The Entrepreneurship Hub in the Business School invites staff to submit novel ideas for potential products or services to the IE&D (Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Design) Projects programme and then work with a team of MBA students and designers to potentially bring the concept to market. Anyone with a new business idea or product design is encouraged to submit a proposal for the programme by 11 November.
Full details on IE&D Projects can be found here
Small groups, teams and departments are invited to join the Big Christmas Party in the Queen’s Tower Rooms on Friday 9 December from 15.00 to 21.00. The event is exclusively for Imperial staff and tickets cost £19.95 per person.
More information is available here
Dr Zen Makuch has accepted appointment as Director of the Centre for Environmental Policy with effect from 1 October 2011. He succeeds Professor John Mumford who has completed his term of office.
Dr Makuch joined the College in 1995 as Lecturer in Law in the T H Huxley School, which was subsequently restructured to create the Department of Earth Science and Engineering and the Centre for Environmental Policy. He became Reader in Law in 2001 and has directed the Sustainable Transitions research theme for the past four years, also leading postgraduate teaching programmes in related fields in both the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Business School. In 2003 he received the College’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and was appointed as the College’s Teaching Fellow for Innovation. He has been awarded one of the 2011 Rector’s Medals for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Excellence.
Dr Makuch’s research focuses on the regulation of environment and energy science and technology. He has been Editor of the journal, European Energy and Environmental Law Review, for the past ten years and has acted as a specialist advisor for the House of Lords, European Commission and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on environment, energy and climate change matters.
Dr Nicola Rogers, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medicine, has accepted appointment as Director of Student Recruitment and Admissions with effect from 26 September 2011. Dr Rogers will have academic oversight of the strategic direction of all aspects of undergraduate and postgraduate recruitment, reporting to Professor Julia Buckingham, Pro Rector (Education and Academic Services). The position is part-time; Dr Rogers will spend a day a week continuing to work on her academic activities in the Department of Medicine.
Dr Rogers joined the College in 1996 as a postdoctoral scientist. Following a nine-month period working at Oxford University in 2002, Dr Rogers returned to the College as a Lecturer of Immunology, and Course Organiser for the MSc in Immunology. Dr Rogers became a Senior Lecturer in 2007 and has additionally held the position of Course Director of the BSc in Infection and Immunity within the Department of Medicine since 2009. Since January 2011 she has been Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Committee. Her research focuses on understanding the immunopathology of the chronic autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Dr Rogers received a Rector’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2009 and the first Department of Medicine annual teaching award earlier in 2011.
Professor David Gann has accepted appointment as Deputy Principal (Research and Business Engagement) of the Business School, with effect from 1 September 2011. Professor Gann reports to Professor David Begg, Principal of the Business School, and will work closely with Professor Dot Griffiths, who continues as Deputy Principal of the Business School.
Professor Gann joined the College in 2003 as Chair in Technology and Innovation Management, a joint appointment between the Business School and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He co-founded and became Head of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group in 2005 and has led the Digital Economy Lab since 2010. Professor Gann’s research interests focus on improving performance of innovation processes through digital simulation and prototyping, and the development of new business models. He was awarded a CBE in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to engineering.
Sport Imperial will be running a Climbing Wall Open Day at Ethos on Saturday 29 October from 10.00-15.00, which is suitable for all levels of climbers, including beginners. A number of activities, such as traversing sessions, will take place throughout the day and qualified instructors will be on hand to offer advice on technique. All participants will be entered into a prize draw to win a free voucher for ten wall climbs.
Staff wishing to register should contact Victor Rodrigues by email, or or extension 48962
More information can be found here on the website.
With the introduction of the Agency Workers’ Regulations, which came into effect on 1 October 2011, HR have created a guidance document for managers to ensure that the responsibilities and implications for the College are fully understood and executed.
The new legislation provides agency workers with the same basic employment rights and working conditions as if they had been recruited directly by the College, after they have completed a qualifying period of 12 weeks. It also ensures they have access to College facilities and internal job vacancies from the beginning of their contract.
The new ‘Guidance for Managers when Engaging Agency Workers’ can be found here.
As an alternative to employing agency workers, managers are encouraged to consider employing casual workers where appropriate. Guidance from HR, ‘Engaging Casual Workers Guidance for Managers’, can be found here.
The Conference and Events team are offering autumn and Christmas catering specials for events taking place between 1 October and 23 December. Special food items available include handmade butternut squash and feta cheese tarts, mince pies and mulled wine.
More information can be found here.
A virtual student noticeboard has recently been launched, which lists news and announcements aimed at current students. Staff may submit notices of interest to students on behalf of their department or division. If approved, notices will appear on the new Imperial Mobile App, in a feed on the Students page, and on the Student Noticeboard blog itself.
To submit a notice email the noticeboard.
Further information about the student noticeboard can be found here.
The University and College Union have issued the College with a notice of Industrial Action. This is a national union campaign. The notice indicates this action relates to the ‘proposed detrimental changes to USS and retaining comparable pension benefits’. The changes to USS are no longer proposed changes and have been implemented with effect from 1 October 2011.
Please view the HR Notices Blog for full details of the intended UCU Industrial Action and the HR website for background to the dispute.