Monthly Archives: February 2015

University Mental Health and Wellbeing event, Wednesday 18 February

The Medway Post-16 mental health forum is providing an awareness raising event to coincide with the university mental health and wellbeing day.

The event will mark the official launch of a 15 minute film, Mental Health: A Work in Progress, which was filmed by, and features, university students who have experienced mental health difficulties themselves whilst at university.

The event will also include a number of presentations from students who have had similar experiences at university. There will be a question and answer session involving students.

You will be able to pick up leaflets on all the services available to students and talk to some of the staff providing these services.

This event will be relevant for current students and staff, as well as prospective students and staff in schools and colleges who would like to know more about how students with mental health difficulties can be supported during their time at university.

This will take place on, Wednesday 18 February, 5-15-6.45pm, on the Medway campus, Jellicoe 106.

 

 

SSPSSR Careers Insights Fair

Wednesday 11 February from 1 – 5pm sees the second SSPSSR Careers Insights Fair event of the month taking place on the Canterbury campus in KS12.

Guest speakers including alumni will be sharing their careers insights with you which will include: Working in immigration detainee support; Marketing/sales placements, summer internships and graduate opportunties; Working in security and risk management and an Employment preparation workshop.

For more information or to attend go to: https://alumni.kent.ac.uk/events/registration-sspssrcareersfair2015

Chinese New Year celebrations

Come and celebrate Chinese New Year with the University’s Chinese Society on Wednesday 18 February.

  • Live demonstration of Chinese paper cutting at Gulbenkian Café, 15.00 to16.00
  • Chinese New Year Evening Gala at the Gulbenkian Theatre, 19.00 to 22.00
    Live Variety Show hosted by the Chinese Society. Some performances will be spoken in Mandarin.
    Tickets cost £6 and are available from the Gulbenkian Theatre Box Office

‘Tell a Chinese Story’ Photo Competition. Submit a photo that expresses your experience of Chinese culture, or tells a Chinese story, for a chance to win a £100, £60 or £40 Amazon Voucher! Interested? Further information can be found on the International Student website.

More questions ? Email the Chinese Society.

Student on computer

Register to vote

The way we all register to vote has changed

You need to make sure that you’re on the updated register, or you might not be able to vote in future or get credit.

As a student you can register at both your term time address AND at the address you live at outside of term time.

You can now register online. Registration is simple and takes around two minutes – you’ll need your date of birth and National Insurance number to complete your application.

I think I’m already registered at my home address

You are entitled to be registered at home and your university address (if these are different). Whilst at university, we consider you part of our community and as such, we want you to have a democratic voice on issues that affect you.

Can I vote twice – at home and at university?

This depends on the type of election. At local elections you can vote in both areas if they are in different districts;

You can’t vote twice in:

  • UK Parliamentary general election
  • European Parliamentary election

If you are unsure of your eligibility to vote in a particular election, please check with the Elections Office. Wherever you are on Election Day, you can have your say!

Your future credit rating

Most people don’t realise until it’s too late that if you aren’t registered to vote, it can affect your credit rating. You might not be able to secure a mortgage, loan or mobile phone contract. Some employers also check credit referencing.

I’m not British, can I vote?

Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland citizens are entitled to register and vote in all elections in the UK. Citizens of European Union states are entitled to register and vote in local and European elections.

Correspondence regarding electoral registration

The Council will send you an Invitation to Register form within the next few weeks or you may have already received it. When you receive this form you are legally obliged to reply. If you do not respond, you may receive a fine of £80.00.

I do not wish to register as I am already registered at home

You may, if you wish, decide to only register at your home address (if this is different from your term time address). If you do not want to register in respect of your University, term time address, it will assist us (and prevent us contacting you further) if you would please email, phone or write to us to say you do not wish to register in the district and give your name and address.

If you wish to register and do not want to return the paper form, you can complete an online application form.

More information about voting and electoral registration.

Professor Douglas MacMillan awarded Leibniz Chair

Professor Douglas MacMillan, an expert in environmental and ecosystem economics, has been awarded the Leibniz Chair of Environment by the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT).

ZMT is an associated institute of Bremen University, Germany and is renowned for providing a scientific basis for the protection and sustainable use of tropical coastal ecosystems.

The Leibniz Chair was first established at the ZMT in 2011. The title is bestowed upon ‘an outstanding scientific personality whose expertise constitutes an important addition to the ZMT research portfolio’. The title is awarded for three years and is endowed with a PhD position and research funding.

For further information, see the ZMT website.

Students at PC

Seminar on news coverage of social movements

Laura Garcia Rodriguez Blancas, PhD student in the Centre for Journalism, will present a seminar on ‘Mainstream News Coverage of Social movements: beyond protests and demonstrations’, on 17 February at 1 pm on Medway campus.

Laura’s research is based on how journalists cover and interact with social movements and activist. In the research seminar, she will explore the idea of how the news agenda that drives mainstream media as well as other newsroom factors frame, and sometimes limit, their coverage of social movements. Her case-studies will include bloggers who write on or for social movements and are used as sources by mainstream journalists.

The seminar will take place in G1-04, Gillingham Building, Medway campus. All are welcome. Further information is available on the University Event Calendar.

Dr Omar Nasim on BBC Radio 3

Dr Omar Nasim from the School of History is contributing an essay to BBC Radio 3 ‘s The Essay: The Five Photograph that (You didn’t know) change everything on Tuesday 17 February at 10:45 pm.

An expert in 19th and early 20th century history, Dr Nasim will be discussing the Nebula in Orion as well as how a photo of space changed our view of the universe and place within it.

In his essay, Dr Nasim will tell the story of how the first pictures of a nebula taken by Henry Draper in 1880 raised questions about the very origins of humanity.

Further information is available on the BBC website.

Sixth formers to participate in philosophy conference

A-Level students from a number of schools in the Kent region are expected on campus next week to attend our Philosophy Sixth-Form Conference, on Wednesday 11 February 2015. Staff from the Department of Philosophy will be delivering sessions to give a taster for studying these subjects at a university level.

A mixture of seminars and plenary sessions are offered throughout the day, including such tempting titles as ‘Do We Want a Way Out of Plato’s Cave?’, ‘Should the Law Allow Voluntary Euthanasia?’, ‘Sartre and Freedom’, ‘Fate and the Future’, and ‘Should Healthy People Be Offered Medical Enhancements?’ The day will run from 10.00am until the afternoon, with lunch and a campus tour provided.

Participating members of the Department include Dr Kathy Butterworth, Dr Graeme Forbes, Dr Kelli Rudoph, as well as doctoral students Ruth Hibbert and Alex Trofimov. The conference will be introduced by the Head of Department, Dr Julia Tanney.

The programme of events is listed below. If you would like further information on participating, please email Mary Daly.  Full details can be found on the Department of Philosophy website.

University call to match Schools’ expertise with Government funding – 8 Great Technologies

Big Data Challenges, Thursday 23rd April 2015, 9.30am to 4.30pm Grimond Building, Canterbury Campus.

Kent Innovation & Enterprise (KIE) is working with a number of academic and research groups to identify expertise within Synthetic Biology, Advanced Materials & Big Data, three of the 8 Great Technologies. A website will be launched shortly to enable you to express your interest in one or more of these areas.

This initial research will enable the University to respond swiftly to future funding opportunities by mapping internal expertise, external industry engagement and previous funding applications.

Big Data is already gaining momentum through the work of Eerke Boiten who heads up the Cyber Security Centre and Professor Andy Fearne who recently obtained an ESRC grant as part of the Eastern Arc Consortium. We are already capturing a lot of information about this area following an initial meeting in Medway last year.

We have also formed a mailing list for those wishing to be kept up to date on developments, big-data@kent.ac.uk.

In order to keep momentum we will be holding an open meeting for academics with an interest in this area. If you want to register for the event or would like to find out more about the 8 Great Technologies please email enterprise or phone 01227 827376.