On Thursday 10 November, students and staff were invited to celebrate the official launch of LSE LIFE, the School’s new centre dedicated to students’ academic, personal, and professional development.
The event was an opportunity to learn more about LSE LIFE, which is based on the ground floor of the Library and has been open since the beginning of Michaelmas Term. The LIFE team delivers 300 workshops, events and one-on-one appointments six days a week, helping undergraduates and taught master’s students to achieve their potential whilst studying at LSE.
As well as bringing together different services from across the School, LSE LIFE also offers students extra study space in the Library and drop-in support.
Just two of the many positive comments received by LSE LIFE include:
"I had to let you know that LSE LIFE is a gem! I had a session with one of the tutors and he gave me great advice regarding strategic reading of articles, time management, essay writing, study/life balance and contacting professors."
"Thanks a lot for helping me in streamlining my thought and choosing the appropriate class for my Masters program. It was great talking to an alumnus of this School who has had hands on experience with the same thing."
Interim Director Professor Julia Black, and Pro-Director for Teaching Professor Paul Kelly were also in attendance, and thanked Nicola Wright, Director of Library Services, Dr Neil McLean, Director of LSE Academic and Professional Development Division, and Dr Claudine Provencher, Head of LSE LIFE, for their hard work in making the centre a success in its first term.
Don't forget.... Professor Julia Black, Interim Director, will be hosting a Brexit-related Town Hall event on Friday 18 November from 12 noon until 1.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building. All LSE staff members are invited to attend.
Nicola Wright, Director of LSE Library and Librarian of the British Library of Political and Economic Science, has been elected as the new Vice-Chair of Research Libraries UK (RLUK).
Dr Damian Tambini Excellence in Education Award winner Dr Damian Tambini tells us why LSE students are incredible and why being a good teacher means that there should never be awkward silences in your class.
Professor Bandiera elected as Fellow of the Econometrics Society
Congratulations to Professor Oriana Bandiera (pictured) who has been elected as Fellow of the Econometrics Society.
Professor Bandiera is Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Director of STICERD. Alongside these roles, she also co-directs the State Capabilities programme at the International Growth Centre.
The Econometric Society is an international society for the advancement of economic theory in its relation to statistics and mathematics.
Professor Mansell elected to the Board of Directors of TPRC
Its mission is to promote "interdisciplinary thinking on current and emerging issues in communications and the Internet by disseminating and discussing new research relevant to policy questions in the U.S. and around the world. It serves researchers, policymakers, and members of the private sector and civil society, from students to well-established practitioners".
On the day that Donald Trump won the 2016 US Presidential Election, beating Democratic rival Hilary Clinton, the LSE Department of Government asked some of their faculty to give their snap analysis of the result and it’s implications for politics in the US and beyond.
A new series of videos with has been launched by the LSE Language Centre.
Throughout the series Dr Catherine Xiang, Language Co-ordinator (East Asian Languages) has been interviewing LSE academics, in Chinese, about their research and ideas. From media industries to social policy change and future economic development in China, the first series involved eight experts at LSE. They are:
Discussing and sharing their research and ideas in Mandarin with English subtitles, LSE scholars are able to engage wider academic and non-academic users in all Mandarin speaking countries and regions. The LSE Language Centre Mandarin team aims to develop teaching materials based on the content of these videos so that a range of new Mandarin courses for Academic Purposes will be offered. It builds on the success of the student-led project Current Affairs in Mandarin, which has generated valuable open education resources for all.
Mental health interventions in pregnant women and new mothers have benefits There are clear economic and societal arguments for investing in mental health interventions for women during pregnancy and immediately after birth, a new report by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at LSE suggests.
LSE tops civil service impact poll LSE has come first in a survey of how research from Russell Group institutions influences work in the civil service.
President Santos, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, visits LSE
On Thursday 3 November, the Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC) and LSE IDEAS welcomed the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, to LSE to speak on the 'Legacy of Peace'.
The event took place as part of his state visit to the UK, the first ever by a Colombian President. The event was hugely popular - within less than 24 hours the number of requests for tickets was three times the number of available seats. President Santos, an LSE Alumnus, spoke warmly about his time at the university and the formative role that the School has played in the ideas that have shaped his public life. The lecture ended with a ceremony that saw the signing of an agreement that grants mutual recognition of academic degrees from Colombia and the UK.
More details on the event can be found on the LACC webpage.
Around LSE
Professional Services Staff termly briefings
The Professional Services termly briefings will take place in the Shaw Library on Wednesday 30 November at 10.30am and Thursday 1 December at 2.30pm.
The Professional Services briefings are termly events for all professional services staff and provide an opportunity to hear from colleagues on a wide range of subjects of pertinent subjects.
Staff are invited to contribute to the briefings and may forward questions, whether anonymous or attributed, to the COO’s office Col 1.00 in advance of the briefings.
There will be further opportunities to submit questions directly before each briefing, while coffee and cake are being served, or to ask questions directly during the Q&A at the end.
The agenda is as follows:
Wednesday 30 November
10.30-10.45: tea coffee cake networking
10.45-10.50: Andrew Young intro and welcome
10.50-11.10: Indi Seehra - New developments in HR data access
11.10-11.40: Mark Thomson - Teaching Excellence Framework: everything you need to know
11.40-12.00: Andrew Young - current projects and progress, response to questions
Thursday 1 December
14.30-14.45: tea coffee cake networking
14.45-14-50: Andrew Young intro and welcome
14.50-15.10: Indi Seehra - New developments in HR data access
15.10-15.40: Mark Thomson - Teaching Excellence Framework: everything you need to know
15.40-16.00: Andrew Young - current projects and progress, response to questions
Each presentation will be approximately 15 minutes, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session.
The Spring term 2017 briefings will take place on Wednesday 1 March 2017 at 10.30am and Thursday 2 March at 2.30pm.
*Andrew Young is happy to receive suggestions for discussion topics for the Lent Term briefing.
The ESRC will shortly be launching a call under the UK in a Changing Europe initiative for Brexit Priority Grants.
These are to support additional activity (including research synthesis and potential new short-term research activity) related to the process of the UK leaving the European Union.
The ESRC intends to launch the call at the beginning of December, and it is expected to close on 25 January 2017. Colleagues are encouraged to apply.
"All staff have a role to play in embedding environmental good practice across the School in day-to-day life, and I am encouraged to see the progress we are continuously making as a school to reduce our environmental impact. Our carbon emissions have dropped 16.8 per cent in the last 10 years and Green Impact alone has saved an estimated 79 tCO2 in one year, equivalent to around £12,000."
Message from Interim Director Julia Black, encouraging all divisions and departments to participate in this year's Green Impact challenge.
We recommend avoiding advertising vacancies during the weeks immediately prior to and after the Christmas break as we tend to receive a lower response rate from applicants during this time.
If you do wish to advertise around the Christmas closure, please review our Christmas Advertising Deadlines which can be found here. For further information, please contact your HR Adviser.
Room booking requests for 2017-18 Academic Year
Now 2016-17 Academic Year is underway, we would ask you to start thinking about dates for your events during 2017-18 Academic Year (28 August 2017 - 2 September 2018).
During the first quarter of 2017 the Room Booking Team will begin processing Advance Room Booking Requests (in the order in which they are received) for:
Core School Events (e.g. Graduation Ceremonies, Exams, Open Days, etc) and Executive, Summer and Pre-sessional Teaching
Weekend room booking requests
Catering Venues (excluding Welcome Week)
Vacation room booking requests
Please use the Advance Booking Request Form to submit booking requests for 2017-18. If you are organising a core School event, could you kindly submit details via the form below by Wednesday 21 December as booking requests for core School events will be processed first.
All other bookings requests will be placed in a queue and processed at the appropriate time.
Room Bookings Team will send out reminders in early Lent Term regarding Welcome Week 2017 (18-22 September 2017) and ask that you wait to submit booking requests for Welcome Week until you receive our reminder. Booking Requests for Welcome Week should be submitted by the end of Lent Term, for processing during Easter Vacation 2017.
National Carers Rights Day - Friday 25 November
HR are pleased to announce we have acquired membership to the charitable organisation Carer’s UK’s support for employers called Employers for Carers. This means, as a member of LSE staff, you can login and make use of the online resources, tools and e-training available to all staff via our membership with Employer for Carers.
Carers UK have also created a new survey called ‘Upfront’, which provides a personalised guide on getting help with your caring responsibilities. All of the links within the report take you straight through to the relevant pages on their website to make life a little easier. It covers practical support, work and money, relationships and even your own health and wellbeing as a carer as well as contact details to Carers UK 24 hour helpline. It only takes five minutes to complete, so click here to take the survey.
Friday 25 November is National Carers Rights Day. Employer for Carers use this annual event to call upon carers to get the support they are entitled to. LSE is fully on-board and are working to raise the profile of our School policy on support for carers who work at LSE which can be found here. With our new carers network in its infancy but steadily growing, it seems like the right time to raise awareness on what support the School offers.
We are also holding a coffee morning next Friday 25 November for all carers who work at the School in support of National Carers Rights Day, so if you’re interested in attending please contact Eleni Michael from the HR Policy team for further details.
"I feel very honoured and the award has actually made me more determined to provide as good a service as possible to colleagues. I could technically retire next year (I will be 65) but the award has made me rethink whether I would like to stay on a while longer." Michael Oliver, September 2016
Nominations for this year's Values in Practice Awards (VIP) for Professional Services Staff are now open.
You can make a nomination by completing the nomination form found here and submitting it to hr.vip-awards@lse.ac.uk by Friday 25 November.
All individuals and teams shortlisted will be invited to a VIP Awards afternoon, where we will celebrate everyone’s achievements and the winners will be presented with their awards.
"I would encourage anyone interested in carrying out research to get involved." -Undergraduate Robert Clark, who alongside his colleagues recently won the prestigious Booth Prize at the LSE Research Festival for their work in GROUPS 2016, gives his thoughts on the research process and the benefits of taking part in LSE GROUPS.
Second year undergraduate students can now apply to spend 2017-18 on a year-long exchange programme at Berkeley. Applications will close at noon on Friday 9 December.
On Saturday, LSE Careers' held its 10th International Organisations Day. Follow the Storify to find out more about what advice these organisations and others gave to students interested in working internationally.
Dr Justin Gest(pictured), Assistant Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, and co-founder of the LSE Migration Studies Unit, reveals key findings from the first rigorous study of the social and political trends underpinning Brexit and the Trump phenomenon in the United States on Monday 21 November. This event will be webcast live online via LSE Live.
Other upcoming events next week include a discussion on The Lost Art of Listening with Professor Jim Macnamara, and Harvard’s Professor Kenneth S Rogoff on The Curse of Cash.
Tickets are still available to purchase for the LSE Choir and Orchestra Christmas Concert in association with the LSESU Music Society on Tuesday 6 December at St Clement Danes church. Get into the Christmas spirit!
Friday 18 November, 6-8pm, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building Film introduced by the director, Gianfranco Rosi (via video-link)
Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary observes Europe’s migrant crisis from the vantage point of a Mediterranean island where hundreds of thousands of refugees, fleeing war and poverty, have landed in recent decades. Rosi shows the harrowing work of rescue operations but devotes most of the film to the daily rhythms of Lampedusa, seen through the eyes of a doctor who treats casualties and performs autopsies, and a feisty but anxious pre-teen from a family of fishermen for whom it is simply a peripheral fact of life. With its emphasis on the quotidian, the film reclaims an ongoing tragedy from the abstract sensationalism of media headlines.
The screening is organised by the Deptartment of Media and Communications, as part of the events to launch the Media and Migration project results. The screening is free and open to all - seating on first come, first serve basis. Watch the trailer here.
Monday 21 November, 6.30-8pm, TW1.G.01 Introduction from Marco Buti (pictured), Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission Comments from Paul De Grauwe, John Paulson Chair in European Political Economy at the European Institute; and Mareike Kleine, Associate Professor of EU and International Politics at the European Institute.
Is the recasting of economic governance of Europe beset by intractable economic, political and institutional conflicts? When the euro was created, it was partly as a solution to the 'impossible trinity' of simultaneously having free capital movement, a fixed exchange rate and independent monetary policies.
Join us to discuss whether there are ways round the various incompatible economic and political trinities, and, if so, what they imply for the next stages of reform of euro governance.
An activity-based workshop with opportunities for discussion aimed at academic staff and PhD students who would like to learn how to use social media in a research context: finding information, keeping up to date, planning and managing projects, making and sharing notes, storing files, and working collaboratively.
Abstracts are a key component of publication strategies for peer-reviewed publications and we have secured Marina Benjamin, a published writer and experienced tutor, to lead the course. Marina has led many writing courses at LSE and is a highly skilled and inspirational instructor. This is a small course to allow for lots of interaction. If you're able to, please bring along an abstract you are currently working on. There are currently around seven places left, and the course is free to LSE staff.
In partnership with Organisational Learning, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce has organised a Trans awareness session, run by the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES). The session will include lunch.
Select Committee Training for Academics and Impact/Communications Professional Service Staff
Ever wanted to know more about how to best engage with Parliamentary Select Committees?
On Thursday 1 December the Parliamentary Outreach Universities team will conduct a bespoke training session at LSE covering committee dynamics, enquiries, oral and written evidence and more. We will have two sessions that morning, one for academic staff and another for impact professional service staff. This event would be good for anyone looking to deepen their understanding and engagement with Parliament and select committee procedures.
Congratulations to Graham Camfield (pictured), LSE Library, who is celebrating 40 years at LSE this week.
Graham has seen many changes at LSE. The Library was in the Old Building, undergraduates couldn't borrow books and of course there were no online search systems. Graham has seen the campus expand each year and experienced the Library moving twice - first to its current home and also its temporary move while the Lionel Robbins building was redeveloped in 1999. And he has probably lost count of the number of times the spaces or service points have been redesigned to meet the changing needs of our staff and students.
On Thursday 17 November, Professor Sonia Livingstone (pictured) of the Department of Media and Communications will give the opening keynote at the European Schoolnet’s annual Expert Meeting in Education Networking (EMINENT) in Prague.
Professor Livingstone’s keynote will focus on the topic of ‘Digital citizenship: what it is, what it should be’. Her talk will draw on insights from her new book, The Class: Living and learning in the digital age, relating this to the European policy context for youth learning and participation.
This year the Finance Division’s Green Impact initiative is to support the Against Breast Cancer Bra Amnesty campaign, which gives all your old bras a new lease of life whilst helping to raise money for breast cancer research.
The Division have pledged to collect 1,000 bras by the end of February, but are currently about 800 short.
Bra banks are located in:
LRB R5.02
Saw Swee Hock Student Centre
1 Kingsway – third floor, main kitchen
Or just pop your unwanted bra into an internal envelope and send it to Green Impact Team, LRB R5.02. For more information, contact Sara Whyte.
Free Cycle Confident lessons
All staff and students are invited to enrol on a FREE one-to-one cycle lesson with a qualified cycle instructor. They will be running at two different locations, with sessions available over the next two weeks at both locations.
Watch this short video to find out what previous trainees thought of the training they received.
For more information and to book, see below:
Barnard Park, Charlotte Terrace, N1 0JQ Tuesday 22 November and Friday 2 December (best located for halls north of the river - Carr Saunders, College Hall, Connaught Hall, Grosvenor House, High Holborn, International Hall, King’s Cross, Lilian Knowles, Passfield, Rosebery) https://cycleconfidentmt16barnardpark.eventbrite.co.uk
Archbishop’s Park, Lambeth Palace Road, SE1 Friday 25 November and Tuesday 29 November (best located for campus, halls south of the river, and halls west of campus - Bankside House, Butler’s Wharf, Grosvenor House, High Holborn, Lilian Penson, Northumberland House, Nutford House, Sidney Webb, Westminster Bridge) https://cycleconfidentmt16archbishopspark.eventbrite.co.uk
Star of the Week
Lewis Humphreys
Congratulations to this week's 'Star of the Week': Lewis Humphreys, Graduate Intern in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method.
In their nomination Andrea Ledwig, Taught Programmes Manager, and Becky Matthams, Department Manager, said: "Lewis really hit the ground running when he started working with us, just before Welcome Week. He has been an immense help, always happy to jump in and assist. He sees when an additional hand is needed and comes up with fantastic new ideas for the Department. Also, he does everything with a big smile and it is an absolute pleasure working with him. Thanks for being our star, Lewis!"
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 24 November. Articles for this should be emailed to us by Tuesday 22 November.
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