Thanks to a generous pledge of £10 million from alumnus Firoz Lalji, through the Lalji Family Foundation, LSE has endowed a new academic centre dedicated to teaching, research and engagement with Africa and Africa scholars.

The Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa further strengthens LSE’s commitment to placing Africa at the heart of debates about global issues. The centre is named in recognition of the Lalji Family Foundation that includes wife Najma’s and daughters Farah’s and Natasha’s transformative gifts of £13 million to LSE.

LSE has been awarded the Campus Technology Teaching and Innovation 2016 award by Campus Technology magazine (see p.30), for its innovative work on the Constitution UK project which ran in early 2015.

Constitution UK was a collaborative project that aimed to crowdsource the UK constitution. The project, led by Professor Conor Gearty of the Institute of Public Affairs in partnership with Learning Technology and Innovation, invited individuals to share views and ideas on what should be part of a UK constitution in the 800th anniversary year of Magna Carta.

Peter Bryant, Head of Learning Technology and Innovation, said: “We are extremely proud to have been selected for this prestigious award.  It recognises an incredibly innovative project that delivered far beyond our wildest dreams.  It also recognises the hard work and commitment of many academic and professional staff at LSE. It was a great example of how education can be transformative experience for a post digital world and one where technology and participation in making and sharing knowledge contribute towards the development of an informed digital society.”

“A meal for two at Nandos or a return trip to Milan?” It’s possibly the best copywriting line created at LSE for some time.

The world’s reaction to the offer will shape the immediate future for 22-year-old student entrepreneur Fifi Kara as she leaves the LSE campus with a degree in Social Policy this week.

Fifi, along with her business partner Jamie Snedden, will spend the coming months developing their new travel app Yonder which has just won a Santander Universities Entrepreneurship award for the Best New Innovation in Technology.

Dr Ellen Helsper (pictured), Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications, provided input to the Barclays Digital Development Index, which benchmarked 10 countries around the world on their readiness to compete in the digital economy.

Launched on Tuesday 19 July, the report highlights that the UK, one of the most active online consumer markets globally, lags behind other countries when it comes to being able to create new digital technologies.

Dr Helsper commented: "One organisation - whether government, business or charity - will not be able to tackle this problem alone. Nor can there be a ‘one size fits all’ approach. The solutions must be tailored to the needs and circumstances of the people that are going to be using these technologies."

We are pleased to report that the through-route from Carey Street to St Clement’s Lane has now re-opened.

For more on the Centre Buildings Redevelopment, click here.

LSE ‘mini’ Olympics is coming.

If you want to join the carnival atmosphere that will be taking place in Rio for the 2016 Olympics, this is your chance to be part of a series of fun, active, teambuilding and competitive set of events. It's also a great opportunity for those of you participating in this year’s Global Corporate Challenge to increase your step counts!

Find all the details of the LSE ‘mini’ Olympics here.

Global Corporate Challenge update
Click here for the latest LSE GCC progress report detailing that 63 per cent of participants are in the highly active category.

Would you like to help colleagues and students who are concerned about experiencing bullying and harassment in the workplace? Would you like to make a key contribution to the creation of a more inclusive LSE? 

The School is developing a new Anti-Bullying and Harassment Adviser scheme to improve the support for academic, research and professional service staff and for students and is seeking compassionate and motivated volunteer advisers.

Get to know other parts of the School through Shadowing. You could meet colleagues who you have only interacted with by email or discover a team in the School it might be useful for you to work with more in the future.

IMT has been working with colleagues from training providers across the School to upgrade the system used for booking training sessions.

The following improvements have now been made to the Training and Development System:

• An enhanced search function makes it easier to find courses and events relevant to you and your role
• Waiting lists now automatically allocate spaces on courses, meaning that courses are better attended and more places are available
• You can now express your interest in attending courses, so more dates can be scheduled for popular courses
• Non-payroll staff, such as contractors and Students’ Union staff, are now able to book courses directly through the system, without needing to contact the training provider first.

IMT will continue to use your feedback on the training and development system to improve the search, booking and administration experience.

To log in to the Training and Development System visit apps.lse.ac.uk/training-system.

Learning Technology and Innovation is holding a briefing session on the roll-out of Turnitin-Moodle.

The session will cover:

• What this means
• When you can start using Turnitin in Moodle
• The support available
• Any questions you might have

Book your place via the training system.

LSE Research Festival is an annual celebration of LSE’s innovative and ground-breaking research in the social sciences. The Festival will take place on Thursday 3 November and any LSE staff or student can submit their research to be exhibited.

This year, we are welcoming submissions that showcase LSE research in three formats: headlined abstract, photograph and poster. During Michaelmas Term 2016 LSE will be commemorating the centenary of the death of Charles Booth, therefore we particularly invite submissions on research themes of poverty and inequality.

Would you like to have your research exhibited at the Festival? The call for submissions is now open and the deadline is Wednesday 5 October. Visit lse.ac.uk/researchfestival to find out more and to submit your work.

Wondering what a Learning Technologist does?

Have a look at LSE’s Learning Technology and Innovation (LTI)’s blog post to learn more about their roles and responsibilities and what LTI offers to support you in improving the teaching and learning experience.

Security officer and former boxer Daniel Beckley is running skip fit lessons for all students and staff.

The next lessons will take place from 1-2pm at the Badminton Court, Old Building, on Tuesday 2 August, Tuesday 9 August, Tuesday 23 August, Tuesday 30 August, Tuesday 13 September, and Tuesday 20 September. Just turn up on any of these dates with your own skipping rope. All lessons are free.

Daniel recently received a 'Thank You' card from an undergraduate student, graduating this year, in which she expressed her gratitude for his skip fit classes: "I really enjoyed the classes and am really sad I won't be able to join them in the future."

For more information, email Daniel at d.beckley@lse.ac.uk.

Monday 25 July, 6.30-8pm, Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Sir Malcolm Rifkind

For almost forty years, Malcolm Rifkind served at the forefront of British politics. In this lecture, Sir Malcolm will give a lively account of his years in government and opposition, detailing his involvement in some of recent history’s most important events. This event marks the launch of Sir Malcolm's new book, Power and Pragmatism: The Memoirs of Malcolm Rifkind.

Tough Rides: Brazil
Thursday 4 August, 6.30pm, Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Ryan Pyle

The Euro: and its threat to Europe
Tuesday 30 August, 6.30pm, Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Joseph Stiglitz (pictured)

Protecting South Africa's fragile democracy
Speaker: Mmusi Maimane
Recorded: Tuesday 21 June, approx. 98 minutes

Endless Endeavours: from the 1866 women's suffrage petition to the Fawcett Society
Speakers: Elizabeth Crawford, Dr Ann Dingsdale, and Jane Grant
Recorded: Tuesday 21 June, approx. 71 minutes

The Secret of Our Success
Speaker: Professor Joseph Henrich
Recorded: Wednesday 22 June, approx. 83 minutes