City News for staff January 2012

January 2012 | issue 05

This month sees the ďŹ rst of our 2012 graduation ceremonies recognising the achievements of our students.

In this month’s City News you can also read about exciting research underway at the University and learn about the submission process of our Strategic Plan to Council.

CIT Y NEWS

NEWS IN BRIEF EU research funding City made four successful grant applications totaling around €1M for Marie Curie Individual Fellowships; which come under the EU’s research funding mechanism, the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The grants provide full funding for three European research fellows to conduct joint research at City and for a City research fellow to undertake study in the USA.

Professor Susan Nash Professor Nash, Dean of The City Law School, will step down at the end of the 2011/12 academic year after nearly four years in the role. Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Curran said: “I would like to thank Susan for her considerable contribution as Dean, both to her School and the wider University.” The appointment process for a new Dean of Law started this month.

Shipping influence Professor Costas Grammenos has been ranked 65th out of the 100 most influential people in shipping by Lloyd’s List. Professor Grammenos was praised for his ‘massive contribution to teaching and research in global shipping trade and finance’.

About City News City News is produced for University staff each month by Marketing and Communications.

If you have any feedback on the magazine or suggestions for content in future issues, please email: christopher.leonard.1@city.ac.uk

Library services upgraded

Prizes for City students

January saw the completion of several exciting developments as part of the University’s commitment to improve library services at Northampton Square and enhance the student experience.

Graduate Library Centre This new state-of-the-art facility is the result of an extensive refurbishment of the former Student Hub. The Graduate Library Centre incorporates study and IT workspaces and builds on the work completed last summer to provide 200 additional silent study spaces. This development has been informed by feedback from postgraduate students asking for dedicated silent study and additional computing spaces.

Financial Resources Suite This new suite, located on level five of the Library, enables students to access real-time market data and live news coverage, as well as historical financial, market and economic information. This is a facility unrivalled by most other university libraries.

Further development of the Library is planned for 2012. This work will include the relocation of the undergraduate law collection from the Library to the Pool area in College Building this Easter. u

David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science (left), presented academic excellence awards to two undergraduate students from the School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences on behalf of the Salters’ Company.

The awards are made annually to two outstanding City students to provide support for their further studies. Alberto Bonifacio (centre left) and Sabbir Ahmad, studying Aeronautical Engineering and Electrical Engineering respectively, received the Salters’ Prizes for Exceptional Achievement in Physical Sciences at a ceremony at the impressive Salters’ Hall.

Professor Sanowar Khan (centre right), Deputy Dean of the School, said: “The Salters’ Company is one of the livery companies of the City of London with whom the University shares a special bond. We are exceptionally grateful that it continues to support our students financially and recognises their academic excellence each year.” u

Student surveys Monday 6 February marks the launch of City’s ‘Your Voice’ student surveys, the National Student Survey (NSS) and the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES).

Students are being encouraged to participate in these important surveys to help the University identify what is going well or not so well and in turn help to improve the student experience.

All surveys will be accessible at: www.city.ac.uk/surveys2012

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University celebrates research excellence

Improving online video

A new section on City’s website outlines the University’s preparations for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission in 2013. This section will be updated in the coming months with information and guidance on the REF. Find out more at: www.city.ac.uk/ref

City’s fifth Annual Research Competition last month celebrated the breadth and variety of research undertaken at the University as academic staff presented their research proposals to a panel of distinguished judges.

Professor Sir Roger Jowell

Dr Jo Wood (below left), Reader in Geographic Information Science, received the prestigious £50,000 ‘Excellence Award’ for his presentation ‘How does a City move?’. His proposal was for research into how people move within a city to inform the development of a model to predict movement patterns.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Curran (below right) also awarded additional research prizes to nine academics from four Schools, in recognition of the quality and potential impact of their research.

You can find out more about the competition and the research featured on our staff intranet homepage (click Research Support and Events). You can also read examples of research in our ‘Research at City’ feature on pages 8-9. u

NEWS IN BRIEF REF microsite

Dr Simone Stumpf and Dr George Buchanan, from City’s Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design, are working with Hub TV – a video production company based in Clerkenwell – to improve online video interaction.

The two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership, funded with a £100k grant from the Technology Strategy Board, aims to develop a better online experience for consumers and in turn boost revenues for brand owners.

Current online video interaction limits viewers to clicking links to related information via surrounding menus or embedded prompts.

The Partnership will develop a more intuitive approach, enabling viewers to interact with video content itself. For example, in an online fashion video the viewer might click on a garment worn by a model to get more information or to make a purchase. u

Graduation ceremonies Graduation ceremonies for all Schools are being held from Thursday 26 January to Monday 30 January at The Guildhall in London.

Further information and live coverage of the ceremonies will be available on the City website.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor Sir Roger Jowell, Director of the Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, who passed away on Christmas Day 2011.

Sir Roger made a lasting contribution to City, not least through his leadership of the European Social Survey. He will be greatly missed by colleagues and students alike. A memorial service for him will take place in the spring.

Knighthood for former City Chancellor City’s Chancellor in 2010/11, Alderman Michael Bear, has been knighted in the New Year Honours list for services to regeneration, charity and the City of London. ViceChancellor Professor Paul Curran said of the award: "Sir Michael is a former Chancellor, Visiting Professor and a great friend, supporter and honorary graduate of City University London. We are delighted that he has received such an honour."

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NEWS IN BRIEF City is the greenest London university City has been named the most energyefficient university in London and ninth in the UK according to the Environment Agency.

This impressive rating is based on City’s performance under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme.

Canadian recognition Esther, The Remarkable True Story of Esther Wheelwright – Puritan Child, Native Daughter, Mother Superior, a nonfiction book by Julie Wheelwright, MA Creative Writing (NonFiction) Programme Director, has been placed in the Top 100 books of 2011 by Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

George Daniels MBE George Daniels, widely acknowledged as the world’s greatest living watchmaker, passed away last year. Daniels’ only formal training was his attendance at horological classes in the 1950s at Northampton Institute (now City University London), before embarking on his distinguished career.

£30,000 Scholarship Mid-career IT professionals have been given the opportunity to win a £30,000 Scholarship for City’s unique Master of Information Leadership programme. The essay competition was run in collaboration with Computer Weekly and is sponsored by IBM.

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Student Engagement Showcase 15:00 Wednesday 1 February, Northampton Suite The Learning Development Centre’s event focuses on student engagement, including a debate on assessment practice in higher education. Staff are invited to: • see this year’s projects to support student engagement; • find out more about the Learning Development Centre; • help design a physical learning space for students; and • network with colleagues and students.

City Future Fund success Prior to Christmas, City held the most successful telephone fundraising campaign in its history for the City Future Fund.

The fund provides a variety of support for students in need. Student volunteers (below) made contact with more than 1,700 alumni, many of whom donated to the fund. The total amount raised over the last five years is in excess of £118,500.

You can find out more and donate to the City Future Fund online: www.city.ac.uk/alumni/city-future-fund u

To find out more email: ldc@city.ac.uk or register online: https://webapps.city.ac.uk/forms/14970

Redesign of City’s teaching and learning spaces The Learning Spaces Group (LSG), in conjunction with the Learning Development Centre, is reviewing room utilisation in Northampton Square with a view to creating new bespoke spaces for interactive learning.

The LSG is keen to talk to staff about the design of the new spaces and secure their participation in early pilots.

To sign up, email: ldc@city.ac.uk, or to find out more read the LSG’s blog: educationalvignettes.wordpress.com u

Raising awareness of fraud The Internal Audit team has a responsibility to help the University prevent and detect fraud and corruption.

It has produced a newsletter for staff which provides guidance on how you can help to protect the University against fraud.

You can find out more on our intranet at: http://www.city.ac.uk/blogs/staff-news

The SuRe Pile, researched and developed at City, has undergone testing by Balfour Beatty

Patent promises greener building foundations A tubular concrete pile developed and patented at City could result in greener and re-usable building foundations.

Enterprise at City Dr McNamara comments: “We received very useful feedback from the delegates. The event has shown that there is significant interest in the concept but there is a lot more research that needs to be done. I am confident that with the support of our industrial partners we will make further progress with the SuRe Pile concept.” u

Concrete piles commonly form the foundations of tall buildings in city centre developments where the ground is soft. They are constructed by drilling a hole – often 30m deep and 1-2m in diameter – and filling it with reinforced concrete. The technique has been used since the 1960s.

The disadvantage of this traditional approach is that it leaves the ground in urban areas blighted by concrete piles which cannot be reused when redevelopment takes place, often because their condition and structural integrity is unknown or they are simply in the wrong place. The lifespan of many commercial buildings is only 25-30 years and the concrete piles typically outlast the buildings they support.

The SuRe Pile design, developed by Senior Lecturer Dr Andrew McNamara with colleagues in Civil Engineering, addresses this problem by creating a hollow cavity in the centre of the pile. This reduces the amount of concrete used and hence the building's environmental impact. It also enables foundations to be future-proofed. When a site is redeveloped, the cavity will enable easier inspection and testing and a smaller pile may be constructed within it to enable its re-use.

Dr McNamara says: “The legacy of concrete piles in densely packed cities such as London is becoming a real problem; it can take two days and £30,000 to remove an old pile on a redevelopment site. Our aim is to ensure that future generations don’t have to face this issue by providing the construction industry with a more adaptable alternative.”

Strong and stable The SuRe Pile concept has undergone testing by Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering at a Wembley construction site and was found to be as strong and stable as traditional designs. Dr McNamara now hopes to develop the product further by working with other industrial partners.

City’s Enterprise Office hosted a launch evening for SuRe Pile last year which attracted more than 60 representatives from piling contractors, consulting engineers, architects and property developers.

City’s green patent portfolio Several examples of City’s intellectual property are promising a more sustainable future: • Heliex Power (www.heliexpower.com) is a start-up company developing machines that turn waste heat into energy, using technology based on the work of City's Positive Displacement Compressors Group.

• A City aeronautical engineering patent enabling wind turbine blades to generate energy more efficiently is the basis of another start-up. Totempower (www.totempower.com) is developing wind turbines for domestic and commercial use.

• Recent research suggests that the Levytator – a curved escalator developed by Emeritus Professor Jack Levy, could use half the energy of traditional escalators. Discussions with potential manufacturers continue.

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City News looks at the role City’s Council plays in the development and approval of the University’s Strategic Plan

How City will obtain Council approval In March, City University London’s Council will be asked to approve the University’s Strategic Plan.

Since the launch of City’s Vision for 2016 last spring, Schools and Professional Services have been developing their plans to support the delivery of the Vision and Council has regularly considered elements of the emerging Strategic Plan at its meetings.

This will set out how City will achieve its Vision: to be a leading global University committed to academic excellence, focused on business and the professions and located in the heart of London. It will build on the initiatives already underway, including City’s significant investment in the appointment of research-excellent academic staff.

In October 2011, Council agreed to invest in the appointment of up to 50 new research-excellent academic staff in advance of the full Strategic Plan being approved. This was to address concerns about the time available for the University to improve the overall quality of its research in time for the REF deadline.

City News looks at the University’s governance structure in the context of the Strategic Plan approval process.

Streamlined governance City’s governing body is its 21-member Council which comprises 14 external members and seven drawn from staff and students. The University’s Senate, three Committees and the Vice-Chancellor report to Council. City’s governance structure is similar to other UK universities but with some important differences.

In 2006, City became the first University to receive Privy Council approval for a ‘slimmed down’ Charter and Statutes. This allows City to self-determine much of its governance framework.

City has a comparatively smaller number of subCommittees than many other UK university Councils and more frequent Council meetings (six times a year rather than the more common three or four). This provides Council members with a greater opportunity to participate in all debates on proposals brought to them for decision than is generally the case in other UK universities.

“Council’s role is to govern and it has defined those matters on which it must decide, but it has given considerable delegated executive powers to the ViceChancellor,” explains Frank Toop (right), University Secretary.

By Chris Leonard

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This comparatively streamlined governance structure benefits City when facing time-critical developments such as the investment in academic staff prior to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) deadline in 2013.

Draft Strategic Plan Currently, the University is in the process of finalising its draft Strategic Plan. A new Strategic Planning Committee has been established, reporting to the Executive Committee, to assist with the co-ordination of planning activity.

A draft version of the Strategic Plan will be considered by the University Executive Team (UET), the University Executive Committee (ExCo) and Senate before being submitted to Council for discussion and if appropriate, approval in March.

The key components of the Plan will be presented to Council this month, including investment options and the main strategic themes, together with proposed key performance indicators. This will give Council the opportunity to provide early input and feedback before it considers the Strategic Plan more fully in March.

“Once Council approval has been received for the strategy, the Vice-Chancellor will be charged with implementing the Plan while Council will continue to monitor the University’s progress against agreed performance indicators,” explains Toop.

“Council will regularly review the risks in implementation and their mitigation using information provided by UET and ExCo.”

The Governance of City University London Council

Senate

Council is the University’s governing body and has ultimate responsibility for its affairs.

Council’s primary responsibilities are approving the University’s strategic direction, monitoring the University’s performance and ensuring that the University has adequate systems of control and accountability.

Senate has delegated authority for the assurance of academic standards and for enhancing academic quality. Boards of Studies and other Senate sub-committees report to Senate.

Senate comprises up to 37 members including an equal number of exofficio posts (senior officers and chairs of committees) and posts elected from the academic staff. The membership also includes up to four student members.

One of Council’s most important tasks is the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor. Council delegates responsibilities to the ViceChancellor, Senate (regarding academic quality and standards) and three Committees: Audit and Risk, Remuneration and Corporate Governance and Nominations.

Although not part of the formal governance of the University, it is part of the University’s management structure (in a similar way to ExCo).

Like ExCo, the purpose of UET is to assist the Vice-Chancellor in the leadership and management of the University.

University Executive Team (UET)

Chair of Council is The Hon Apurv Bagri (above).

Vice-Chancellor The Vice-Chancellor combines the roles of Chair of Senate and Chief Executive and is the University’s most senior academic member, reporting to Council. The Vice-Chancellor has executive and governance responsibilities and is advised

by UET and ExCo (see below).

The Vice-Chancellor can approve individual expenditure of up to £3M. Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Curran

UET comprises the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Pro-ViceChancellors, Chief Financial Officer and HR Director.

Executive Committee (ExCo) ExCo comprises the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Pro-ViceChancellors, Deans of the Schools, Chief Financial Officer and the HR Director and very recently has been extended to include six Directors of Professional Services.

The ExCo is not part of the formal governance structure of the University, which is not obliged to have one. It acts on an advisory basis to the Vice-Chancellor who reports ExCo discussions to Council.

You can find out more on our website: www.city.ac.uk/about/ city-information/governance u

Executive Committee awayday November 2011

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Highlights of recent research at City University London

Research at City Informing mothers-to-be City academics have contributed to research showing important differences between midwifery units, home births and obstetric units in terms of the benefits and risks for mothers and babies.

Professors Alison Macfarlane and Christine McCourt contributed to the Birthplace in England Research Programme of almost 65,000 'low risk' births.

The study – conducted with Oxford University, University College London, King’s College, the Royal College of Midwives and the National Childbirth Trust – is the first of its kind to provide meaningful data to mothers-to-be.

Professor McCourt says the research identifies areas to be improved to support the safety and quality of maternity care and provide equitable access to care: "The safety, lower costs and fewer interventions seen in midwifery units suggest we could see their prevalence increased in the future, alongside an increase in the number of midwives."

Professor Macfarlane adds: "While the results of many smaller studies completed previously have pointed in the same direction, the Birthplace study is different because it has a large enough sample size and sufficient rigour in its design to enable robust conclusions to be drawn."

Read more on the British Medical Journal website: www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7400

City Research Online Have you uploaded your research outputs to the University’s research repository?

City Research Online (City News, November 2011) will help you raise the visibility of your research and help the University to collate and monitor its research.

City-led research prompts government initiative for tele-health in NHS City is leading the largest study into tele-care and tele-health, the initial findings of which have prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to announce a major drive to deliver health technology to millions of NHS patients.

Initial findings show that tele-health could reduce A&E visits, emergency and elective admissions, bed days and mortality rates. The research findings have prompted the Prime Minister to announce a major push to encourage the use of tele-care and tele-health in the UK. In a speech the Prime Minister said: "We've done a trial, it's been a huge success and now we're on a drive to roll this out nationwide with an aim to improve three million lives over the next five years with this technology.”

Professor Stanton Newman, Dean of the School of Health Sciences, says it is promising that the initial results are already influencing healthcare delivery.

"Once the study is completed and published, we hope to have significant findings that will provide the Department of Health with clear direction on how technology can be used to improve patient outcomes,” he explained.

Find out more at: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk Professor Stanton Newman

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Mergers and acquisitions shown to give a short-term boost to the UK economy Anna Faelten

Low risks for new nuclear builds

Research at City

Research by Professor Philip Thomas in the School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at City has informed a report to help the UK Government and the nuclear industry make policy and investment decisions regarding nuclear power.

The SPRing Report, published with the Universities of Manchester and Professor Philip Southampton, includes Thomas comparative analysis by Professor Thomas of the costs and safety considerations associated with different energy options.

Cass Business School’s M&A Research Centre has shown that domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) provide an average short-term boost of £178M to the UK economy.

The research was commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to inform the debate over whether M&A activity generates or destroys value in the UK economy. It used a sample of 3,200 deals involving a UK target between 1997 and 2010.

The research found that, in addition to adding short-term value to the economy, corporate takeovers stimulate growth in company revenues and employment in the longer term.

Anna Faelten, Senior Researcher in the M&A Research Centre, led the study. She says: “These results show that although M&A transactions continue to be challenging for corporates, for those companies that get it right, acquisitions can add significant value to their businesses.”

His research found that nuclear power could become competitive with gas-powered electricity in 2015 on a cost-basis, while onshore and offshore wind power are likely to take until 2032 and 2040 respectively to achieve equivalent competitiveness.

Professor Thomas’ research assessed the impact of future power plants on human mortality, taking into account the entire fuel supply chain plus construction, operation and decommissioning. He found that coal power has the highest impact compared with other technologies, mainly due to the effects of pollution emissions, but that nuclear has the lowest impact.

He says: “This may seem surprising but nuclear plants are generally small, require low volumes of fuel and produce large amounts of energy. This mitigates many of the safety and environmental risks that are posed by gas extraction or the large-scale production of steel for wind turbines.” u

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Yasmine Permaul, a first year BA Journalism student at City, reviews Nutcracker! – the latest production from ballet choreographer and Islington resident Matthew Bourne

‘Crack’-ing British ballet Dorian Grey, Edward Scissorhands and Lord of the Flies may not seem to be suitable stories for ballets, but British choreographer Matthew Bourne has enjoyed phenomenal success with adaptations of these stories produced by his New Adventures dance company.

New Adventures’ version of Nutcracker!, which has just ended its London run at Sadler’s Wells theatre in Islington (and is now touring nationally), demonstrates Bourne’s continued ingenuity 15 years after his first interpretation was staged.

Bourne’s artistic visions challenge the status quo of the ballet world.

Alongside his contrasting stories is a unique spin on the original ballets in his work: his Swan Lake has an all-male cast; Cinderella is set in the Blitz; and Nutcracker! features a doll given to a Dickensian orphanage.

Humour in dance This Christmas, audiences at Sadler’s Wells were treated to a comical feast with Nutcracker! From the beginning of the overture, humour is entwined in the dance as Clara and the other orphans individually run and stare in awe at the audience. The contrast from the opulent traditional Nutcracker ballet is striking, as Bourne paints an impoverished first act

rather than the original’s Christmas party set in a ritzy Victorian manor.

In his programme notes for Nutcracker! Bourne says: “The Christmas party that opens most productions of The Nutcracker represents a fantasy in itself for most audiences. Therefore, when we are transported into Clara’s fantasy world we have really just gone from one idyllic fantasy to another.”

Towards the end of the first act, the Nutcracker – who takes the form of a slightly creepy ventriloquist doll – transforms into an Abercrombie and Fitch-style male model, complete with tanned abdominals and white dungarees. If this seems exotic, then it is nothing compared to the second act in which Clara’s imagination reaches SweetieLand. The characters include the likes of vain liquorice allsorts, mischievous gobstopper boys and fluffy pink marshmallow girls, somewhat reminiscent of the cast of The Only Way is Essex.

Matthew Bourne is an award-winning choreographer, with five Olivier Awards and two Tony awards to his name. He is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells and his company – New Adventures – is a resident company of the theatre.

By Yasmine Permaul

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Nutcracker! launches a year of celebrations for Bourne in 2012, commemorating ten years of New Adventures and 25 years since Bourne founded its previous incarnation, Adventures in Motion Pictures. This year will also see the world premiere of his latest work, Sleeping Beauty. u

Meet your colleagues

Dr Haogang Zhu, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Fellow in the School of Health Sciences.

for years and have never needed such a system. Some others also don’t like the idea that the system may take away the some of their responsibility for patients.

What do you do at City day to day?

How do you overcome it?

I recently received a NIHR Post Doctoral Fellowship to develop clinical decision support systems. In a nutshell I’m working on developing computer programmes that help doctors to make efficient clinical decisions, based on the latest research.

It is important to make clinicians realise that with the development of new clinical measurements, such as those provided by imaging techniques, it is nearly impossible to understand all of the acquired data without the support of automated quantitative analysis.

It involves research on integrating medical data, clinical guidelines and clinicians’ experience to provide software that will optimise decision making, improve the quality of care, decrease practice variations and save costs. The key modules of the system include knowledge mining from large datasets, computerised deployment of clinical guidelines and the interface between the decision support system and clinicians.

It is also almost impossible for busy clinicians to keep up-to-date with the latest clinical guidelines when they are working. However, these ‘dirty jobs’ can be robustly completed by an automated system which is designed to extract intrinsic information constantly and objectively from data and to computationally embed clinical guidelines into all decision making procedures.

Name and job title?

I am very pleased to get the grant, which is worth about £290,000 over three years as they are given only after peer review and interview. I’m working directly with Professor David Crabb at City with mentors from UCL (Professor David GarwayHeath) and Oxford University (Professor John Fox) and in collaboration with Yale University’s School of Medicine.

What is your biggest challenge in your job?

It is sometimes difficult to persuade some clinicians that they will be able to make more efficient and effective decisions with quantitative support using computer software.

Some of them claim that they have been making clinical decisions daily

Moreover, a decision support system, like an aircraft’s auto-pilot system for pilots, does not take away responsibility away from clinicians; it only improves the quality of care and prevents those unnecessary mistakes that humans are more likely to make. This is why it is called a decision support rather than a decision making system.

If you didn’t do your job what would you be doing?

Quantative analyst in a data-hungry environment or a very unsuccessful musician.

What do you do in your spare time and to relax?

Music, video games and teaching my 10-month-old baby new tricks.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

My family, friends and those who have passed away and I miss dearly.

Favourite place in London?

Richmond Park

Favourite film?

The Sixth Sense

Favourite book?

Analects of Confucius

Favourite song/music?

Heal the World by Michael Jackson

www.city.ac.uk/staff 11

Dates for your diary

Olive Tree Middle East Forum

Lunchtime Concert: Robert Keeley (piano)

18:00–19:30 Tuesday 8 February, Room A130 College Building

13:10–14:00 Friday 10 February, Performance Space

www.city.ac.uk/events

Learn about cross-conflict dialogue and what it means to those involved with Olive Tree Scholarship students, playwright Damien Gorman and psychiatrist Dr Anton Obholzer.

City Lights: Spectral Lands

Scholarships Evening 2012

19:00–21:00 Tuesday 14 February, Performance Space Concert featuring performances from Andrew Babcock, SukJun Kim, Adrian Moore, Simon Emmerson and Denis Smalley.

18:00–21:00 Wednesday 1 February, Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre

F1 in Schools - London and SE England Heat

The Development and Alumni Relations Office’s 4th Annual Scholarships and Prizes Awards Evening to recognise students of outstanding ability.

Teams of local children race the miniature cars they have designed and built that can reach speeds of 40 miles per hour.

Staff are invited to come and watch the action.

Lunchtime Concert: Martin Vischnick (Guitar) 13:10–14:00 Friday 3 February, Performance Space

Bridge Lecture: UK energy policy – will it deliver, can it deliver?

City University London Quiz

18:00–20:00 Wednesday 8 February, Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre

Conference hosted by the Challenging History group to foster collaboration and understanding between academia and the heritage sector.

Dr David Clarke, CEO of the Energy Technologies Institute, presents this year’s Bridge Lecture, on national strategic planning for designing ‘lowest cost’ UK energy systems.

Lunchtime Concert: Annie Yim (piano)

17:45–21:00 Friday 3 February, Saddlers Bar City’s quiz night. Contact Graham Miller in Finance (ext: 3270) for information.

10:30–17:00 Wednesday 8 February, Great Hall, College Building

Staff training and development For more information about staff training email: evan.bates.1@city.ac.uk or visit: www.city.ac.uk/sd/index

Employment Law – Employment Contracts

Mentoring Skills for Professional Staff

Writing Grant Proposals

Wednesday 1 February

Thursday 9 February

Wednesday 8 February

Lunchtime Concert: Pocket Caravan 13:10–14:00 Friday 17 February, Performance Space

Challenging History Conference Thursday 23 February–Saturday 25 February, City University London and Tower of London

13:10–14:00 Friday 24 February, Performance Space

Risk Assessment training for academic staff To be completed in conjunction with Cardinus online training, Effective Risk Assessment for Academic Staff, on our Intranet (under Training and Development).

Risk Assessment (Academic staff in Cass Business School)

Retirement Planning workshop

I did that course!

Friday 17 February

Nikki Kolyvani, Alumni Network and Relations Manager at Cass, took the Mentoring Skills course, ‘an enjoyable course with good content’.

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies

“I now have a good understanding of the role of a mentor and a structure to apply the process of mentoring.

Having a framework has given me confidence in the methods I will use,” she said.

Wednesday 22 February

Tuesday 7 February Risk Assessment (Academic staff in School of Health Sciences) Tuesday 14 February Risk Assessment (Academic staff in Schools of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences & Informatics) Thursday 23 February

Employment Law Training – Managing Performance & Sickness Thursday 23 February

Risk Assessment (Academic staff in Schools of Arts and Social Sciences) Friday 2 March

Indentifying Research Funding Thursday 1 March

Risk Assessment (Academic staff in The City Law School) Monday 5 March