The Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Team has published a Supporting Gender Reassignment in the Workplace:Staff Guide which outlines sources of support available on campus, provides an overview of the legal framework,and offers practical guidance about how to support a colleague who is undergoing, or thinking of undergoing transition.
The guide is available via the EDI Website.
Simon Ruff is an Electrician in the Estates Department and he will be cycling from Paris to Whitstable from 17 to 19 March, covering over 240 miles in just over 2 days! Simon is carrying out this challenge with his friend, a fellow Coach from Whitstable Rugby Club, to raise much needed funds for the Wooden Spoon charity. This charity’s aim is to provide life changing opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged children through the power of rugby. More information about the great work Wooden Spoon carry out can be found at their website: https://www.woodenspoon.org.uk
Not used to major physical activities, Simon and his friend have been undertaking burst training in order to get themselves in shape! If you are interested in supporting Simon’s challenge he has set up a Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/RandSBogusJourney
The conference ‘Total Positivity: a bridge between Representation Theory and Physics’ held at the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science 7-12 January, brought together over 50 researchers from diverse areas, such as algebra, integrable systems and mathematical physics. They came from the USA, France, Germany and across the UK.
Professor Nima Arkani-Hamed (Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton) and Professor Lauren Williams (Berkeley), each delivered a lecture series. Professor Arkani-Hamed is one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists and was the inaugural winner of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. He presented his work on the interactions between Total Positivity, a phenomenon that arises in diverse areas of pure mathematics, and scattering amplitudes in physics. Professor Williams is a highly influential pure mathematician who has been awarded the 2016 AWM-Microsoft Research Prize in Algebra and Number Theory. She spoke about her research connecting Total Positivity with Integrable Systems. A further nine invited speakers, from France, Germany and the UK, showed how their work touched upon Total Positivity.
This interdisciplinary workshop was organised by Stephane Launois and Rowena Paget (SMSAS) with the generous support of the Anglo-Franco-German Representation Theory Network. Full details can be found at https://www.kent.ac.uk/smsas/personal/sl261/Conference/Canterbury2016/TPatKent.html
War Horse, one of the most extraordinary theatre shows of our time, will be starting its national tour at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, from 15 September – 14 October 2017.
Filled with stirring music and wonderfully innovative stagecraft, War Horse is a remarkable tale of courage, loyalty and friendship and an unforgettable theatrical experience.
It is anticipated that there will be a huge demand for tickets for War Horse. Tickets go on sale for corporate members, which includes University of Kent staff, on Thursday 21 January 2016 – ahead of the public booking date of 8 February 2016.
To book, call the Marlowe Box Office on 01227 862 787.
As there is a small chance of snow this week, here’s a timely reminder of the University’s snow policy for both the Canterbury and Medway campuses.
It is our aim to provide a complete and uninterrupted educational service to all of our students throughout the year and we also provide a residential accommodation and catering service, which needs to be maintained. We endeavour to provide these services in all weather conditions, including periods when there may be extreme ice and snow either at the Canterbury campus, the Medway campus, or both. In doing this however, the safety of our staff, students and visitors is our main priority.
In the event of snow and or extreme freezing conditions:
You can read more about our policy and procedures.
If you have any queries relating to this policy, please discuss them with your line manager or academic school.
Guidance for manager is available on the HR webpages.
In the event of adverse weather, staff and students should consult the following for local/regional travel updates.
Should any University services be temporarily reduced or suspended, we will update you via the News Centre and also via the following Twitter accounts:
The student email service will be interrupted this Thursday, affecting all undergraduates and taught postgraduate students. Research postgraduates won’t be affected.
We’re emailing all undergraduate and taught postgraduate students today, to tell them:
You won’t be able to access this email account for a while on Thursday 14 January, while we do essential system work.
Work will start at 06.30 and last at least 3 hours – potentially lasting all morning and into the afternoon.
All emails sent to you will be delivered once the work completes.
Why is email being interrupted?
We have to update infrastructure, and so are doing this before term starts.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience this causes. We try to run essential work out of term time to minimise impact on students.
No other student systems will be affected. Staff and research postgraduate email is unaffected.
The Careers and Employability Service is delighted to announce that two University students have been awarded prizes for the high quality of their paid work on campus. Law and Sociology student Emma Rayfield (employed via the University’s Work-Study Scheme) and Biomedical Science student Cheryl Bonney (employed via Kent Union’s Jobshop) both worked as Student Experience Assistants (Research).
Emma and Cheryl’s work involved contributing to the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey to discover the employment and further study University of Kent graduates had obtained since leaving the University. The DLHE survey is important to the University as its data feeds into UK Higher Education league tables. The two students were part of a team of fourteen working for the Careers and Employability Service before Christmas. They developed a range of graduate-level employability skills as part of their work, including planning, organising and verbal communication.
If you would like to find out more about the DLHE survey please email careerhelp@kent.ac.uk
Gulbenkian are trialling a ‘Pay What You Decide’ ticket policy for Best of BE Festival coming in April 2016.
You reserve your tickets in advance for free. You enjoy the show. Then when you leave you pay what you decide you want to, or can afford to pay, based on your overall enjoyment of the performance.
Try something new this spring! We have an exciting and varied offer at Gulbenkian this spring, from Motionhouse’s energetic dance, Theatre-Rite’s new hip-hop, puppetry mash up, to Harold Pinter.
We want you to take a look and try something you wouldn’t normally think of.
To help, if you book tickets for two or more of the performances below, we will give you a third off the price of all your tickets.
This Spring get two student tickets for the price of one on selected Tuesday screenings including: