It's been a great year for sustainability at LSE. Students and staff across the School have been working hard to make improvements on campus and in residences. On Friday 20 May, these achievements were marked at LSE’s annual Celebration of Sustainability, hosted by Chief Operating Officer Andrew Young.
Staff from 25 LSE departments were awarded for their efforts to ‘green’ their workplace as part of Green Impact, and Carr Saunders Hall was announced as the winner of energy-saving competition 'Student Switch Off'. Thanks to LSE catering for providing delicious sustainable snacks and juices.
LSE Environmental Sustainability Report 2014-15
Highlights include LSE research to help cities across Europe become more energy efficient and liveable; the ‘Global Apollo Programme’ to drive climate change up the global policy agenda; and closer to home, a £2 million investment in energy-efficiency retrofits that will cut LSE’s carbon footprint by 8 per cent.
Green Impact has launched for 2016-17 and teams are invited to sign up now. Green Impact is an environmental accreditation scheme where teams implement practical changes in their department to reduce the school’s environmental impacts, and compete for awards.
Sarah Hadland Sarah, Deputy Head of Procurement, is working to review the School’s sustainable procurement practices so that you can ensure that what you are buying is the "greenest" option.
Jane Connors, Director of International Advocacy at Amnesty International Geneva; The Rt Hon The Lord William Hague, former UK Foreign Secretary; Angelina Jolie Pitt DCMG, UNHCR Special Envoy; and Madeleine Rees OBE, Secretary General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, will be joining the team of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security.
They join other LSE Fellows, scholars, activists and practitioners dedicated to developing strategies to promote gender equality and enhance women’s economic, social and political participation and security.
LSE has signed up to the 'Manifesto for Public Engagement’ which has been launched by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement.
The manifesto is a commitment to the belief that we have a major responsibility to contribute to society through public engagement, and that we have much to gain in return.
New on the LSE History blog
To celebrate LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Graham Camfield begins a new blog series exploring the history of the Library and its special collections - from its opening on Adelphi Terrace in 1896 up to the present day.
Catch up with the first two blogs in the series, which are out now:
The School’s travel management contract has been awarded to Diversity Travel; an award-winning academic and charity travel specialist. The new service starts from 1 June and offers lower transaction fees, a wider range of fares, longer opening hours and a more personalised service.
LSE GROUPS has been running for six years now, providing undergraduates with a rare opportunity to spend two weeks at the end of Summer Term working in cross-disciplinary, cross-year groups on a research project of their choice under the umbrella of a particular theme. This year’s theme is ‘Poverty and Inequality in London’.
The closing conference on 10 June promises to be a fascinating showcase for the different perspectives and expertise being developed by LSE students. And you are warmly invited to join us, for any or all of the event.
Please email tlc.groups@lse.ac.uk to reserve your place (including a note of whether you will be able to join us for lunch) and to request any further information.
The LSE Volunteer Centre is leading the campaign for universities to stop promoting orphanage volunteering.
We’ve added a pledge to our website promising not to advertise such opportunities and we’ve set out why they can be so damaging. We’re also calling on other universities to add this pledge to their site and sign up to the central campaign with the Better Volunteering, Better Care Network.
Students and staff can make their voices heard by signing the petition calling on organisations to stop offering these trips.
The Language Centre has an enhanced programme of short but sweet Arabic, French, German, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish courses available this Summer.
Courses run at various times throughout June - August and range from absolute beginner taster courses to more intensive options.
The Public Affairs team will soon release its first EU Public Affairs news. This will provide information regarding interactions between LSE and the European Union. We're looking to compile a list of any form of interaction with the EU. We need your help to do so, please email us at comms.publicaffairs@lse.ac.uk
The LSE Senior Common Room Committee invites you to attend this year’s Strawberry Tea.
The Strawberry Tea is an opportunity for SCR members to invite their LSE friends and colleagues, past and present, to join them and relax at the traditional occasion for saying farewell to members of the SCR who are leaving the School to begin their retirement. To book your place, complete the booking form.
A reminder that this year’s Party on the Plaza is taking place on Friday 10 June from 5.30-8.30pm on the John Watkins Plaza.
If you would like to attend then please remember to RSVP by using the voting keys in your email invitation (sent on Wednesday 18 May). Alternatively RSVP by emailing comms.events@lse.ac.uk. Tickets will be allocated via a random ballot system. The ballot will be open until Friday 27 May.
Please note that this event is only open to LSE staff.
We have now been advised that permission has been granted by Westminster City Council to close Grange Court in order to facilitate emergency utility power services works by UKPN. The section of Grange Court between St Clements Lane and Clements Inn Passage will be closed from Saturday 28 May for approximately five weeks. This closure will mean that all access to and from the Towers will be via the Aldwych.
The LSE Behavioural Research Lab is a cutting-edge facility for researchers across LSE and the wider academic community.
The flexibility of our lab means that it is suitable for running a wide range of studies, from computer-based games to interviews to group activities. The BRL’s facilities include a computer lab equipped with 20 participant terminals, 4 meetings rooms, and an observation room that is available to researchers. In addition, the BRL has an active participant pool of over 2,000 participants and dedicated staff to facilitate studies conducted in the BRL.
To find out more information, please visit the BRL website.
Get Paid to Participate in LSE Research!
The LSE Behavioural Research Lab (BRL) is looking for dedicated participants to take part in world-class research.
You will be paid a minimum of £5 for a 30 minute study, or £10 for anything up to an hour. For some studies there may also be an extra incentive or prize draw. Participation is open to everyone over the age of 18, so please tell your friends about the BRL!
On 11-14 May, Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) Director Erik Berglof together with Piroska Nagy-Mohacsi and Torsten Thiele participated in an international gathering hosted by the Aurora Borealis Foundation in Svalbard.
Torsten will be giving a ‘brown bag’ lunchtime presentation and discussion on Tuesday 7 June at 12.30pm in room TW2 9.05, Tower 2, on Blue Finance: Integrating the ocean into climate policy. If you would like to attend, please email g.e.miric@lse.ac.uk no later than Wednesday 1 June.
Tuesday 31 May, 5.30pm LSE Library’s current exhibition Endless Endeavours tells the story of the 1866 women’s suffrage petition which launched the organised campaign for the vote. Find out more about the stories behind the objects.
The exhibition is at the entrance to the Library. No booking required. Just turn up.
Tuesday 7 June, 6-8pm, Shaw Library, Old Building Panel: Professor Matthew Gandy, University of Cambridge; Professor Gareth A Jones, LSE; and Dr Kate Maclean, Birkbeck, University of London Introduction: Dr Austin Zeiderman, LSE
Security and risk have become central to how cities are imagined in the 21st century. In a forthcoming book, Endangered City, LSE Geography and Environment’s Austin Zeiderman critically examines this new political imperative to govern the present in anticipation of future harm. To mark the book’s publication, this event brings together an interdisciplinary panel of scholars to discuss the intersection of security, risk, and the urban imagination. Panelists will reflect on the central theme, offering reflections on the book and drawing on their own research.
This event is free and open to all, however registration is required.
Thursday 26 May, 6.30 - 8pm, Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE The European Institute 'Perspectives on Europe' series
Speaker: Giles Merritt, former Financial Times foreign correspondent and current Editor-in-Chief and Founder of 'Friends of Europe', one of the leading think-tanks in Brussels, and the policy journal Europe's World.
This event is free and open to all with no ticket or pre-registration required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.
Industrial Development – China and Africa Date: Wednesday 01 June 2016 6.30pm Location: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building Speaker: Professor Chang-Tai Hsieh, Professor John Sutton
UN - to be fit for purpose Date: Thursday 02 June 2016 2.00pm Location: Shaw Library, 6th floor, Old Building Speaker: Igor Lukšić
Growth Challenges in Fragile States Date: Thursday 02 June 2016 6.30pm Location: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building Speaker: Professor Sir Paul Collier, Professor Torsten Persson
Ticket Release Reminder
The Future of Britain in Europe Date: Tuesday 07 June 2016 6.00pm Speaker: Professor Iain Begg, Gordon Brown, Dr Sara Hagemann Ticket release date: Tuesday 31 May
In this workshop you will learn what we are trying to prove as impact and what constitutes as evidence for the purposes of the REF. Begin to identify what, when and from where you might collect evidence to support impact claims relating to your own research projects.
Do you have questions about completing timesheets? Are you curious what tricks your colleagues have learned to help them better manage their research grants? Learn more about completing timesheets for research awards and how to use them.
Get in touch!
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 2 June. Articles for this should be emailed to us by Tuesday 31 May. Staff News is emailed every Thursday during term time and fortnightly during the holidays.
