A prestigious Wellcome Trust Investigator Award of more than £675k has been awarded to Dr Emilie Cloatre for a project to explore the regulation of alternative medicines around the world.

The five-year project will offer a unique in-depth socio-legal exploration of the effects of regulation on traditional, alternative or complementary medicine in practice. It will explore different regulatory strategies that states employ across the globe with a particular focus on case studies in Europe (France/England), West Africa (Senegal/Ghana), and the West Indian Ocean (Reunion/Mauritius).

Dr Cloatre, Co-Director of Research and a Senior Lecturer in Law at Kent Law School, said:’I feel very privileged to have been awarded such a prestigious grant and I am really excited to take this project forward. The issues we will look at are highly relevant to contemporary conversations, debates and challenges that are unfolding as policy-makers across the world design or revise strategies to regulate both long-standing traditional practices, and newly emerging, or newly recaptured, alternative medical practices, in the light of persistent or recrudescent patient demand.’

With the help of two full-time postdoctoral researchers, Dr Cloatre aims to encourage a new way of thinking about the relationship between law and medicine. The team will examine the impact of contrasting regulatory frameworks on medical practices, broader public health strategies and access to healthcare. It is hoped the project will foster conversations across academia and generate innovative scholarly knowledge that will inform policy debates.

Research findings will be disseminated via journal articles, publications in professional reviews, regular project reports and a website. There will also be a book at the culmination of the project.

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. They support bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine.

Image credit: NoHo_0309 by Dancing Lemur CC BY-NC 2.0

The Pride (Personal responsibility in delivering excellence) Award recognises members of Kent Hospitality staff who go out of their way to deliver excellent customer service.

Any Kent Hospitality staff (permanent or casual) may be nominated from Canterbury and Medway campuses. The award is given in April, October and December and with each winner receiving £100 of shopping vouchers.

Nominations can be made by any member of University staff, students or visitors. Red nomination boxes are located in all Kent Hospitality’s catering outlets in Canterbury and Medway, as well College reception areas. Alternatively, you can download the form and email it to Rooie Thomas.

Please make your nominations detailed and provide as much information as possible. The panel looks for staff who achieve more than what is expected in their role.
The deadline for the next award is 13.00, Friday 15 April 2016.

For further information, contact/see: Rooie Thomas: R.J.G.Thomas@kent.ac.uk, T: +44 (0)1227 827659, Tanglewood.

Welcome to our new-look Campus Online pages, which we are testing from Monday (4 April 2016).

The pages have been amended to reflect feedback from our recent staff survey, as well as analytics including a heatmap showing which of the existing links are used.

We have tried to keep the new design as uncluttered and easy-to-use as possible.  Any links previously featured on the left-hand side of the page can be accessed by clicking on ‘More systems and services’ (just above the Notices section).

We are testing the new design over the next fortnight (4-15 April 2016) and we’d love to hear what you think. Please email your feedback to us at communications@kent.ac.uk

We are also planning a focus group to talk about these upcoming changes, together with longer-term improvements to Campus Online, on Tuesday 5 April from 10.30-12.00 on Canterbury campus. If you’re able to join us, email communications@kent.ac.uk now!

Wendy Raeside and Etienne Donzelot
Corporate Communications

Enrolment Management Services will be holding an Applicant Day on 6 April 2016 at the Canterbury campus.  These are essential recruitment events for the University.

To assist with this event 189 parking bays will be closed in Giles Lane blue zone car park.

All car parks in the centre of campus may be full before 09.00, which could mean you need to use the car parks within the Park Wood area.  There are parking bays available next to the Park Wood accommodation as well. We recommend that you consider allowing for the additional time that may be required to travel to and from Park Wood.  

Pedestrian signs within Park Wood Courts, will inform you of the average time required to walk to the main campus. Alternatively, you can use the Park and Ride bus ticket that was sent with your parking permit to travel to and from the main campus.

Please remember that parking enforcement will continue in accordance with the University Regulations for the Management of Traffic.

Kuba Shand-Baptiste, a graduate of the BA (Hons) in Comparative Literature, featured on BBC Radio 4’s Women Hour on Wednesday 30 March, talking about make-up choices for women of colour.

The Women’s Hour programme discussed the lack of choice in reasonably priced make-up for women of colour. Kuba said ‘women of colour do not get enough support from the make-up industry, new ranges are advertised on television but they are not available in the shops. Cost is also a huge issue, darker skinned women shouldn’t have to pay ridiculous prices for make up for their skin colour. We need more options available at affordable prices.’

Kuba’s interview on Radio 4 follows the publication of an article she wrote in The Independent, arguing ‘The racists response to MAC’s Instagram shows we only celebrate black features when white women have them.’ The article discusses the response to an image by the make-up company of Aamito Lagum’s lips, and why black features on black skin seldom reach the level of celebration that black features on white celebrities enjoy.

Since graduating in 2014, Kuba has undertaken an MA in Newspaper Journalism at City University London and works as a freelance journalist. She has published several articles for The Independent, written for the BBC news website, several local papers and for creative online magazine gal-dem.com. Her more recent articles can be viewed at www.clippings.me/kubared.

Kuba said of her time at university ‘Kent has had a huge impact on me as a person as well as a journalist. I’ve made lifelong friends, and received lasting lessons that have shaped me as a writer.’

Kuba’s appearance on Radio 4 can be heard at: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074vtk6

The University has launched a free app service to help give round-the-clock safety reassurance to staff and students.

SafeZone is a simple-to-use application that’s free to download. It’s designed to help students and staff summon security or safety assistance via their mobile phones.

During an initial launch phase from 4 April, students and staff in Canterbury and Medway can volunteer to sign-up and access three main features using SafeZone – emergency, first aid and enquiries.

Emergency and first aid options will bring security or first aid officers to the location of the call, while the enquiries button connects directly to the University switchboard during the day and Campus Security out-of-hours.

The app currently works within designated zones covering the Canterbury and Medway campuses (including Historic Dockyard, Chatham) as well as Liberty Quays student accommodation in Gillingham.

From September, the app will also help the University send targeted notification messages to staff and students in the event of an on-campus incident and help locate and mobilise first aid trained staff and fire marshals.

Further developments include enhanced services to support lone-working, foreign travel, bus tracking and coverage for Tonbridge and our European centres in Athens, Brussels, Paris and Rome.

The SafeZone app is part of a suite of security software leased by the University from CriticalArc, a global technology company with headquarters in Australia and offices in the UK, Bahrain and the US.

Find out more at an information event 
Speak to staff and find out more about SafeZone at one of the following ‘pop-up’ events:

• Monday 4 April in Colyer Fergusson, Canterbury campus, from 12.00-14.00
• Tuesday 5 April in Keynes Atrium, Canterbury campus, from 12.00-14.00
• Wednesday 6 April in Rutherford Foyer, Canterbury campus, from 12.00-14.00
• Thursday 7 April outside Jarman, Canterbury campus, from 12.00-14.00
• Friday 8 April in Templeman Library, Canterbury campus, from 12.00-14.00
• Tuesday 10 May in Rochester Building, Medway campus, 12.00-14.00

Dame Julia, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent since 2007, has announced her intention to retire in August 2017.

Through her leadership, Kent has made a significant step change in its national and international standing.

Sir David Warren, Chair of the University’s governing Council, said: ‘Julia has been an outstanding Vice-Chancellor and has led the University through a time of profound change in the higher education sector. Kent is now in the top 20 of British universities, an institution whose research and teaching is of the highest standard, and an environment which receives high praise from staff and students as a centre of study and as a place to work.

‘Julia’s focus on international engagement has also meant that we are on course to become a globally recognised research institution by 2020. This is a tribute to Julia’s inspiring leadership of a great team. It has been a privilege to work with her over the last three years on the Council of the University, and as the Chair of Council since August 2014. I am delighted that she will continue to lead the University for the next 16 months, working closely with the rest of the University’s Executive Group.’

Dame Julia said: ‘I would like to thank staff and students for their support and hard work in securing our place among the UK’s best universities in such a challenging environment. We are now in a strong position to build for the future. It is an honour to lead such an outstanding institution and I have valued working with so many exceptional individuals.’

Dame Julia is currently President of Universities UK. She joined the University from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council where, as Chief Executive, she was responsible for government funding for the biosciences in universities and in seven sponsored research institutes.

Sir David Warren, as Chair of the University Council, will oversee the process to appoint the next outstanding Vice-Chancellor.