Wellbeing Week is nearly upon us and the jam-packed programme and venues have now been confirmed. You can view the full programme here, but here’s a reminder of some of the events taking place:
Start the week on a relaxed note by popping along for a complimentary neck/shoulder massage with ViaVita on Monday.
Taking place on Tuesday is ‘Your Questions about Mental Health’ with Paul Glynn, Counselling Services Manager.
On Wednesday guide dogs will be visiting Sheffield Street (outside the Student Union) between 12.30-2.30pm, so do pop along and say hello.
Throughout the week, the Student Gym is also offering short ‘Wellness Sessions and Gym show arounds’ (with a free class depending on numbers).
Finally, to finish off the week, why not try a Salsa Taster Session on Friday?
Don't miss one of Deputy Director and Provost Robin Mansell’s termly briefings, which will take place in the Shaw Library on Wednesday 2 March at 10.30am and Thursday 3 March at 2.30pm.
Visit the exhibition, view the six design competition proposals and vote for your preferred scheme. Submissions will be on display in the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre from 2 March until 17 March.
Dr Andrew Young Dr Young, LSE's new Chief Operating Officer, would like to be able to spend a day a month in offices with staff from all areas, so watch out if you have a spare desk near you!
The paper investigates if and how environmental policies were affected by the political cycle. Hélia was praised for having an "interesting theoretical approach integrated with an excellent empirical analysis".
The empirical results show support for the signaling motive as a central mechanism in generating pork barrel towards the environment.
LSE Innovators: enhancing student engagement through technology integration
Learning Technology and Innovation (LTI) are proud to lead, encourage and support innovation in teaching and learning within technology at LSE.
Our series of case studies highlights the people who are leading and living innovative practices in their teaching. LSE Innovators seek ways to integrate technology in order to enhance the student experience, renew their own teaching practice and transform the way their discipline is shaped and taught.
Read about our newest LSE Innovators Nancy Holman, Meena Kotecha and Alison Powell on our blog.
Professor Ricky Burdett, Director of LSE Cities, will curate one of the three special projects at the 15th Architecture Biennale to open in Venice on 28 May this year.
As part of the Urban Age programme, organised jointly by LSE and the Alfred Herrhausen Society, La Biennale will present the project as a pavilion dedicated to the themes of urbanisation.
For over a decade, the Urban Age has investigated the relationship between the physical form of cities and the social dynamics within them.
Researchers from LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) have demonstrated the benefits of equity crowdfunding as a "robust alternative" for investors and entrepreneurs.
CEP has analysed investment behaviour on the UK’s largest equity crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube, a market leader in its field, nearly tripling between 2014 and 2015. According to CEP’s researchers, crowdfunding “serves as a robust source of alternative entrepreneurial finance which has operated in a stable and predictable manner" in its infancy.
From Jed Bartlet to Shen Xiaoyi and even the Shaw Library, catch up with LSE’s adventures in film and TV in LSE on the big and the small screen.
Academics abroad
On Wednesday 10 February Jean-Paul Faguet, Professor of the Political Economy of Development at LSE, spoke at The World Bank, Washington DC, as part of the MENA Chief Economist Seminar Series. The seminar was based on Professor Faguet's recent book Is Decentralization Good for Development?.
Professor Stephen Jenkins, Department of Social Policy, visited the OECD in Paris on Friday 19 February presenting his research on "Better accounting for top incomes in the measurement of inequality levels and trends" at the Second Meeting of Providers of OECD Income Distribution Data. A copy of his presentation can be found here.
He also gave a seminar at the OECD Economics Department on "Employment instability".
Message from Professor Paul Kelly, Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning
The School will be conducting teaching surveys in weeks eight and nine of this term (29 February - 11 March). Surveys should be carried out by all teachers who have taken five weeks or more for any courses that were not surveyed in Michaelmas, and for some courses that need to be surveyed again. The surveys should take the students no more than ten minutes to complete.
The class/seminar survey should take place during one of the classes/seminars. It asks for students’ views on the course as a whole; it also asks opinions of their class teacher’s performance.
For teachers who take five or more weeks of classes/seminars for any one course, the class/seminar survey is compulsory, and an additional lecture survey is optional. Teachers who do not have classes/seminars should conduct a lecture survey.
The key focus of the next steps following the publishing of the Staff Survey results will be digging deeper into the issues.
Over March and April, there will be a opportunities for staff across LSE to participate in discussing the results and feeding into the action planning.
Dr Andrew Young has recently joined LSE as its first Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Andrew supports the LSE Director as a member of the Director’s Management Team and provides direct line management to Estates, IMT, Residential and Catering Services, HR and Communications to ensure their strategic development and the successful delivery of all services.
Andrew has already met with many staff and is really looking forward to meeting many more during this academic year.
Andrew is supported by Cecilia Okereke as Executive Officer. His office is currently located on the 5th floor of the Library, LRB5.09. For any queries relating to Andrew’s office, please contact Cecilia Okereke on ext 7100 or email c.okereke@lse.ac.uk.
HR is looking to relaunch the School’s Carer’s network and explore how we can improve the network support offered for carers within our staff community.
On Tuesday 1 March, we have Employer for Carers from Carers UK (the charity who support carers in the workplace), coming to the School to share information with carers, staff and managers about what it is to be a carer, what support is available both at the School and outside the workplace, as well as to invite staff to share their views on support for carers in the workplace.
"Prevent" is part of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy. Since last September, universities have been under a legal duty to comply with it. But what does this mean for staff? We are laying on some briefing sessions with the help of the School lawyers, Pinsent Masons.
Some places remain for the sessions on Thursday 25 February at 12-2pm (students have priority for that one) and 2.30-4.30pm, Friday 26 February at 12-2pm and 2.30-4.30pm and Thursday 3 March at 12.30-2.30pm and 3-5pm. If there’s demand, we’ll run more. If you would like to attend please email Marta Gajewska on m.gajewska@lse.ac.uk. All sessions will take place in 1 Kingsway.
If you’d like to know more but can’t attend a briefing, click here for background.
The National Student Survey is underway
If you teach or work with final year undergraduate students please encourage them to complete the survey.
The survey is an important way for LSE to understand what’s good and what can be improved about the student experience. It’s vital as many eligible students as possible complete the survey so that the views are representative of everyone.
All final year undergraduate students are eligible to complete the survey and it is open to all UK, EU and overseas students.
Thank you to everyone who has been helping encourage students to complete the 2015-16 Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey. Over 1,500 residents (37 per cent) have completed it already, and we’ve given away almost £400 in Amazon vouchers to say thank you for helping us improve our residences.
Students still have the chance to give us their views, and claim their chance to win. Our next Mini Prize Draw is on Wednesday 9 March, and our Grand Prize Draw takes place after Thursday 24 March.
All current residents have been sent a personalised email and survey link inviting them to take part. If you have a student facing role (particularly with first year undergraduates) we’d appreciate your help in advertising the survey and encouraging participation.
Please get in touch with residential.life@lse.ac.uk if you would like more information or any branded materials.
Are you getting the most out of Moodle?
Learning Technology and Innovation (LTI) would like to meet with Moodle content editors across all disciplines to discuss your current Moodle use and to see if there is anything we can do to improve user experience.
LSE halls of residences are great places to live and work, and Residential Services is seeking two Wardens for two central London sites.
Posts are available for an initial two years at Carr-Saunders Hall and Passfield Hall. Wardens have oversight of all students’ matters in their hall, with a focus on discipline, pastoral support and community building.
Each Warden is supported by a small team of Subwardens and professional services staff (on-site and centrally).
Easter School Closure: 25/03/2016 to 31/03/2016 inclusive
The School is due to close at the end of the working day on Thursday 24 March 2016 and open again for business on Friday 1 April 2016. Please note this is a change to the normal pattern of closure days from previous years.
For more information on School closure days and public holidays, please click here.
This Friday - Cocktail and wine evening
Celebrate the start of the weekend this Friday with our cocktail and wine evening taking place on the lower ground floor of the New Academic Building.
From 5-10.30pm, there will be a large selection of made-to-order cocktails and wines for you to enjoy. Bring along your friends and colleagues - all are welcome!
In the LSE Communications Division we work with colleagues and students from across the School to showcase LSE’s academic excellence externally, to help build and support the School community internally and to enhance and protect LSE’s wider reputation.
We are constantly striving to improve ways to engage LSE and its many stakeholders. We work as one Division to identify the best routes to develop engagement, so whether you speak to a member of the media team or the internal communications team they will bring in specialists from across the Division to ensure we maximise the opportunities available and offer you the best support possible.
If you have a communications element to your role then I would encourage you to join the Communications Network. This is an informal network and we aim to meet once a term to share our experiences and learning and discuss issues which affect us all. If you would like to join please email communications.internal@lse.ac.uk and we’ll invite you to the next meeting and get you involved in the Network.
You might also be interested in keeping an eye on the Communications Blog which has interesting discussions on key topics of interest to all of us who work in communications, whether formally or informally.
This update from the Division is just a snapshot of what we do. For a full overview of the team please visit our webpage or get in touch. In this week’s update we’ve focussed on highlighting the work of our social media and media teams and the web improvement programme.
Adrian Thomas, Director of Communications and Public Affairs
United Nations on Trial Date: Friday 26 February, 6-8.30pm Judge: The Hon. Mr Justice Jay Expert witnesses including: Dr Nazila Ghanea, Antony Loewenstein, Carne Ross
Tuesday 1 March from 6.30-8pm in the Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building Speakers: Theodore Pelagidis, NR Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution, USA, Professor of Economics, University of Piraeus; and Michael Mitsopoulos, PhD Boston University, Coordinator of Research and Analysis, Hellenic Federation of Enterprises Discussant: Professor Dimitri Vayanos, Head of the Department of Finance, LSE
In the first part of the presentation, we will present the narrative which shaped the understanding of Greek policymakers and politicians about costs and benefits for Greece to join the single currency. We will then match this narrative with the declared policy strategy, and its implementation, by the government that introduced the Maastricht treaty for ratification, in order to investigate the extent to which its conviction that Greece could succeed to enter on equal terms as a constructive member country was well founded.
Lunchtime talk in the Library’s exhibition gallery
Thursday 3 March, 1pm
Join exhibition curator Gillian Murphy for a short talk in the library's exhibition 'Women, Peace and Equality'.
Drawing on the library's unique and distinctive archive collections the exhibition tells the stories of the varied roles women have had on the international stage to influence peace during times of conflict. We are delighted that Christine Chinkin from the Centre for Women, Peace and Security will be in attendance and there will be a chance to ask questions.
The tour is free and open to all; no need to book. Please note that due to space restrictions we will be welcoming the first 20 attendees on a first come first served basis.
The Hellenic Observatory is delighted to invite you to the Private View of the forthcoming exhibition ‘Imagine Greece’ organised within the framework of the Hellenic Observatory 20 Year Anniversary.
H.E Mr Konstantinos Bikas, Ambassador of Greece to the UK will give the opening speech, at 7.15pm. Attendance to the Private View is by RSVP only, please email hellenicobservatory@lse.ac.uk.
Wednesday 9 March from 7.30pm at the The British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG
At this event Professor Craig Calhoun, Director of LSE, will join American-British television presenter Loyd Grossman, That’s Not English author Erin Moore, and The Economist editor and columnist Adrian Wooldridge to ponder the lingering influence of Britain on the U.S., and whether the two nations’ deep alliance is on the verge of historic change.
Tuesday 15 March from 6.30-8pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Through most of history, humans lived in tiny foraging bands with very low political, economic and gender hierarchy. After the invention of farming about 10,000 years ago, societies got much bigger and most forms of hierarchy increased; but since the coming of fossil fuels 200 years ago, although societies have become even bigger, hierarchy has declined.
Philippe Roman Chair Ian Morris asks why changes in how we capture energy from the environment had these effects, and where inequality will go in the coming decades.
On Wednesday 2 March, Professor Shampa Biswas will give a lecture on Nuclear Contrapuntality
Freedom and Domination in the Colonial Present - a film and discussion mini-series from the Department of Media and Communications taking place on Thursday 3 March, Wednesday 4 May and Wednesday 25 May
All staff interested in research funding or already with an award are invited to attend the following events:
Funders at LSE - Wellcome Trust 11 May 2016 from 12-1.45pm Find out what funding opportunities are available to social scientists and humanities researchers from external funder, The Wellcome Trust. Delivered by Dr João Rangel de Almeida, Portfolio Development Manager, Humanities and Social Sciences, Wellcome Trust.
Research Funding at LSE 11 May 2016 from 12.30-2pm An introduction to LSE’s grant submission procedures and how to comply with the School’s financial regulations. This brief session, aimed at those who are new at applying for external funding within LSE, will highlight:
the School’s Research Incentives Policy
internal funding schemes including Research Infrastructure and Investment funds (RIIF)
Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF)
centre-specific funding programmes
applying and receiving grants for research projects from external bodies.
If you have some news, an achievement, or an aspect of LSE life that you would like to share, we would love to hear from you - get in touch at communications.internal@lse.ac.uk or on ext 7582.
The next edition of Staff News is on Thursday 3 March. Articles for this should be emailed to us by Tuesday 1 March. Staff News is emailed every Thursday during term time and fortnightly during the holidays.
Professor Stephen Jenkins, Department of Social Policy, visited the OECD in Paris on Friday 19 February presenting his research on "Better accounting for top incomes in the measurement of inequality levels and trends" at the 
