Dr Tania Peitzker will give a public lecture on ‘The next level Artificial Intelligence’ on Tuesday 23 February from 18.00-19.00.

Dr Peitzker has been working on the next level AI chat bots which will give the like of SIRI a run for their money. She has been well published in a number of fields.

Her corporate communications coaching and pitching events led to an invitation in 2014 from the prestigious Cote d’Azur club, the Sophia Business Angels, to be a judge and coach at their annual SBA Venture Academy. She has also given specialist Colloquium lectures at her German alma mater, the University of Potsdam; held a seminar for corporate comms leaders at the highly regarded Swiss School of Journalism MAZ in Lucerne; been a Guest Speaker at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s much lauded “private-public” Innovation Centre; and, as a former Cultural Studies academic, presented scholarly papers at international conferences.

Dr Peitzker has worked as a head trainer at some top corporate universities in Germany ie the internal Education Dept of Bayer Schering, Deutsche Bank and Lucent Technologies among other DAX corporations and has run capital raising workshops in Germany, Switzerland and Australia.

After a career change into marketing & business development in 2013, she became CEO of velmai Ltd, a British AI bot venture now scaling up in North America with over 240 million registered users through its strategic partners.

Dr Peitzker is currently working for Global Ventures LLC in Miami as a  Business Development executive & AI Apps adviser for GV’s eurozone.com, its innovative online incubator contrib.com & veteransrehab.com in the USA.

The talk should appeal to anyone who is interested in technology, business in a wider context and also the chance to listen to a highly engaging and promotional speaker.

Bookings can be made via this Eventbrite link.

The new Kent Refuge Fund demonstrates the University’s commitment to expanding its support for potential international students and academics at risk of persecution.

Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow and Dr Anthony Manning are hosting the Fund’s launch event on Tuesday 23 February at 12.30 in Darwin Conference Suite. Dr Elizabeth Schächter, Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Comparative Literature, will give a talk on her parents’ experiences of fleeing Vienna and seeking refuge in London during the Second World War as academics.

The Kent Refuge Fund will build on the existing support the University provides for the Helena Kennedy Foundation ‘Article 26 Project’ and the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA). The Fund will provide financial assistance to students and academics seeking refuge in the UK. Instability and insecurity, particularly in the Middle East, is causing unprecedented numbers of people to flee their countries of origin.

You are invited to join us at the event on Tuesday 23 February where you will be given the opportunity to learn more about CARA, the Helena Kennedy Foundation ‘Article 26 Project’ and how you can get involved.

Tuesday 23 February 2016
12.30-​14.00 (presentation at 13.00)
Darwin Conference Suite, Canterbury Campus
Refreshments provided – in order for us to cater correctly we ask that you register your attendance online.

We will be hosting a similar event in Medway in due course.

Wetlands, a student group led by Nadia Perrotta, MA Fine Art, School of Music & Fine Art, has been awarded a grant of £5,000 from the University of Kent Student Projects Grant Scheme for their project Wetlands Hub, to build an archive of documentation and film works about the local maritime history and the wetland landscape. This is the second time that the group has been awarded funding to run the project!

This year the Panel was chaired by the Director of Student Services and assisted by core members including representatives from Kent Union, the three Faculties, the donor community and the Development Office. The Panel was very impressed with the application and decided to allocate the full grant (i.e. £5,000) applied for.

Said Nadia: ‘I feel privileged to have received the funding and I would like to thank the donors for their support. Wetlands Hub will consist of an archive of site specific, sound and video works made by the students of SMFA in Medway. The archive will be accessible online. Selections of works will be also showcased in a pop up exhibition space, in the town centre. We are a group of 24 Fine Art and Music students, but everyone across the School of Music & Fine Art will be able to submit works to the archive and be part of the events at the pop up art space’.

For more info on Wetlands go to: http://wetlandsmedway.jimdo.com/

In January 2016, grants totalling almost £50,000 were made to 19 different student projects across the University, which will further enhance the student experience and employability of Kent students. The Student Projects Grant Scheme is funded by generous gifts from alumni and friends to the Kent Opportunity Fund, which was established to increase opportunities for students at Kent, today and in the future.

Now in its fourth year, the Student Projects Grant Scheme has already made a huge impact. Since it was established in 2013, the Scheme has funded 58 student projects including the Work-Study Scheme, which helps students improve their employability by taking up meaningful placements on campus whilst receiving trainings on CV writing and interviews; and the Cants2Dam, in which students ran 300 miles in 10 days to raise fund for the Kent Opportunity Fund and the British Heart Foundation.

The Grant Allocation Panel, chaired by Kent alumnus and Director of Student Services Dr Wayne Campbell, comprises representatives from colleges, academic schools, Kent Union, the Alumni Office and the donor community. Mr Stephen Hearnden, donor representative of the Panel, said: ‘I found reviewing the various projects a hugely rewarding experience. It is something other alumni should get involved with. I was impressed by the scope and breadth of these projects which were wide and various. I would encourage all students to consider applying if they have an interesting idea which needs help with additional funding. Employers will look favourably upon such endeavours and if additional funding can be raised too, this can only help the student and also demonstrate his or her potential.’

The next funding cycle of the Student Projects Grant Scheme will open in autumn 2016. Details of the successful projects for 2016 can be found on the Student Projects page.

The dialogue between music and visual art continues this Friday, as the #EarBox series returns to Studio 3 Gallery.

The collaborative series between the Music department and the School of Arts sees Minerva Voices, the new upper-voice chamber choir, perform choral music through the ages against the backdrop of ‘After the Break,’ the gallery’s new exhibition.

The programme soars the centuries, ranging from music by Hildegard of Bingen and Mozart to Brahms, Holst and Bob Chilcott.

Admission is free, and the performance starts at 13.10, lasting approximately forty minutes.

More details can be found on the event’s blog.

Chris Shilling, Professor of Sociology, has had his article entitled ‘For a Sociology of Deceit: Doubled Identities, Interested Actions and Situational Logics of Opportunity’ (coauthored with P.A. Mellor and published in the leading international refereed journal Sociology) shortlisted for the 2016 SAGE Prize for Innovation and/or Excellence.

The SAGE Prize for Innovation and Excellence is awarded annually to one paper in each of the BSA’s prestigious journals: Cultural Sociology, Sociological Research Online, Sociology and Work, Employment and Society. The prize is awarded to the paper published in the previous year’s volume judged to represent innovation or excellence in the field.