Blog posts

Staff elections to the Court

Following the recent nominations and elections, the following members of staff have been elected to the Court of Imperial College:

3 Members of the academic staff elected from the Engineering, Medical and Science academic staff constituencies:

Medical Staff:

Professor Ian Adcock, Head of Molecular Cell Biology Group, National Heart & Lung Institute

Science Staff:

Dr Joshua Edel, Senior Lecturer in Micro and Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences

Engineering Staff:

No nominations received

1 Member of the non-academic staff elected by the non-academic staff:

Mr Paul Brown, Mechanical Instrumentation Workshop Manager, Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences

 

REF2014 – high level plan for the delivery of the College’s submission

The Management Board reviewed the high level plan for delivering the College’s submission to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise.

Work to collect, collate, verify and optimise the information required for submission to REF will involve all levels of the College (academics, Departments and Divisions, Faculties and central functions). Overall responsibility for the REF2014 submission rests with the College REF Steering Committee and day to day direction and management of the necessary activities is undertaken by the Strategic Planning Division.

The REF census date for staff is 31 October 2013, which means that academic staff must be in post, with a contract of at least 0.2 FTE, and be on College payroll by this date to be eligible for possible inclusion in the College’s REF submission. The deadline for publication of research outputs for inclusion in the REF submission is 31 December 2013.

Further details are available on the College’s REF Website: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/ref

College Leadership

The Council has begun the search for an individual to serve the College in the new position of Provost. The recruitment marks the start of the transition towards a new leadership model for the College, separating out the current responsibilities of the Rector.

The Provost will be responsible for the delivery of the College’s core mission: education, research and translation, and will report directly to the President & Rector, who will give emphasis to the College’s external affairs including development. The President & Rector and the Provost will together have responsibility for the strategic direction of the College.

In line with the beginning of the search for a Provost, from today Sir Keith O’Nions assumes the title of President & Rector. At the end of May the search will commence for a new President & Rector to succeed Sir Keith O’Nions following his retirement at the end of 2013, at which point the new leadership arrangements will be fully in place.

TOAST update – call for academics to participate

The College thanks academic staff who have already participated in the 2011-12 TOAST (Academic Staff Time) survey. Those who have not done so are strongly encouraged to participate. The current response rate is higher than the last survey, at 75.9%, but this is below the target of 80%.

The survey is anonymous. The information is used only at an aggregate level to determine the College’s costs of research, teaching and other activities. The results will be used to calculate the rates for research grants and contracts applications, supporting the College’s cost recovery.

Since the survey began in October 2011 seven of the 12 survey weeks have elapsed. All 1,200 staff who are required to be surveyed have been contacted to complete at least one of their three survey weeks.

All academic staff are asked to complete all of their remaining survey weeks. For more information, please visit www.imperial.ac.uk/planning/toast or contact TOAST@imperial.ac.uk.

Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies – reduced catering services – Wednesday 9 May

Receptions for graduates and their guests will take place across the South Kensington Campus on Wednesday 9 May as part of the Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies. These events will lead to some changes to College catering services:

  • Senior Common Room Cafe and Restaurant: open to graduands and their guests only until 11.45, but staff can buy breakfast to take away. Closed from 16.00.
  • Royal School of Mines/Bessemer Cafe: closed
  • Queen’s Tower Rooms: closed
  • Sir Alexander Fleming Cafe: closed from 11.30

Survey on green activities for final year project

An Imperial student is investigating the steps that staff and students are taking to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment for her final year project for her BSc in Ecology & Environmental Biology. Staff and students are invited to complete a survey, the results of which will be reviewed by the team in the Facilities and Property Management Division responsible for the College’s sustainability activities, and will influence future efforts to reduce the College’s carbon footprint.

Respond to the suvey here

Newsletters from Imperial Consultants

Imperial Consultants has recently launched a termly newsletter aimed at staff working or interested in consultancy activities at the College. The Imperial Consultants team provides a professional support service for Imperial’s academic and research staff who act as consultants on behalf of the College. Consultancy activities include the provision of technical advice, expert witnesses and testing, measurement and analysis for industry, commerce and governments worldwide.

The newsletter contains news, events and details of consultancy opportunities, and is only available to Imperial staff. To register to receive the newsletter, please enter your Imperial login details at: http://www.imperial-consultants.co.uk/newsletter

Read the first issue of the newsletter (Imperial login required)

Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies – Wednesday 9 May

Over 2,500 graduands and their 5,300 guests are expected at the 2012 Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies, which will take place in the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 9 May.

In the morning ceremony, commencing at 11.15, graduands from the Faculties of Natural Sciences and Medicine and the Department of Humanities will be presented. Dr Martin Knight will receive a Fellowship of Imperial College in recognition of the outstanding contribution he made to the life and work of the College during his long association with Imperial, firstly as a member of the Council and subsequently as Chief Operating Officer.

In the afternoon ceremony, commencing at 15.30, graduands of the Faculty of Engineering and the Imperial College Business School will be presented. Professor David Lloyd Smith will receive a Fellowship of Imperial College in recognition of the outstanding contribution he has made to developing the student experience at Imperial. Ray O’Rourke will be awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science (Engineering) DSc (Eng) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to engineering and to the UK construction industry.

Academic staff are asked to register to attend by 23 April, completing the form at: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/graduation/staff/robing.

Receptions will be held at venues across the South Kensington Campus following the ceremonies.

Survey on staff and student commuting

Staff and students are invited to complete a short survey to offer information about their daily travel to and from Imperial. The data gathered will inform how more sustainable options for travel might be achieved at the College and will assist with preparations to report on green house gas emissions associated with staff and student commuting, which is expected to be a requirement by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in the future.

The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete and participants will be entered into a draw to win a £50 Amazon voucher. To complete the survey, visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ImperialTravelSurvey

The results of the survey will be published on the Sustainability website.

Staff open meetings – roles of President & Rector and Provost

Representatives from Perrett Laver, the recruitment consultants appointed to assist with the search for the President & Rector and Provost, will be holding meetings to seek input to the process at the end of April. Staff attending will hear about the recruitment process and will have the opportunity to guide the consultants on the attributes and experience required in the College’s most senior leadership positions.

Staff are invited to attend the meetings on Wednesday 25 April:

11.00-12 noon – Hammersmith Campus – Lecture Theatre 1, Wolfson Centre

14.00-15.00 – South Kensington Campus – Pippard Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building

Details of the move to the President & Rector and Provost model were included in Staff Briefing #69