January 2009 Footnotes
Thanks for the
memories!
Graduates of 2009 are
encouraged to be part of a yearbook that allows them to treasure memories
of their time at Essex for years to come.
The yearbook is being
produced by GradFinale Yearbooks and the project is being overseen by Jo
Rogers from the Development and Alumni Relations Office. She said: ‘A
GradFinale Yearbook is a permanent and fun record of a student’s time at
university and a fantastic keepsake.‘
Students register at:
www.gradfinale.com where
they can upload their details including photographs and nominate friends
for awards.
Each yearbook has a
photograph montage, student profiles and photographs, light-hearted
awards, amusing staff contributions and a list of contact details to help
graduates keep in touch after graduation.
Postgraduate
posters
Essex PhD students
were among those participating in the Vitae East of England Hub regional
poster competition for postgraduate researchers.
The
poster finalists
Students were put
forward following an in-house competition by the Learning and Teaching
Unit. Prizes included a Best Overall Poster prize worth £500 and three
awards worth £250, Best Peer Review, Best Public Communication of Research
and Best Academic Research. With over fifty posters submitted, judging was
carried out by professionals and academics from the universities
represented.
Best Public
Communication of Research went to Essex student Oliver Oechsle, from the
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, for his poster ‘Can
computers learn to see?’
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Colombian
conversation
Guests at the fourth
Wivenhoe Town and Gown dinner heard about Essex student Zarine Russell’s
studies in Colombia.
Zarine, who won a
£500 Wivenhoe Town and Gown bursary that she used towards her trip, is
undertaking BA Latin American Studies with Human Rights. She said: ‘Most
people have an image of Colombia as dangerous. It is in parts but it's a
lot safer than a few years ago, especially Bogota, which is a great place
to live. You haven't experienced a football match until you’ve been to one
in Latin America!’
Zarine was the only
British student studying at the Universidad de Los Andes, where classes
started at 7am and were entirely in Spanish.
She added: ‘I feel
extremely privileged to have spent nearly a year living in Bogota, and to
have discovered many amazing places all over Colombia.’
Toys for children
The Children’s Legal Centre (CLC) marked Universal Children’s Day by
donating toys to children at a local special needs school and a nursery.
Toys were donated by
guests invited to a fundraising dinner and presented to Stepping Stones
Play and Learn Group in Colchester and Market Field School in Elmstead
Market.
(left
to right) Gary Smith from Market Field School, Carol Nice of Stepping
Stones Play and Learn Group and Professor Carolyn Hamilton
Professor Carolyn
Hamilton, Director of the CLC, presented the toys. She said: ‘We firmly
believe that children should be allowed to be children and that includes
being able to play and develop their creativity. Stepping Stones and
Market Field School both share our ethos of placing the needs of the child
at the heart of all that we do. It is only fitting that toys donated
should go to organisations such as these.’
Carol Nice, from
Stepping Stones said: ‘The children will be very pleased with these toys.
Donations such as these are always very welcome and it’s such a pleasure
seeing the smiles on the children’s faces.’
Cycling in Cuba
Mandy Gray, Finance
Administrator in the School of Law, has spent five days cycling 250 miles
across Cuba.
With her sister and
76 other women, Mandy raised more than £3000 for Women for Women, a
charity that supports the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Trust in
helping improve the health of women and babies.
Mandy
and her sister on their charity cycle through Cuba
Mandy said: ‘We
cycled through remote villages which had been hit by hurricanes. Many
people had lost possessions and their homes were damaged. We donated as
much as we could from our own belongings and they were even grateful for
empty water bottles. Spending time with these people made us feel very
humble.
‘When we crossed the
finishing line, everyone was emotional. After the training and
fundraising, it was such a good feeling that I had achieved my goal and
was still in one piece!’
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Counting cookies
The Infant Cognition
Lab is looking for one, six, ten and twelve month old babies for their
cookie study.
As previously
reported in Wyvern, the research (supported by a British Academy
grant) hopes to determine the nature of human numerical abilities.
Literature shows that many animals employ optimal foraging strategies to
save time and energy. This means that food items
are clumped together will be favoured over items spread apart. The Infant
Cognition Lab team aims to investigate if the same is true of babies by
presenting them with two trays of cookies. On one tray the cookies are
close together and on the other they are far apart.
A baby takes part in the Infant
Cognition Lab's study
Research Officer Jen
Lewis explains: ‘We predict that if infants, like animals, employ an
optimal foraging strategy, they would reach for the tray with the cookies
that are closer together. With twice as many infants selecting this tray,
it would appear that infants too employ optimal foraging strategies.
‘We
are still looking for more babies to take part. We will also be commencing
a study on sound which will require newborns to two month old infants.’
For more information,
please telephone: 01206 874149 or e-mail:
icl@essex.ac.uk.
New journal
Dr Mohammad Hudaib, a
senior lecturer in accounting within the Essex Business School, has
established a new publication, the Journal of Islamic Accounting and
Business Research (JIABR).
JIABR will be the
only journal to offer a publishing platform to both theory and practice of
Islamic accounting, auditing and business research beyond Islamic banking,
finance and economics. It will keep readers abreast of developing trends
and has been approved by Emerald, the world’s leading publisher of
management research.
Dr Hudaib and
Professor Haniffa, from Bradford University’s School of Management, will
be joint editors, with the first issue out in April 2010. Further
information is at:
www.emeraldinsight.com\jiabr.htm
Exploring your
workself
Business people from
across the region attended the first networking event for 2008-09 hosted
by Business and Management Training.
Exploring Your
Workself was presented at the Colchester Campus by Camille Nickson, who
specialises in personal development. The event explored what makes you
tick at work and why some people drive you mad. Participants learnt why
some find it difficult to handle certain situations and how to get the
best out of themselves and others.
This was the first
networking event that Bob Scott, from SMC International Homes, had
attended at the University. He said: ‘The interactive sessions really got
you talking and meeting people.’
The second networking
event, Managing and Thriving Under Pressure, is on Thursday 12 February
from 4.30pm to 7pm at the University. Places must be reserved in advance
at:
www.essex.ac.uk/bmt/Events.htm.
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Blossoming
partnerships
A conference
organised by staff at the University and Writtle College highlighted
mutual interests between Essex and its partner college.
Landscape and
Narrative took place at Writtle College, featuring presentations from a
variety of disciplines all with a shared interest in the intersection of
places and stories.
Professor Nigel
South, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Regional Development) at Essex,
explains: ‘This conference was a wonderful way to bring together academic
staff and researchers from both institutions, showcasing how much we have
in common. We were delighted with the range of topics discussed.’
Jeremy Strong, Head
of Higher Education at Writtle College, added: ‘We had a range of critical
perspectives and expertise including architecture, law, literature, garden
design, sociology, film studies and mental health. Many students
attended throughout the day.’
EU conference
In December,
Professor Kevin Schurer and Hilary Beedham from the UK Data Archive (UKDA)
attended the European Conference on Research Infrastructures at
Versailles.
The conference
included the publication of the European Strategy Forum on Research
Infrastructures (ESFRI) 2008 Roadmap. ESFRI aims to support a coherent
strategy-led approach to policy making based on new and existing
pan-European and global research infrastructures. The Roadmap includes the
Council for European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA) Research
Infrastructure, which received funding to facilitate a transition from an
informal grouping of data archives into a formally constituted and more
fully integrated research infrastructure.
The UKDA is
co-ordinating the upgrade to CESSDA on behalf of 17 partner organisations,
all of which required national, ministerial-level support to participate.
Korean TV films UK
Data Archive
A Korean TV crew
visited the Colchester Campus to make a documentary about the UK Data
Archive (UKDA).
The team from KBS-TV
(Korean Broadcasting System), the BBC’s equivalent in Korea, were making a
special programme on the importance of archiving research papers. They
selected UKDA because of its outstanding reputation for storing original
social and humanities research papers and its renowned database archive
system.
A Korean TV crew filmed the UK Data Archive for their documentary
As well as filming UKDA
facilities, the crew interviewed Professor Kevin Schurer. The documentary
will be broadcast on a weekly programme, Science Café, that
explores a range of scientific issue and stories and attracts several
million viewers.
Researcher Gina McDonald
said: ‘We picked Essex because it has already been recognised for its
excellence in this field. Koreans are keen to learn from institutes like
the UK Data Archive.’
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Business boom
The University’s
Business Incubation Centre (BIC) at the Southend Campus now has 16 of its
19 units occupied.
This includes
Aviation Quality Management Services Ltd, which moved there in May. The
company assists aviation companies to meet aviation safety needs and
comply with legislation by providing training, quality management and
airworthiness services.
Director Carole Leach
explains: ‘The sudden downturn in the market has affected us. We have
found a number of businesses in our sector are changing their strategy and
we are able to advise them on how they can do what they want and meet
requirements of European Aviation Safety Agency legislation.
‘The security of
being in the BIC has helped us because we know what our overheads are each
month and can manage them. Our customers like the environment, while the
training and conference facilities are excellent.’
The experience of
Aviation Quality Management Services Ltd highlights how the BIC can offer
start-up and growing businesses support and assistance during difficult
economic times.
New initiatives
The Vice-Chancellor
is supporting two new University initiatives: the Social Responsibility
Working Group and the Dignity and Respect Working Group.
In line with the
University’s mission, the Social Responsibility Working Group has been set
up to define and propose an understanding of social responsibility
appropriate for the University and to come up with a clear statement about
the responsibilities the University has towards society. It will bring
together existing efforts, develop a vision to guide future efforts and
support new actions.
The Dignity and
Respect Working Group aims to inspire and empower the University’s
international and multicultural community so it is an even better place to
visit, study, work and live. It will liaise with relevant internal
stakeholders to explore options for improvement, and implement new
initiatives where necessary.
Both groups include a
diverse mix of individuals from across the University. If you are
interested in becoming involved in either initiative, please contact Jess
Duggan-Larkin on e-mail: srdrpso@essex.ac.uk
Freedom of
Information
January sees the
launch of the University’s newly updated Freedom of Information
Publications Scheme.
Sara Stock,
University Records Manager, explains: ‘The scheme is a fascinating
compendium of everything you want to know about the University, from
financial statements and pay structures to strategic plans and research
funding.
‘Anyone can ask for
information about the University, not just information included in the
scheme. In 2008 the Records Management Office handled 22 Freedom of
Information requests from journalists, MPs, researchers and the public.
Requests covered everything from accommodation to plagiarism. The total
for 2009 is likely to be nearer 40.’
Primarily aimed at
the public, the Freedom of Information Publications Scheme demonstrates
the University’s commitment to openness and engagement with the wider
community. All public bodies, including universities, are required by the
Information Commissioner to publish a scheme.
Advice on Freedom of
Information and the related Data Protection Act is available from Sara
Stock, e-mail: sstock@essex.ac.uk.
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Sporting heroes
Those wishing to
nominate University sporting stars for the 2009 annual Sports Award Dinner
have only two weeks to get their entries in.
The 2009 dinner will
be held on 8 May at the new Colchester Community Stadium. One of the
highlights on the University’s sporting calendar, the event recognises
achievements made by individual students and sport teams.
Awards include The
Director of Sport Award for Outstanding Performance, Best Sports
Volunteer, Most Promising Newcomer and Team of the Year. Nomination forms
are available from Club Presidents and the submission deadline is 30
January.
Tickets for the
Dinner will go on sale from the Sports Centre Reception shortly. For
further details see the Sports Centre website.
Badminton battle
A tournament between
the University’s Campus Badminton Club and local rivals Marina Badminton
Club featured in national magazine Badminton.
This was organised as a
friendly event by Professor Peter Patrick from the Department of Language
and Linguistics, Academic Section’s Lynn Baird and Tom Harris from
Computer Service. Tournament winners were Marina.
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See also:
