Monthly Archives: December 2014

Summer schools in Brussels and Paris

As part of the University of Kent’s 50th anniversary celebrations we are delighted to announce scholarships to attend the Summer School in Brussels and Paris.

To make an application and for further information please see the Summer School Scholarship webpages.

The scholarships are open to second and final year undergraduate students 
across all subject areas at Kent.

The two-week Summer School Scholarship includes:

  • tuition,
  • excursions,
  • accommodation
  • and travel expenses from the UK (from a designated point of departure).

Please note that you may only apply for one location.

The programmes are scheduled to take place on the following dates:

  • Brussels Summer School | 22 June to 3 July 2015
  • Paris Summer School | 13 to 24 July 2015

This is a fantastic opportunity to discover the wonderful cities of Brussels or Paris.

The Summer Schools will offer the chance to either enhance and deepen your knowledge of your own subject area or study something completely different for a period of two weeks.

The Summer Schools will also provide an insight into a wide variety of subject areas and scholars will gain expertise, skills and intercultural awareness which will be attractive to potential employers.

Sessions with expert lecturers and guest speakers will be combined with related excursions, resulting in an intellectually stimulating programme and an experience of living and studying in one of Europe’s major capitals.

All tuition will be in English although some knowledge of French may be helpful, it is not required for the Summer Schools.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 29 January, 17:00 (GMT).

Santander donates to Kent Law Campaign

On behalf of the University of Kent we would like to express our most sincere thanks to Santander UK for donating £2,217.90 towards the Kent Law Campaign through their Staff Matched Donation Scheme.

Throughout the Autumn Term, Adam Baker and Sam Winstanley from the campus branch of the bank have become heavily involved with the Kent Law Campaign and have taken part in various events organised by the Kent Law Campaign Student Group.

Adam acted as quiz master at the freshers’ quiz, Sam dressed as the Kent Bunny (the University’s 50th anniversary mascot) at the 5km fun run, they both sold tickets for the fun run and season’s greetings cards. Sam even took part in a sponsored skydive!

It was through this involvement that Santander UK agreed to reward their dedication by matching everything they helped the students to raise.

Sam said:

‘Santander Universities is committed to supporting higher education globally and the University of Kent branch’s involvement with the Kent Law Campaign is a great example of how we can support both staff and students.’

Hilary Edridge (Head of Campaigns), Anna Pollard (Campaigns Manager) and members of the Kent Law Campaign Student Group were delighted to receive a giant cheque from Adam and Sam on Monday 15 December. The University matched their generosity creating £4,435.80 towards our vital work.

Open House Project – a thank you

Thanks to everyone who donated items for the Open House Project appeal.

It was all delivered on Saturday and much appreciated by the service users.

I had the following email from the project that I would like to share with you:

‘Thanks Lynne for the gifts for Open House. Several of the items will make Christmas presents for guests as well as general use over Christmas. Your donations are always exactly what is required in the right proportions for us. Thank You, John and Merrill.’

Thanks again everyone for your continued support.

Lynne Regan
l.m.regan@kent.ac.uk

Group of students with laptop

Website and Moodle interruptions in January

Access to the following will be interrupted for a short period:

8am – 11am on Tuesday 6 January:

University webpages including the Student Guide will be unavailable.

What will still work? Moodle, SDS, the Library Catalogue, Reading lists and some other online systems will still work. If you visit any webpage, instead of seeing an error there will be a page giving the links to the online systems that you can still access.

8am – 11am on Thursday 8 January: Moodle and MyFolio will be unavailable.

During any outages, an appropriate message will be shown on screen to let visitors know what is happening, and when services should be resumed.

Why is it necessary?

We are moving the data for the University website, Moodle and MyFolio to our new SAN (Storage Area Network: this is our primary data storage facility). The old SAN is reaching end of life after many years of good service, and most existing services have already been transferred to the new SAN. It is significantly faster than the old one, and provides the infrastructure to make our services more responsive and flexible.

We are sorry for the inconvenience that this essential work will cause. The date and times have been chosen with consideration for minimising the impact on students, staff and visitors.

Fire investigation ‘sniffer dogs’ in action on campus

Forensic science students will observe fire investigation forensics in action during a visit from Surrey Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) Fire Investigation Search Dogs on Wednesday 17 December.

The visit will demonstrate the skills these dogs have in detecting flammable residues. This information can often provide sufficient evidence to convict arsonists by tracing residues found within a fire scene, on a suspect’s clothing, or by finding hidden evidence which may have been discarded at the crime scene.

The visit will involve two dog handlers from SFRS undertaking a special task to showcase the dogs’ forensic capabilities. Students will be set the same task and the time taken by each group will be recorded and then compared.

Led by the University’s School of Physical Sciences, the visit coincides with collaborative research work between SFRS and Kent’s forensic science department. This research involves using the University’s equipment and expertise to test whether forms of counterfeit tobacco could pose a problem or mislead fire investigations with hotter burn temperatures or longer burn times.

The event takes place on Senate Lawn (in front of Templeman Library) at 1-2pm. Other spectators are welcome.

Image by West Midlands Police. Credit: CC BY

Join Legal Walk in Canterbury

Teams are assembling for the inaugural Canterbury Legal Walk, a 10km sponsored walk around Canterbury to raise money for the Kent Law Campaign.

Legal Walk route

The Canterbury Legal Walk offers a unique opportunity to explore both the city and Kent’s beautiful hill-top campus in the company of leading members of the legal profession on Saturday 13 June 2015.

Led by the UK’s Justice of The Supreme Court, The Right Hon the Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, teams of students, staff, solicitors, Barristers and legal practitioners have already begun registering for the walk.

Walking with Lord Clarke, who is also patron of the Kent Law Campaign, will be Professor John Fitzpatrick, Director of Kent Law Clinic, Professor Richard de Friend, Chair of the Kent Law Campaign Board and Richard Honey, Barrister at Francis Taylor Building.

The walk is open to all and friends and families of students, staff and legal professionals are welcome to register either as individuals or teams. The walk will end with a celebration party on Senate Lawn overlooking Canterbury Cathedral.

Registration is free but participants are asked to pledge to raise as much money as possible for the Kent Law Campaign, a £5million fundraising project to build a new home for the Kent Law Clinic and for Kent Law School’s Mooting Programme.

The University of Kent will match each pound raised with another so if you raise £50 and it is eligible for Gift Aid, your gift will become £125.

Image of students filling boxes

Give Volunteering a Go

You told us that you would like more Kent Union volunteering projects. As a result, Tom Abbott, Kent Union’s Volunteer Projects Coordinator, created some ‘Give it a Go’ volunteering sessions for students.

These included a shoebox appeal and knitting for charity.

Over 40 volunteers helped out over two days with our Shoebox Appeal by donating presents, wrapping shoeboxes and knitting scarves. Thanks to the volunteers we were able to send 49 boxes to Smile International for disadvantaged children around the globe.

We have continued to knit scarves for charity in the Media Centre every other week.

Keep an eye out for these and other projects on the Kent Union Volunteering page.

Voicemail unavailable on 18 Dec

Work is due to be carried out to enhance the University voicemail system on Thursday 18 December at 5.30pm.

The voicemail will be unavailable for approximately three hours from 5.30pm.

Should you experience any problems with your voicemail account on Friday morning, please email telexchange@kent.ac.uk.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

If you have any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on ext 3209.

Kent Foodians Support Catching Lives

Kent Foodians have been raising money for Catching Lives this term as well as promoting healthy and easy ways to cook student meals.

In November, they held a joint social with Kent Italian Society at Woodys which raised £100 for Catching Lives. This included a meal, a quiz and a competition for the most creative red, white and green outfit!

In December they embraced the Christmas spirit and held a carolling concert which raised a further £82.25 for the same charity.

Catching Lives is a charity that supports the homeless and vulnerably housed in Canterbury and East Kent. The money raised for them is essential for continuing the services that they provide.