Campus News
Highly cited researchers (and their teams) are recognised as world leaders
November 17th, 2023
Eight University of Nottingham academics are among the world’s most highly cited researchers.
The prestigious 2023 Highly Cited Researcher list is collated by Clarivate from Web of Science data to celebrate scientists and social scientists who demonstrate significant influence through publication of multiple papers.
Each researcher selected has authored multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for their field(s) and publication year over the past decade. However, citation activity is not the sole selection indicator. A preliminary list is then refined using qualitative analysis and expert judgement.
Professor Tom Rodden, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, said:
“Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, the Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000. I am delighted that the influence of our social scientists and scientists has been recognised in this way and it demonstrates the excellence of the research we do at Nottingham. It’s worth highlighting that while individuals are named this also recognises the work of substantial research teams, all of whom have contributed to the production of word-class outputs.
“While celebrating this success, I am mindful that citations are only one indicator of research excellence, and we need to understand them with care.
“The university is a signatory of DORA – the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment – and is committed to changing culture around publication metrics and supporting diversity, with the value and impact of all research outputs and a broad range of impact measures taken into account beyond journal-based metrics.
“Requirements from external funders are also changing, focusing on the impact of the research output rather than which journal a researcher has published in.
Nevertheless, it is tremendous to see our academics recognised by Web of Science and Clarivate as an indicator of the quality of the work at Nottingham.”
Clarivate’s 2023 Highly Cited Researchers from the University of Nottingham are:
Gerardo Adesso, Professor of Mathematical Physics, School of Mathematical Sciences
Morgan Alexander, Professor of Biomedical Surfaces, School of Pharmacy
Stephen Alexander, Associate Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, School of Life Sciences
Malcolm Bennett, Professor of Plant Sciences, School of Biosciences
Simon Gosling, Professor of Climate Risks & Environmental Modelling, School of Geography
Tomas Jungwirth, Research Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy (and also Czech Academy of Sciences)
Stamatios Sotiropoulos, Professor of Computational Neuroimaging, School of Medicine
Ana Valdes, Professor of Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology, School of Medicine.
In addition, Jonathan Lynch of Pennsylvania State University, a former Professor of Root Biology in the School of Biosciences, who has a research affiliation with Nottingham, makes the 2023 list.
Seven of the Nottingham researchers have featured a number of times in the annual highly cited researcher lists, with Professor Malcolm Bennett achieving 10 successive appearances. Professor Ana Valdes makes her debut for 2023.
Professor Gerardo Adesso, who makes the list for the third successive year, said: “It is wonderful to see inspirational research at the University of Nottingham being recognised around the world.
“This could not have been possible without the crucial contribution of my colleagues and junior group members in the School of Mathematical Sciences and across the university, and of many international researchers with whom I have enjoyed discussing and doing science in recent years.
Working as a team and across boundaries is challenging, stimulating and ultimately essential to the delivery of high-quality research. I would like to share this recognition with all my co-authors and collaborators.”
Find out more about DORA and the use of responsible publication here.
Tags: Clarivate
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Our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals
November 17th, 2023
The university’s commitment to helping secure the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is highlighted in new online resources.
The goals are a call to action to work together to achieve a safer, fairer and more sustainable future.
New webpages, a video and downloadable report highlight how we are tackling the 17 SDGs across four areas:
- Our research
- Our teaching and learning
- Our engagement and impact
- Our policies and operations
Visit our Sustainable Development Goals webpages
Watch a video about the university’s leading role in tackling the goals below:
We hope these resources will be useful in communicating the university’s commitment to sustainability in all that we do.
Professor Robert Mokaya OBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement, said: “I am delighted to highlight how the university is aligning its activity across these areas in support of each of the 17 goals.
“By mapping our activity to the SDGs, we further focus our commitment to transform lives and strengthen partnerships to support resilient, fairer communities in the UK and across the world.”
Tags: SDG, sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, UN
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Your Nottingham Alumni Awards 2024 – submit your nominations and volunteer to join our panel
November 17th, 2023
Nominations for the 2024 Your Nottingham Alumni Awards are now open.
The Your Nottingham Alumni Awards celebrate our alumni community and share the stories of how they carry Nottingham’s values into the world.
No two paths or experiences are the same; that’s what makes our community so special. Our awards are designed to reflect this rich diversity and the amazing contributions being made in so many different ways.
Submit your nomination
We want to hear about alumni whose achievements inspire you and who make a positive difference to those around them. Fill in our online form and complete your entry by Wednesday 17 January 2024.
Find out more and submit your nomination >
Apply to volunteer to join our selection panel.
Nominations for the Your Nottingham Alumni Awards will be shared with a selection panel, who will score each nomination against the criteria.
We are looking for a mixture of staff from across all levels and job families to apply to volunteer as panel members.
Last year our panel was under-represented in staff from job levels 2 and 3, so we would be especially pleased to hear from interested applicants at these levels.
We actively encourage applications from staff who identify as members of often underrepresented groups. Our alumni community is hugely diverse and it is important that our panel reflects this.
“I would like to say a huge thank you for letting me be a part of the panel. As a level 2, I don’t often receive opportunity to make an impact or be a part of something of this scale and I really appreciate you choosing me to be a part of the panel.”
Quote from 2023 panel member
What is required
Successful applicants will join the panel for one cycle. Previous panel applicants are welcome to apply.
As a member of our panel, you will be required to:
- Complete 1 hour of training in the week commencing 15 January 2024 via Teams.
- Commit around 2 hours to review the nominations in early February 2024 (electronic file sent for you to review).
- Attend a panel meeting to discuss the nominees on Thursday 22 February 2024 from 1.30-4.30pm.
Please gain your line manager’s approval for this time commitment before submitting an application.
Submit your application
To apply to volunteer to join our selection panel, fill in our online form by Friday 8 December 2023.
Submit your application here >
Questions
If you have any questions, please contact Lily.Fairless@nottingham.ac.uk in the Alumni Engagement team.
Tags: Your Nottingham Alumni Awards
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The Nottingham Student Experience Survey – call for support
November 17th, 2023
The Nottingham Student Experience Survey (NSES) opens on Monday 20 November.
This survey is open to all non-final-year undergraduate students and is an opportunity to provide feedback on what we’re doing right or what they think we could do better.
Staff can support the survey by encouraging students to get involved. Promotional resources, including lecture slides and social media posts, can be found in the folder below:
Survey links will be sent to students’ university email addresses, so please do encourage them to check their inboxes. Students may not receive their email until Wednesday 22 November, but the survey can be accessed using this survey link and their student ID number and year of birth in the meantime.
The deadline for completing the survey is Monday 18 December.
Upon completion there is also an opportunity for students to be entered into a prize draw to win one of two £500 Love2Shop vouchers. The terms and conditions for the prize draw are available here and should be included in any communications to students where possible.
Thank you for your support.
Tags: Nottingham Student Experience Survey, NSES, NSES 2023
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Disability Recognition Month 2023
November 15th, 2023
Each year, the university celebrates Disability Recognition Month. This year, we’re celebrating between Thursday 16 November and Saturday 16 December.
Disability Recognition Month is a time to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of disabled people to British society. It also serves as an opportunity to inspire and empower future work in this area.
This year we would like to amplify our commitment to being an organisation that promotes a social model of disability which includes:
- Fostering an open, inclusive, and transparent culture
- Improving awareness and understanding
- Encouraging disclosure
- Improving support
Highlights of the month include:
Open Conversations: Our Lived Experience
Monday 27 November 2023, 2pm – 3pm
Katherine Linehan and Claire Jagger have an open conversation about their personal experiences of disability, explore the challenges they have faced and what they have learnt about themselves and others.
This is Us: Disability and the Law
Monday 27 November 2023, all day
The School of Law would like invite students to take part in a poster competition to win Amazon vouchers. Put your creativity to the test to create a poster on the theme ‘Disability and the Law’. You may want to celebrate an important person in the legal sector or a key figure in the disability rights movement, highlight research on disability and the law or a significant moment in the law on disability rights. Use it to raise awareness of disability in law, advocate for change, or reflect on the current state of the law. Text, photos, images, art, creative writing – artistic expression is actively encouraged!
Neurodiversity and Creative Practices: A Workshop with Burong Zeng
Tuesday 5 December 2023, 11am – 1pm
This workshop draws attention to the role of creative practices such as creative writing and art in supporting people living with neurodiversity. In this interactive workshop, artist and writer Burong Zeng will share her experience of how to come to terms with her neurodiversity. She will introduce her art practices, explaining how neurodiversity has inspired her creative practices. The talk will be followed with a Q&A and some creative exercises.
Find a full list of events to get involved with for this year’s Disability Recognition Month celebrations.
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QS World University Rankings 2025: ready to help?
November 14th, 2023
Nottingham is in the top 100 of the 2024 QS World University Rankings – and for the 2025 rankings, colleagues across faculties and professional services departments are asked to again support the university’s strategic approach to strengthening our international reputation.
Universities worldwide are assessed on criteria including academic reputation, employability and sustainability. Colleagues are being invited to identify, nominate and engage with academics from other institutions and employers, who will be put forward to complete a QS World University Rankings reputation surveys.
The deadline for nominations is Monday 27 November 2023.
Why is this important?
The QS World University Rankings are extremely significant for international student recruitment, particularly in markets such as China and the Middle East. Being placed as a top 100 world university (and 17th in the UK) is also significant for the university being eligible for international government-sponsored bursaries for students.
The QS World University Rankings for 2024 was the largest ever, taking in 1,500 universities across 104 locations, and assessing the distribution and performance of 17.5 million academic papers and 41 million associated citations. The rankings also take in the expert opinions of more than 144,000 academic faculty and 98,000 employers around the world.
Find out more on the QS World University Rankings hub page. You’ll find documents and resources, including a step by step guide, MS forms to use for nominating contacts, and a spreadsheet if a school or department wishes to collate nominations.
Also look out for communications from your school or department asking for academic and employer contacts you may wish to nominate to take part in the QS surveys.
Please note: the university’s global reputation team won’t email the contacts you have nominated – we believe a personal approach to your contacts works best.
The survey is weighted towards international academic contacts, so please bear this in mind. For nominations for the employer survey, please suggest personal contacts with external organisations that have an affinity with the University of Nottingham.
Taking part in the QS rankings return is entirely optional for schools and individuals – and the great response last year to the surveys was a key factor in the university’s return to the world top 100.
Any questions? Please contact louisa.robb@nottingham.ac.uk.
Tags: QS, QS World Rankings, QS World University Rankings
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Vice-Chancellor surgery sessions: Monday 27 November, 2pm – 3.30pm
November 14th, 2023
The next set of ‘staff surgery’ sessions are now available for colleagues to discuss any issue with Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West, on Monday 27 November from 2pm – 3.30pm.
Booking your session
To register for a session, please email BA-VC-Surgery@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk with your preferred date from the list below and a brief agenda for the meeting.
Places are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, so colleagues are encouraged to book early.
You will be contacted within two working days of your request confirming the date and time.
Further surgery sessions are available on:
- Wednesday 17 January 2024, 1pm – 2.30pm
- Monday 19 February 2024, 9.30am – 11am
- Wednesday 20 March 2024, 2.30pm – 4pm
- Wednesday 17 April 2024, 12.30pm – 2pm
For further information please visit the VC Surgeries webpage.
Tags: Staff surgeries, VC Surgeries, Vice-Chancellor's surgeries
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Race equality in practice: summer school for rising researchers
November 14th, 2023
The university’s first ever Summer School for Rising Researchers took place over 10 days in June and July 2023.
The school is an intensive and interdisciplinary training programme for current and recent UoN students of Black, Asian, or other racially minoritised backgrounds.
The pilot project aimed to give participants an opportunity to learn research methods, build professional networks, and receive support for applying to PhD places and scholarships.
With the support of Dr Maria Arruda, it was funded by the university’s Researcher Academy and led by Dr Neema Begum (Politics) in collaboration with Dr Hannah Thuraisingam Robbins (Music and Black Studies), Dr Pearl Agyakwa (Electrical and Electronic Engineering), Dr Shardia Briscoe-Palmer (Sociology), and Dr Kyle Harrison (Medicine).
As well as showcasing a diverse range of experiences, progressions to academia and research interests, accommodation, meals and travel expenses were covered for all participants to minimise financial barriers to participation.
Eleven students participated in the programme, which included a research showcase featuring interdisciplinary and decolonial approaches to geography, law, politics, and business from racially minoritised colleagues from around the country.
The team led workshops on research methods, race in science, researcher self-care, and citation politics.
We also enjoyed panels on community-led research, delivered by current students on UoN’s Black Studies PhD programme and on race and diversity in universities with international speakers including Mary Tupan-Wenno (ECHO Center for Diversity Policy), Dr Saran Stewart, Director of Global Education and Professor Frank Tuitt, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of the University of Connecticut.
Talking about the Summer School, one of our student participants wrote “Building connections with researchers from around the world was an invaluable aspect of the programme, and I am grateful for the friendships and professional networks I formed during this time.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of the Summer School was the opportunity to engage in inspiring discussions about race, science, politics, and power relations in research with distinguished professors, the ICAREforJustice community, and fellow participants.”
Find out more about the university’s race equality commitments here.
Tags: bame, BAME community, Race Equality, Race equality charter, Race Equality in practice
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Funding boost to enhance training for the next generation of social scientists
November 14th, 2023
Research leaders at the university are delighted to be among several higher education institutions to receive significant funding to advance research training provision for the next generation of social scientists.
The university is one of eight that form the Midlands Graduate School (MGS) partnership, which is set to receive the funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to support more than 300 PhD students.
The money will enable the recruitment of up to 68 PhD candidates a year for the next five years – a total of 340 PhDs – helping to ensure Midlands universities remain at the forefront of methodological advancements in social science.
The Midlands Graduate School is a consortium led by the University of Warwick, with academic partners including the University of Nottingham, Aston, Birmingham, Nottingham Trent, Leicester De Monfort and Loughborough. Collectively they form a Doctoral Training Partnership, whereby all eight partners work together to provide sector-leading training and support for researchers who are outstanding in their fields. The first cohort of students will be recruited to start in October 2024.
Professor Marek Korczynski, Academic Director at the University of Nottingham, is also Deputy Director of Midlands Graduate School.
He said: “I am delighted at the announcement of this funding, which means MGS will be able to recruit 68 PhD scholars for the next five years. What is so exciting and distinctive about these scholarships is that they not only support cutting-edge research by postgraduate researchers, but they also foster wider advanced skills that are crucial for the longer-term career development of these researchers.
“We are so proud that the University of Nottingham is one of the eight universities in the MGS that the ESRC has judged can provide high-quality, open and inclusive homes to so many postgraduate researchers.”
Through the funding award, the Midlands Graduate School will be at the forefront in training the next generation of social scientists and position itself as a central England hub for social science training and impact.
Postgraduate researchers will work within a stimulating multi-centre research environment where cutting edge training is responsive to the changing needs of a range of social science disciplines.
All PhD students in the Midlands region will have access to a range of opportunities and events, ensuring the benefits and impact of the MGS are wide reaching.
The consortium will collaborate closely with non-academic partners and engage with a wide range of local, regional, and national organisations from the public, private, and third sectors to ensure the funded projects have real-word social and economic impact.
The ESRC officially announced the funding on 7 November. It provided details of their investment in a total of 15 doctoral training partnerships (DTPs) over the next five years, spanning 89 different institutions.
The Midlands Graduate School is an accredited Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership funding across the UK.
It provides a range of opportunities for delivering exceptional doctoral training across a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields of the social sciences, delivering cutting-edge and impactful research across the Midlands region.
Tags: ESRC, ESRC funding
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Professional Services Awards 2023 – event video
November 14th, 2023
It has been just over a month since the second Professional Services Awards, which welcomed 280 Professional Services colleagues to come together and celebrate collective achievements over the last year.
We shared the full list of winners within each category, as well as the event sway which showcased all nominations.
We would now like to share the event video, which shows a recap of the evening.
Thank you again to all Professional Services teams who contributed to making this event such a success.
If you would like to be involved in the next Professional Services Awards or have any feedback on this year’s event, please email the awards inbox ui-ps-awards@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk
Tags: Professional Services Awards 2023, PSA, PSA 2023
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