Event: Wednesday 15 May, KLT1 Keynes College, 18.00 to 19.00

On Wednesday 15 May, The School of Economics will have the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Jeffrey Wooldridge from Michigan State University (author of Cengage textbook Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach). He will deliver a Q&A session led by Dr Olena Nizalova, which will examine his work in finding answers to real life questions.

Audience participation is strongly encouraged, please email any questions you may have to econstudentexperience@kent.ac.uk prior to the event.

The Q&A session will focus on:

• Education and what is needed to truly evaluate teachers and schools
• The challenges that analysts face in situations that involve large amounts of money
• His consulting work for the U.S. government
• The challenges of obtaining empirical findings which go against your political beliefs

The Q&A session will be followed by a book signing and drinks reception hosted by Cengage, where Professor Wooldridge’s book will also be available for purchase at a very special 20% discounted rate! You can reserve a copy of Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach here.

Please note that due to the popularity of this event, spaces will book up quickly, so tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Book for your space here.

The Centre for the Study of Higher Education are delighted to invite you to a free one-day symposium on Contract cheating: Implications for academic integrity and assessment design on Monday 24th June 2019 between 09:00-16:00, Grimond Lecture Theatre 2, Canterbury Campus.

Keynote: Detecting and preventing contract cheating: what works? Associate Professor Phill Dawson (Deakin University, Melbourne)

Workshops in the afternoon will cover: training markers to detect contract cheating and discovering new ways to investigate contract cheating with Authorship Investigate (led by Turnitin UK).

Places are limited so please register here.

Our vision for Kent 2025 highlights the importance of signature research themes:

“Our discoveries and research will emphasise existing and new signature areas, where we match the best in the world.”

A development group, including associate Deans of Research and Innovation and representatives of faculties, the Graduate School and professional service departments, has been set up to agree new Signature Research Themes with colleagues across the University.

According to the group, the signature themes should be forward-looking, dynamic and have the potential to build on Kent’s record of innovative, socially aware, radical and disruptive research. They will span the faculties, have an international profile, attract external income, engage and create impact.

During March and April, development group members have been visiting academic schools, talking to researchers, academics and professional services staff about the vision and plans for the signature themes.

If you have an idea for a signature theme, you can submit an expression of interest up until Thursday 9 May 2019.

Successful bids will be notified by 24 May 2019 and workshops on the outline themes will take place from 19-21 June 2019. Once possible themes have been identified, those leading them will be invited to submit a full proposal by 30 September 2019.

You can find out more about the Signature Research Themes and how to submit your idea(s) on the Research Services webpages:.

Laura Thomas-Walters, PhD Candidate from the School of Anthropology and Conservation was awarded funding from the Postgraduates Community Experience Awards to support her ‘Kent PhD Quilt’ project.

The project goal was to provide Kent PhD students an opportunity to explore alternative ways of communicating their research, while enhancing their own well-being through mindful creativity. This visual and tactile representation of the breadth of research undertaken at Kent will provide a unique form of public engagement.

PhD students and the Graduate School participated in workshops led by Laura. During these workshops, Laura encouraged students to distil their research into its core essence, and to think about how that could be represented visually. Laura then introduced them to the concept of fabric applique, and gave tips for creating an appealing piece of artwork. Each student was given a 15” square block to create a fabric collage that symbolises their PhD. These blocks were then sewn together by Laura, with the help and support of the Canterbury Quilters Society to create a stunning research quilt.

The Kent’s PhD Quilt was formally unveiled at a small reception on Tuesday 30th April in the Colyer-Fergusson Foyer. It will now go on tour around the country to be exhibited at a number of quilting competitions and events.

Visit the Graduate School website to see the final quilt and the level of detail that has gone into making each block, you can also learn about the research behind the artwork.

The Code of Practice is a vital document for the University’s REF 2021 submission.  It is a requirement that all institutions submit a Code of Practice outlining the process of defining Researchers and selecting outputs and showing that the university supports equality and diversity in the REF.

We have now drafted the University’s Code of Practice and are inviting all staff to comment from 1 – 21 May 2019.

Following the consultation, any revisions will then be made and the Code of Practice will be submitted to the REF on 7 June for final approval.

For this REF cycle the University intends to submit 100% of eligible staff defined as those on teaching and research (T&R) contracts and some research only contracts.  The criteria for selection will be outlined in the Code of Practice.

You are invited to review the REF2021 Draft Code of Practice webpage for full details.

Each year, the University awards a number of prizes to individual staff or teams for outstanding work in teaching and/or learning support.

The call for applications for the 2019 prizes is now open, and applications must be received by 17.00 on Friday 17 May 2019.

Details of how to apply are available on our Teaching webpages.

The prizes will be awarded by the Vice-Chancellor at a lunchtime ceremony later in 2019, to which all staff are invited.

Professor Aylish Wood, Professor in Film, will be giving her Inaugural Professorial Lecture, entitled ‘Making Waves: Taking a software approach to Moanaand what it tells us about digital culture’, on Wednesday 8 May 2019 at 5pm.

The Disney animation Moana‘s release was accompanied by celebrations of animation software and the ingenuity of VFX practitioners. Frequently focussing on the feature’s quite fabulous looking water animation, these commentaries are a valuable starting point for challenging the extent to which simulations in cinema are, as is so often claimed, ‘realistic.’ Given their scale and increasingly detailed textures, it is easy to get caught up in the visual appeal of simulations created with VFX software. Aylish’s purpose in exploring Moana is to step around the power of this visual appeal, and map a route through to the computational and cultural influences that inform and shape simulations.

Aylish’s lecture will take place on Wednesday 8 May 2019 at 5pm in Keynes College Lecture Theatre 1, and will be followed by a drinks reception in Keynes College Atrium at 7pm. Attendance is free, but please book your place here.