Kent Business Start-Up Journey (BSUJ) came to a climactic finish on Wednesday 30 March as eight students pitched their business ideas to a panel of School directors, local entrepreneurs and university benefactors.

Panel members included Paul Dyer (Towergate Co-founder and university benefactor), Adam Baker (Santander Universities Brand Relationship Manager), David Williamson (KBS’ Director of External Services), Martin Meyer (School Director) and Kent alumnus, Bal Sandher (Founder, Hectic Lifestyles).

BSUJ is a new programme of events, workshops and start-up acceleration activities that was successfully piloted during the 15-16 academic year and involved approximately 200 students.
Business Administration student Amit Madnani and Computing student Mate Tukacs impressed the panel with their strong pitches, winning joint first place and £500 for their respective businesses.

Mate, who pitched nightlife business ‘Playlate’ said:
“I think the Business Start-up Journey is an amazing experience and was a well-structured programme. I liked how there was an open day at the very beginning with an amazing speaker that talked to us with passion. The amount of help and guidance mentors gave throughout the Journey was great; KBS brought in some really influential people who devoted their own time to students and gave back to the school.”

Further congratulations go to Brenda Okandju who took 2nd place and received £300 and Romane Maire who pitched her way to 3rd place and received £200.

Following its success, the programme will continue to run in following academic years to build on its achievements. Kent Business School will be recruiting students from both Canterbury and Medway Campuses in autumn 2016 to embark on their own business start-up journeys.

For more information, contact ASPIRE Project Officer, Jack McDonnell on 01227 816492 or jm773@kent.ac.uk

Hanami is the Japanese festival dedicated to cherry blossom, when families and friends gather to picnic under the cherry trees.

You can celebrate Hanami in Kent by visiting Brogdale, which has the largest collection of fruit trees in the UK.

The Hanami Festival Day is on 16 April, or you can book a picnic under the trees between 6-30 April.

Please see the Brogdale website for details and to book a place.

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.

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

Fancy getting your bike checked over for free by the CyclingAge guys? Dr Bike will be outside the back of Rochester Building on Wednesday 6 April.

Come along between 11.30 and 14.30 to get your bike checked over for free by trained bicycle mechanics.

For more information

Email: uokcycle@cyclingage.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DrBikeatUoK

Transport Team twitter: @unikent_travel

Check out the latest lecture videos in the Think Kent series on YouTube.

Similar to TED Talks, these 15-minute videos feature Kent academics speaking about their research and the international impact it has had.

So whether you want to learn more about new cancer treatments or discover the medical mystery behind King George’s madness, watch the Think Kent playlist and subscribe for additional weekly Think Kent lectures.

CELTA is a Cambridge English qualification which allows you to teach English as a foreign language around the world.

The Centre for English and World Languages (CEWL) is running a four-week intensive CELTA course starting on 13 June 2016. Find out more on the CEWL webpages.

We are also offering free English language classes between 13 June and 7 July.

Classes are taught by trainees on our CELTA teacher training course. Anyone whose first language is not English is welcome to join the classes.