The School of Politics and International Relations is delighted to invite you to the forthcoming workshop entitled “Whither Liberal World Order? Challenges from Russia, Eurasia and Beyond”   as part of the UPTAKE project led by the Universities of Kent, Tartu and Uppsala. The workshop will take place on 2 and 3 November 2017 in Darwin Conference Suite 1. The workshop is open to all University of Kent staff, PGR and PGT students and does not require any booking.

More information about the workshop can be found here and information about the UPTAKE project can be found on their web pages.

As part of the above workshop there will also be a guest keynote lecture by Professor Georg Sorensen from Aarhus University which will take place on 2 November 2017 at 6pm in GLT1. This will be followed by a drinks reception. The keynote lecture is open to all University staff and students (UG, PGT and PGR) and does not require any booking.

Full details and the programme for the workshop as well as further details about the keynote lecture can be found on the Global Europe Centre Website here.

Electrical HV Diversion Works

Thursday 26 October – Friday 17 November, 2017

In preparation for the impending demolition of the KRDC building there will be some noise disruption whilst trenching work is carried out between KRDC and the Stacey building in order to divert the HV power supply. During this time there will be some noise disruption. The work is expected to take approximately 3 weeks. Intermittently there may be interruptions to vehicle and pedestrian access whilst this work is carried out.

Eliot College & Becket Court – Portable Appliance Testing (P.A.T)

Monday 6 November – Friday 15 December, 2017

On Monday 6 November until Friday 15 December 2017, the portable appliance testing for Eliot College and Becket Court is due to take place.

Please ensure all equipment is available for testing.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and if there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

On Thursday 2 November in Keynes Atrium from 12pm – 3pm Kent Union’s Jobshop are proud to present their first Part-Time, Temporary & Seasonal Recruitment Fair of the academic year. If you are looking for paid work opportunities alongside your studies make sure you do not miss out as we have a fantastic array of companies attending our fair to promote suitable vacancies for Kent students. We have employers who are recruiting locally and nationally with rates from minimum wage to £30 per hour.

Some of the attendees you can expect to see are:

• Canterbury Cathedral Lodge
• Scott Anderson Catering
• CATS College
• RNLI
• Mash Staffing
• Kent Autistic Trust
• Barracudas

and many more!

Ensure you bring copies of your CV with you and come along to speak directly with a wide range of student employers. If you’re a Medway student please make sure to book your free shuttle bus to the Canterbury Campus as soon as possible.

Do you enjoy helping others to learn a language? Or would you like to meet students at Kent who can help improve a language you are currently learning? If so, you might be interested in joining the FREE Language Exchange Community hosted by the Centre for English and World Languages (CEWL).

Language Exchange is a Moodle based language community in which we encourage students to pair up and exchange information and knowledge of their respective cultures and languages. In support of this the Centre for English and World Language also host Language Exchange evenings once a term for students who are learning Mandarin, Russian, Japanese or Arabic to meet native speakers of their target language to socialise and practice speaking and listening. Our next Language Exchange Evening will be held on Monday 20 November 2017 from 6pm to 7pm in Keynes College Senior Common Room.

If you would like to find out more about Language Exchange or how to sign up, please visit the moodle page or alternatively email us.

To book your place on our Autumn Language Exchange evening, please click here.

You are invited to make nominations for two representatives of non-union members of staff to join the Joint Staff Negotiating and Consultation Committee (JSNCC); one position to represent staff in grades 7 and above, and one position to represent staff in grades 1 to 6. All University staff are eligible to nominate themselves.

If you wish to nominate yourself as a candidate for one of these positions, please complete the nomination entry form. You will be asked to provide a personal statement and the details of two people who support your nomination.

If you do not have time to complete the form now, it will remember your answers and you can pick it up again later on by clicking on the link above.

The deadline for completed nominations is 12 noon on Friday 17 November 2017.

If you have any difficulty accessing the form, please email KentSurveys@kent.ac.uk

What is the JSNCC?

The committee is the main forum for consultation between the University and its staff and is one of the most important and influential committees in the University. Its membership includes management, union and staff representatives who meet each term. The current non-union staff members are Stephen Rowlstone and Mark Ellis.

Find out more about the JSNCC

Why join the JSNCC?
Acting as a staff representative is interesting and rewarding. It provides the opportunity to discuss and comment on University plans and policies, to meet a wide range of new people and to gain valuable personal development. Training and support will be provided to the successful candidates.

Further information about the JSNCC and the nomination and election processes can be found on the JSNCC website or by contacting Martin Atkinson: m.atkinson@kent.ac.uk or ext 6599.

Explore world-class museums all over the UK and enjoy a year of endless inspiration with friends, for your studies, or just for you. Miss nothing with a Student Art Pass.

From the V&A and Tate Modern to Cardiff Castle and Jupiter Artland, a Student Art Pass brings you free access to over 240 museums, galleries and historic houses, and 50% off major exhibitions. Plus, grab a tasty refreshment or memento at a bargain price with loads of café and shop discounts too.

The Student Art Pass is available for free to KENT Fine Art students, thanks to the generous funding of a private donor. The offer is open for a limited time, so apply today to avoid missing out.

Apply here

Mandela Building – Portable Appliance Testing (P.A.T)

Monday 30 October – Friday 3 November, 2017

On Monday 30 October until Friday 3 November 2017, the portable appliance testing for the Mandela building is due to take place.

Please ensure all equipment is available for testing.

Water Quality Testing

Monday 30 October – Friday 10 November, 2017

On Monday 30 October until Friday 10 November 2017, we will be carrying out Essential Water quality testing throughout the day within the following buildings:

• ​Parkwood Houses except Phase 6
• Parkwood Admin Building
• Hill Top House
• Tanglewood
• Marlowe
• Jennison (Electronics)
• Ingram
• Stacey
• Sports Centre and Annex
• Sports Pavilion (old)
• East Oast
• Computing Laboratory
• Templeman Library Central Core

Each test will take approximately 15 mins.

We apologise for any disruption that this essential work may cause, and we appreciate your co-operation whilst the work is carried out.
Due to the importance of this work it may be necessary to access all areas of the building and we appreciate your assistance in this matter.

If there are any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

The Graduate School runs the postgraduate research café to provide opportunity for you to showcase your work and to listen to talks from postgraduate researchers from different disciplines, with a chance for questions, debate and networking over tea and coffee.

Events

‘Your PhD learning journey’
8 November, 15.00-17.00, Graduate School training room (Cornwallis East, 3rd floor)

How can reflection help make us better researchers?  The better we are at reflecting, the better we are at getting to deeper levels of analysis.  Exploring our choices, assumptions and connections can help us to think about new ways to open up our studies, it can get us to think about any blindspots we have, and consider the reasons we have adopted certain methodologies and rejected others. In this interactive workshop you will experiment with different means of and tools for reflection, in order to foster your theoretical and practical understanding of reflexivity.

‘How do we make sense of ourselves and the world? A cognitive and discursive approach’
5 December, 12.30-14.00, Graduate School training room (Cornwallis East, 3rd floor)

Andy Dean from Social of Anthropology and Conservation will present on: ‘How do we make sense of ourselves and the world? A cognitive and discursive approach’. Tom John (Tizard) will discuss: ‘Enhancing service user involvement in care planning’.

If you would like to attend any of these events, gain more information or contribute in 2017-18, please email us.

Postgraduate Research Cafe on the Medway campus

Information about the Postgraduate Research Café in Medway can be found on the Facebook page.  The Medway Research Café runs every two weeks on a Friday in Room DC-105 in the Drill Hall

Please contact Aiste Steponenaite if you have any queries about Postgraduate Research Cafe, Medway.

Kent’s annual ’25 Year Lunch’ was held in the Beagle Restaurant on Monday 23 October, with Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President, hosting and Alison Ross-Green, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, accompanying her.

The lunch celebrates and recognises the contribution each staff member has made over the years at the University. Eleven members of staff attended to celebrate their 25 years at the University and were presented with gifts that they had chosen by the Vice-Chancellor in recognition of their contribution over the years. The Beagle Restaurant was the perfect venue and a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all.

Photograph (from left to right)
Back row: Janice Tuite (Finance Division), Robert Akerman (Biosciences), Wendy Brunwin (Finance Division), Alan Hollister (Estates), Rob Springett (IS Campus Support)

Front row: Professor Karen Cox (Vice-Chancellor and President), Kevin Stevens (Estates), Sue Prout (Research Services), Mary Hughes (Academic Division), Barbara Smith (Kent Hospitality), Beryl Barnes (Biosciences), Alison Ross-Green (Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development).