Campus News
Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, 1944-2023
September 19th, 2023
The university is saddened to hear that Professor Sir Ian Wilmut passed away on Sunday 10 September 2023 at the age of 79.
Professor Wilmut is best remembered for leading the programme of research at the Roslin Institute during the 1990’s that led to the birth of ‘Dolly the sheep’, the first animal to be cloned from an adult cell.
This has frequently been heralded as one of the great scientific achievements of the 20th century, the legacy of which continues to this day, particularly in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine.
However, Ian’s interests went further than that, and his legacy is punctuated by numerous significant achievements spanning the last half century.
Ian was born near Stratford-upon-Avon in 1944 where he spent his early years before moving with his family to Scarborough. It was at school there that he developed his interest in biology, and weekend work on local farms in Yorkshire inspired him to study Agriculture.
Few colleagues at the university will realise that Ian undertook these studies at the Sutton Bonington Campus here at Nottingham; although he saw the light at the end of year one and switched to Animal Science!
Later in 1973, Ian would accept a position in Edinburgh at what is now known as the Roslin Institute. A major component of his early research was directed towards understanding the cause of embryonic loss during pregnancy in sheep and pigs.
It was around this time, during the mid-1980s, that Roslin embarked on a programme of work to create genetically modified livestock. One goal was to create transgenic livestock capable of secreting human proteins in milk that, upon extraction, would be suitable for therapeutic use.
The appointment of Keith Campbell as a post-doctoral fellow in Ian’s lab around 1990 was the turning point in the team’s endeavours. In the series of studies that followed, the first cloned animals (sheep) derived from a cultured cell line were born in 1995 (i.e., Megan and Morag), to be followed a year later by the birth of the first animal to be cloned from a fully differentiated adult cell (i.e., Dolly). The world was never quite the same again.
Dolly was significant because her ‘creation’ demonstrated that fully differentiated and highly specialised cells within the body contained all the genetic information required to create a new individual.
The birth of Dolly, therefore, overturned existing dogmas and was the catalyst for rapid progress subsequently in stem cell research and regenerative medicine more generally.
Ian picked up numerous accolades over the years, including the 2008 Shaw Prize which he shared with Professors Keith Campbell and Shinya Yamanaka.
Ian’s passing, following on from that of Keith a decade or so earlier, marks the end of an incredible era in the field of developmental biology.
Our collective thoughts and condolences are with Ian’s family and friends at this difficult time.
Tags: Obituaries, Professor Sir Ian Wilmut
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New event manager’s Community of Practice launched
September 19th, 2023
The university offers community of practice groups for Project Managers and Change Managers. Our new Event Manager’s Community of Practice builds on this model and is open to all university colleagues who have any involvement in organising events.
The SharePoint Hub has been designed with colleagues both new to events and seasoned experts in mind. It offers a repository of information from event conception through to evaluation and all things in between.
The Community of Practice (CoP) is an opportunity to meet colleagues from across the institution who manage and have involvement in event planning to network, share best practices and pool resources.
The first CoP session will be taking place at the Brailsford Suite, Orchard hotel, on Thursday 26 October 2023 at 9.30am, with networking and breakfast sandwiches from 9am.
During this session we will be showcasing the newly developed SharePoint site, a fantastic resource for managers of all levels of experience and will be highlight the support services available from Nottingham Venues.
Our ambition is to host a CoP session per term, discussing topics at the forefront of colleagues’ minds and raised by community members.
If you would like to find out more about the CoP, events hub and future sessions, please sign up to join the community.
Register now to attend the first Events Manager’s Community of Practice session on Thursday 26 October 2023.
Tags: Community of practice, event, Event managers community of practice, events, Events team
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SharePoint site launched for illumination and flag raising requests
September 19th, 2023
The university has created a new SharePoint site where people can find information on requesting a building illumination or flag raising event.
The university’s Trent Building stands as a symbol of academic excellence and community engagement, and we are proud to be able to support important messages, causes and campaigns both nationally and locally through the illumination of the building and the raising of flags.
Many requests are received both internally and externally for illuminations to the Trent building and flag raising events.
In order to facilitate illuminations and flag raising, certain criteria must be met to make sure that the university is protecting its reputation and aligning with wider strategic goals.
Decision over the light up and/or flag raising request is made by the university’s Registrar, working alongside colleagues in External Relations.
Staff who request a light up or a flag raising event should complete our online form (for illuminations) or email (for flag raising) at least four weeks before the event.
Find more information about the process of requesting an illumination or a flag raising event on the new SharePoint site.
Tags: Flag raise request, Flag raising, Illumination, light up, Trent Building light up
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New leadership structure for Research & Innovation team
September 19th, 2023
The current role of Director of Research and Innovation will be replaced by two roles; Director of Research & Innovation Strategy and Director of Research & Innovation Operations.
Both of these roles will report directly to Margaret Monckton, Chief Financial Officer.
Research & Innovation has an important role to play in the delivery of the university strategy and we have been keen to ensure that we have the right leadership structure in place to give the team the best opportunity to play its role.
Niall O’Loughlin, currently Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange Excellence & Strategy will be taking up the new role as Director of Research & Innovation Strategy with effect from 1 October 2023.
Rachel Brereton will continue in her role as Director of Research & Innovation Operations.
This structural change to the leadership team means that Niall and Rachel will jointly be leading the Research & Innovation team.
Chief Financial Officer at the university Margaret Monckton said:
“I’m very pleased to welcome Niall into the new role of Director of Research & Innovation Strategy and very much look forward to working closely with both Neil and Rachel as they pull together a transition plan over the coming weeks.
“I am sure the university joins me in wishing Niall the best of luck with his new role.”
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Restructure for Finance management team
September 19th, 2023
The university will be making a change to the management structure of the Finance team.
For the past six years, the university has had two Finance Director roles, held by Helen Lawrenson and Sally Blackamore.
Following the announcement that Helen will be taking up a new role as the Programme Director for Medical & Health Sciences Strategic Change, the university has opted not to fill her vacant role and to instead combine the two Finance Director roles into one, with Sally Blackamore heading up the Finance team as Finance Director.
Sally will report directly to Margaret Monckton, Chief Financial Officer.
Margaret said: “The past six years has worked really well and has enabled the Finance team to change and improve, stepping up to the challenges that the university faces.
“I have enjoyed working with both Sally and Helen as they jointly led Finance and moving to the new structure will help to build on that momentum.
“Sally has done a fantastic job over the last six years as Financial Controller, making a real difference to the university including helping people understand finances and keeping control as we managed the impact of Covid.
“She has a huge amount of respect across the university and I am sure will be a superb Finance Director.”
Tags: finance, Finance management team, Finance team, Helen Lawrenson, Sally Blackamore
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New Deputy Director of Governance and Assurance announced
September 19th, 2023
Following a comprehensive selection and appointment process, the university is pleased to announce Kev Thompson as new Deputy Director of Governance and Assurance.
Kev joined the university in 2021 as Associate Director of Risk Management and has made a tremendous contribution both internally within the Governance and Assurance department and in developing the risk management process – driving the successful implementation across the university.
Jason Carter, Director of Governance and Assurance said:
“I am delighted to make this announcement and wish every success to Kev in his new role.
We have made some significant progress in Governance and Assurance over the last few years and I am confident that Kev will help me continue this with his expertise, passion and drive.”
Kev will take up the new role from Monday 2 October 2023 and the university will shortly commence the search for a new Associate Director of Risk Management.
Tags: Governance and Assurance, Kev Thompson, risk management, Risk management and assurance
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Introducing Automatic Restarts for Windows
September 18th, 2023
As part of our continuing security improvement initiatives, Digital and Technology Services (DTS) will be starting monthly ‘Automatic Restarts’ for university-managed Microsoft Windows devices.
Microsoft provide monthly updates to keep our Windows systems secure and, they also occasionally introduce new productivity features to help us in our work. It is the responsibility of DTS to ensure that all systems receive and install these patches. If devices are not restarted regularly, they are more vulnerable to cyber threats.
When will this start?
From Monday 18 September 2023, the rollout will start with a pilot group consisting of DTS, Libraries, IT Reps and Governance & Assurance staff.
In October the rollout will be extended to the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Social Sciences pending approval and success of the pilot. In November, we will complete the rollout to the rest of the university.
Who and what devices does this apply to?
The monthly Automatic Restarts will only apply to Windows devices that are university-managed, i.e., Desktops, Laptops, Surface Pros. Note, PCs in central computer rooms and known servers already have their own separate restart rules.
Such devices are issued to staff, associates, and postgraduate researchers (PGRs). Please note, if a user of their device change roles to a different Faculty and take it with them, the device remains associated to their original role.
What will happen each month?
In the week following the second Tuesday of each month, users get a pop-up message prompting the user to restart the device at a convenient time. A future date and time of two weeks will be shown. Users can snooze the message up until 24-hours before the deadline.
Then a final 24-hour warning pop-up will appear before the device automatically restarts, this cannot be snoozed. 
The two-week countdown and pop-up message will only appear when the device downloads its updates and are ready to be installed.
What if a Windows device cannot be restarted?
We are aware that some devices will need to be excluded from the Automatic Restart process. An exemption form will be included in future communications for consideration. The exemption is by device, not its user(s).
Your feedback and FAQs
To help us assess how effective the initiative is, we are asking all users of the initial pilot group to provide feedback on the experience and any issues by submitting this form.
For more details and FAQs about automatic restarts, visit this Workspace page. We welcome your feedback for any improvements.
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People and Culture Survey update: September 2023
September 18th, 2023
Results of the 2023 People and Culture survey were published a few months ago and action planning has begun to take shape across the university.
Colleagues overseeing action planning locally in departments and Schools have a number of tools available to support with this process, which can be found on the People and Culture Survey Sharepoint site.
Ideally, action plans should be added to the People Insights dashboard by the end of September 2023 so that the process maintains momentum.
Action plans do not have to be fully defined at this point but they should indicate a clear intent to move the identified areas forward. The dashboard can be accessed via the personal email link shared with you by People Insights.
Part of the Enabling Leaders to Act on People Survey Data training (workshop four) focused on action planning. The workshop resources can be found here as a reminder.
Colleagues are encouraged to think about how to use this learning to develop their three actions now that the data is readily available.
To support your local action planning process the key actions from the People and Culture Strategic Delivery Plan have been added to the dashboard.
These will provide a university-wide context and can be accessed via the ‘Organisational actions’ tab on the homepage of the dashboard. They can also be accessed on the People and Culture Survey SharePoint site.
If you need further support with turning insights into actions, please contact Claire Jagger, Associate Director of Organisational Development and the OD team, who can discuss and support your next steps.
Tags: Action planning, People and Culture Survey, staff survey, survey results
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Discounts available on Mandarin lessons from the Nottingham Confucius Institute
September 13th, 2023
An early bird discount is available to all University of Nottingham staff and students on Mandarin lessons from The Nottingham Confucius Institute
The Nottingham Confucius Institute offers evening and weekend Mandarin classes as well as a range of private, in-person and online lessons all taught by experienced language teachers from Chinese universities.
Registration for the next round of group lessons closes at 12:00 noon on Thursday 28 September. Those group lessons begin from Monday 2 October. The early bird discount is available to staff and students until Thursday 14 September.
Tags: discount, Mandarin, Nottingham Confucius Institute
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Industrial action update – strike action, end of marking and assessment boycott confirmed
September 12th, 2023
The University of Nottingham is among 140 universities across the country that may experience national industrial action by members of the University & College Union (UCU), in the form of strike action between Monday 25 and Friday 29 September.
We have also been informed that UCU will not be continuing the marking and assessment boycott activity, although all other action short of a strike – where staff work to contract and do not undertake voluntary activity – will remain effective.
The University recognises that any period of industrial action will be challenging, appreciates that colleagues do not undertake industrial action lightly and respects their right to participate.
We also recognise that students will be concerned about the potential impact of industrial action on their studies and the University’s priority will be to minimise this.
The university has published staff information about the industrial action as well as student FAQs and we will keep staff and students updated with further information as it becomes available.
For further information, please visit:
- Universities and Colleges Employers Association (national pay negotiators)
- USS 2020 Valuation (national USS pension)
- University and College Union (UCU)
Tags: ASOS, Industrial Action, MAB, Marking and assessment boycott, strike, UCU, USS
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