Author Archives: Miriam Sandiford

LIt up tent with students before open air cinema starts

Events roundup: 15-21 May

As exams continue, don’t forget to take time for yourself to relax and unwind.

The Enduring Library: As part of SHIFT Festival, there will be a series of events and activities in Templeman Library this week including a whispered spoken word competition and spot the difference across the library!

Monday 15 May: Wellbeing Café

The Wellbeing Café is a space to connect with other students in a relaxed environment with a focus on promoting your wellbeing and mental health through activity.

Tuesday 16 May: PG Coffee Morning and relaxation sessions (Medway)

Postgraduate students are invited to the Postgraduate Coffee Morning jointly organised by the PG Network and the Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) Team. It’s a chance to chat with other postgrad students, meet the GRC Team and Mark Bass from the Careers team will also be joining for this catch up.

Take a break from revision with either a 15 minute massage or a gel nail manicure at the Hub!

Wednesday 17 May: Digital drop-in sessions and mindfulness

Do you want to improve your digital skills? Our free weekly digital drop-in sessions are an opportunity to get tips and tricks to make the most out of the digital tools available to you, with a particular focus on Microsoft 365.

Try out mindfulness alongside a group of friendly Kent students in a weekly guided session. These events are jointly run by Student Support and Wellbeing and the Mindfulness Society, and you can choose from online and in-person mindfulness sessions.  

Thursday 18 May: Dog therapy and open-air cinema

De-stress from exams with super cute Coco the therapy dog in Nexus. Plus, there will also be mindful colouring on offer.

Watch the coming-of-age comedy ‘Licorice Pizza’ as part of the Gulbenkian’s Open Air Film Festival on Thursday evening. A selection of food and drink will be available to purchase during the event.

Friday 19 May: MedFest (Medway), Global Hangout and Mario Kart Madness

Get your free ticket for MedFest, a day and evening of entertainment, music, food and fun at the Medway campus! Make memories that will last a lifetime at MedFest. The first 100 ticket holders will be entered into a prize draw.

Go on an adventure with our Global Hangout Urban Explorer Challenge! Use your smartphone to complete challenges and unlock GPS hotspots around the city of Canterbury. Sign up as a team or as an individual (you’ll be assigned a team). Open to all students.

Do you think you’re the best at Mario Kart? On Friday evening it’s Mario Kart Madness, where you can play Mario Kart Wii or Mario Kart 8 games. Either play casually or compete on the scoreboard for the fastest time.

Saturday 20 May: Kent BioBlitz

On Saturday, get involved with Kent BioBlitz on the Canterbury campus – it’s an interactive drop-in event to record as many living species as possible. There are activities you can join throughout the day such as nature walks and surveys. The BioBlitz is run by the School of Anthropology and Conservation Sustainability Working Group.

Opportunities

Students sitting outside Kennedy

GRC Annual Postgraduate Conference, 7 June

The GRC Annual Postgraduate Conference 2023 takes place on 7 June in the Sibson Building on our Canterbury campus. Registration is now open.

What is the GRC Annual Postgraduate Conference all about?

This conference provides a platform for postgraduate researchers across various disciplines to showcase their research, share ideas, and network with fellow researchers. We have guest speaker Dave Thomas talking about EDI, all three Kent Research Institutes presenting a panel, a hot topic discussion about AI by a postgraduate panel and numerous ways to get involved and present your own research to the wider PG community. See the full conference programme. 

Share your research at the conference

If you can sum up your research in one photographic image, why not enter our photo competition? Or display your work in poster form? If you’re looking for an engaged interdisciplinary audience for your work, why not apply for our research talks. And if you can cram your research into just 3 minutes, enter the national competition that does just that.  

Who can join?

This event is for all postgraduate students at Kent and undergraduates interested in postgraduate research are welcome to attend as audience members. Sign up is open now, register to attend.  

Students sat by labyrinth on Canterbury campus

PGR Wellbeing Webinar Series

The importance of prioritising wellbeing in academia cannot be overstated. Recognising this, the Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) has launched a Postgraduate Research Wellbeing Webinar Series to help support the wellbeing of our research community.

The series is open to PGR students and those who are considering postgraduate study.

The series is designed to provide students with practical tools and strategies to help them manage stress, increase resilience, and improve their overall wellbeing. This can also include learning to recognise the signs of burnout, setting boundaries, and seeking help when needed. The webinars cover a range of topics, including mindfulness, self-care, stress management, and more, all led by experts in the field.

The benefits of these webinars go beyond just academic success. They also help students develop a better understanding of their own mental health and wellbeing, and provide them with tools to take care of themselves not only during their postgraduate studies, but throughout their lives.

The PGR Wellbeing Webinar Series are accessible and flexible. The webinars are delivered online, making it easy for participants to attend from anywhere. Additionally, the sessions are recorded and made available for later viewing, allowing participants to access the content at a time that is convenient for them.

Join our experts Gareth Hughes and Dominique Thompson in the upcoming live sessions,

Good Wellbeing and Good Research: Myths, Challenges and Evidence Webinar with Gareth Hughes, Wednesday 31 May,  13:00

Staying Well in Difficult Times- Top Tips for PGRs with Dominique Thompson, Wednesday 14 June, 14:00

The Wellbeing Webinar Series is an excellent resource for individuals who are looking to enhance their mental health and wellbeing. By providing tools, strategies, and a supportive community, the series empowers individuals to prioritize their wellbeing and succeed in their academic careers.

Students with therapy dog

Events roundup: 9-14 May

We hope you had a great bank holiday weekend. Welcome to the Summer Term and best of luck with any exams. You’ve got this!

Tuesday 9 May: Special collaborative reading

Each year Stirling and Kent host an Indian creative writer to work alongside students and staff. Come along to a special collaborative reading with Charles Wallace Fellows, Shreyasi Sharma and Nikita Parik on Tuesday evening at 18:00.

Wednesday 10 May: Spring animals (Medway), revision techniques and making a career action plan

Meet a range of cute spring animals at the Hub on Wednesday!

Now that exams have begun, here’s another chance to brush up on your revision techniques with this SLAS online bitesize session. See all exam events.

Preparing for graduation? Use this workshop to make your own career action plan for after you graduate. This event will also be livestreamed.

Thursday 11 May: Therapy dog, book swap and open-air cinema

De-stress from exam prep with Coco the Therapy Dog in Nexus, Templeman Library. Plus there will be other wellbeing activities on offer such as mindful colouring and a book swap.

Gulbenkian’s Open Air Cinema series starts on Thursday evening. The first film is Encanto (sing along). There will be hay bales to sit on but feel free to bring chairs or picnic blankets. A selection of food and drink will be available to purchase during the event.

Friday 12 May: Free exam supplies (Medway)

Head to the Hub on Friday where they will be handing out a range of supplies to get you through the exam season.

Saturday 13 May: Mental Health Summit

The School of Psychology are hosting a Mental Health Summit in Sibson on Saturday. The event is open to all from Kent and the local community. It’s a chance to hear from specialists, charities and influencers on mental health.

Sunday 14 May: Global Hangout boat trip (for international students)

International students are invited to the Global Hangout boat trip in Canterbury (£10 per person). Experience Canterbury’s unique history from a different angle on one of our guided river tours run by our Global Officers.

Opportunities

Reminder: UCU’s national marking and assessment boycott began on 20 April. Not all staff are UCU members and not all UCU members take part in industrial action. We have specific measures in pace to ensure you can progress or finish your studies on time. You should continue to submit all assessments and attend any exams. Find out more on our industrial action webpages.

 

University Community Choir singing

Join the University Community Choir

Try something new and feel connection, create community and lift your spirits… We are delighted to invite you to join the University Community Choir, meeting weekly on Canterbury campus.

Singing in a Choir has many benefits, it’s informal, social, and helps you focus on something different as part of a group. Most importantly it’s fun!

It’s free to join, and there are no auditions, and you don’t need to be able to read music. Come along to meet others, or bring a friend.

Upcoming dates for Summer Term

  • 10 May 2023 13.00-14.00 (Colyer-Fergusson)
  • 17 May 2023 13.00-14.00 (Colyer-Fergusson)
  • 24 May 2023 13.00-14.00 (Colyer-Fergusson)
  • (No choir on 31 May)
  • 7 June 2023 13.00-14.00 (Grimond LT3)
  • 14 June 2023 13.00-14.00 (Colyer-Fergusson)

Spread the word to anyone else (staff or student) who might enjoy this opportunity. If you have any questions, please email Mita Mondal, Email: mm595@kent.ac.uk

Family at graduation

Graduation accommodation for July

Did you know we’re offering graduation accommodation to our July graduates and their family and friends? So whether you have a long drive ahead of you or you’d just like to relax after the event, you can stay locally and book affordable accommodation with us. Better yet, relive your uni days and book some nostalgic campus accommodation with your graduating friends and celebrate together! Whoever you choose to celebrate with, we have campus accommodation to suit you.

Accommodation on our Canterbury campus is currently available to book from 15 – 23 July 2023. We have en-suite bed and breakfast rooms from £80 per night, alongside self-catered options, available to book from £30 per person per night. All rooms are 4-5* VisitEngland rated and include free parking and Wi-Fi for the duration of your stay.

Find out more and book online.

Local elections Thursday 4 May. Students need to register to vote each year. Plus you need photo ID

Local elections – remember your photo ID, 4 May

Remember to take an acceptable form of photo ID with you when you head to your polling station on Thursday to vote in the local elections.

Polling stations will be open from 7:00-22:00 on Thursday 4 May. Find your polling station.

If you are not sure if you are registered to vote in Canterbury, you can contact Canterbury City Council on 01227 862007 or email electoral.services@canterbury.gov.uk. Or for Medway Council, call 01634 333 333 or email electoralservices@medway.gov.uk.

 

Wild flowers

No Mow May 2023

We’re taking part in No Mow May this year. This means central lawns that would normally be cut are going to be left to grow throughout May. Each year we leave the grasslands surrounding our campuses but this time we are including the central lawns. 

No Mow May is Plantlife’s annual campaign calling on gardeners and landowners to leave the mowers in the shed and allow flowers to grow. May is a crucial month for flowering plants allowing them to get established and provide nectar for pollinators and other invertebrates. Just 8 dandelion flowers are enough to produce the nectar sugar needed by a bumblebee each day. 

Over the month central campus will start to look very different and the Conservation Society will be carrying out surveys to see what changes are taking place. We will be putting signs across campus that will point out where lawns are being left for nature and No Mow May. A big thank you to the Graphic Design students that created the No Mow May signs you will see on campus, and to the Conservation Society who will be surveying our wilder lawns.     

This project forms part of the University’s Biodiversity Strategy and is being led on by the Landscape and Grounds team and the Sustainability Team. We hope that we can learn a lot about the difference it makes to our invertebrates, birds and small mammals on campus. We also want to hear how this project impacts on the human community on campus. We would love to hear your feedback through the feedback form we have set up on our website, where you can also share any wildlife spots of your own. 

If you have any questions please contact sustainability@kent.ac.uk, and please feel free to share any photos you take throughout the month of our wilder lawns. 

 

Students sitting together in Kent Community Oasis Garden

Register interest for Climate Cafe training

What is a Climate Cafe?

A Climate Café is a safe space to chat with others who are feeling anxious, sad, or frustrated about climate change.

Climate Cafe Training

As part of our commitment to a sustainable future, we are offering free training on how to facilitate Climate Cafe discussion groups. This is a great opportunity to take a proactive stance towards climate anxiety, meet like-minded individuals, and develop your communication skills.

The training will take place in June online so you can take part wherever you are.

Register your interest by emailing sustainability@kent.ac.uk.

Woman carrying bucket of apples in orchard

Canterbury Gleaning Collective – what is it and how to get involved

What is Gleaning?

In Kent as in the rest of the UK, surplus fresh produce is left in the field post-harvest or not harvested due to staff, quality or price constraints. Nationally, pre-farm gate food waste has been estimated to be 1.6 million tonnes annually.

Gleaning is the process of picking this surplus food and veg from farms that would otherwise go to waste, and redistributing it to those who need it.

Why is Gleaning particularly relevant now?

The cost-of-living crisis has increased the pressure on food banks and food redistribution organisations with many not including fresh produce in their offer. Food offered to those who need it is often just ambient and not always healthy.

Many students have expressed their concern about the increased cost-of-living, and Kent Union has seen an increase in the number of students accessing Campus Pantry, our on-campus food bank.

Farmers in Kent are keen to work more closely with the community, sharing the realities of farming but also promoting work opportunities in the agri sector.

How can I get involved?

With all this in mind, membership organisation for local food and drink businesses, Produced in Kent, and the University of Kent have decided to set up a gleaning group with student and staff volunteers from the university. The gleaning group will work together with growers in Kent, picking surplus fresh produce left on the fields, and redistributing this to charities, community groups and food banks in the Canterbury area.

Find out more and sign up to become a volunteer.