Sense and Sensibility – the players need you!

The University of Kent Players are very pleased to announce that their next production will be Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’ – coming to the Gulbenkian on the 6 – 8 September!

We will be auditioning for the production on 8th and 10th May from 5.30pm-7.30pm in KS4 and all staff are invited to attend – no previous acting experience is required and it is very informal and fun. We would also be interested to hear from anyone who would like to help out backstage.

About the show

When their wealthy half-brother cheats them of their fortune, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are left penniless. They are forced to leave the comforts of Norland Park and relocate to chilly Barton Cottage in Devonshire, but when John Willoughby, a handsome stranger, arrives one day with a rain-drenched Marianne in his arms, the sisters are convinced that their fortunes are changed forever.

About the University of Kent Players

Founded in 2013 by Neil Hornsey, the University of Kent Players are made up of staff and friends of the University of Kent and currently put on two productions per year at the Gulbenkian Theatre. Our productions always raise money for a charity through ticket and programme sales and our members are from all walks of life with varying levels of experience in theatre. Anyone can join and get involved, not just on stage but also backstage. We hold regular socials and lunches and have loads of fun doing what we love.

If you would like to be involved in ‘Sense & Sensibility’ in any way then please do contact us on players@kent.ac.uk – we would love to hear from you!

Kent wins 3rd place for Postgraduate WhatUni Award

The results are in for the Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs) 2018, and we are delighted that the University of Kent has been awarded 3rd place for the Postgraduate Award. The University of Kent climbed nine places in the postgraduate category, going from 12th place in 2017 to 3rd place in 2018. In addition to ranking in the top three for postgraduate, the University of Kent ranked 5th for the International Award (climbing from 8th place in 2017).

The WUSCAs celebrate the best in higher education, and universities are selected based on 36,000+ reviews submitted via Whatuni.com by university students across the UK. The 2018 awards ceremony took place at The Brewery in London on 19 April, and the event was hosted by comedian, Katherine Ryan. The Graduate School team was delighted to be in attendance to represent the University of Kent for the Postgraduate Award nomination, and members of the International and Enrolment teams attended to represent the University for the International Award nomination.

Congratulations to the University of Kent for ranking so high in two categories of the 2018 WhatUni Awards. The Graduate School would like to particularly thank all of the members of academic and administrative staff who work to support our postgraduate and international students at Kent.

See the top three in each of the fifteen WhatUni Awards 2018 categories here and view all of the rankings and categories here.

Condolences for Professor Jim Brown

Professor Jim Brown, Emeritus Professor of Experimental Physics, died in April 2018.

Professor Brown was appointed to the Readership in Experimental Physics from 1 September 1965 and appointed Professor of Experimental Physics from 1 April 1971. He was appointed Director of the Physics Laboratory in 1976 and he remained Director until 1982. He was appointed Emeritus Professor in 1985 following his retirement. After 1985, he continued to be closely associated with the University, acting as internal examiner in 1991, and still teaching for many years.

These are brief notes, for a life rich in a warm humanity which touched, supported and helped so many of those who came in contact with him.

As he often reminded students in his lectures on magnetism, during World War II Professor Brown worked with the Royal Canadian Navy on degaussing ships and on underwater sound, including the trials of the new hydrophone array on the captured U885.

He was demobilized in Scotland as Electrical Lieutenant RCNVR in October, 1945 just in time to begin his doctorate in Low Temperature Physics at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford. Then, wanting adventure and to explore, he went to Lingnan University in Canton, China. Work on a new type of expansion liquefier to produce the first liquid helium in Asia was interrupted by the arrival at his University of the advancing victorious Red Army during the establishment of the Communist Government. This was followed the next year by the expulsion of Westerners including Professor Brown. He used to happily regale colleagues with stories of his time in China, of which he clearly had many fond memories. As with all his stories, there was often a deep respect for others.

He then spent two years on liquid helium research at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. During the Korean war, he heard from former students on both sides of the conflict. From Ontario he returned to British Columbia, publishing work on liquid helium and superconducting thin films. He was proud of this time in British Columbia, and enjoyed receiving updates from there.

Arriving in Kent with the first undergraduates in 1965, he established the Low Temperature Laboratory here. With colleagues, the first application of the quartz microbalance to measure thickness of the helium film was effected and measurement made of the Bernoulli effect in the flowing electronic fluid of a superconductor, as well as other work to elucidate the contact potential of metals under stress. An NERC investigation of acoustic imaging to explore its feasibility for use in coal mines was carried out on large scale in the air. More recently, Professor Brown has been a member of the Applied Optics Group and still attended meetings on campus in his 90s.

Professor Brown used to visit the campus regularly until earlier this year. He was popular with students, with some of the “First 500” holding him in high regard and still in touch with him all these years later. Staff found his warm, gentle approach to life of comfort, reminding us of the good things in life.

Professor Mark Burchell,
Dean of Sciences

Beth Breeze wins prestigious prize for research of fundraisers

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has awarded the 2018 AFP/Skystone Partners Prize for Research on Fundraising and Philanthropy to Beth Breeze for her book The New Fundraisers: Who Organises Charitable Giving in Contemporary Society?, published by Policy Press, in 2017.

The New Fundraisers provides a global overview on the purpose and history of fundraising, with in-depth data from an extensive study of UK fundraisers. The book is an empirically-based and theoretically-informed account of the makeup and role of fundraisers, how fundraising works in practice and what kinds of skills and training make for an effective fundraising professional.

“Writing this book was a labour of love because I feel strongly that fundraising is a crucial yet overlooked, and often misunderstood, profession,” said Breeze. “I hope that the book helps to challenge the illogical position whereby charities are widely admired, but the people who bring in the funding that enables charitable activity to take place, are not.”

Commenting on Dr Breeze’s award-winning book, the prize jury commented that “this excellent volume was selected because of its value as a research study that centers itself outside of the United States. Dr Breeze’s book argues that fundraising is about much more than simply ‘raising funds’ by asking donors, as the process must also include the complex work of cultivation by the practitioner. Prior to now, most researchers have focused on individual donors, their characteristics and their motivations. Dr Breeze flips the script and, through empirical research, helps us understand the fundraiser. We commend Dr Breeze for strong research and an accessible book that can forward our field.”

Beth Breeze is a senior lecturer on social policy and director of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent in the UK. She worked as a fundraiser and charity manager before co-founding the Centre.

Registration now open for South East Hub 2018

Join us at the University of Kent for the 2018 South East Hub, a postgraduate and early career researcher conference with the theme: ‘Victims, Perpetrators, Bystanders and Collaborators as historical concepts: Redundant labels, useful categorisations or somewhere in between?’

The South East Hub 2018 will be held in the Grimond building (University of Kent, Canterbury campus) on 19 June and is co-funded by CHASE and the University of Kent School of History. The conference is an opportunity for research postgraduates and early career researchers to discuss their topics in a friendly and supportive environment. This year, papers will address the conceptual utility of the terms victims, perpetrators, bystanders and collaborators in a variety of historical contexts.

The panels are: ‘Accusation, Collaboration and Resistance’, ‘The Victim Voice’, ‘Simultaneous Categories’, and ‘Regimes and the Right’. The keynote talk will be delivered by Professor Tim Cole and is entitled, ‘Perpetrators, victims and bystanders: Writing integrated histories and geographies’.

The conference is free to attend. Lunch, tea and coffee will also be provided, and a wine reception will follow the event. Please note that there are limited spaces, so places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration closes on 18 May, so register as soon as possible to secure your attendance at the conference.

If you have any questions about the event or require any further information, please get in touch with Kate Docking and Ellis Spicer at southeasthub2018@outlook.com

The conference webpage can be viewed here.

Workshop: ‘Heritage and Wellbeing’

The Centre for Heritage have organised a ‘Heritage and Wellbeing’ workshop, which will be taking place at The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in Canterbury, on 7-8 June 2018.

Beginning with the development of art therapy in the 1940s, social prescribing of arts and culture for the enhancement of health and wellbeing has now extended to such contexts as museums and heritage sites. Where health services are pushed to their limits and much of their vital resources being used to address symptoms linked to loneliness, depression, stress and anxiety, the potential benefits to the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities from engagement with museums and heritage sites presents a new role for museums and heritage organisations to explore.

This two-day workshop, organised by the Centre for Heritage at Kent and funded by the Eastern ARC of Kent, the University of Essex and the University of East Anglia, has been designed for academics, students and heritage practitioners interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the potential for heritage sites within social prescribing. Bursaries will be available to postgraduate students.

For more information, please see the page here:
https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/heritageandwellbeing/

Couch to 5K ‘Fit for Summer’ challenge

Think you can’t run? Surprise yourself! Just because you don’t run doesn’t mean you can’t. If you can walk for half an hour, chances are that you can pick up the pace and give running or jogging a try. This summer, Kent Sport is bringing you the Couch to 5K ‘Fit for Summer’ challenge; over 12 weeks you will work on your running, with the goal that by the final week you will be running for half an hour, or approximately 5K. The sessions have been specially designed for people who have done little or no running and you will supported by our enthusiastic staff, who will be with you every step of the way. This challenge builds in time and effort, so you’ll constantly be impressed with what you can do if you push yourself a little.

New for the summer term; an additional weekly session to support you in completing the challenge. The program runs for 12 weeks and you are welcome to attend one or both of the sessions each week.

Session 1: every Wednesday starting 18 April 2018, 12.10-13.00 – meet at the Sports Centre reception

Session 2: every Monday starting 23 April 2018, 17.10-18.00 – meet at the Sports Centre reception

Please note the 50 minute sessions include warm up, cool down, stretches and you therefore won’t be active for the full session. Comfy clothing, footwear and a water bottle are advisable. The sessions are £1 per person (free for Kent Sport Gold and Silver members) and there is no need to register. Just turn up at the Sports Centre reception where you can pay for the session if required.

If you have any questions about the ‘Fit for Summer’ challenge, please contact sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk. Follow our Facebook page for event reminders.

Heritage Walks starting in May

Registration is now open for the Postgraduate Heritage Walks Series from the Centre of Heritage.

Thanks to generous funding from the Postgraduate Experience Award Fund, six heritage walks, focusing on the connection between engagement with heritage and wellbeing, will take place during the summer term of 2018. This exciting programme of walks will include visits to some of Kent’s remarkable historic villages and monuments, archaeological sites and places of natural beauty.

The walks are open to all, although transportation or admissions to sites are not covered.

For the full programme of heritage walks, please see here: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/heritagewalks/

To register, click here: tinyurl.com/ya972fpv

Big Ideas Competition Winner to compete in global competition

Masters student Sybil Mayard, from the School of Computing, has won this year’s University of Kent Big Ideas Competition with her business idea “Codable”. Each year the University selects a student, or team of students, to compete in the Global Entrepreneur Challenge, which takes place at Virginia Tech University in the US.

The University of Kent represents the UK in this prestigious competition which sees students from 15 universities from around the world pitch their business ideas for the chance to win $25,000 and the title of ‘Global Entrepreneurship Champion’.

Sybil’s winning entry, Codable, is a platform for students and employers in the IT industry to share examples of code in an online portfolio. In addition to her all expenses paid trip, Sybil has been awarded full access to the Hub’s Start Up Support Programme & Space (worth £2k) kindly sponsored by Santander Universities.

Thank you to all of the students who entered the Big Ideas Competition this year. The calibre of entries was very high and every one of the participants should be proud of their achievements.

If you have an innovative business idea that you would like to take forward, then now is your chance to act on it. Bring your ideas to the team at the University’s Hub for Innovation and Enterprise on 01227 824 641 or at unikenthub@kent.ac.uk.

Californian music comes to Canterbury!

The California State University Long Beach Wind Orchestra is coming to the Colyer-Fergusson Music Hall on Monday 30 April at 19.30.

Recognised internationally as a premier university wind ensemble, the California State University, Long Beach Wind Symphony continues to expand the school’s rich tradition of performance excellence.

Composed of the finest wind and percussion performers within the Department of Music, its mission is to stimulate musical growth and provide advanced performance opportunities for the department’s instrumental music students. Performance goals encompass the identification, performance, and appreciation of the best of wind and percussion literature.

The programme includes:

Lincolnshire Posy By Percy Grainger
Clarinet Concerto No 2 by Oscar Navarro
Slava by Leonard Bernstein
Music by John Philip Sousa

Tickets, priced £5 each, and further information is available on Gulbenkian webpages.