The School of English have launched a new Creative Writing prompts series for Creative Writing students, applicants and aspiring writers, with the aim to write about self.

How to write memoir? How to write about yourself? How to write into the history we are all living through? Dragan Todorovic, author and lecturer in Creative Writing, is hosting a series of writing challenges with the aim of leading you towards writing a memoir during this time of self-isolation.

Use the Writing Self with Dragan Todorovic videos as a prompt to help you write. New episodes are posted every 3 to 4 days.

Study Plus courses are running online during the summer term.

You can pick up some really useful employability and life skills, or just learn for pleasure with our summer term courses:

Career Toolkit (KE198): learn how to use LinkedIn effectively, and improve your phone and video interview skills

Communicate with Confidence (KE095): learn how to communicate clearly and confidently even when faced with challenging situations 

Digital Photography (KE122): suitable for beginners and those with some experience who want to learn about manual camera settings and improve their photography skills (you will need your own digital SLR or bridge camera)

Genetic Engineering in Dystopian Literature (KE205): this course looks at the way writers have responded to anxieties arising from the discovery of the structure of DNA and cloning.

Introduction to Chinese Taoist Philosophy (KE145): learn about Taoist philosophy from its early roots in Chinese Shamanism, through to the modern day

Meditation for Study, Work and Life (KE097): learn about different ways to meditate, including Mindfulness and Taoist practices.

All Study Plus courses are free of charge and available to all registered University of Kent students.

To read more about the courses before signing up, go to the Study Plus website.

To sign up, go to Workshops in the Student Data System (SDS):

Shortly before each course starts we will email all students who have signed up, with details of how to join the course online.

Shao Yong is currently on her Year in Industry at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society which is playing a critical role in the coronavirus response. Shao is an undergraduate Computer Science student helping to develop web pages providing new content on the specialised care required for COVID-19 patients which will be available to all NHS workers nationally, with extra information for those who may have come out of retirement.

Like many of the students currently on placement as part of their degree, Shao has had to adapt quickly to new ways of working during the pandemic. She said ‘Working from home has its challenges but it’s motivating to know that the project I am contributing to has direct relevance to pharmacists and COVID-19 patients at this time of crisis’.

Katie Van Sanden, Industrial Placement Co-ordinator said ‘We’ve always said that computer science can take you anywhere, and we’re very proud that one of our students is involved in such a key part of the response process. We’d love to hear from any other students whose placements have been adapted to help in the fight against the pandemic.’

Shao’s manager Jonathan Stott, Technical Architect and a Kent Computing Alumnus said: ‘The RPS is playing a critical role in the coronavirus response by advocating for things like PPE for pharmacists and access to NHS shopping time in supermarkets (lots of pharmacists are independent and don’t work for the NHS). We’re also putting out some extra reference material to help pharmacists who may have come out of retirement or haven’t worked on the front-line for a while. Shao is helping with this response, which is great.’

The School of Computing supports over 100 of its students to go on an industrial placement every year. All taught students have the option to add a placement to their degree.

We have introduced a system to allow students to claim back any additional costs, such as travel or childcare they may have had during industrial action.

The student expense claims form for the February/March 2020 strike is now available on the industrial action webpages.

Student expense claims for the February/March 2020 strike should be received by midnight Sunday 31 May 2020. Claims received after this date will not be paid.

Kent has supported Pilgrims Hospices by creating 3D printed face shields to protect staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Colleagues from Kent’s School of Computing, School of Architecture and Planning, and the School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) collaborated to design and supply 300 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) for East Kent’s largest hospice charity.

Paul Sinnock, Director of IT for EDA and the Technical Lead of the project, said: ‘The response from everyone involved in this project has been truly remarkable. Technical staff from across the University, supported by our Kent Innovation and Enterprise team, have been working around the clock to design, test and manufacture these face shields and get them to the front line staff most in need of protection. From the original concept through to the creation of a dedicated manufacturing centre, it has been a truly collaborative effort, driven by a real passion to support our local community. I am extremely proud of everyone involved for giving their time and skills for such an important project.’

Sarah Martins, Senior Ward Sister of Pilgrims Hospice Canterbury, said: ‘The University of Kent’s support was in direct response to our urgent request for PPE, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team were very responsive and helpful and it was great to see who was behind the project. The team responded to feedback from prototype testing immediately – within 24 hours we had approved changes and the team started production. With a total turnaround time of seven working days, I took delivery of 300 face shields and distributed them across our three sites so we were all well prepared for the bank holiday. Thank you to everyone involved in making this happen, it makes a huge difference to the patients and staff here at the Hospice and enables us to continue caring without compromising safety.’

Carole Barron, Director of Kent Innovation & Enterprise, said: ‘Universities across the UK are joining forces with frontline healthcare providers to find solutions to fight COVID-19. I am simply lost for words at the speed with which the team at Kent have picked up the challenge of producing vital 3D printed face shields. We are in unprecedented times and this requires us all to support our amazing NHS and Hospice staff. At a time when everyone is thinking how they can help in this crisis, the University of Kent is well placed to help, in having the right equipment, skills and expertise to respond.’

The materials for Pilgrims Hospices’ 3D shields were donated by Ashford Lions Club, with funding they received from Kent County Council.

Colleagues from the School of Physical Sciences and School of Biosciences have since joined the project team, to cater to future orders from the NHS and other healthcare and hospice providers.

A virtual pitching final saw four student start-ups share the prize money in this year’s Business Start-Up Journey.

Measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic meant the programme’s usual Dragons Den format had to switch to a virtual contest, with students pre-recording their pitches for submission to the judges.

The businesses were scored in categories including sustainability, scalability, innovation and financial viability.

From a strong field, the winners were:

• John Arceno and Alan Gurung with YCampus – a way to bring empty high street shops back into use as multi-purpose hubs
• Lewis Squire with Reality Room – using Augmented Reality (AR) to rethink Escape Rooms and bring education to life.

Lewis, a Stage 2 Kent Business School student from Canterbury, John, a final year Biology student, and Alan, in his final year studying Philosophy and Politics, will receive £1,000 per business towards their start-up costs.

Runners up were:

• Phoebe Thompson with By Phoebe – a new product to keep false eyelashes dry in the shower
• Molly Walsh with Ignite – a vegan-friendly and sustainable pre and post-workout drink.

Phoebe, a Stage 4 KBS Business and Management student from Medway campus, and Molly, a Stage 2 Sports Science student also from Medway, receive £500 each towards their start-up costs.

Other businesses in the pitching finals included RR Collective, a sustainable fashion business upcycling Nigerian rubbish into jewellery and Talking Heads, a documentary film exploring ways to reunite a fragmented UK society.

Lewis said: “The Business Start Up Journey has been an incredible experience allowing us to create and develop our business ideas. Through the help of the amazing mentors, program leaders and industry professionals, I have been able to build The Reality Room idea into something tangible. Thank you to all the judges for the feedback and opportunity to progress The Reality Room further! Now the next steps in developing the software and hardware in order to bring it to life!”

Judges included Daniel Rubin, founder of the international footwear brand, Dune London, Dean Johnson, Managing Director of international medi-tech company Haag Streit UK and Emay Enemokwu, a KBS graduate and Business Start-Up Journey finalist who founded the successful streetwear brand Jehu-cal.

The Business Start-Up Journey is supported by philanthropic donation including funding from Santander Universities. It is part of the University’s Study Plus programme and open to students from any subject or level of study.

The Business Start-Up Journey takes students through all the stages of setting up a business – from finding and testing an idea to building marketing plans and understanding financials. It offers a combination of exciting practical and interactive workshops and one-to-one support.

All of the finalists will continue to be supported by the ASPIRE (Accelerator Space for Innovation and Responsible Enterprise) which is the University’s flagship space for student business support and entrepreneurial skills development.

Those ways include

• One to one support from the ASPIRE team of entrepreneurs in residence
• Access to mentors
• Financial grants to support for attending relevant expos and conferences
• Funding

Find out more about the ASPIRE and the Business Start-up Journey

Register your interest in next year’s Business Start-Up Journey programme.

Kent’s School of Biosciences will support Kent hospitals to increase the number of COVID-19 tests that can be carried out each day.

Specialist molecular biology equipment will be loaned to boost the capacity in NHS labs to carry out more tests for COVID-19 and detect infected samples.

More than 30 academics, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students from the School have volunteered to help perform testing at hospitals in the county.

Professor Dan Mulvihill, Head of the School of Biosciences, said: ‘We are in a privileged position to help the NHS and offer resource to help fight this virus. Our volunteers will use their skills to work alongside NHS workers during this time of need and hope to make a difference.’

Dr Jill Shepherd, Programme Director for Biomedical Science within the School of Biosciences, said: ‘The first thing we wanted to do was to see how we could best support our NHS colleagues. It is a great opportunity for our academics, researchers and students to utilise their molecular biology skills to make a difference here and now.’

To see KMTV’s report on this go here.