The University of Kent is delighted to announce that its bid for an ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership as part of the South-east Network for Social Sciences (SeNSS) has been successful.

This award will enable SeNSS to offer fully-funded doctoral studentships each year for the next six years with the first cohort commencing their PhD research in October 2017.

Coordinated by the University of Essex under the directorship of Professor Shamit Saggar, Professor of Public Policy, the SeNSS  consortium comprises 10 institutions: City University London; University of East Anglia; University of Essex; Goldsmiths, University of London; University of Kent; University of Reading; Roehampton University; Royal Holloway, University of London; University of Surrey and University of Sussex.
Professor Saggar said following the ESRC’s announcement:

‘The ten universities in the SeNSS consortium have great strength and ambition in the social sciences, and the award of a Doctoral Training Partnership by the ESRC is recognition of our plans in developing doctoral training. Through our thirteen training pathways, advanced skills modules, cohort development, and engagement with research users and practitioners, we will deliver step change in the student experience. I am delighted to lead SeNSS in this exciting venture. My aim is to ensure that SeNSS quickly becomes a sought-after badge of academic and practical excellence.’

Professor Diane Houston, Dean of the Kent Graduate School said:

‘This successful outcome is a testament to the world-leading research and high-quality of social sciences research training conducted at Kent and across the wider SeNSS partnership. Kent will make a distinctive contribution to SeNSS across nine of the thirteen training pathways by providing considerable expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Kent has been working effectively with seven of the SeNSS member institutions through existing doctoral collaborations over a number of years and we are confident that SeNSS will be similarly successful owing to our already excellent working relationships.’

A distinctive feature of SeNSS will be its cultivation of the impact of the social sciences, and engagement with research users. SeNSS will enable students to build strong relationships with both academic, user and practitioner networks at a number of different levels. Kent has an excellent track record of engaging successfully with a range of non-academic partners through CASE studentships (eg NHS, Age UK and Anne Frank Trust) impact and engagement activity and as a result of Kent student success in ESRC internship competitions (DCLG, BIS, BPS and Cabinet Office). The University will look to build on these relationships to strengthen the training opportunities provided to future SeNSS cohorts and use its alumni to promote the benefits of this type of collaboration.

Kent will be represented in the following SeNSS training pathways: (i) Social Anthropology, (ii) Social Work and Social Policy, (iii) Politics and International Relations, (iv) Science, Technology and Sustainability, (v) Linguistics, (vi) Psychology, (vii) Socio-Legal Studies, (viii) Business and Management Studies and (ix) Sociology.

From 2017 onwards, the ESRC will be funding 14 new Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) and two Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). In total, 510 studentships will be available per year (494 through the DTPs and eight in each of the CDTs). 50 Postdoctoral Fellowships will also funded through the DTP Network. The value of studentship funding awarded to SeNSS will be confirmed by the ESRC in September.

View the ESRC announcement.

Following a short delay, construction on the GK Unions Student Hub on the Medway campus is set to continue. The brand new £4.6 million construction project is set to open in the Autumn Term.

The universities of Greenwich and Kent are already in advanced negotiations with a potential new contractor after confirmation that the existing contractor, Cardy, had entered administration. It is expected that work will resume in the next few weeks.

With over 2,000 new students set to arrive in September, we are putting in place a contingency plan so welcome events are not affected by the delay. Please direct students to the GK Unions website for more information on freshers events.

Coopers Bar will remain open for one final month before having its farewell party and welcoming in the new student bar – The Deep End.

GK Unions
info@gkunions.co.uk

For all you newbies, here’s a helpful introduction to Kent and some of the fantastic services available to you.

• Your school – is a helpful point of contact for all your studying needs. Whether you need guidance on how to reference or employability advice, your school can help, and if they can’t, they will know who can. Find your school and academic adviser.

• Studying at Kent. There is a wide range of study support available across the University. You can not only go to your school for study advice, but you can also talk to one of our learning advisers from the Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS).

• Employability support. In an increasingly competitive job market, we want to make sure you have the skills and experience to stand out. From work experience opportunities to support showcasing your skills, we offer a range of services to help you bag that dream job.

• Our Student Finance Team is here to help, whether your student loan is late or you just need help managing your money.

• Kent is a great place to live and study. Here is some useful information to help you while you’re living in Kent over the next few years.

• As a student you have access to a wide range of support and wellbeing services, including help with a disability, child care and a counselling service.

• Greenwich and Kent Students’ Unions Together is your students’ union and are there to represent the student voice. They also look after a range of student activities including social events and societies at Kent.

• As well as a fully-equipped library, most our library resources are online, so you can get the information you need 24-hours a day. Visit Drill Hall Library’s website.

• Both Canterbury and Medway have good transport links, so you don’t necessarily need a car to get around. You can also benefit from a range of discounts on local transport including a free shuttle service to Canterbury. Discover some of your options for getting around.

• When you join Kent you automatically become part of a college. Joining a college community gives you a support network and your Masters’ Office is somewhere you can go for help and advice.The College Master at Medway runs a calendar of social and sporting activities, in addition to those provided by GK Unions. Social activities include; cultural visits, club nights, quizzes and sports. All activities are free or subsidised and transport is free to Kent students and University of Greenwich students studying at Medway or living at Liberty Quays. Like Medway Activities on Facebook to find out more.

The date of the next Athena SWAN Awareness Day taking place in Canterbury is Wednesday 14 September 2016.

The theme for this year’s event is ‘what does Athena SWAN mean to us at Kent?’

The Athena SWAN charter is focused on not just improving the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics disciplines (STEMM), but recognising advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all.

The morning of our September 2016 event will see an introduction by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, who will be followed by plenary sessions on what Athena SWAN means to Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Sciences.

After the networking lunch, the afternoon will focus on practical, inspiring workshops and cover a range of topics, including content for your Athena SWAN submission, setting up a self-assessment team, how to overcome barriers to Athena SWAN and and more!

The day is designed to provide practical guidance and support for each School preparing submissions prior to 2020, whether they are just beginning their Athena SWAN activity or whether they are award holders looking to be awarded silver (or even gold!).

The event also seeks to provide context for Senior Leaders and embed the strategic value of Athena SWAN in all disciplines.

Athena SWAN is something that the University as a whole is committed to and by pursuing this agenda we create the best working environment for all staff.

To book your ticket, visit our eventbrite site. A full programme and further details are available on the Kent Athena SWAN webpage. Please email/print to share the poster with colleagues. The Medway event will take place in December 2016.

Sent in by n.blant@kent.ac.uk

On Thursday 11 August two HIVE students will be travelling to Virginia, USA, to compete in the Virginia Tech KnowledgeWorks Global Student Entrepreneurships Challenge.

Each year the University of Kent selects a student, or team of students, to compete at the Virginia Tech University in the USA along with students from 14 other universities from around the world. These students all have one thing in common: a great business idea.

The University of Kent represents the UK to compete in this prestigious competition with other countries including Ecuador, France and Australia. Students pitch their business ideas with the chance to win $25,000 and the title of ‘Global Entrepreneurship Champion’.

The University of Kent’s entry this year is eLog, the business idea of students Cesare Dunker and Rayyan Sorefan. eLog is an app that allows users to track their journey through photo-recognition, geo-tagging and time mapping. eLog seeks to provide an inter-county service, which directly pinpoints people’s location, and directly aids the processing of migrants by governments departments.

Read the full story on the HIVE webpages.

If you are a Kent researcher (at any stage of your project or career) we invite you to an informal workshop on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 25 August.

This workshop is an opportunity for you to help us understand your needs as a researcher and how we can improve our online services for you. We want to make sure that the web content we provide to support your research activities is helpful, relevant, and joined up.

We are looking for 6-10 participants for both of our workshops.

Workshop Details:
Wednesday 17 August, 10:30-12:00, Templeman West, Room A108
Thursday 25 August, 11:00-12:30, Templeman West, Room A108
(Refreshments will be provided.)

If you would like to attend, please email us: is-publishing@kent.ac.uk

Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies, has just published a new book Christmas as Religion: Rethinking Santa, the Secular, and the Sacred (Oxford University Press, 2016).

The book provides a new take on established literature on the relationship between Christmas and religion, including a revisiting of the way such theorists as Emile Durkheim and Mircea Eliade have understood the location of the sacred-profane interface.

In the book, Chris argues that we need to move away from conventional binary language in order to develop a more sophisticated and realistic understanding of where religion can be encountered, and it draws on the category of Implicit Religion the notion that religion can be found in secular life to achieve this reconceptualization.

The work offers critical discussion of the relationship between Jesus and Santa where it is argued that it is their separation from one another which, paradoxically, makes them complementary figures who exist independently yet without conflict as no one (including Christians) has to choose between them.

Sent in by: secl@kent.ac.uk