University of Kent, staffed by qualified lawyers and law students at the University.

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WINTER 2011

Student wins national challenge Final-year student at Kent Business School, Elena Sanchez, was named the winner of a national challenge set by dunnhumby, a Sunday Times Top 100 Company.

The inaugural challenge attracted over 70 students from the UK’s top 30 business schools. They had to conduct a range review of a major supermarket’s categories, based on the dunnhumby website, and advise on stimulating growth. Elena, studying for an MSc in Value Chain Management, won the £1,000 first prize. Four runners-up, including Kent Business School student Alexandra Marsanu, received £150 worth of Tesco vouchers.

“Millions of young people will benefit from a Kentestablished international teacher training network”

Brompton Academy opens in style The University helped Brompton Academy, the latest school in the region to gain Academy status, celebrate its official opening in style. As Lead Sponsor of Brompton Academy’s successful bid, the University invited students, staff, governors and local strategic partners to the Gillingham-based school’s Celebration of Opening event.

University Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor David Nightingale, who is also Chair of Governors at Brompton Academy, and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow both gave keynote addresses.

Greenfoot to benefit millions Millions of young people are expected to benefit from a Kent-established international teacher training network for Greenfoot, a free-to-download software tool that teaches computer programming to pupils from 14 years upwards.

Greenfoot – available at www.greenfoot.org – was designed by the University’s Computing Education Research Group and La Trobe University, Melbourne, to engage pupils through an interactive environment which enables them to easily create games and simulations. To date, more than a million pupils around the world have been able to experiment with creating games and animations, with more than 250,000 active users currently developing their knowledge and expertise.

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WINTER 2011

Newscaster delivers memorial lecture Channel 4 newscaster Jon Snow looked at the impact of social media on journalism when he delivered the annual Bob Friend Memorial Lecture. Titled ‘From Film to Twitter – the Media Revolution: Is the Golden Age of Journalism Come or Gone?’, the lecture took place at the University’s Medway campus. The evening also saw Rob Kirk, Editorial Development Manager for Sky News, present a first-year student at Kent’s Centre for Journalism, Tania Steere, with the Sky Bob Friend Memorial Scholarship. Both the lecture and scholarship were established in 2009 in memory of Bob Friend, who was the original face of Sky News as well as a long-serving BBC journalist. The first Sky scholar, Alan McGuinness won the award in 2009 and secured a full-time job with the KM Group’s Medway Messenger four months before he graduated.

“The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Telescope has helped reveal a black hole in a distant galaxy”

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First images of black hole Astronomers from the University were among those celebrating the contribution of the UK’s new Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Telescope to the success of the European LOFAR project, which has just revealed a black hole in a distant galaxy in much greater detail than ever before. The image of the black hole, known as quasar 3C196, also demonstrates LOFAR’s ability to capture a huge field of view in a single frame: in this case, a patch of sky as large as a thousand full moons.

Launched in September 2010 and located at the Chilbolton Observatory in Hampshire, the UK telescope is part of a network of international telescopes designed to study the sky at the lowest radio frequencies accessible from the surface of the earth, with its ultimate quest being to discover more about the birth of stars and galaxies just after the Big Bang. The LOFAR array is now almost 1,000 kilometres wide and creates the largest telescope in the world, capable of generating images three times sharper than previously possible.

The UK telescope is owned by the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC), one of the partners in the LOFAR-UK project, along with researchers from 22 UK universities, including Kent as part of the SEPnet (South-East Physics network)-Astro research theme.

WINTER 2011

Recovering from workplace interruptions Research on interruptions by the School of Psychology’s Dr Ulrich Weger made headline news in the Guardian. Dr Weger, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Director of the University’s Centre for Research on Social Climate, has conducted research on interruptions that frequently occur during office work. Along with his team, he has also investigated the influence of background speech and music on the ability to recover from interruptions.

But perhaps more importantly, the research, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, has explored strategies that aid recovery.

Green campus goes greener Students and staff at the University took part in ‘Go Green Week’, a student-led national week of action on climate change taking place in hundreds of schools, colleges and universities across the country. The University and Kent Union joined forces with environmental and human rights campaigners, People and Planet, to hold a series of green-themed events, including a ‘Carbon Speed Dating’ evening and tree-planting session.

The week’s success adds to Kent’s already excellent environmental credentials and long-term commitment to eco-sustainability. The University’s campus has been ranked an impressive 14th in a league table of the world’s most environmentally friendly higher education institutions. Kent came third out of all UK universities taking part.

Top diplomats address Brussels School Europe’s collective defence strategy and its relationship with Russia were just two of the key themes discussed at a series of high-profile lectures at the University’s Brussels School of International Studies. Titled ‘Europe and its Neighbours’, the EU External Relations Lecture series brought together senior members of the Brussels diplomatic community, European decision-makers, researchers and postgraduate students to discuss key foreign policy issues. Among those delivering lectures were Vladimir Chizhov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union, Dmitry Rogozin, Russian Federation Ambassador to NATO and Dr Jamie Shea, a Deputy Assistant Secretary General at NATO.

“Kent ranked 14th in a league table of the world’s most environmentally friendly higher education institutions”

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WINTER 2011

New Doctoral Training Centre Kent has joined the universities of Reading, Royal Holloway and Surrey to form the South-East ESRC Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) for postgraduate researchers in the social sciences. As one of only 21 DTCs to receive ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) accreditation across the whole of the UK, the new centre of excellence has 24 fully funded ESRC PhD studentships across the consortium for students starting their studies in 2011/12.

Studentships will be awarded based on the academic excellence of both the candidate and the research proposal.

Employee engagement experts meet at Kent Leading European experts in employee engagement gathered at the University to look at how organisations can best relate to their staff at a time of increasing economic uncertainty. Nearly 100 delegates took part in the one-day seminar, organised by the Kent Business School at the Medway campus. Delegates included Professor Wilmar B Schaufeli from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, Professor David Guest, of King’s College London and Nita Clarke, Director of the Involvement and Participation Association.

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Tax switch could boost economic growth Switching some of the tax burden from personal and corporate income towards housing and consumption could boost economic recovery and growth. That was one of the main findings of a new study co-authored by University economist Christopher Heady.

Working with researchers from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Professor Heady found that taxes on consumption, such as VAT, and taxes on the ownership or occupation of houses, such as Council Tax in the UK, are the best way to stimulate longer-term economic growth.

Coupled with income tax cuts, a shift of just one per cent of tax revenues in this direction could increase economic output by between 0.25-1 per cent, the research team found. Their findings were published in The Economic Journal.

“Taxes on consumption and houses are the best way to stimulate longer-term economic growth”

WINTER 2011

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink!

Saucy seaside postcards were back on public display after being banned in the 1950s. The postcards, held by the British Cartoon Archive at the University of Kent, are part of a collection of 1,300 cards confiscated under the obscenity laws from 1951-1961.

A £150,000 project, funded by JISC (part of the Higher Education Funding Councils), has enabled the collection to be digitised and made freely available via the internet. The postcards also featured in two public exhibitions during 2011 – in the old Magistrates Court in Margate, where many of the cards were first banned, and in the British Cartoon Archive, based in the University’s Templeman Library. The JISC funding has also helped to digitise 14,500 British political cartoons from the last 10 years, featuring work by wellloved cartoonists from Mac in the Daily Mail to Steve Bell in the Guardian.

New hope for rare chameleon Conservationists from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) have discovered a new population of Madagascar’s Belalanda chameleon. The discovery came days after the DICE team hosted an international conference to assess the conservation status of Madagascar’s reptiles, three of which – including the Belalanda – are close to extinction.

Previously known to live in only a few trees in two small villages, the Belalanda chameleon is one of 75 species of chameleon that occur only in Madagascar, all of which are threatened by habitat destruction. The new population was discovered in a third village on the south of the main island.

Richard Griffiths, Professor of Biological Conservation at DICE and team leader for the project, described the find as ‘very important for this species, which is probably one of the world’s rarest reptiles’. He also explained that DICE is working with the authorities in Madagascar to develop plans to manage chameleons in the wild. DICE’s local partner on the project is Madagasikara Voakajy, a Malagasy biodiversity organisation that uses conservation science and community participation to protect endemic Malagasy species – many of which are highly prized within the pet trade – and their habitats. The project is funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative and the British Herpetological Society.

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KATIE TRUSS

2011 has been a special year, and a year of firsts, both for me during my first year at the University of Kent, and for Kent Business School at Medway. We started in January by celebrating the move into our new suite of offices on the third floor of the award-winning Medway Building. Throughout the year, we have had many other causes to celebrate, including the arrival in September of the first cohort of students on our new BA in Accounting and Management degree. Together with the latest recruits to our BA in Business Studies, they represent the largest ever and most highly qualified intake of students for the Business School here.

In February, I hosted the first event in my ESRC-funded seminar series on the highly topical issue of employee engagement, bringing 75 academics, policy-makers and practitioners together on the Medway campus. The series builds on research I’ve been leading for the past six years. It has also been a great way to link with the government’s current MacLeod Review into employee engagement, for which I have been invited to join the optimistically entitled ‘Guru Group’. Together with the University’s senior HR team, we are also hosting one of the new series of regional employee engagement practitioner events at the University in early December for the MacLeod Review team, aimed at sharing ideas and best practice around engagement. Being invited to judge the Institute of Customer Service’s Employee Engagement Strategy award in March provided a chance to see some of the truly inspiring work that many employers are undertaking in this important area.

I was delighted when the University announced it was going to accredit the new Postgraduate Certificate in Employee Engagement that I have spent the past year or so developing. It will run for the first time at the Medway campus starting in September 2012. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first universityaccredited programme focused on engagement in the UK, and is designed for working employee engagement professionals. I am looking forward to incorporating current research on engagement within the Business School into the programme.

We’ve also been developing our links as part of the UK’s European university. In April, I travelled to Luxembourg to work with the European Parliament’s HR team on developing and implementing their HR strategy. In May, we welcomed a delegation of business students and tutors from the University of Dijon on a study visit to the UK, following my Erasmus-funded teaching visit there earlier in the year. In August, it was with some relief that I submitted the final report to the ESRC on a two-year research project examining knowledge-intensive firms in the UK and Ireland that I have been leading, together with colleagues from Dublin City University. We are continuing to work together to explore how public sector organisations are managing their staff through the current difficult economic conditions in the two countries.

At a personal level, in July I was honoured to be accepted as an Academic Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I was also delighted to hear that the research article on the role of the HR department that I wrote with Jas Gill had been awarded Outstanding Paper of the Year by Personnel Review. For much of the year, I have been finalising the textbook I am writing with Clare Kelliher and David Mankin, Strategic Human Resource Management, which is due to be published by Oxford University Press in January 2012, and so I am looking forward to a further year of celebration.

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SPRING 2011

Origins of farming A new study, co-authored by Dr Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel from the School of Anthropology and Conservation, is challenging previous views on the origins of farming in Europe.

It has long been debated as to whether the transition from a largely hunter-gatherer to an agricultural subsistence strategy in Europe was the result of the migration of farmers from the Near East and Anatolia, or whether this transition was primarily cultural in nature.

However, Dr von Cramon-Taubadel’s study, conducted with colleagues at University College Cork and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggests that the prehistoric adoption of farming practices in outlying regions of Europe, such as the Baltic and Black Sea regions, was the result of cultural diffusion.

The study – funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant – provides evidence that, while indigenous hunter-gatherers in central Europe were largely replaced or assimilated by incoming Near Eastern farmers, hunter-gather populations in outlying regions remained for a much longer period of time and adopted some of the cultural practices from neighbouring farming communities.

“Infant feeding policy needs a major overhaul to be fit for purpose”

Feeding babies and the problems of policy In a briefing document by the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies (CPCS) at the University, Dr Ellie Lee argued that policy on infant feeding requires a major overhaul if it is to be fit for purpose. Dr Lee was motivated to make this call for a fresh look at infant feeding policy on the basis of her own research and that of colleagues in Britain and elsewhere, as well as the many representations she has received in recent years from angry, confused or distressed parents.

For the briefing, she reviewed articles published during the last decade by scholars working in the social sciences and humanities. She concluded that: infant feeding needs to be depoliticised; policy-makers should treat infant feeding as an issue on its own terms; and that policy-makers should aim to promote an ethos and practice whereby choice really means choice.

CPCS, based in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, also organised a one-day symposium at the British Library on ‘Feeding children in the new parenting culture’, featuring a lecture by Joan Wolf from Texas A&M University and author of Is Breast Best? Taking on the Breastfeeding Experts and the New High Stakes of Motherhood.

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SPRING 2011

Sixth-formers enjoy a taste of France

University invests in quality

Kent joins Santander Group

Around 50 local sixth-formers enjoyed a taste of France at the University. ‘La France d’aujourd’hui’ gave students the chance to explore French language and culture and gain an insight into studying for a degree in languages. The day-long event at the Canterbury campus was organised by the French department of the School of European Culture and Languages, in conjunction with the Partnership Development Office. Workshops covered topics including French songs, cinema, student protests (May ’68 and now), and a short novel by Victor Hugo (author of Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Fourth-year language students at the University talked about their Year Abroad studies at French-speaking universities in France, Switzerland or Canada.

The University of Kent has set its tuition fees for UK and European Union undergraduates at £9,000 for new entrants in 2012. A research-intensive institution, the University believes this level of fee will allow it to honour its commitment to deliver high-quality teaching into the future and to continue to provide first-rate facilities on all its campuses.

The University has strengthened its international links by joining the Santander Group, a European Universities Network comprised of almost 40 members from 16 European countries. The University’s admission to the Group is in recognition of its strong record of participation in collaborative European research and teaching projects. Founded in Spain in 1992, the Santander Group aims to establish special academic, cultural and socioeconomic ties between universities. It facilitates participation in international and EU-funded projects and the exchange of staff and students. It also promotes professional training opportunities for students and knowledge transfer between the partner institutions. These include the universities of Ghent, Rouen, Cyprus, Bayreuth, Patras, Trieste, Malta, Eindhoven, Porto, Wroclaw, Cantabria, Gothenberg and Malmo. La Sapienza, the first university in Rome and the largest university in Europe, has also recently joined the Group.

The University is to invest in an innovative package of fee waivers, bursaries and scholarships to increase its support for students from a range of backgrounds.

In addition, it will be investing additional funds to develop its long-standing and already excellent widening participation activities. It will also be enhancing its support for schools and colleges in the region, extending its network of partnership schools and continuing to provide leadership for the highly regarded Brompton Academy in Gillingham.

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SPRING 2011

New management knowledge is key to growth

Research aims to help stroke sufferers

Firms in Kent that are open to new management knowledge achieve better growth, according to research from Kent Business School. Human, financial and technological resources are all important – but it is the way that management use these that influences company growth. That was the conclusion of a new study published by the University’s Centre for Employment, Competitiveness and Growth.

A new Medical Research Council (MRC)-funded project, involving the University of Kent and clinicians from Kent & Canterbury Hospital, William Harvey Hospital and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, will test the efficacy of a new treatment for stroke sufferers diagnosed with a visualspatial impairment known as hemi-spatial neglect.

Centre Director Dr Mark Gilman said: ‘The key is firms’ ability to absorb and exploit knowledge. Firms that are open to external sources of advice and take advantage of opportunities for managerial learning and knowledge seemingly outperform their competitors.

‘But, at a time when managerial personal development opportunities should be supported, the UK government has chosen to pull funding away from regional business support and advisory services. This is where universities like Kent can still step in and provide these much-needed learning opportunities for our region’s businesses.’

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Dr David Wilkinson, from the University’s School of Psychology and an affiliate to KentHealth, is the principal researcher on the project, with Professor Patrick Pullicino (School of Biosciences), Professor Simon Coulton (Centre for Health Services Studies) and clinicians from the hospitals’ stroke and neuro-rehabilitation services assisting throughout. The research is the first MRCfunded stroke study in which East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust personnel have been directly involved.

The £313,752 grant represents a new phase of research collaboration between the University and the MRC.

SPRING 2011

Orphan chimps release tracked by GPS The 2008 release of 12 orphan chimpanzees into the wild using sophisticated GPS tracking technology has been deemed a success by the project team. The release was the first of its kind to use VHF-GPS store-on-board ARGOS tracking collars to monitor the progress of the chimpanzees. The ARGOS system emits GPS points to satellites downloadable via the internet.

It is also only the second time that rehabilitated chimpanzees have been released back into the wild in an area where other wild chimpanzees live.

Dr Tatyana Humle from the University of Kent is the scientific advisor to the project, carried out by the Chimpanzee Conservation Centre in the Haut Niger National Park, Guinea, West Africa. This centre is one of 14 Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA)-accredited sanctuaries caring for chimpanzee victims of the pet and bush meat trade.

New arts facilities at Medway

Six males and six females between eight and 20 years old were released in June 2008. Over two years after the release, nine chimpanzees remain free-living with two males and three females forming a group at the original release site. Two of these females gave birth to healthy offspring and another female successfully integrated into a wild chimpanzee community.

The University signalled its commitment to arts degree study by announcing major new academic and facility developments at its Medway campus. The University is investing over £5m in its Arts at Medway initiative, to provide its Fine Art, Music and Audio, and Event and Experience Design students with the best possible study environment. And new postgraduate degrees in Fine Art and Music and Audio will mean that Kent has one of the strongest creative and performing arts course portfolios in the country.

The move comes as all universities face the loss of public funding for arts and humanities courses following the government’s cut in the teaching budget for higher education.

But University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow said that Kent’s investment was a ‘clear signal’ that it placed high value on arts and humanities courses. A number of buildings are being developed at the Chatham Historic Dockyard, with new facilities including flexible spaces for painting, sculpture, printmaking, film and photographic studies, as well as new music and audio studios and performance areas.

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SPRING 2011

Virtual world launch The University marked the 50th anniversary of the first human in space with its own launch in a virtual world. The School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) welcomed visitors to its first island in Second Life on 12 April 2011 – 50 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first cosmonaut. EDA’s connections with space go back to its beginnings in 1966 as the University’s Electronics Laboratory. The Laboratory was founded by Professor Roger Clifton Jennison who made a number of discoveries in radio astronomy.

Decade of laughter An evening with comedian Ross Noble was among the highlights of the 10 Monkeys Comedy Festival which marked the tenth birthday of the University’s Stand-Up Comedy course. Graduates of the pioneering comedy module – part of the Drama and Theatre Studies degree – who have made it as professional comedians were also back to showcase their talents during the festival.

Chinese government scholarships are renewed Tian Xiaogang, Minister Counsellor for Education at the People’s Republic of China’s Embassy in London, renewed two Chinese government scholarships for the University of Kent during his visit to its Canterbury campus. The new scholarships, introduced during the 2011/12 academic year, will enable two undergraduate or postgraduate students to spend a year in China learning Mandarin and taking academic modules. The scholarships were formalised with a Memorandum of Understanding, which was co-signed by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor External Professor Alex Hughes attended the signing and accompanied the Embassy delegates throughout the visit.

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Later in the summer, a CD was launched featuring 20 live recordings representing the best routines written and performed by students on the comedy course. Monkeyshine 2001-2011 features two acts per year performing to a range of audiences, both on and off campus.

“Comics showcased their talents to mark 10 years of the stand-up course”

SPRING 2011

Poets take centre stage Poets from the University took centre stage alongside international figures when they launched the Sounds New Poetry Festival in Canterbury. This new celebration of international poetry will form part of the established Sounds New Contemporary Music Festival.

Jointly organised by the University’s Centres for Modern Poetry and Creative Writing, Sounds New Poetry will see leading poets collaborating with prominent composers and musicians to showcase their work. Poets featured this year included Peter Gizzi, Richard Price, Catherine Smith and Matthew Welton.

Spotlight on rugby hamstring injuries Hamstring problems among sportsmen and women are very common, but new Kent research could help prevent top rugby union stars picking up the injury. The study, involving elite English Premiership clubs and the senior England team, aims to identify how clubs currently treat and prevent hamstring injuries among their players – and to suggest new methods of preparing players in the future to minimise the chances of picking up hamstring problems. The research is being conducted by Sadie Jones, a lecturer and PhD researcher at the University’s Centre for Sports Studies, in conjunction with top clubs such as Gloucester, Saracens and Wasps as well as the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the sport’s governing body.

Architecture students set sights on Margate Architecture 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 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. Second-year students from Kent School of Architecture (KSA)’s Interiors programme have explored how the building could be adapted into a 21st-century boutique hotel while retaining its unique historic character.

For the Dreamland project, second-year Master of Architecture (MArch) students were invited by the Dreamland Trust to help restore the site to ‘its rightful position as one of the country’s premier amusement parks’. The students’ critiques and proposals have been incorporated into the group masterplans for Dreamland, as well as featuring in the exhibition and catalogue for EXIT11, KSA’s annual end-of-year show.

KSA’s contribution to the two projects was later shortlisted for a Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community.

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RICHARD SAKWA

Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European Politics and Head of the School of Politics and International Relations. He is an Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House. He has published widely on Soviet, Russian and post-communist affairs.

An academic’s life is nothing if not varied.

The academic year began with a meeting of the Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum, an annual gathering convened by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss the economic and political challenges facing the world and Russia.

Much of the year was spent in anticipation of the decision on who would be nominated for the Russian presidency. When the decision was announced on 24 September 2011, few were surprised that Vladimir Putin would return, yet the decision was far from fore-ordained.

Numerous gatherings were devoted to the question of Russia’s fate, typically framed by a contrast between stagnation and/or a new revolution. A conference in the spectacular Bellagio conference centre on Lake Como was devoted to ‘Russia 2020’, where the best minds of our generation toiled to anticipate, if not to predict, Russia’s future. The basic outcome was that it was impossible to tell, but this fundamental conclusion was framed in numerous elegant papers.

These are divided between what I call the ‘failed transition’ school, which believes that Russia has reverted to authoritarian type for structural reasons, and the ‘democratic evolutionists’, who argue that Russia remains in a liminal condition and that its future is contingent and can be shaped by agency.

While not discounting the enormous problems in Russia (described in detail, for example, in my book on Khodorkovsky and the Yukos affair), I tend to the latter view, for which I am soundly castigated as a ‘useful idiot’ (as Lenin put it) and fellow traveller, to revive the language of the Cold War. This year is also the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and numerous conferences have been devoted to this turning point in world politics. Russia is still looking for its place in the world. A sign of the continuing

tensions, which in numerous publications I call a ‘cold peace’, is reflected in energy politics.

This was the subject of a conference organised in Moscow by some of our MA students on our International Double Award programme with the Higher School of Economics. They were able to attract high-level policy-makers, politicians and academics, and the whole event was incredible testimony to the quality and initiative of our students.

Back home, I had done ‘a Putin’: served two terms as Head of School, and then taken a gap before returning to the post. Things had changed substantially in my absence; some of it to the good, with a far more developed network of support for students and faculty.

The neo-liberal spirit of governmentality, however, has seeped into our bones, now taking the form of the new fees regime. In the School of Politics and International Relations, we have tried to ensure that the consumerist ethos is kept at bay. From the very first day when students arrive, we stress that we are all part of a learning community and, to ensure that this is more than a populist slogan, we have introduced a range of measures. From their first year, students become part of what we call our ‘deep learning environment’, with students at all levels part of our research culture, now organised in the form of three research groups (Conflict, Security and Human Rights; Comparative Politics; and Political and Social Thought).

The School has been transformed in the last decade, with a host of energetic, talented and innovative scholars. Numerous lectures, reading groups and visiting speaker series make the School the site of intense discussion on the fate of Europe and the world. As with debates on the future of Russia, I am now convinced that it is not so much the conclusions that matter but that universities provide the framework for open and inclusive discussions. And this is the mark of a civilised society!

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SUMMER 2011

Pointing to student employability An innovative project that gives reward points to University of Kent 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. Students receiving the most reward points under the scheme – 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 international businesses supporting the University of Kent Employability Points Scheme were global construction consultancy Skanska and international business consultancy Chaucer.

Top marks again for Kent Hospitality Travel writer and broadcaster Simon Calder helped lead the celebrations when the University’s hospitality team scooped a top award for the fourth-year running. Kent Hospitality, which organises accommodation for conferences taking place on the Canterbury campus, won the Group Travel Organiser’s Best University Accommodation for Groups award, and team members were presented with the trophy at a ceremony at London’s Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel. The University fought-off stiff competition from six other shortlisted universities to win the award, which is voted for by readers of Group Travel Organiser magazine.

Boost for heart disease knowledge New research by a Medway School of Pharmacy researcher should reveal more evidence about how diets can reduce blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease in different individuals. Dr Ruey Leng Loo has received a £400k research grant from the Medical Research Council to investigate the effects of different healthy diets that are proven to reduce blood pressure on people with hypertension, or high blood pressure, and those likely to develop the condition.

Working at the Medway School of Pharmacy, which is a collaboration between the universities of Kent and Greenwich, Dr Loo is analysing urine samples using state-of-the-art, highresolution spectroscopic equipment to carry out a process known as ‘metabonomics’. This involves studying the urine samples to analyse metabolism patterns and the relation of those patterns to diet and heart disease risk. The research makes use of data from an existing study, known as the OmniHeart trial, to study urine specimens from people who have followed three versions of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet with varying levels of carbohydrate, protein and unsaturated fat. The three-year study is in conjunction with researchers at Imperial College London and the Johns Hopkins University in the US.

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SUMMER 2011

Tidy-up benefits charities

Showcasing Kent research

A ‘Don’t bin it!’ campaign at the University benefited local charities, as well as helping new students. The campaign, over the last three days of summer term, saw several collection points placed 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 significant donations to charity shops including Shelter and Oxfam.

Other collected items were donated to a free campus shop for new students to stock-up on kitchen items, decorations, books and other things for their new homes.

Two groundbreaking research projects at Kent have been chosen as among the most important pieces of work taking place in universities.

“Unwanted clothing, food and kitchen items were given to charity and a free shop for new students”

The ‘Big Ideas for the Future’ report, jointly published by Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Universities UK, pulls together leading research projects currently taking place across UK universities. Research from all fields, including science, social sciences, engineering, the arts and the humanities, were eligible to be included and the University of 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 EU-funded 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, led by Dr Rana Jawad, is investigating what positive social action is being taken to advance social justice and social inequality in the Middle East. Both academics are members of the University’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research.

“Big Ideas for the Future brings together leading research projects taking place across UK universities”

Google studentship win A Computing student has won a $5,000 studentship from Google. Gary Rampaud, studying for a Master’s degree in Advanced Computer Science (Computational Intelligence), was awarded a Summer of Code studentship. It is the second year running that the award has been given to a Kent student.

The Google Summer of Code is a global programme to support student developers in writing code for open source, or freely available, software projects. Gary spent his studentship working with the Jikes Research Virtual Machine project, widely-used for research into programming language implementation. Gary was developing alternative designs for improving ‘garbage collection’ – the way that programming languages, like Java, recycle memory – to improve responsiveness and reduce temporary pauses.

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SUMMER 2011

Research addresses pregnancy loss in IVF Joint research between the University of Kent’s Professor Darren Griffin, London Bridge Fertility Centre and BlueGnome Ltd has addressed chromosomal imbalance in embryos, a condition that is currently the major cause of pregnancy loss in IVF. Published by the Journal of Medical Genetics, the team’s research involved screening 164 eggs for aneuploidy, or the condition of a cell containing an incorrect number of chromosomes. Consequently, they discovered that, contrary to the widely held belief that aneuploidy in human embryos arises from incorrect separation of whole chromosomes (termed non-disjunction) during formation of an egg, human aneuploidy is likely to be due to an alternative method that involves the premature splitting and separation of individual chromosomes into their two halves.

Professor Griffin, a specialist in genetics at the University’s School of Biosciences, explained that the screening was enabled by BlueGnome’s 24sure platform, a technique that assesses aneuploidy though thousands of individual measurements across all chromosomes. ‘The quantification is sufficiently accurate to distinguish between the gain or loss of whole or half chromosomes,’ he said. ‘Therefore an assessment of which method leads to aneuploidy – ie the gain or loss – can be made.’

Plants in cities Research led by Dr Zoe Davies of the University’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) has revealed that vegetation in towns and cities can make a significant contribution to carbon storage and could lock away even more carbon if local authorities and gardeners planted and maintained more trees. The research, published by the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, is the first to quantify how much carbon is stored in vegetation within an urban area of Europe.

Using satellite data and information gathered by visiting local parks and gardens, the researchers surveyed vegetation across Leicester, including domestic gardens and council-owned parks, golf courses, abandoned industrial land, road verges and river banks. They found 231,000 tonnes of carbon (C) locked up in Leicester’s above-ground vegetation, equivalent to 3.16 kg C per square metre of the city, an order of magnitude greater than current national estimates. Most of this carbon pool is associated with trees.

The study is an output from a £2.5m EPSRCfunded project by the universities of Loughborough, De Montfort, Newcastle, Sheffield and Exeter.

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SUMMER 2011

Drama could help autistic children Drama-based activities may hold the key to helping autistic children communicate, socialise and play imaginatively following a new research project at the University.

Researchers, led by Dr Nicola Shaughnessy of the School of Arts, are investigating 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 includes psychology and autism experts from the University, who are evaluating the impact of the drama interventions on 18 children during the 30-month project.

Results from the study, which has received £350k in research grant funding, could lead to a full-scale trial and may also prompt changes in approaches to other communication disorders in children.

“Drama using puppetry, light, sound and digital media could aid autistic children”

Ancient Rome’s impact on urban geography Many of the cities of modern Europe owe their location to choices made some 2,000 years ago during the time of the Roman Empire, new research from a University historian has revealed. The research by Professor Ray Laurence, a Roman historian in the School of European Culture and Languages, alongside colleagues from the University of Birmingham, examined the archaeological evidence of a number of well-documented cities from the UK and other western European and north African countries.

The team found that the most successful cities were often founded at key points in the new communication network of Roman roads built across Europe – of which around 31,000 miles are known today. Other factors that enabled new cities to succeed included the reproduction of a Roman culture over several generations, the ability to sustain an urban population over more than one generation and the construction of new monuments including amphitheatres, theatres and temples. The team’s findings were presented in a new book, The City in the Roman West 250 BC to AD 250.

Teaching at Kent among the best in UK Teaching at the University of Kent has been ranked among the best in the UK by the Guardian 2012 University Guide. The Guide has ranked the University 23rd out of 119 UK institutions for teaching excellence, a rise of four places from the previous year. The Guide also ranks one-third of Kent’s subjects in the top 12 nationally for teaching. Kent is also highly rated for student support and satisfaction.

The news was welcomed by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow who said: ‘Kent’s position among the top universities in the UK is a reflection of the high quality of our academic provision and student support. This confirms the excellent student experience that the University offers.’

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SUMMER 2011

Honorary degrees Distinguished stage and screen actor Sir Donald Sinden, author and poet Vikram Seth and BBC political correspondent Mark Mardell were among those receiving honorary degrees this summer. Awards were also made to Oscar-winning musician and composer Anne Dudley; well-known science writer and broadcaster Dr Simon Singh; Professor Martin Daunton FBA, Master, Trinity Hall, Cambridge; Ursula Brennan, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence; Dr Alan Hearne, Chief Executive of international consultancy the RPS Group; Professor Dr Paul van Cauwenberge, Rector of Ghent University; Stevie Spring, Chief Executive Officer of international special-interest media group Future plc; the Right Hon the Baroness Hale of Richmond, the first woman Law Lord and a Justice of the Supreme Court; and Joanna Motion, Vice President for International Operations at the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

In the autumn, awards went to Labour peer Baroness Tessa Blackstone; the Chair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund Dame Jenny Abramsky DBE; the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, the Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis DL; and the Chairman of Visit Kent, Amanda Cottrell OBE.

Criminologists win national teaching award The University’s criminology teaching group has won the British Society of Criminology’s National Award for Excellence in Teaching Criminology 2011. The award recognises the work submitted by the group, particularly in three overlapping themes (culture, the critical and global) which inform its teaching practice. The national award is intended to highlight and celebrate the best practice in teaching criminology across higher education institutions in the UK. The Award was collected on behalf of the criminology team by Dr Keith Hayward and Dr Jennifer Fleetwood during the SAGE reception at the British Society of Criminology conference.

Kent’s programme was described by one of the judges as having an ‘admirable energy and conviction’, while Dr Helen Jones, who chaired the steering group for the award, said ‘Kent criminology truly cultivates the criminological imagination.’

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SUMMER 2011

Princess Royal visits Medway Park The Princess Royal heard about the University’s sports science research when she officially opened a Kent sports centre and Olympics training camp. Princess Anne visited the University’s sports science research, teaching and rehabilitation facilities during her tour of Medway Park in Gillingham. The Princess Royal, President of the British Olympic Association, heard how research and teaching make use of the latest in state-of-the-art sports science equipment. Professor Louis Passfield, Director of the University’s Centre for Sports Studies, described his centre’s work and introduced lecturers and PhD students to Princess Anne. University Chancellor Sir Robert Worcester and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow were also on hand to welcome the Princess Royal to the University facilities. The University contributed £3m towards the £11m renovation of Medway Park, which also included £5m of government funding.

Humanoid robots arrive in Kent The University has welcomed three unusual recruits – Nao humanoid robots. The robots have joined the School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) to help with teaching and research projects.

Nao robots, standing 58cm tall and weighing 5kg, are interactive, autonomous and fully programmable. Features include the ability to see, hear, speak, feel and communicate, as well as to sense and avoid obstacles. Developed by Aldebaran Robotics, Nao are used in research and education programmes around the world to study, for example, motor skills, balance, vision, language and man-machine interaction.

Professor Sarah Spurgeon, Head of EDA, commented: ‘Our new robots will be a fun, as well as challenging, way for students to learn about, for example, real-time embedded system development and data-fusion, from sources like cameras, accelerometers, microphones and tactile sensors.’

Lecturer receives Pakistan award A University academic has received one of Pakistan’s highest awards. Dr Jawad Syed, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Kent Business School, was awarded Pakistan’s Star of Excellence (Sitara-i-Imtiaz) by the country’s President, in recognition of his pioneering research into equal employment opportunity and diversity management in Pakistan and other Muslim countries.

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STUDENT SPELLS OUT WHY VOLUNTEERING MAKES SENSE Criminology and Sociology student Beenal Joshi notched up an impressive 350 hours volunteering in 2010/11. And she reckons that giving up her time for others has helped, rather than hindered, her undergraduate studies.

‘In my first year, I joined Stage Spiders, the children’s theatre company run by Kent Union student volunteers. I was a bit nervous about working with children at the start, especially as I’m not much of an actor, but it has given me confidence to go on and do other things.’

Beenal ran the Stage Spiders’ weekly youth group for children living on a housing estate close to Canterbury campus, as well as helping with a drop-in drama session in the city centre every Saturday and drama productions in local schools.

Beenal’s volunteering efforts have not gone unrecognised – she has received two KSCV Gold Awards for her volunteering over the past two years and is currently working towards the Platinum Award (which includes making a portfolio of her volunteering and a presentation to Kent Union). Recently, she has cut back a little on her volunteering to focus on her final-year studies.

‘My main concern last year was taking on too much volunteering, but volunteering has made me work harder and do more in less time.’

‘Running the youth group on Tuesday evenings, I saw a noticeable change in the children,’ she says. ‘They really appreciated our help especially as they didn’t seem to get much time to do drama at school.’

After graduation, Beenal hopes that her volunteering experience will help her find her ideal job – joining the Metropolitan Police after a stint of international voluntary work in India or Kenya.

Beenal became President of Stage Spiders in 2010/11. It has been voted Kent Union’s best Student Led Volunteering Group for the last two years, raising an impressive £1,500 for children’s charities. She was also secretary of the First Aid volunteering group, training and providing first-aid cover at, for example, sports activities on Wednesday afternoons.

‘Volunteering has taught me lots of things,’ she says, ‘especially community work, but also team-work, time management and project leadership. I really believe that volunteering is a two-way thing – students gain lots of new skills and the community benefits from our freely-given support.’

She has recently volunteered for East Kent Rape Line, training with 14 other University students to provide counselling a couple of nights a month. ‘It’s an excellent service,’ she says, ‘and I’m looking forward to helping out.’

She adds: ‘It’s not just about helping with your career – if you really put your heart into volunteering, you’ll get so much more from it.

Volunteering doesn’t have to be boring! You can do it with friends and have a great time helping others, as long as you choose to do something you enjoy.’

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AUTUMN 2011

Damaging parenting myths The effects of damaging myths about children and parenting, including the ways in which neuro-determinism has influenced policy and politics, was the focal point of an event at the University’s Canterbury campus.

Titled ‘Monitoring parents: science, evidence, experts and the new parenting culture’, the event featured keynote lectures

by Dr Stuart Derbyshire, Reader in Psychology at the University of Birmingham, and John T Bruer (pre-recorded), author of the controversial book The Myth of the First Three Years: A New Understanding of Early Brain Development and Lifelong Learning.

Other contributors included: Janet Golden, Professor of History, Rutgers University; Stefan Ramaekers, from the Centre for Philosophy of Education at the University of Leuven; and Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent.

‘Monitoring parents’ is the latest in a series of events organised and hosted by Kent’s Centre for Parenting Culture Studies.

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Promoting women in the sciences

Biotech start-up launched

More than 50 staff attended an event at the University’s Canterbury campus to promote the advancement of women in science, engineering and technology (SET). The event was organised to highlight the University’s recent commitment to working towards the principles of the Athena Swan Charter.

The Charter, launched in June 2005, recognises excellence in SET employment in higher education and established a commitment to the advancement and promotion of the careers of women in SET in higher education and research. The University has started working towards achieving the Athena Swan bronze award by 2013.

David Brown, formerly Director of Structural Biology and Biophysics at Pfizer, has been appointed Chair of Structural Biology at the University of Kent. Professor Brown and four ex-colleagues from Pfizer are also expanding upon their previous research links with the University by launching a new start-up company, Cangenix, from its Canterbury campus.

The arrangement will mean that students and researchers within the School of Biosciences will be able to exchange knowledge and collaborate with the Cangenix team.

“Ex-Pfizer researchers have launched a start-up company at Kent”

AUTUMN 2011

New Keynes College bodes well The University’s £25m redevelopment of Keynes College has received unanimous approval from students, staff and visitors alike – a message that bodes well for its 2012 Olympic ambitions. The redevelopment of the College on the Canterbury campus has resulted in 500 new bedrooms for undergraduates, the complete refurbishment of 162 existing bedrooms and the extension of its popular flagship bistro, Dolche Vita.

It has also created 20 new jobs in catering and housekeeping. The redevelopment brings the University’s Canterbury bed stock to 4,876.

“New Centre will lead to cutting-edge teaching and research opportunities”

New research centre The University has launched its new Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology (CORE-FP). The launch, at Keynes College, involved a day-long programme of presentations, talks and symposiums on topics ranging from street gangs, corporate crime and sexual harassment to stalking, firesetting, sexual offending and forensic uses of face perception. Among the 200 guests were Dr Harry Cragg, former Dean of Natural Sciences at Kent – who cut the ribbon for the opening – together with local MPs, members of the police, probation and prison services, and leading psychologists and criminologists from around the UK. Dr Theresa Gannon, Reader in Forensic Psychology and Director of the new Centre, explained the subject as ‘a modern branch of psychology that seeks to understand the psychological processes underlying offending behaviour, the reduction and supervision of offending behaviour – ie rehabilitation, treatment and management of community risk – victim responses to offending, the mechanisms underlying the criminal justice system more generally – ie jury decision making and the courts – and attitudes to offenders and offender reintegration in society’.

Dr Gannon also explained the main aim of the Centre as ‘one that aims to conduct high-impact psychological research to further understand key forensic issues of social significance and lead to cutting-edge teaching and research opportunities for postgraduate students’.

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AUTUMN 2011

Pigment of life discovery Kent 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, Head of the School of Biosciences, has described as being similar in importance and scale to the ‘transformation of the first electronic calculators into the modern mobile phone’.

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, the Kent team studied the process by which heme is synthesised in Archaea (a unique type of single-celled organism). Using stateof-the-art anaerobic facilities at 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.

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

Joanne Conaghan joined the University of Kent in 1984, becoming Professor of Law in 2001 and Head of KLS in 2008.

She has published extensively in the field of law, with a focus on issues relating to labour law (especially work and family issues), civil law (specifically tort) and gender and law. Her publications include the New Oxford Companion to Law, co-edited with Professor Peter Cane, and The Wrongs of Tort, co-authored with Professor Wade Mansell.

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AUTUMN 2011

China exchange renewed The University of 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 Kent Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow and SWUPL President Professor Fu Zitang during his visit to the University’s Canterbury campus. The signing was followed by discussions between Professor Zitang and colleagues and representatives from the University’s Kent 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.

Former Foreign Secretary meets Kent students Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband chose the University of Kent to begin a nationwide tour of UK universities to meet students. It was standing room only as the Labour politician took part in the 75-minute Q&A session. He began by outlining what he felt were the main issues and trends in global, European and domestic politics, such as the global shift in power from West to East and the increasing scarcity of natural resources worldwide.

Students and staff in the audience questioned him on, for example, university participation rates and tuition fees, Islam and democracy and the record of the last Labour government.

“Key issues and trends in global, European and domestic politics were identified by the former Cabinet Minister”

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AUTUMN 2011

Key part in SuperIdentity Model

Importance of mindfulness A new study, led by Dr Ulrich Weger from the University’s School of Psychology, has shown that simple social judgment tasks that play a role in people’s daily routines can be influenced through mindfulness exercises. Mindfulness can be defined as a state of moment-to-moment awareness in which people experience their environment without immediate reactions or preconceived notions. The tasks that can be improved through this practice may include emotional judgments, interpersonal communications or the handling of social challenges.

Dr Weger explained that, quite often, straightforward psychological judgments such as estimating personal performance in a given situation are easily influenced by latent anxieties or prejudices. It is not easy for a person to simply rid themselves of latent anxieties and, if suppressed, they are known to rebound under certain conditions.

However, the researchers have shown that if people focus their attention and direct it in a principled manner towards a given object for a few minutes, rather than let it wander or get sidetracked by the worrying thoughts, the negative consequences of such psychological threat are alleviated. In other words, those who experience psychological threat improve significantly after a mindfulness exercise, compared with those who also experience threat but do not engage in the exercise.

The research team also included Dr Tim Hopthrow and Dr Nic Hooper from the School of Psychology at Kent, and Dr Brian Meier from the Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania.

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A biometrics expert at the University, Dr Richard Guest, is playing a central role in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s £1.9m Super-Identity project. This 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 that existing models of identity and identification cannot keep pace with. The project – a collaboration between the universities of Kent, Bath, Dundee, Leicester, Oxford, Southampton and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA) – brings together experts from automated biometrics, psychology, forensic anthropology, humancomputer interaction, mathematical modelling and complex data visualisation. Dr Guest’s work at Kent (receiving £343k of the funding) is focusing on the computer-based evaluation of biometric indicators of identity such as facial characteristics, body shape, gait and fingerprints.

AUTUMN 2011

Vice-Chancellor welcomes East Kent investment The Government’s announcement that £40m will be allocated to East Kent from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) was welcomed

by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow. The RGF investment, 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.

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.’

Prestigious prize award Gurkha study backs economic impact

Cathedral Library brings books to life

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 Migration-funded study was conducted by researcher Nina Gurung in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, who surveyed 100 Gurkha men and women from Kent and the borough of Rushmoor (covering the towns of Aldershot and Farnborough), which include the largest Gurkha settlements in the UK.

University 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 are examining some of the earliest printed books with the help of the Cathedral Librarian. After five weeks of practical research in the Cathedral Library, students move to the Canterbury campus to focus on the latest digital resources for the study of book history.

These include new electronic archives of works by major authors such as Jonathan Swift, Jane Austen and William Blake, bringing the story of books from the 15th century up to the present day.

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

“Philip Leverhulme Prizes are awarded to outstanding scholars”

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FACULTY UPDATE 2011

The Faculty of Humanities

and the School was shortlisted for a 2011 Times Higher Education Award for its Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community.

The Faculty of Humanities has enjoyed significant expansion physically, in the range and diversity of its activities, and in its impact locally and internationally.

On the construction side, the past year saw major building works undertaken on the Chatham Historic Dockyard at Medway, distinguished buildings sensitively revitalised to provide the School of Arts with facilities for its fine art, music and planned performing arts programmes. The Cornwallis Building, home to the School of European Culture and Languages, has been transformed into a pleasing, welcoming environment and approval has been given for an extension to the studio space for the Kent School of Architecture.

Awards to individuals and groups within the Faculty have come thick and fast. Ben Hutchinson, Head of German, won the Philip Leverhulme Prize, awarded every two years to young researchers who are deemed to be the best of their generation. Manolo Guerci had a double launch for his book Palazzo Mancini, in London and in the Villa Medici, Rome. Clio Barnard (School of Arts) was awarded numerous festival prizes and a BAFTA nomination for the film Arbor. The joint doctoral programme, Text and Event in Early Modern Europe, launched by the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies in conjunction with universities in Berlin, Porto and Prague, won funding from the European Union under the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctoral scheme for its innovative approach to the Humanities.

The first cohort of nine PhD students from eight countries arrived on campus in September. The quality of teaching within the School of Arts was recognised, with three Faculty teaching prizes and two-thirds of the Kent Union Teaching Awards going to staff within the School. Kent School of Architecture played a major role in Thanet District Council’s successful £100,000 bid for the Dalby Square improvement scheme,

The completion of the Faculty of Humanities Enterprise Project on Museums and Heritage resulted in a cross-faculty network THINK (The Heritage and Innovation Network at Kent) which, inter alia, forges a link between Canterbury Museums’ Service and research conducted at the University. A new Kent MA in Heritage Management, taught in Athens, has 16 students enrolled in this, its first, year of existence. The School of History launched the Centre for the History of Medicine, Ethics and Medical Humanities and the Centre for the History of the Sciences, and rebranded the Centre for the Study of War, Propaganda and Society. The first international poetry festival, called Sounds New Poetry, was organised by the Centres for Modern Poetry and Creative Writing in association with the Sounds New contemporary music festival.

The annual event will feature leading experimental poets working together with prominent composers and musicians.

Through its mobility fund, the Faculty has been able to support such activities as graduate symposia at the Paris campus, student excursions to Madrid, Amsterdam and the United States, visits to Dublin archives and to the war battlefields near Arras, and has enabled students to participate in a theatre festival and academic conference at Bruges. Every student within the Faculty can now apply to spend a year or a term abroad.

A notable feature of the past year has also been some sensationally good lectures, delivered under the auspices of the Faculty, including Simon Keynes, ‘Canterbury and the Vikings in the reign of King Æthelred the Unready', Roger Scruton, ‘Confessions of a Reluctant Francophile’ and Quentin Skinner, ‘Hobbes’ Civil Philosophy: Text, Image, Event’.

Professor Laurence Goldstein Acting Dean

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 35

FACULTY UPDATE 2011

Faculty of Sciences This has been an exciting year with significant investment in the Faculty. The School of Physical Sciences (SPS) teaching lab wing has undergone a £2.5m upgrade.

University funds were also made available to purchase new equipment for the teaching labs in Biosciences, Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA), and SPS, with over £100,000 spent in each school. About £700,000 worth of new research equipment has been ordered across several schools; a major commitment to high-quality research facilities at Kent. The Faculty is also progressing with its plans for an Athena Swan Bronze award, which encourages policies allowing female staff to fulfil their potential – an important commitment.

Inside each school, there has been an interesting range of activities. For example, Biosciences continues to run a Summer School for undergraduates with, this year, representatives from Europe, the USA, South America, the Middle East and Asia. Two Kent Biosciences students have travelled to Malaysia to spend part of their degree programme studying there. The School also ran a symposium dedicated to the memory of its founder, Professor Ken Stacey.

In Computing, the School remains a leader in industrial placement, providing a Year in Industry for nearly 70 per cent of its students. Students can also engage with local SME-sponsored projects via the Kent IT Clinic which links companies with students. The School has also appointed several new staff at Medway, continuing its major commitment to that campus.

EDA participated in the Solar Car Challenge which, this year, attracted 60 pupils from secondary schools in Kent. Supported by STEMNET and run jointly with Canterbury Christ Church University, the Challenge increases awareness of opportunities in science and particularly engineering.

Research was also a winner in EDA this year.

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Professor Yong Yan and his research team won the Alec Hough-Grassby Award from the Institute of Measurement and Control, in recognition of their achievements in combustion flame imaging. Professor Yan was also named an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow and Professor Sarah Spurgeon was appointed an IEEE Control Systems Society Distinguished Lecturer.

The Medway School of Pharmacy continues to progress with several new staff, including two professors. Among early career academic staff, Dr Ruey-Leng Loo has won a £400k grant from the Medical Research Council to study hypertension, in collaboration with Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins (USA).

The School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences (SMSAS) has added new taught MSc programmes to its existing portfolio. The School now has around 200 postgraduate taught students, the majority from overseas, with actuarial science and finance proving particularly attractive. Two years ago, SMSAS launched a 2+2 degree in Actuarial Science with the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing. This autumn, the first students arrived at Kent to take years three and four.

It has been a busy year too for SPS. Apart from renewed teaching labs, the School also installed new research equipment. Research programmes on the new scanning electron microscope include studying novel materials and looking at aluminium foils sent from the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg as part of a major multinational programme led by NASA. Staff and students who attended the annual internal research student colloquia also know not to leave lipstick traces at crime scenes, as several forensic research projects at Kent have shown how to extract information from the trace evidence. You have been warned!

Professor Mark Burchell Dean

FACULTY UPDATE 2011

Faculty of Social Sciences Fundamental changes to funding the teaching of home undergraduates from 2012 mean we are focusing on ensuring that we provide an inspiring and rewarding academic experience for our students.

Recent indicators of teaching quality have been pleasing. Results in the National Student Survey have been good, with four of our schools in the top ten nationally, and the quality of our teaching has continued to achieve national recognition. An award for excellence in the teaching of criminology was received by the teaching team in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR); Govinda Clayton of Politics and International Relations was awarded the BISA-C-SAP Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching International Studies; and Dr Karen Devine of Kent Law School has been shortlisted for the Law Teacher of the Year Award 2012. Newly launched programmes, such as the Kent Business School programme in Accounting and Management at the Medway campus, are also already proving very attractive.

There is also a key focus on developing the support we offer students in preparing for their careers, and it is especially pleasing when this results in students’ external recognition. Of particular note are the achievements of Suda Perera, a Politics and International Relations student who was this year’s winner of the Cedric Smith essay prize, awarded by the Conflict Research Society, and Sara Malm, a final-year student in the Centre for Journalism, who won a prestigious slot as a columnist in i, the compact version of the Independent.

2011 has been another successful year in obtaining grants from external bodies to support our research. The variety and scale of grants across the Faculty is striking: larger grants have included £236k from the Medical Research Council, to investigate and trial a new treatment for strokes (Dr David Wilkinson, Psychology, and Professor

Simon Coulton, SSPSSR) and £140k from DEFRA to examine the impact of development on great crested newt populations (Professor Richard Griffiths, School of Anthropology and Conservation).

Wide-ranging smaller grants include a project exploring sports disability with Real Madrid football club (Dr Sakis Pappous, Sports Studies) and a project with the International Centre for Taxation and Development undertaken by Professor Chris Heady of Economics and supported by the Department for International Development.

The past year has also seen the launch of two major new centres in the Faculty. The Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology (CORE-FP) builds on the outstanding success of the Forensic Group in the School of Psychology, and the Centre for the Study of Higher Education has a remit to develop research underpinning the University’s programmes in higher education. The Centre was launched with a lecture by Sir Peter Scott, one of many eminent visitors to the Faculty. Others have included Jon Snow, who gave the Sky Bob Friend Memorial Lecture in the Centre for Journalism, and Professor Doreen Massey, who gave a lecture and seminar as part of the Faculty Distinguished Speaker Series.

Another highlight of 2011 for the Faculty was, undoubtedly, the successful bid, in conjunction with Royal Holloway, Surrey and Reading universities, to the Economic and Social Research Council for one of the new (and highly sought-after) Doctoral Training Centres. Of the 24 postgraduate research scholarships which the Centre will annually allocate on merit, schools within the Faculty obtained 15 in the first round in spring 2011.

Further support for postgraduate research will come as a result of the success of SSPSSR and its consortium partners in continental Europe, in gaining EU Erasmus Mundus funding to support its three-year doctoral programme in Cultural and Global Criminology.

John Wightman Dean

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 37

UNIVERSITY OF KENT, BRUSSELS The Brussels Campus is the University’s primary claim to be a European university and it makes a major impact on its local communities in Brussels and Kent as well as the wider world.

This has been a difficult year, but one which ended with significant optimism. The discussions with the NVAO (NederlandsVlaamse Accreditie Organisatie) were successfully concluded, giving programmes at the Brussels campus local accreditation.

This decision has been ratified by the Flemish Ministry of Education so that the University of Kent is now officially recognised as a provider of higher education in Belgium. Achievement of this local recognition should reduce some of the problems faced by our students over visas, scholarships and loans and recognition of their degrees. But it has also placed us in a privileged position of being able to understand the issues facing the transnational delivery of higher education and we are already being turned to for our expertise in this area.

We also significantly moved forward in the design of our double award ‘two capitals’ programmes with universities in Washington DC and Beijing, and began negotiations for a similar programme in Brazil. These are exciting developments which demonstrate our world view as much as our European view. We welcomed our first two exchange students from China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, who helped cement our relationship with this prestigious institution and contributed enormously to the multicultural environment of students from nearly 50 countries.

This was also reflected in a high-quality programme of workshops on ‘Europe and its Neighbours’ delivered over eight weeks in the spring term. Exploring the way the EU relates to its neighbours to the east, south and north, as well as to other global powers such as the US and China, this series of lectures and debates attracted a wide audience. Speakers included five different Ambassadors, reflecting the very practical

38 UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011

approach to international affairs the programmes in Brussels provide to our students.

Other high-profile events included a panel discussion to mark the tenth anniversary of the EU-Russia ‘Energy Dialogue’. An impressive list of panellists from the oil sector, Russia and Ukraine met under the chairmanship of Professor Amelia Hadfield, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Members of the Brussels-based staff are frequently invited to participate in workshops and seminars in Brussels, showing our increasing recognition as a contributor to debates on international affairs. This includes close co-operation with Kent County Council’s office in Brussels, providing opportunities for internships for Brussels-based students and research-led input to the Council’s international strategy.

More widely, Dr Albena Azmanova’s new book The Scandal of Reason: A Critical Theory of Political Judgment has led to invitations to speak around the world even in advance of its formal publication.

Meanwhile, we continued to recruit highquality students, many of whom excelled in their studies with a significant number receiving distinctions. Our graduates continue to be sought for their expertise.

Many stay in Brussels or return to their own countries to work, but our alumni have also been making a difference in places such as Tanzania, Mozambique, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, working on projects for international organisations and NGOs directly related to their studies in Brussels.

Professor Roger Vickerman Dean

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 2011 has been another extremely successful year for graduate education at Kent. Since the creation of the Graduate School three years ago, we have made substantial progress against the objectives outlined in our strategy which were: (a) to increase numbers of taught and research postgraduate students; (b) to enhance the academic experience and research environment for postgraduate students; (c) to develop a strong postgraduate community; (d) to support the personal and career development of postgraduate students; and (e) to introduce a strong system of governance for the management of graduate studies.

These goals underpin the mission of the Graduate School which is ‘to lead and champion the strategic development for graduate education at Kent’. There has been very significant growth in postgraduate student recruitment over the last three years, with numbers of Master’s degree students up 54% since 2008. Postgraduate student satisfaction levels are high and the excellence of our postgraduate research and training has been recognised nationally and internationally by successful bids to the Economic and Social Research Council for a Doctoral Training Centre and the European Commission for Erasmus-Mundus Joint Doctorate funding.

The Postgraduate Research and Taught Experience Surveys (PRES and PTES) took place across the UK in 2011 and the results demonstrated a positive picture for Kent.

Eighty six per cent of respondents to the PRES confirmed that the overall research degree experience had met or exceeded their expectations. This is the highest level seen at Kent over the past four years and compares well with our competitors.

Research students were particularly satisfied with supervision and the opportunities available for them to develop transferable skills. In addition, 90% of students on Master’s degree courses reported that their courses had met or exceeded their expectations.

The Graduate School launched a Global Skills Award for the 2010/11 academic year – a programme designed to enhance global awareness and employability skills. Over 100 students successfully completed the award in 2011 and over 200 have registered for the 2011/12 academic year. I am very grateful to

the academic staff, alumni and other external friends and colleagues who contribute to the very stimulating lecture programme.

The postgraduate community has been thriving following the creation of the new Graduate Student Association, which has been working closely with the Graduate School and Kent Union to provide a range of academic and social events for postgraduate students. The Graduate School is liaising with postgraduate student representatives and other central service providers to work on plans for the development of a Graduate Centre on the Canterbury campus. The Graduate School continues to support student-driven activities such as The GradPost (postgraduate newsletter) which reached its tenth edition in autumn term 2011. We also introduced the Postgraduate Experience Awards which allow postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers to apply for funding to run events which have an interdisciplinary and/or external focus. In 2011, the awards funded an interdisciplinary reading group, a cross disciplinary symposium entitled ‘Cradled in Caricature’ and a Postgraduate Research Festival which was a great success, and we plan to hold a similar event in 2012.

There have been exciting developments in graduate studies across the University during 2011. These include the successful Erasmus-Mundus application for a Doctorate in Cultural and Global Criminology (DCGC) with the Universities of ELTE (Budapest), Hamburg and Utrecht which was one of only ten successful applications out of 140 submitted. This is a significant achievement for the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research and will be the second

Erasmus-Mundus Joint Doctorate to be coordinated by the University, and the only two co-ordinated by UK institutions. The first – Text and Event in Early Modern Europe (TEEME) – within the School of English welcomed its first students to Kent in September 2010.

In January 2011, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) announced that we have been successful in bidding for a collaborative ESRC Doctoral Training Centre with the Universities of Surrey, Royal Holloway and Reading. The Consortium was awarded 24 fully-funded ESRC studentships and Kent was successful in obtaining 15 of these following an internal competition across the Doctoral Training Centre.

We look forward to building on our achievements in 2012 as we embrace a period of change across the HE sector.

The impact of increased undergraduate fees on the future of graduate education is at present unclear. However, Kent’s achievements to date and our plans to continue to develop innovative and flexible models of graduate study will stand us in good stead as we enter this new, challenging world.

Professor Diane Houston Dean

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 39

MAKING AN IMPACT

The University of Kent has a major impact on the economic well-being of the south-east region.

The University supports around 2,550 fulltime equivalent jobs, in occupations from accountants and chefs to gardeners and lecturers. We have almost 20,000 students from all parts of the globe studying at our Canterbury and Medway campuses, helping us to contribute an estimated £0.6 billion to the regional economy every year. But the University’s impact is not just limited to economic factors. We provide a wide range of other facilities and services, many of which are difficult to measure in hardcash terms.

Sport for all We have, for example, extensive sports facilities for all abilities and needs, from amateur enthusiasts to professional sportspeople. With membership open to the public, our extensive Canterbury campus sports facilities include a variety of playing fields, tennis courts, two multi-use sports halls, a cardio/fitness suite and a dance studio. We also run a programme of widely varying classes from Ab-Attack to Zumba.

At our Medway campus, the Centre for Sports Studies offers professional services to the public such as sport and exercise testing, psychology and nutrition consultations, rehabilitation gym and a sports therapy clinic. In addition, we have committed £3m towards the creation of Medway Park, a regional centre of sporting excellence and an approved Olympic training camp.

Music-making The University is also renowned within the local community and beyond for its cultural importance – whether it’s singing with our students and staff or seeing the latest independent film.

Student musicians regularly give fundraising concerts in churches around Kent, join

events with local schools and perform during the annual Canterbury Festival. The University also presents a number of major concerts in Canterbury – including the inspiring Choral and Orchestral Concert at Canterbury Cathedral – as well as many concerts on campus open to the public. We welcome the local community to join us as performers by singing or playing in the University Chorus, Symphony Orchestra Concert and Big Bands. The importance of music to both the University and community is underlined in the current building of a brand new, state-of-the-art music venue, the Colyer-Fergusson Music Building, due to open in summer 2012.

Another popular source of entertainment and information is the University’s annual series of Open Lectures. These lectures feature prestigious speakers covering a wide variety of topics, from the search for intelligent life to the building of the Olympic Velodrome.

At the heart of the Canterbury campus, we have our own professional theatre and cinema venue, the Gulbenkian, where students, staff and visitors come together to enjoy a diverse range of live performance.

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The Gulbenkian has a resident graduate company, Bright Shadow, which works within communities and educational institutions across Kent.

Student volunteering The University also makes an important impact on the life and well-being of the region through our student volunteering. This is co-ordinated by our student union, Kent Union, which also runs RaG – Raise and Give – dedicated to raising money for local, national and international charities.

We have strong ties with charities ranging from local homelessness charity, Porchlight, to the Samaritans and Kent Library Hospital Service and encourage these activities and many more through the Kent Student Certificate for Volunteering. Every year, more than 1,800 students dedicate over 46,000 hours to volunteering and, last year, RaG raised £90k for charity.

To find out more about the University’s regional impact, both economically and in other ways, see www.kent.ac.uk/about/ community

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 41

42 UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011

WORKING TO PLAN

The University’s Plan for 2009-12 is based around six key messages: being a leading UK university; having a strong international impact; offering an inspiring student experience that prepares students for the future; producing innovative, world-leading research; valuing innovation, enterprise and creativity; and seeking to operate in an effective, efficient, sustainable and professional way. During 2010-11, we made good progress against the Plan.

Leading UK university Kent has continued to perform strongly in the National Student Survey and underlined its academic and research excellence with, for example, high-quality publications and significant grant funding. Admissions for postgraduate programmes have been particularly strong, with a 13% increase in home and EU full-time taught applications and 22% increase in overseas applications.

We have partnerships with over 100 universities across Europe, covering European double degrees, staff and student exchanges under the Erasmus scheme, and academic and collaborative initiatives with a distinctive European focus. Our China and Hong Kong Portal project, developing partnerships with institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China, is a badge of our international ambitions. We have also developed collaborative arrangements with the Fulbright Commission and Marshall Scholarships to supplement scholarships donated by our US alumni.

Kent is working closely with the Brompton Academy, which is sponsored by the University and specialises in science and arts teaching for 11 to 18-year-olds in north Kent. We are also continuing to oversee wide-ranging curriculum activities with our 19 partner schools and further education colleges.

We have further strengthened our academic provision at Medway by appointing seven new professors and locating two major research groups in Value Chain Management and Future Computing there.

Within the School of Arts, Music and Fine Art are being relocated to the Chatham Historic Dockyard.

Strong international impact The University’s Internationalisation Strategy has been embedded through, among other things, our strategy board, Internationalisation task force, annual Faculty roadshows and the Student Experience committee. We are continuing to work with international strategic partner universities via our Global Partnerships network and membership of the exclusive Santander European Universities group.

Overseas student numbers continue to grow, with 2011 showing a record year for overseas registrations. Our international student experience is being enhanced by, for example, improved welcome and induction activities, greater learning and culture support, and Worldfest, a celebration of multiculturalism at the University.

Preparing students for the future Building on our Student Ambassador scheme, we are making good progress in combining voluntary, paid and credit-bearing opportunities for undergraduates and postgraduates. We have also significantly enhanced employability activity by, for example, piloting a career preparation module on Moodle and an Employability Points scheme. We have increased employer links, placement opportunities and student enterprise activities.

World-leading research Around 75% of our academic staff are eligible for the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework and new research leaders have been appointed at the Medway campus. Postgraduate research acceptances are increasing steadily – in 2011, overseas applications were up 64% and home applications rose by 29%. The Centre for Molecular Processing continues to win major awards and we successfully bid to run the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre collaboratively with the universities of Surrey, Royal Holloway and Reading.

Innovation and enterprise Key achievements have included the ‘Love your Campus’ campaign with Kent Union, launch of internships and placements, and extension of Social Hubs Research to Medway.

There is increasing external recognition for our ‘Creative Campus’ campaign – over 50 successful projects in 2008, engaging over 1,500 students and staff. The Innovation, Creative and Enterprise (ICE) initiative continues to produce new leads, with over 300 companies registering an interest.

Effective, efficient, sustainable and professional performance The University’s financial performance remains strong. We have introduced new development programmes to support staff in leading and managing others. A stakeholder group, comprising trade unions and volunteer staff from across the University, has been created to provide feedback on over 40 new and revised HR policies. The University has shown its support for equality and diversity by joining the Athena Swan Charter (to promote and recognise good employment practice for women working in science and related fields) and Stonewall (which supports LGBT staff and students). On the Canterbury campus, there has been substantial redevelopment of Keynes College – including 500 new bedrooms – and construction has begun on the ColyerFergusson Music Building.

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 43

BOOKS 2011: A SELECTION

Slantways: An Anthology of Prose Poems (WordAid) Patricia Debney This new anthology of prose poems features work by Patricia Debney, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Kent and doyenne of the genre, along with poems by former MA students. Slantways features prose poems on a range of eclectic themes from walking a labyrinth to meeting a giant snow lemming and executing one impossible task before breakfast. All proceeds from the anthology go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Formed by parents of children with Type 1 diabetes, JDRF is the world’s largest funder of research into the condition and works to prevent, treat and cure diabetes.

The inspiration for Slantways came from Patricia Debney’s own experience of looking after her son, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2008 aged 12, and from the talent and enthusiasm of her former Creative Writing Master’s students who continued to produce original and finely crafted prose poems despite interruptions to their teaching schedule.

Patricia Debney describes the group whose poems are showcased in Slantways: ‘The

seminar was a talented, committed group who, despite my having to miss a class, met anyway and read each other’s work. Indeed, the work they produced was some of the best I’ve seen in my time at Kent.’

Alongside the work of Debney and this talented cohort of poets, the anthology also features contributions from University of Kent staff members Nancy Gaffield, Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics and Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges, and Oliver Double, Senior Lecturer in Drama.

Slantways is the third publication from WordAid, a publishing collective formed by Kent-based poets in aid of designated charities. Since the first WordAid publication in November 2010, the initiative has raised over £3,000 for Children in Need, and £600 for Dementia UK.

Violence & Society (Sage Publications) Larry Ray This new book by Larry Ray, Professor of Sociology, examines the meaning and representations of violent behaviour in contemporary culture and throughout history.

The book examines different levels of violence, including interpersonal, institutional and collective, as well as its different forms, such as racist crime, homophobic crime and genocide.

Professor Ray has drawn from sociology, criminology, primate studies and archaeology to shed light on arguments about the social construction and innate nature of violence.

He says: ‘Violence is ubiquitous in human societies and lies deep in human history.

This has prompted debate over many centuries as to whether violence or at least aggression is innate in the human condition.

However, there is continuing evidence of rising thresholds of repugnance towards violence – governments do not necessarily gain public support for involvement in regional wars, many forms of institutionalised violence such as corporal

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and capital punishment have been abolished in Europe, the everyday violences in families are increasingly placed under public scrutiny and intervention, and there is increased awareness of and compassion for the suffering of strangers.

‘With this book, I hope not just to explore the causes of violence in human societies but also to promote a better understanding of how violence can be addressed, managed or contained. However, a central theme in this study is the close though complex relationship between many manifestations of violence and multiple social inequalities both within nations and globally. These are likely to be intensified by the effects of the present crises and governmental responses to them.

There is therefore a vital need to find alternatives to these responses.’

Sovereignty and Jurisdiction in Airspace and Outer Space: Legal Criteria for Spatial Delimitation (Routledge) Gbenga Oduntan This important new book by Dr Gbenga Oduntan, Lecturer in International Law, addresses the perennial dispute among states and scholars as to where outer space begins and who owns it.

BOOKS 2011: A SELECTION

The book explains in great detail the distinction between airspace and outer space, with the former being defined by Dr Oduntan as ending at a maximum height of 55 miles and the latter beginning at a height of 100 miles. This creates a 45-mile buffer zone and identifies the spatial demarcation boundary point for the legal regulation of outer space.

have been subject to differing interpretations by scholars in legal literature. Any frontier that is not unequivocal is bound to be a source of controversy. However, the issues surrounding sovereignty and jurisdiction are likely to become ever more pressing as globalisation, growing pressure on resources and the need for energy and national security become acute.’

Dr Oduntan hopes that, if this formula proves acceptable, it may be adopted by states in determining the maximum height at which national sovereignty can be exercised and the point at which outer space – the common heritage of mankind – is free for shared jurisdiction.

This is Dr Oduntan’s third book in the field of international law and the second on issues of territorial delimitation and demarcation.

Writing from a strongly critical point of view, Dr Oduntan has considered many controversial issues of aerospace law and policy which contemporary authors shy away from. These include: the use of remote sensing satellites; the private exploitation of space-based resources; the increasing Americanisation of space, including the large-scale deployment of drones in aerial combat; space debris; and weapons and intellectual property law.

He says: ‘Sovereignty and jurisdiction are legal doctrines of a complex nature, which

The Garbage Collection Handbook: The Art of Automatic Memory Management (CRC Press/Chapman and Hall) Richard Jones This second book by Richard Jones, Professor of Computer Systems, addresses the new challenges to ‘garbage collection’ brought about by recent advances in hardware and software.

Modern computer systems make prodigious use of the computer's memory. As we shop online, edit a document on our PC or look up contacts on our mobile phone, the computer's software creates objects representing the book we want to buy, the words in our document, or our friend's name.

Some of these objects are very transient, while others are longer-lived; all occupy main memory (RAM) in your computer. If the program did not ensure that the memory used by objects is recycled, ready for use to store another object, as soon as the object is no longer needed, then we would very soon run out of memory.

However, deciding when to reclaim the memory occupied is extremely difficult and error-prone. Unless a programmer has complete understanding of the whole program – possibly hundreds of thousands of lines of code – it is very difficult for them to make the correct decision on when to delete an object and release the memory it occupies.

‘Garbage collection’ automates this decision.

Unlike the programmer, the garbage collector has full knowledge of the program and can make safe decisions. It eliminates a whole class of hard-to-find bugs and has become an essential component of all modern programming languages.

The nearly universal adoption of garbage collection by modern programming languages makes a thorough understanding of this topic essential for any programmer.

This authoritative handbook, written with Tony Hosking (Purdue University) and Eliot Moss (University of Massachusetts), gives expert insight on how different collectors work as well as the various issues currently facing garbage collectors. As well as introducing the beginner to simple and traditional algorithms, the book covers state-of-the-art parallel, incremental, concurrent and realtime garbage collection.

Professor Jones’ first book, Garbage Collection (Wiley, 1996) was a milestone publication in automatic memory management. It sold over 8,000 copies, has been cited nearly 1,000 times, and translated into Chinese. However, the field has grown considerably since then, sparking a need for an updated look at the latest developments.

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 45

OPEN LECTURES 2011

Professor Dame Janet Finch

Simon Smith

Dame Jenny Abramsky

Wednesday 19 January

Wednesday 30 March

Wednesday 5 October

The key role of parenting in preparing a child for success in school Lord Northbourne, Founder Chair of the Parenting Education and Support Forum.

Eliot Annual Lecture On the drawing of breath Bobby Baker, artist and Senior Research Fellow, Queen Mary, University of London.

Nuclear non-proliferation – challenges and prospects: a view from Vienna Simon Smith, British Ambassador in Vienna and UK Governor, International Atomic Energy Agency.

Friday 28 January

Wednesday 6 April

Chancellor’s Lecture Magna Carta in the twenty-first century: the view from Canterbury Professor Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History, University of East Anglia.

The future of student representation and the student voice in a post-Browne era Aaron Porter, President of the National Union of Students (NUS).

Wednesday 11 May

Wednesday 16 February Darwin Annual Lecture Darwin’s origin of stories Professor Brian Boyd, University Distinguished Professor of English, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Wednesday 9 March Aping mankind: neuromania, Darwinitis and the misrepresentation of humanity Professor Raymond Tallis, former Professor of Geriatric Medicine, University of Manchester and consultant physician.

Wednesday 23 March The Arts and humanities in the new higher education environment Professor Geoffrey Crossick, ViceChancellor of the University of London.

Who were the Celts?

Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe, former Professor of European Archaeology, Oxford University.

Wednesday 12 October Kent Law Society Lecture The Olympic Velodrome story from procurement to handover Martin Brackpool, Key Account Director, ISG. Wednesday 26 October Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture The cell cycle and cancer Sir Tim Hunt, Nobel Prize-winner and Principal Scientist, Cancer Research UK.

Wednesday 18 May What’s the special relationship for in 2011?

Dominick Chilcott, career diplomat and formerly the UK’s Deputy Ambassador, Washington.

Wednesday 25 May The public contributions of social science Professor Dame Janet Finch, Professor of Sociology, Manchester University.

Wednesday 1 June In real life, the tortoise loses Helen Alexander CBE, President of the CBI.

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Wednesday 2 November Why are we afraid of tolerance?

Professor Frank Furedi, author, broadcaster and Professor of Sociology at Kent.

Thursday 17 November Foundation Day Lecture The fabric of our lives: a personal reflection on the value of heritage and its role in society today Dame Jenny Abramsky DBE, Chair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund.

DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS IN BRIEF

In the midst of an economic downturn that has created the biggest challenge to higher education fundraising in a generation or more, the University of Kent has fared well. Thanks to its generous worldwide community of alumni and friends, continued support at every level has led to the University receiving many gifts, extending an upward trend of engagement and philanthropic support crucial to the University’s future.

University of Kent in America Kent alumni from across the United States have been pledging their support to the University of Kent in America (UKA) Scholarship Fund, set up in 2010. This generous support has now been put to good use, as the University welcomed its first UKA funded Scholar – Eric MacTaggart – who joined Kent in September from Illinois to undertake an MA in the Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics. With the continued support of our alumni community, it is hoped that this will become an annual award, providing support for an outstanding student from the United States who wishes to study at Kent. We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone involved in making this scholarship a reality, and to all of those alumni who have supported us over the past 12 months by giving their time or joining us at one of our events.

Kent Scholarships Campaign The 2010 telephone campaign was a great success, raising over £57,000 to support students through scholarships and hardship bursaries – helping those who find themselves in financial difficulty through no fault of their own. Our fantastic team of student callers spoke to over 1,600 alumni over four weeks, catching up on the latest news and highlighting this vital programme.

Thanks to the generosity of Kent alumni, we are delighted to welcome our latest

Postgraduate Alumni Scholarship recipient, Katy Upton, who is undertaking a PhD in Biodiversity Management.

The First 500 Scholarship The First 500, Kent’s first cohort of students in 1965, hold an annual dinner in London and are strong supporters of the University.

They have particularly strong links to Rutherford College thanks to the support of Dr Rachel Forrester-Jones who was, until recently, Master of Rutherford. The First 500 Scholarship has been established to commemorate the University’s 50th anniversary in 2015, and is funded entirely by members of Kent’s First 500. This pioneering group has chosen to preserve something of the spirit and advantage of their years as Kent students in order to provide future students with the opportunities they enjoyed – freedom to think and to challenge; the opportunity to innovate and create; and the possibility to start working life without excessive debt.

Courting Excellence – Kent Law Campaign Impressive plans have been drawn up for a new building to house the Kent Law Clinic and Mooting Chamber. The Law Clinic and mooting programme are two distinctive features of Kent Law School, contributing to its outstanding reputation. Most recently, the Law Clinic was announced Winner of the Best Contribution by a Law School in the LawWorks & Attorney General Student Awards 2011, and Senior Lecturer Dr Stewart Motha was shortlisted for Law Teacher of the Year Award 2011.

At the highly successful Kent Law Clinic, staff, students and roughly 50 lawyers provide free legal advice and representation to the local community. However, the facilities are now 20 years old and showing it. Lack of space means that, each year, only 50 of our 1,200 undergraduates can take on Law Clinic casework.

The mooting programme enables students to role-play as practising advocates, often with a judge or lawyer in practice locally. As well as helping advocacy skills, mooting promotes team-work, develops confidence and selfesteem, and encourages leadership – essential qualities for any profession but particularly for lawyers. The mooting programme has no proper home, taking place in random seminar rooms and lecture theatres around the campus where it is difficult to create a realistic atmosphere.

The new building will provide a valuable enhancement of this School’s already pioneering, top-quality teaching by allowing more practical work to be available to more students.

We are pleased that our alumni have been overwhelmingly supportive of our plans and have already given several exceedingly generous donations. We aim to raise £5m over the next three years with construction expected to commence in 2013 and completed by the autumn term, 2014.

For further information, contact Anna Pollard, Campaigns Manager (A.J.Pollard@ kent.ac.uk or 01227 824670) or visit www.kent.ac.uk/lawcampaign

“We are very excited about this new campaign. The Law School is very proud of its achievements and particularly of the great work done by the staff and students in the Law Clinic. Our thriving Mooting Programme gives students immeasurable opportunities to develop outside the classroom.

The new building would make such a difference to the student experience here.”

Professor Joanne Conaghan Professor of Law and Head of Kent Law School

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 47

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE Summary for the year to 31 July 2011

Financial Highlights for the Year to 31 July 2011 • Operating surplus of £15.4m (2009/10: £15.1m) representing 8.4% of income; • Income from Tuition Fees up £7.0m (11.3%) to £69.1m as a result of strong recruitment; • Strong residences and catering income up £1.4m to £21.7m; • Staff costs fallen to 51.9% of income (2009/10: 53.7%); • Increase of £9.5m in Net Current Assets to £33.1m with increased liquidity; and • Capital expenditure of £15.2m (2009/10: £15.3m).

Financial summary The University’s consolidated results for the years ended 31 July 2011 and 31 July 2010 can be summarised as follows:

Income Expenditure Transfer from Accumulated Income in Endowment Funds Surplus for the Year

2010/11 £000

2009/10 £000

182,289 (166,932)

173,027 (157,934)

45

49

15,402

15,142

Change %age 5.4 5.7

1.7

In a year of funding cuts and increasing competition for students and research grant funding, the results for the 2010/11 year were encouraging and show that the University is succeeding to diversify and grow its non-regulated income streams and keep control over its costs. The retained surplus for the year of £15.4m (2009/10: £15.1m) represented 8.4% of the University’s turnover and exceeded the targets set within the University’s Financial Framework which is designed to ensure that sufficient cash is generated to fund an expanded self-funded capital programme to provide students with

Analysis of income 2010/11 (£000) Other Income £10,535

48 UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011

Total income grew by 5.4% to £182.3m with an additional £7.0m fee income but with only marginal growth in net income from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The University was, however, able to benefit from a successful bid under the University Modernisation Fund, bringing in £1.8m during the year, together with a further successful bid for 300 students at the expanding Medway campus which generated an additional £1.1m. This, however, was offset by funding cuts which reduced the underlying recurrent teaching and research grant income for the year by over £2.0m.

Student recruitment was buoyant once again, particularly for postgraduate study, with numbers increasing by 12% in the year. The University also performed extremely well in its recruitment of overseas students, with numbers going up by 21% in year, reflecting the strong international reputation that Kent has developed over the years.

Income from research grants and contracts declined again during the year to £12.7m as a result of the increasingly competitive environment.

The margins achieved on these projects have, however, remained at higher levels and strategies are being developed to address the declining income levels. Other income generating activities performed well in the year with a good result in residences and catering.

Expenditure Staff Costs rose by just 1.9% to £94.6m and were over £7m lower than budgeted. This was largely as a result of a lower than anticipated pay

Other Income £9,715

Investment Income £633

Research Grants and Contracts £13,587

Research Grants and Contracts £12,655

Tuition Fees and Education Contracts £69,139

Income

Analysis of income 2009/10 (£000)

Investment Income £816

Residences, Catering and Conferences £21,728

first-class facilities and maintain the estate in a good condition. It also exceeded the budgeted surplus of £4.0m and was largely as a result of strong student recruitment and a successful drive to increase other income together with effective budgetary control over the University’s staff costs.

Funding Council Grants £67,416

Residences, Catering and Conferences £20,349

Tuition Fees and Education Contracts £62,098

Funding Council Grants £66,645

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE Summary for the year to 31 July 2011

settlement of 0.4% and the conclusion of a successful Voluntary Redundancy Scheme in December 2010. In addition, academic schools and professional service departments continued to monitor overall expenditure levels, maximising opportunities arising on the departure of staff, to reorganise activities and become more efficient.

Despite this drive for efficiency, the University has continued to invest in its staff, with appointments being made to new academic and research posts within schools, and providing academic support to students, resulting in an average increase in staff numbers of 39 fulltime equivalents (2.0%) in the year.

Balance sheet and cash flow

Other Operating Expenses increased by 9.5% to £53.6m, partly due to legal and professional fees of £2.8m incurred in connection with a major capital project. Teaching and learning expenditure in academic schools increased by £0.9m and included an additional £0.3m in school-funded bursary support and significant investment in the Centre for English and World Languages. Student support, facility and educational non-pay costs increased by £0.7m and was primarily related to additional spend on undergraduate bursaries, higher grant payments to the Students’ Union and increased spending within the library and the sports centre. In total, £4.3m was provided to students as part of the University’s commitment to widen access into higher education. Premises’ costs increased by £0.6m following expansion at the Medway campus and a step-up in the upkeep of the University’s estate. Increased residences and catering activities led to a rise in non-pay costs of just under £1m, but contributed an additional £0.4m towards the fixed costs of the operations. Central administration non-pay costs were largely contained with just a £0.1m increase over the prior year. Depreciation charged in the year was £1.3m higher than in 2009/10, following the completion of some major residential refurbishment projects and significant expenditure on research equipment.

Capital projects

Analysis of expenditure 2010/11 (£000)

Analysis of expenditure 2009/10 (£000)

Depreciation £11,802

Other Operating Costs £53,576

Exceptional Restructuring Costs £3,162

The University’s Balance Sheet strengthened further over the year with Net Current Assets increasing by £9.5m to £33.1m and a current asset ratio of 1.91. Liquidity levels rose once again, with total cash, short-term deposits and current asset investments amounting to £53.7m (2009/10: £39.4m). Long-term bank loan debt has fallen by a further £2.3m in the year with borrowing levels now reduced to 31% as a percentage of income. This puts the University in a strong position going into a highly uncertain and challenging few years.

Capital expenditure amounted to £15.2m in the year. This included almost £4m on refurbishing student residential accommodation and catering facilities and £3.5m on improving teaching and research facilities, including a significant overhaul of laboratory space and the start of work at Medway to provide newly-refurbished space for the expanding School of Arts. Work also began on the construction of the £8.2m Music Building, funded primarily by donations and HEFCE Matched Funding.

Statement on behalf of the University’s Council The above summary provides an overview of the University’s financial performance during the 2010/11 financial and academic year. It is consistent with the information incorporated in the University’s audited Financial Statements for the year to 31 July 2011 and largely comprises information detailed in the Operating and Financial Review contained within these statements. Full details of the University’s financial results, performance and year-end position can be found in the University of Kent Financial Statements for the Year to 31 July 2011, which can be found on the University’s website or by writing to the Secretary of the Council, The University of Kent, The Registry, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NZ.

Depreciation £10,529

Interest Payable £3,746

Staff Costs £94,646

Other Operating Costs £48,944

Interest Payable £3,884

Staff Costs £92,772

Exceptional Restructuring Costs £1,805

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 49

AWARDS, APPOINTMENTS, PROMOTIONS AND DEATHS 2011

Awards Dr Kate Bradley, of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Richard Crisp, Professor of Psychology, was elected a Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

University of Kent Honorary Degrees 2011

Professor Peter Jeffries, Director of KentHealth

Dame Jenny Abramsky DBE, Doctor of Civil Law

Dr Joachim Stoeber, Head of the School of Psychology

Baroness Blackstone, Doctor of Civil Law

Professor Frank Wang, Head of the School of Computing

Ursula Brennan, Doctor of Civil Law Professor Dr Paul Van Cauwenberge, Doctor of the University Amanda Cottrell OBE, Doctor of Civil Law

Jan Pahl, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow was appointed to the Council for Science and Technology.

Nancy Gaffield, Lecturer in English Language & Linguistics and Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges, won the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize 2011.

Professor Joanne Conaghan, Head of Kent Law School, was appointed an Academician at the Academy of Social Sciences.

Lorna Collopy, Senior Lecturer in Law and solicitor at Kent Law Clinic, was appointed a Salaried Judge of the First-Tier Tribunal assigned to the Social Entitlement Chamber.

Richard Crisp

Promotions

Professor Martin Daunton FBA, Doctor of Letters

Promotion to Chair

Anne Dudley, Doctor of Music

Dr David Herd, School of English

Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE, PC, LLD, FBA, Doctor of Laws

Dr Bernard Ryan, Kent Law School

Dr Alan Hearne, Doctor of Science Mark Mardell, Doctor of Letters

Dr Jawad Syed, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, was awarded Pakistan’s Star of Excellence (Sitara-i-Imtiaz).

Professor Glynis Murphy and Peter McGill, Co-Directors, Tizard Centre.

Dr Iain Fraser, School of Economics

Dr Miri Song, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Joanna Motion, Doctor of the University

Dr Tim Strangleman, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Vikram Seth, Doctor of Letters

Promotion to Reader

Sir Donald Sinden CBE, Doctor of Arts

Dr Jennie Batchelor, School of English

Dr Simon Singh MBE, Doctor of Science

Dr Julie Beadle-Brown, Tizard Centre

Stevie Spring FIPA, FMS, Doctor of the University

Jennifer Billings, Centre for Health Services Studies

The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Doctor of Civil Law

Dr Adam Burgess, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Appointments

Helen Carr, Kent Law School

Professor Peter Brown, Head of the School of English Professor Mark Burchell, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences

Dr Kate Bradley

50 UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011

Dr Jawad Syed

Dr Karen Douglas, School of Psychology Maria Drakopoulou, Kent Law School Dr Michael Forrester, School of Psychology Dr Mark Howard, School of Biosciences

AWARDS, APPOINTMENTS, PROMOTIONS AND DEATHS 2011

Dr Ben Hutchinson, School of European Culture and Languages

Dr James Fowler, School of European Culture and Languages

Dr Csaba La'Da, School of European Culture and Languages

Dr Dirk Froebrich, School of Physical Sciences

Dr Ellie Lee, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Emily Grabham, Kent Law School

Professor David Bradby – 1942 to 2011 – a founder of the Drama department Professor Patrick Collinson CBE, FBA – 1929 to 2011 – former Professor of History and honorary graduate

Frances Guerin, School of Arts

Dr Ana de Medeiros, School of European Culture and Languages

Jim Cowie – 1926 to 2011 – former Faculty Secretary for the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Admissions Officer

Elaine Heslop, Kent Law School Dr Peter Kenny, School of Computing

Dr Stewart Motha, Kent Law School Dr Catherine Richardson, School of English Dr Ebrahim Soltani, Kent Business School Dr Robbie Sutton, School of Psychology Scarlett Thomas, School of English

Dr Anne Logan, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Barbara Harris – 1925 to 2011 – the first Bursar of Eliot College

Dr Stephen Lowry, School of Physical Sciences

Professor Mark Kinkead-Weekes FBA – 1931 to 2011 – Emeritus Professor of English and American Literature and former Pro-ViceChancellor

Dr Vincent Miller, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Dr Yu Zhu, School of Economics

Dr David Morelli, Kent Business School

Promotion to Senior Lecturer Dr Donatella Alessandrini, Kent Law School Dr Maria Alfredsson, School of Physical Sciences Dr Albena Azmanova, Brussels School of International Studies Dr Thomas Baldwin, School of European Culture and Languages Dr Ruth Blakeley, School of Politics and International Relations Ania Bobrowicz, School of Engineering and Digital Arts David Byers Brown, School of Engineering and Digital Arts

Dr Daniela Peluso, School of Anthropology and Conservation

Professor Leslie Pressnell – 1922 to 2011 – former Professor of Economic and Social History

Dr Balihar Sanghera, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Jimmy Rome – 1921 to 2010 – former Buildings Superintendent

Dr Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, School of European Culture and Languages

Pam Shaw – 1951 to 2010 – Shops & Vending Manager, Kent Hospitality

Dr David Stirrup, School of English

Professor (AW) Brian Simpson FBA – 1931 to 2011 – Emeritus Professor of Law, former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and honorary graduate

Dr Melissa Trimingham, School of Arts Loba Van der Bijl, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science

Liz Tanner – 1946 to 2010 – Master’s Assistant, Keynes College

Dr David Wilkinson, School of Psychology Dr John Wills, School of History

Dr Pratik Chakrabarti, School of History

Dr Jane Wood, School of Psychology

Dr Ellie Lee

Professor Ray Pahl FBA – 1935 to 2011 – Emeritus Professor of Sociology

Dr Georgina Randsley de Moura, School of Psychology

Dr Frank Camilleri, School of Arts

Professor Peter Jeffries

Deaths

John Thirkell – 1934 to 2009 – former Senior Lecturer and Honorary Research Fellow in Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Dr Thomas Baldwin

UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011 51

PRINCIPAL OFFICERS

Visitor

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury

Chancellor

Professor Sir Robert Worcester, KBE, DL

Chair of the Council

John Simmonds, AIB

Vice-Chancellor

Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow, DBE, CBE, BSc (Bristol), PhD (Open), FMedSci, FIBiol, FInstP

Deputy Chair of the Council

Anthony Quigley, BSc (Eng) (London), CEng, FIEE

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor

David Nightingale, MA (Oxford)

Deputy Vice-Chancellors

Denise Everitt, BA (Kent), ACA Professor Keith Mander, BSc PhD (Nottingham)

Pro-Vice-Chancellors

Professor John Baldock, BA (Oxford), MA (Kent) Professor Alex Hughes, BA PhD (London), Cert Ed (Oxford)

Dean of the Faculty of Humanities

Professor Karl Leydecker, MA DPhil (Oxford)

Dean of the Faculty of Sciences

Professor Mark Burchell, BSc (Birmingham), DIC, PhD (London)

Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences

John Wightman, MA LLB (Cambridge)

Dean of the Graduate School

Professor Diane Houston, MA (Dundee), PhD (Kent), AcSS

Campus Dean for Brussels

Professor Roger Vickerman, MA (Cambridge), DPhil (Sussex), Dr h c (Marburg), AcSS, FRSA, FCILT

Secretary of the Council

Karen Goffin, BA (Durham), MA (Kent)

Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges

Nancy Gaffield, BA MA (Northern Colorado), MA (Kent)

Master of Eliot College

Stephen Burke, BA (Kent)

Master of Keynes College

Michael Hughes, MA EdD (Sheffield), BEd Cert Ed (Exeter), Dip RSA

Master of Rutherford College

Peter Klappa, BSc MSc PhD (Munich), PGCHE (Kent)

College Master for Medway

Jane Glew, BSc (Aston), PG Dip (CIM), MA (Greenwich)

52 UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2011

A review of this length can only indicate very briefly some of the principal achievements and activities which took place during 2011.

The University also produces a report relating to finance. If you would like a copy of this, please contact the Corporate Communications Office, The Registry, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NZ. Published by the University of Kent.

Produced by the Corporate Communications Office. Designed by the University Design and Print Centre. Photography by Robert Berry, Brompton Academy, Sans façon, Richard Griffiths, Alison Hollis, istockphoto.com, Simon Jarrett, Martin Levenson, Mick Norman, Tempest, Matt Wilson.

Printed by the Design & Print Centre.

The information contained in this Review was correct at the time of going to press.

The University reserves the right to modify or cancel any statement contained in it and accepts no responsibility for the consequences of any such changes.

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