Two Kent students have been selected to take part in the European Innovation Academy (EIA) this Summer. The EIA, taking place in Nice, France, in July, is a 15-day programme of entrepreneurship education which gives ‘every participant the opportunity to be immersed in the extreme international start-up environment’.

Brenda Okandju’s and Mate Tukacs’ selection follows recent success as finalists of the KBS Business Start-Up Journey, where they both successfully pitched to a panel of entrepreneurs and Business School Directors, winning financial support prizes for their respective start-up ideas.

The students said;
KBS student, Brenda (Business Development Manager, Luxsri):
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity that BSUJ is allowing me to encounter; As a finalist of the BSUJ, this is a great chance to network with like-minded people and be in the midst of technical experts from the famous technology cluster – Silicon Valley. This is an incredible opportunity that I cannot take for granted! Thank you BSUJ, I’m excited.”

School of Computing student, Mate (CEO, Playlate.com):
“I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to attend the European Innovation Academy as part of my prize for being a finalist on the Business Start-Up Journey. It is the perfect chance to develop my business and acquire important contacts from all over the world.”

The University has achieved a top 10 position in seven subject areas in the latest Complete University Guide (2017). This is up from four in 2016.

Kent has also achieved a top 20 position in 14 subject areas, up from 12 in 2016. Overall, the University has maintained its top level position with its 23rd place out of 127 UK universities.

The GLOBSEC 2016, a premier security forum for the policy-makers, analysts and practitioners across Europe and the world, has enjoyed a strong representation from the Kent students and staff this year.

For the 11^th consecutive year, the GLOBSEC in Bratislava (Slovakia) has been contributing to shaping the regional, European and wider transatlantic foreign and security policy agenda.

Over the years, its key-note speakers have included David Cameron, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Donald Tusk, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, John Allen, John McCain, Carl Bildt, Ahmed Rashid, George Friedman and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

The GLOBSEC 2016 forum hosted the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen as its key-note speakers, and focused on the challenges of migration, the on-going threat of the Islamic State, the role of NATO in European security, BREXIT and European relations with Russia.

Uniquely, the University of Kent enjoyed a very strong presence this year at the Global Security Forum. The School of Politics and International Relations was represented by Professor Elena Korosteleva (Politics), a member of the GLOBSEC International Advisory Board, Professor Richard Whitman who spoke at the GLOBSEC Young Leaders’ Forum about Brexit, and Giles Polglase to represent the  School of Engineering and Digital Arts on the issues of biometric and cyber security.

The forum also received support from a group of Kent students including Igor Merheim-Eyre (POLIR PhD student) assisting the Forum with the outcome summary and social media, Simona Majernikova (POLIR 2^nd year student) and Dominik Dubovsky (School of Anthropology) who, through a fierce international competition, were selected to assist the GLOBSEC media team.

The Samuel Beckett and World Literature conference – funded by the Centre for Modern European Literature, Faculty of Humanities, and departments across SECL and the School of English – takes place at the University’s Canterbury campus on 4-5 May 2016.

Keynote speakers are Professor Stanley Gontarski from Florida State University and Professor Fabio de Souza Andrade from Universidade de São Paulo. There will also be a screening of Ashish Avikunthak’s feature film Kalkimanthankatha, inspired by Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, followed by a discussion with the Indian cinematographer at the Gulbenkian Cinema.

Please visit the Conference blog for further details and the full programme, which includes an exciting line-up of panels.

For any queries, please email: beckettworldlit@kent.ac.uk.

We look forward to seeing you in May!

SBWL Conference Organisers

Kent Law School Professor Davina Cooper has been awarded the Feminist Theory Annual Essay Prize 2016.

In selecting Professor Cooper’s essay ‘Bringing the state up conceptually: Forging a body politics through anti-gay Christian refusal’, the judge commended her “excellent scholarship.” The essay was shortlisted by the editors of Feminist Theory from amongst all essays submitted in 2015 before its selection for the prize by an external judge. The judge said the article was a pleasurable read, a feature that was noted as a “rare achievement and an immense strength.”
The editors and the judge acknowledged there had been many strong articles published in the journal in 2015 but noted that Professor Cooper’s work had stood out. Feminist Theory  is an international interdisciplinary journal engaged in debates about the diversity of feminism. It incorporates perspectives from across the broad spectrum of the humanities and social sciences and the full range of feminist political and theoretical stances.
Last year, Professor Cooper was awarded the Charles Taylor Book Award 2015  for her book Everyday Utopias: The Conceptual Life of Promising Spaces.
Next month Professor Cooper will be hosting a two-day workshop interrogating the question of whether states have a place within a transformative progressive politics. The workshop, to be held on Kent’s Canterbury campus on 19/20 May, will offer participants the opportunity to reimagine the concept of the state for progressive politics.

Local heroes from across the region took centre-stage at the Pride in Medway awards, co-sponsored by the University.

Overall winner was Anita Marinelli who has raised almost £600,000 for the Ruby Young Appeal. Ruby was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer, just before her second birthday.

Family friend Anita organised an appeal to raise money for Ruby’s treatment in America. The campaign was supported by local people as well as celebrities including Louis Tomlinson from One Direction and England fly-half Danny Cipriani.

Anita was crowned winner at the annual awards event, now in its 15th year, at a gala finalist ceremony on 9 April in the Pilkington Building, Medway campus. The ceremony was hosted by ITV Meridian’s Sangeeta Bharbra and children’s TV presenter Phil Gallagher.

More than 30 unsung heroes picked up awards at the event, which is aimed at rewarding people who go above and beyond the call of duty in their everyday lives. Each of the sponsors – including the University, Medway Council, mhs homes, the Medway Messenger, Uniper and Southeastern – gave a prize to their chosen winner before the overall victor was announced.

This year’s University winner was Amy Harwood who, aged 13, was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata, a disease causing hair loss. She was nominated by her mum for being ‘incredibly brave’ in coping with the condition.

Over the past two years, Amy has worked tirelessly for the alopecia charity AAR-UK, raising almost £10,000 to try and find a cure. She has also enrolled with a multi-talent agency in London and will feature in a Channel 4 documentary on Alopecia this summer.

Amy’s award was presented on the night by Jane Glew, the University’s College Master for Medway, who said: ‘This amazing and beautiful young lady has refused to let Alopecia stand in the way of what she has wanted to achieve and is helping other young people with Alopecia to pursue their dreams with confidence.’

Other finalists at the Pride in Medway ceremony were toddler Harry Thumwood who, while in hospital in Medway, donated his Peppa Pig collection to the hospital playroom, a team of volunteers who share basic cookery skills with other young people at Woodlands Youth Centre, and William Thomas, Medway’s oldest lollipop man until his recent retirement.

For further information, see the Pride in Medway webpages.