Campus News
New Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Medicine and Health Sciences announced
August 16th, 2023
Professor Sube Banerjee has been appointed as the university’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, joining from the University of Plymouth to take up the role from 1 November.
Professor Sube Banerjee is currently Professor of Dementia and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Plymouth. He led the development of the England’s National Dementia Strategy and his research focusses on improving care and services for people with dementia including the evaluation of new treatments.
Sube is internationally recognised in applied health research and in the formulation and delivery of health and care strategy. At Plymouth Sube brought together six health schools across two faculties into a single coherent and highly functional faculty.
He steered the faculty successfully through the pandemic, managed the growth of a major new teaching facility, and helped the faculty deliver growth in research and quality improvement in education.
Confirming the appointment, Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West said:
“I am delighted to be able to welcome Professor Sube Banerjee to this role as part of our executive leadership team. His experience in leadership, change management and policy development will be an asset to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and to the university.
“I know that he will continue to build on our excellent reputation in medicine and health sciences. I look forward to working with Sube to realise our university’s ambitions and develop the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences for the next generation of health professionals.”
Professor Sube Banerjee said:
“I am tremendously excited to be joining the University of Nottingham and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. There are fantastic opportunities out there to improve, through brilliant education and research, the health of the populations we serve locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
“The University of Nottingham is really well placed to deliver this. I have been very impressed by the great work being done in the faculty and I can’t wait to help grow inclusive and integrative health-related research and education across the university and into our partners’ health and care systems.”
Sube is a distinguished figure in the field of old age psychiatry and dementia care, known for his extensive contributions to research, education, and policy development.
He is a leading authority in understanding and addressing the complex challenges posed by cognitive disorders in our ageing population.
Driven by a passion for improving the lives of people with dementia and their families by improving the quality of care available to them, Sube’s work has significantly advanced the understanding of quality of life in dementia and inequalities and inequities in dementia care, resulting in innovative approaches to care and support. He is committed to improving education, research and leadership in medical and health sciences.
Sube has worked extensively with national governments on the development of health strategies and also with the World Health Organisation on its Global Action Plan for dementia.
He is a Trustee of Alzheimer’s Society, an elected member of the executive of the Medical School’s Council, co-director of the NIHR Dementia and Neurodegeneration Policy Research Unit, and a member of the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care.
Tags: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medical School, Sube Banerjee
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Vice-Chancellor surgery sessions: Tuesday 29 August, 2.30pm – 4pm
August 16th, 2023
The next set of ‘staff surgery’ sessions are now available for colleagues to discuss any issue with Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West, on Tuesday 29 August 2023, from 2.30pm–4pm.
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:
- Thursday 21 September, 11.30am-12.30pm (via Microsoft Teams)
- Tuesday 24 October, 2pm-3.30pm
- Monday 27 November, 2pm-3.30pm
Tags: Surgery, VC staff surgery, VC Surgeries, VC surgery, Vice-Chancellor Surgeries
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Free period products – Project Period now a central university service
August 16th, 2023
Project Period has moved from a grassroots pilot project to an established university service supplying toilets and other key locations across all seven UK campuses with free period products.
We have purchased of 1.2 million Grace and Green tampons and pads that are organic, sustainable, plastic-free and chemical-free, meaning they have an indefinite shelf life.
These products are provided for free and are available in the majority of campus buildings, with signposting for those who need them. At the start of the project, products were dropped off by volunteers who collected them from a central location.
Now, Estates and Cleaning colleagues replenish stocks in the same way that they do for toilet roll or hand soap. Building operation managers are the main point of contact to set up new locations or address any issues
By moving to a centralised provision of products, the university can take advantage of lower prices – storing the pads and tampons on King’s Meadow Campus for distribution across the university over the coming years.
Project Period was launched in 2020 in the Biodiscovery Institute by Professor Chris Denning and colleagues. It has since spread across University Park, Jubilee, Sutton Bonington, King’s Meadow and Queen’s Medical Centre, Derby and City Hospital campuses.
The project aims to address issues of being ‘caught short’, period poverty, culture and education, including promoting open and inclusive conversations around menstruation and menopause.
The pads and tampons offered by the Project already help protect the environment and will go further by soon trialling reusable period products – including period pants and menstrual cups – with staff and student volunteers. This will help gauge need and interest in this type of product, and whether it should be something the project supplies in the future.
For more information on Project Period, the locations where free products are available, and to suggest new locations to stock products – visit our website.
Tags: free pads, free tampons, periods, PP, Project period
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Catering on campus: plans to update facilities
August 16th, 2023
As we review the catering provision at the end of this financial year and make plans for a new session in September the university has, in line with our Catering Strategy, adjusted our catering offer across our campuses and will be making some changes in time for the new intake.
We will invest to improve the appearance and the offering in the following locations:
Monica Partridge
The café will be moved to an improved location in the building with a more extended offer. It will continue to sell Starbucks coffee.
Hallward Library
Following student feedback, we want to continue to offer a high-quality barista-style coffee, but at a reduced price. We are excited to begin working with the charity Change Please.
By purchasing their coffee beans and additional products we will be supporting a local branch of the charity who give 100% of their profits to helping people experiencing homelessness, providing a living wage job, housing, training, onwards opportunities — and a fresh shot at a life; again as set out in the Catering Strategy under our ‘People’ and ‘Planet’ pillars.
Jubilee Campus
We will open a new coffee pod in the Atrium, providing a more sustainable coffee and working with a new partner – Cafeology who are a local supplier and will be roasting a bespoke bean for the University of Nottingham.
Aspire Café will also launch the Change Please concept with a refresh in branding and design.
After careful consideration, we are planning to resize and reshape some of our operations. This will make them more efficient, take pressure from some of our teams that have vacant posts, help to control costs for the university, and put us in a stronger position in the future at the same time as improving the customer experience.
The following sites will not reopen in September:
- The Hemsley Café
- The Law Café
- Clive Granger Café
- Business School Library Café – Jubilee
- Boots, Portland Building
Currently under review
- Cavendish Café
All staff currently working at these units will be redeployed into our other units. At present, these are not permanent closures.
We will continue to monitor footfall and sales across campus and how that may impact the future use of these cafes.
There are also improvement projects taking place across all our campuses this summer, including several other cafes, and additional morning services and specialist diets in some of our halls.
We look forward to sharing those updates with you as we improve the places where we work and create more development and work opportunities for our teams.
Tags: catering, Catering on campus, Catering Strategy, University catering
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Annual Leave Purchase Scheme enrolment coming soon
August 11th, 2023
Enrolment for the Annual Leave Purchase Scheme is due to open on Monday 28 August 2023 and close on Monday 25 September 2023.
Eligible staff* will be able to purchase up to 1 week of additional holiday (pro-rata for part time staff) for the coming holiday year.
Any annual leave purchased through the scheme needs to be booked in line with the normal holiday booking processes and staff are encouraged to discuss plans with their manager prior to enrolling.
As many will have leave planned during August, alongside planning for the new academic year, advanced notice of the application window has been provided to increase time to discuss any plans with your line manager.
More guidance including a manager guide, FAQ’s and how to enrol can be found the annual leave web pages.
*Please note, staff on fractional term time only contracts are not eligible to apply to this scheme as the nature of their role requires them to be present during term-time and, therefore, it would not be possible to agree additional leave.
Tags: Annual Leave Purchase Scheme
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Professor Nick Miles to return as Professor in Engineering
August 11th, 2023
After concluding a successful second term as Provost of UNNC, Professor Nick Miles will be returning to the University of Nottingham in January 2024 as Professor in Engineering and will be supporting the university with its fundraising in Asia.
Between 2015 and 2019 Professor Miles was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement, responsible for the university’s global engagement strategy and for the advancement portfolio in promoting philanthropy and alumni development.
His first term as Provost of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), was between 2010 and 2015, when he led the University through a period of substantive growth from 2,000 to 6,500 students and 300 to 800 staff achieving a turnover in excess of £50 million. During his second term as Provost, from 2019 onwards, he successfully led UNNC through the challenges of the pandemic.
Professor Miles received the Camilla Award from the City of Ningbo (2013) in recognition of developing international education, the Zhejiang Province West Lake Friendship award (2014) and an OBE for services to UK/China educational interests in Her Majesty The Queen’s 2013 Birthday Honours list.
He is Professor of Mineral Processing with teaching and research experience in particle processing, waste minimisation and recycling, minerals engineering and coal preparation. He has been a member of assessment panels for EPSRC (chair and panel member), NERC, Defra, DTI, ECSC and EU.
Recruitment to appoint the next Provost for the University of Nottingham in China will begin shortly.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West said: “I would like to extend my thanks to Nick for the excellent work he has delivered across his two terms as Provost for the University of Nottingham in Ningbo, China.
“He has achieved a huge amount and we look forward to welcoming him back to the UK campus to support the Faculty of Engineering and fundraising in Asia.”
Tags: Nick Miles, Professor Nick Miles
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National Student Survey 2023 results
August 10th, 2023
Results for this year’s National Student Survey (NSS) are now available to view online via Tableau. The data can be filtered by department and provides information on the wider sector.
Further analysis on department and course data will follow in the coming days, along with open comments. Headline data can be found below.
Please note that there were significant changes to the NSS this year, which will impact data analysis and make year-on-year comparisons difficult. The five-point strongly agree / strongly disagree Likert scale has been replaced with a four-point response scale and the neutral option removed. The summative ‘Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of my course’ question has also been removed, alongside a number of other small changes.
Having had their data omitted in recent years due to student boycotts, Oxford and Cambridge both appear in this year’s data sets, which has had a mixed impact on scores across the Russell Group and the wider sector.
As an institution, our mean score across all questions is 3.03 out of a possible 4.00. This puts us below the sector benchmark of 3.06 but places us 11th within the Russell Group, a notable rise of three positions compared to 2022.
Our highest scoring questions include ‘How well have the library resources supported your learning?’ with a mean score of 3.34, ‘How often is the course mentally stimulating?’ with a mean score of 3.27 and ‘How easy was it to contact teaching staff when you needed to?’ with a mean score of 3.26.
Based on aggregated responses, three schools/departments achieved an overall satisfaction score of 90% or more – Veterinary Medicine (94%) and Education (92%) and Classics & Archaeology (90%).
Learnings will be used to identify areas for improvement and inform NSS action plans at a local level.
Thank you to everyone who helped spread awareness of this year’s campaign. Your support is instrumental in allowing us to collect feedback from students and make improvements to their experience. Your support this year helped us to achieve a 72.44% response rate – our highest since before the pandemic.
About the NSS
The annual survey is made up of 27 questions covering course teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, learning community, student voice and student union.
Tags: National Student Survey, NSS
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Nottingham’s universities invite community to help shape research
August 10th, 2023
Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham are inviting people from the local community to tell them about challenges they are facing – so research can be conducted to help find solutions to their issues.
This joint initiative from both universities – The Co(l)laboratory programme – brings together academia and the community to support growth and development within communities, broaden prospects, drive change, and improve wellbeing.
The Programme is about to head into its second year, and so the team is looking for ideas from communities on which local challenges the next research projects should focus on. These will then be undertaken by PhD students also from the community and not necessarily from a traditional academic background. These projects will be selected for the impact and real difference they will make to the lives of people living in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
The first cohort of PhD students are well underway, and topics they are researching include:
- Community boxing clubs as a pathway to reduce violence
- Racial barriers to maternity care
- Workplace coercion and modern slavery in the community
Nottingham residents and community groups are being invited to submit their ideas about which local challenges the next projects should take on by visiting the Notts Voice in Research website.
Academics from Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham will be coming together with local community-focused organisations for a series of Co-Creation Workshops across August and September. Together they will build upon the ideas from local communities to create new research projects that which are more responsive to the needs of local communities.
The next round of research projects will open to applications from prospective PhD students from mid-October 2023. More details can be found here.
More information about the Co(l)laboratory Programme can be found here.
Co(l)laboratory is part of the Universities for Nottingham Civic Agreement. A collaboration between Nottingham’s two world-class universities and eight key anchor institutions (including the local healthcare trusts, integrated care system, the city and county councils, the local enterprise partnership and Vision West Nottinghamshire College); the agreement sets out partners’ commitment to working across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, for the benefit of our people and place.
The project is funded by Research England as well as both Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham.
Tags: Collaboratory, research, Universities for Nottingham
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Professor J.E. (Teddy) Thomas, 1933-2023
August 10th, 2023
Former Dean of the Faculty of Education and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the university, Professor J.E. (Teddy) Thomas, passed away aged 89 on Tuesday 11 July 2023.
A major figure in adult education nationally and internationally, he served as Reader and later Robert Peers Professor of Adult Education at the University of Nottingham, as well as Deputy Head and Head of the Department of Adult Education.
He was also a leading figure in the university more broadly: both Dean of the Faculty of Education and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the university from 1990 to 1994.
An excellent scholar – he was awarded a higher doctorate (D.Litt.) by the University of Nottingham – he had sixteen books and many articles and chapters to his name.
Also a firm advocate of research in adult and lifelong education, he worked tirelessly for SCUTREA (the Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults), chairing it during the early 1980s – as well as helping to co-found the International Journal of Lifelong Education, editing it for its first seventeen years.
He campaigned energetically for university adult education, not only in the East Midlands but nationally, as a member of the Universities Council for Adult Education.
Teddy began his career in the British Colonial Service (in what is now Zambia); from Africa he moved to the prison service in Britain.
After taking up a post in the adult education department at Hull University, he moved to Nottingham in 1979 as Reader and Deputy Head of the Department of Adult Education.
His attitude to research made his appointment particularly welcome.
Alongside his predecessor as Robert Peers Professor and Head of Department, Michael Stephens, he contributed much to developing adult education as a strong field of university study and research.
In particular, the university’s Department of Adult Education became a leading publisher in the field. Teddy was key to this, as one of a triumvirate of editors (with Michael Stephens and Kenneth Lawson) of the book series, ‘Nottingham Studies in the Theory and Practice of the Education of Adults’.
An event to celebrate Professor Thomas’ life will be held on Wednesday 23 August 2023 at 2pm at the Church of Holy Rood, Village Street, Edwalton, NG12 4AB.
This will be followed by a late lunch and refreshments.
Tags: Obit, obituary, Professor Teddy Thomas
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Adelaide-Nottingham Alliance: new education fund
August 7th, 2023
The Adelaide-Nottingham Alliance has opened a fund to encourage further collaborations in global education between the two universities.
The alliance aims to deepen deepen engagement between the University of Adelaide and the University of Nottingham, increase the impact of our research and generate further opportunities for international collaboration, while developing the next generation of students with a truly global mindset.
To support this, the Alliance Partnership Education Seed Fund Programme will support collaboration in areas of education, training and mobility.
The programme opens for applications on Monday 7 August 2023 and will close at midnight Sunday 27 August 2023 UK time (8.30am, Monday 28 August 2023 in Australia).
The programme will support engagement, networking and the building of relationships between peers, academics and professional staff, sparking potential future collaborations between Nottingham and Adelaide.
The programme will encourage initiatives that:
- Share best practice in teaching and learning, and student experience initiatives
- Foster cross-cultural understanding for students
- Develop an active alumni community to promote the alliance develop professional links between the two universities.
All applications will be considered; however, applications will be seen favourably if they fit within the alliance’s priority areas for collaboration:
- Global Food Systems
- Intelligent Health
- Sustainable Futures
More on the fund and how to apply
This new programme follows a seed fund (currently closed) set up to encourage and develop high-quality research collaborations between our universities.
The Adelaide-Nottingham Alliance builds on years of collaboration in research and education, including an International Doctoral Training Partnership, enabling PhD students to undertake a research degree at both universities at the same time.
In May 2023, Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West and colleagues from Nottingham visited South Australia for the inaugural Adelaide-Nottingham Alliance Symposium, which discussed our commitment to work together to address the challenges shared by Australia and the UK, and our partners across the world, and invited experts and Joint PhD students to share their insights.
Tags: Alliance Partnership Education Seed Fund Programme, Education fund, Education funding, research, research seed funding, University of Adelaide
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