Blog posts

College Tutor

Dr Lynda White, Senior Lecturer in Experimental Design, has accepted appointment as College Tutor with effect from 1 January 2012. She joins the team of existing College Tutors – Margaret Cunningham, Mick Jones and Simon Archer. College Tutors advise on student welfare matters, reporting to the Dean of Students, Learning and Teaching.

Dr White joined Imperial as a PhD student in 1969 and was appointed as Lecturer in Statistics in the Department of Mathematics in 1971. Subsequent promotions followed, and she held the positions of Mathematics Admissions Tutor from 1980 to 1987 and Senior Tutor from 1995 to 2011.

Acting Principal of the Business School

Professor Dorothy Griffiths OBE FCGI FRSA, Deputy Principal of the Business School, has accepted appointment as Acting Principal with effect from 18 February 2012, following the retirement of Professor David Begg. The search for a successor to Professor Begg, who has served as Principal of the Business School since 2003, is underway. Professor Griffiths will lead the Business School until the new Principal takes up appointment.

Evaluation of Imperial Innovations services

The College Research Office works closely with Imperial Innovations Ltd to facilitate the commercialisation of intellectual property generated by staff and students.

Staff are invited to assist the Research Office with an evaluation of the service Imperial Innovations provides to the College community by completing a short survey.

The College may share headline results of the survey with Imperial Innovations. All results will be presented on an anonymous basis, and used solely for the purpose of evaluating staff and students’ satisfaction of Imperial Innovations’ services. It is optional for respondents to provide contact details.

To complete the survey, visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/imperialinnovations

Any queries should be directed to Emma Toumi (e.toumi@imperial.ac.uk).

College Secretary and Registrar

Mr John Neilson has accepted appointment as College Secretary and Registrar with effect from 1 May 2012. As a member of the Management Board, and reporting to the Rector, he will have overall responsibility for the Registry and the Central Secretariat, and functions including health and safety, risk management, internal audit, and legal matters. He will also be Clerk to the Imperial College Court and Council.

Dr Rodney Eastwood, who has been College Secretary since 2007, will be retiring from the College in April, after almost 25 years service.

Mr Neilson will join the College from the Ministry of Defence, where he is Director, Financial Management. As part of this role he is a non-executive director of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the Met Office.

Mr Neilson’s experience in government spans thirty years. After reading mathematics and engineering at Cambridge, he joined the Department of Energy where he worked on the privatisation of several industries, including gas and electricity. He went on to work in the Economic Secretariat of the Cabinet Office, before becoming Principal Private Secretary to John Wakeham when he was Energy Secretary.

In the 1990s he led Department of Trade and Industry teams advising on policy areas including telecommunications, aerospace and defence, before becoming an executive board member of the gas and electricity regulator Ofgem. From 2005 until 2011 he was Director, Research Base in the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and its predecessors.

Exhibition Road closure 1 February

On Wednesday 1 February at 16.30 the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will officially open the new-look Exhibition Road. The road will continue to be open to pedestrians so staff and students may wish to watch proceedings.

To ensure the safety of the participants and spectators, Exhibition Road will be closed to traffic between Prince Consort Road and Cromwell Road and between Cromwell Road and Thurloe Place from 14.00 and 18.00. Residents parking will be suspended during this time, and there will be limited access for residents.

A map showing the road closure is available here

Funding opportunities from The Leverhulme Trust – presentation to staff 31 January

Staff are invited to a presentation by the Director of The Leverhulme Trust, Gordon Marshall, to hear about funding available for research projects, fellowships, studentships, bursaries and prizes. The Leverhulme Trust offers support across all academic disciplines. The presentation will take place on Tuesday 31 January at 15.00 in Lecture Theatre 3, Blackett Laboratory (Level 1) and is open to all staff.

For further details on The Leverhulme Trust, visit their website

Acting Head of the Department of Humanities

Professor Nigel Gooderham, Professor in Molecular Toxicology, has accepted appointment as Acting Head of the Department of Humanities with effect from 1 January 2012. He will lead the Department while a search is underway for a successor to Professor Andrew Warwick, former Head of Department, who has left the College after 19 years of service for an appointment at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Gooderham continues as Dean for the Faculty of Medicine (Non Clinical).

 

Two Assistant Warden Positions Available – Parsons House and Pembridge Gardens

The College invites applications for the posts of Assistant Warden of Parsons House, available from 13 February 2012 and Assistant Warden of Pembridge Gardens, available from 1 April 2012. These posts are open to all staff at the College. The closing date for applications is 17.00 on Friday, 3 February 2012.

Wardens and Assistant Wardens are responsible for the smooth running of the hall and will receive rent-free accommodation in the Hall in return for pastoral and administrative duties. The Assistant Warden should be a good organizer with a desire to help students develop their social life as well as having a balanced approach to their studies. They will normally be expected to work under the guidance of the Warden of the Hall.

Parsons House is a lively hall of residence with 40 students. The hall is located within the grounds of Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith. Parsons House is only 20 minutes by bicycle or tube to the South Kensington campus. The wardening team consists of the Warden (living in Pembridge Gardens), an Assistant Warden and a Sub Warden.

Pembridge Gardens is an a Hall of Residence near Notting Hill Gate, about 25 minutes walk from the South Kensington Campus. The hall is a mixed gender residence and houses around 100 undergraduate students. The wardening team consists of a Warden, an Assistant Warden and two Sub Wardens.

For a copy of the Terms of Reference and an Application Form for either post, please contact Dr Marko Krznaric by email.

Short courses – new quality assurance process

All courses offered under the name Imperial College London, which are not part of an award-bearing programme, require review under a light touch quality assurance process managed by the College’s new Continuing Professional Development Quality Committee. The process applies to courses including:

  • Short courses offered externally
  • MSc modules run for continuing professional development (CPD)
  • Bespoke/customised courses for companies
  • Stand-alone online courses

Approved courses will be able to offer participants the official Imperial College London Certificate of Attendance and any information online will be publicised via the School of Professional Development website.

Staff intending to run a short course are asked to complete a proposal form available at the following website: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/cpd/qualityassurance