Congratulations to Pebbles Buckley, a third year Criminology and Social Policy student, on winning the top prize of an iPad Mini in the ’12 days of Kentmas’ student competition.

The ’12 days of Kentmas’ is festive quiz which involves students answering daily questions about the University’s student experience.

Congratulations also goes to our eleven #Kentmas quiz runners up, who each won a £10 Amazon voucher.

Thank you to everyone who took part and we hope you will play along next year!

Following the successful 2017 Learning and Teaching Conference, we are pleased to announce that the 2018 Annual Learning and Teaching Conference will take place on 20 June 2018. It will be held in Keynes Lecture Theatre 1 and Atrium Foyer from 9.00-16.15, followed by a drinks reception.

This year’s theme is Promoting Powerful Student Learning Experiences In and Out of Class. The theme interprets learning holistically, encompassing both curricular and co-curricular activities that support students’ growth while at university. The conference will examine how professional services staff, academics, and Kent Union work together to create opportunities for powerful student learning. It will also feature examples of innovative teaching that blur the boundaries of the classroom. The event is an opportunity for the University of Kent community to come together around the shared goal of supporting student learning.

The event is free and colleagues can register here.

Yvonne Sherwood, from the Department of Religious Studies, has been awarded a visiting fellowship at the Centre for Advanced Studies at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, under invitation from Professor Robert Yelle.

She will be giving talks based on forthcoming book projects, and working with Professor Yelle on a collaborative research project on ‘Sovereignty’.

The Centre for Advanced Studies at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) is a forum for intensive interdisciplinary academic exchange. It promotes co-operation between outstanding researchers from various LMU departments and fosters participation of visiting scholars in research and academic life at LMU.

For more information about CAS, please see the Centre’s webpages.

Dr Anne-Maria Brennan from the Centre for Professional Practice gave a Café Scientifique lecture on Wildlife Forensics for Science & More at the No 84 Tearoom in Gravesend.

Science & More (SAM Club About Things Strange & Interesting) is a monthly pop-up science lecture,  mainly for schoolchildren (but parents come along too).

Dr Brennan gave a talk about her research and forensic investigation work and also gave members of the audience a chance to collect and examine pollen evidence under microscope.

She commented: ‘It was a packed house and even though I showed the occasional gruesome picture of crime scenes it didn’t seem to put anyone off their cakes!’

As the festive break approaches, no doubt you are searching for exciting events for the diary to look forward to when you return in January!

We have the solution:  Kent’s first Festival of Projects, which will take place on the afternoon of 10 January.

Here at Kent we have a fantastic range of student-facing projects and initiatives – but sometimes we are less good at raising awareness of those projects, communicating progress, and making sure they connect, integrate and work together. So this is your chance to find out more.

During the afternoon, we will be showcasing a range of projects designed to produce direct, positive changes in student experience, attainment and outcomes. We are expecting contributions, for example, from the Student Success Project, Kent Union, the Student Hub, Careers and Internationalisation, to name but a few. There will be short presentations, along with two opportunities for further discussion and networking over coffee and drinks – when you can visit stalls to find out more about the more than 30 projects which will be involved on the day.

All colleagues are most welcome to attend, whether or not you are involved in a student-focused project, to find out more about what we are doing at Kent to support the student journey, and to play your part in discussing how we can link our excellent projects together better in future.

Please come and join us on 10 January! You can see the latest draft programme and sign up here.

Professor April McMahon, Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Education and Chloe Gallien, Master of Keynes

The Medway College Master’s Office is supporting Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day by hosting an afternoon of Christmas treats and fun games. If you would like to take the opportunity to wear a festive jumper then please wear your jumper and donate £1.

Please come and join us for celebrations in the Senior Common Room (R2-02 located in the Rochester Building above No1 Bistro) on Friday 15 December 2017, 15:00-17:00

We hope to see as many of you as possible. If you don’t have a Christmas jumper then you can wear anything related to Christmas, no restrictions!

Buses serving the University of Kent will run a winter vacation timetable from 17 December 2017 to 13 January 2018.

Uni1 – special timetable.

Uni2 – special timetable between 18 December and 31 December only (no Uni2 buses will run between 1 January and 13 January).

Route 4 – normal timetable except 25 December, 26 December and 1 January.

Triangle – normal timetable except 25 December, 26 December and 1 January.

Christmas Day – no buses.

Boxing Day – no buses.

New Year’s Day – no buses

You can pick up a physical copy of the winter vacation timetable from Security and Transport Centre, reception areas or Canterbury bus station. You can also view the winter vacation timetable in the poster panels at Keynes and Darwin bus stops.

Follow @StagecoachSE on Twitter for regular service updates, or view live bus times on the Stagecoach app for iPhone and android.