News for Staff & Students
64 Research Insights – Bringing forgotten music back to life Durham Book Festival September - October 2019
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Dialogue
September - October 2019
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Tell your story Please send your contributions and feedback to dialogue@durham.ac.uk
Welcome back after the summer and to a new issue of Dialogue. I hope you had a restful break and feel refreshed for the start of the new academic year. The delivery of new facilities to enhance the wider student experience is now well advanced. Over the summer we took possession of the first and major part of our £32 million upgrade of the Sports and Wellbeing Park at Maiden Castle. Over the summer, 700 children were among the first to try out the new sports hall and they will enjoy the re-worked older buildings at Maiden Castle when they are completed in November. We expect the Assembly Rooms Theatre on the Bailey to open at about the same time. I am also pleased to say that Durham County Council has granted us planning permission for an £8 million investment in infrastructure improvements around South Road, which we will begin later this autumn. Also on South Road, and very importantly for the future of the University, we took possession of our new £40 million Teaching and Learning Centre on 17 September 2019, just ahead of a planned Open Day on 20 September and then extensive public lectures and our daily teaching schedule. The Centre provides state-of-the-art facilities for our students and outside term time will allow us to host major academic conferences, further supporting the City economy. I’d like to extend a warm welcome to everyone who joined the University in September, including colleagues in the Executive and across our academic Departments, Colleges and Professional Services. I hope you enjoy your time at DU and flourish here. I would also like to say a special thank you to anyone who has recently left the University and to flag that the Executive will miss in particular the hard work and good humour of Martyn Evans and Christine Merrell, both of whom have served the University exceptionally well over many years. If you get a chance this autumn, I would encourage you all to visit the events at the Durham Book Festival, which runs from 5-13 October. The University is once again supporting the event, and many of our staff will be speaking or performing at the Festival. Finally, I hope you will join me in welcoming our new students matriculating this term, and in wishing them all a successful start in Durham. Have a great start to the new academic year and a successful term.
Professor Stuart Corbridge Vice-Chancellor and Warden
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Contents issue
64
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14
September - October 2019
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24
15
4 Get social
14 Libraries and museums
Ulrike Klaerig-Jackson, Communications Co-ordinator
5 Helping our staff to help local schools
15 Ceremonies and services at Durham Cathedral
Contributors
6 Northern Accelerator – an innovative collaboration
16 Health and Wellbeing at Durham
7 Community relations – round-up
17 Human resources update
Editor
Daryl Dowding, Museums and Attractions; Claire Hall, Karen Frost, Leighton Kitson, Mark Tallentire, Sophie World, Marketing & Communications; Danielle Philips, CIS; Yvonne Flynn, Greenspace; Vicky Parrish, Ceremonies Unit; Claire Clarke, Human Resources; Caroline Dower, Counselling Service; Dr Adetayo Kasim, Durham Research Methods Centre; Laura Day, PVC Colleges & Student Experience Office; Jordan Christie, Research & Innovation Services; Julie Wilson, Equality and Diversity
8 College round-up 10 Research Insights – Bringing forgotten music back to life 12 Durham Book Festival 13 Spotlight feature: The Durham Research Methods Centre
18 Greenspace 20 CIS – New for '19 21 AppsAnywhere and Everywhere 22 Northern Power Women 23 An Insight into 24 What’s on
CUR/09/19/107 Durham University and Durham University logo are registered Trade Marks of the University of Durham. Unless otherwise stated, all material in this publication is copyright of the University of Durham. The University makes every effort to ensure that the information contained here is accurate. Please note that the University’s website is the most up to date source of information and we strongly recommend that you always visit the website before making any commitments.
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September - October 2019
Social Our favourite posts, tweets and videos over the past two months to show you what's been happening around the University!
Top 3
Photo credit @katieosha
tweets We’re looking forward to welcoming lots of new students to Durham soon. Are you one of them? Our blogger Livia gives you a list of her top 10 things to do in Durham, make sure you tick them all off! Read her blog: http://fal.cn/33FcI
Wishing the best of luck to our English Literature student Henry on @BritishBakeOff tonight! Find out a bit more about Henry here: http://fal.cn/33Exv
Photo
of the month
We’re so excited that the @durhamcathedral tower is open again! PhD student @katieosha finally got to climb the 352 steps to check out the beautiful views of our wonderful city, a rite of passage for many Durham students!
Video
of the month from YouTube youtube.com/watch?v=K7Qhb592xho
What happens when world-leading astronomers and #Durham school kids get together to make art? Find out, here! #physics @DurhamPhysics @LorraineCoghill @ogdentrust pic.twitter. com/7EKcwfaFgT
Revealing the true colours of quasars Quasars are some of the most energetic objects in the universe. Now our astronomers have identified a rare moment in the life of these galactic beasts that could shed light on how quasars and their host galaxies evolve.
@durhamuniversity
@Durham_Uni
@DurhamUniversity
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Dialogue
James’ story James is an Executive Assistant in our Faculty of Social Sciences and Health, and also Chair of Governors at Aycliffe Village Primary School – his son’s school. Since joining us last year, James has been able to use volunteering leave to help the school achieve a ‘Good’ rating from Ofsted. He says the time has been invaluable, helping him manage his commitments as a governor and his regular job. It’s also helped him develop skills in leadership, strategic thinking and resilience.
Helping our staff to help local schools As a university, education is what we’re all about. But this doesn’t start and end with our own students. We also work hard to support education in schools, particularly in our local area. One way we do this is by supporting our staff to serve as school governors.
running information sessions for anyone interested in becoming a governor.
What help we offer…
We’re pleased that over the past year, the number of staff serving as governors has risen by nearly two-thirds, to 55.
Staff can apply for up to five days’ paid leave per year to volunteer for charities and good causes, and staff who serve as governors can use their volunteering leave for this role.
The network is also growing in strength. Recently, we held an end-of-year event with guest speaker Julia Millard, a local governor and part of the National Leaders of Governance organisation.
We also run a network for governors, and share news, updates and professional development opportunities.
Tell me more…
Increasing our support, making a bigger impact Last year, we stepped up our support by setting up the governors’ network and
If you’d like to know more about the support we offer staff to serve as school governors, please contact our Access and Engagement team.
“I’d highly recommend becoming a Governor to other staff. When things go well in school, you get a real sense of achievement. I’ve had plenty of moments when it’s been challenging, but it builds your resilience skills to come through those experiences. It also allows you to gather demonstrable evidence of skills that you might not have the opportunity to gather through your day-to-day job. “It’s also great to see the children – I love nothing more than talking to them about what they’re doing, and they’re so proud to show off their written and artistic pieces of work. “I think sometimes we think of voluntary work as additional to work. But all those experiences that you have through volunteering make up who you are, and can be really useful in furthering your career and making your positive impact on society.”
Staff can apply for up to
five days’ paid leave per year to volunteer for charities and good causes
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September - October 2019
Northern Accelerator spin-outs from Durham University include: MAGNITUDE BIOSCIENCES - helping companies discover and develop new age-related treatments faster. Magnitude Biosciences aims to serve the global field of ageing research and drug discovery, providing an automated service to find health-span extending drugs faster and more cost effectively than current approaches. Dr David Weinkove, academic founder and CEO, said: “Ageing research is becoming more and more important in understanding conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Our methods could help companies discover and develop new drugs or food additives that could improve the amount of time a person spends living a healthy life.” INTOGRAL LIMITED – this spin-out has developed a world leading technology to support the diagnosis of eye diseases.
An innovative collaboration between Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland universities is driving a step change in the commercialisation of research to help address regional imbalance and strengthen the North East knowledge economy. Northern Accelerator brings together academics and business leaders, with a host of funding and support, to form sustainable businesses that create more and better jobs. The programme is enabled by £4.9million funding from Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund and builds on a previous European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme to embed entrepreneurial business leaders into university start-ups at the earliest stage. The initiative is already making a demonstrable impact, with partner universities creating an impressive ten spin-out companies in the 2018/19 academic year, compared to an average of 1.8 per year in the five years preceding Northern Accelerator. Northern Accelerator is also shortlisted in the THE Awards 2019 for Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year.
Dr Tim Hammond, Director of Commercialisation and Economic Development at Durham University, and Northern Accelerator project lead, said: “With a pipeline of innovation from a strong research base and teams with excellent technology transfer experience, our collaborative approach is developing untapped potential and transforming the North East’s university innovation infrastructure.” Northern Accelerator support includes: • Executives into business: A pool of experienced and talented business executives to match to opportunities to lead university spin-outs • Ideas and impact hub: Training to help recognise and exploit intellectual property to encourage academics to embrace commercialisation opportunities
Intogral specialises in the development of artificial intelligence systems capable of analysing pictures far more quickly and accurately than humans can. CEO Bill Shepherd, recruited through Northern Accelerator, said: “Intogral is a wonderful business with great potential. One of our key competitive advantages is Durham University’s excellent research and a pipeline of talent looking to build a stand-out company in the North East of England that is exporting its products globally.”
• Pre-incorporation funding: Available for academics to take high quality research projects closer to commercialisation • Innovation assessment: A detailed business-readiness diagnostic assessment of commercial opportunities, providing robust external due-diligence • Seed fund: An investment fund of seed capital to help spin-outs validate business models and demonstrate value to investors • Venture capital fund: Northern Accelerator will create a sustainable change in the innovation environment through an ongoing venture fund for university spin-outs Find out more about Northern Accelerator at: northernaccelerator.org
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University and City We are proud of the work we do to support our local communities and we want to do this in a way that benefits everyone. You can keep up to date with all the latest community news at durham.ac.uk/community, where you can also sign up to receive our monthly Community Newsletter. Here are a couple of stories from recent weeks.
Your chance to make art for Lumiere Lumiere light festival returns to Durham in November and you can be part of it, thanks to the Bottle Festoon project. Bottle Festoon will be one of the installations at Lumiere, which returns to Durham from 14-17 November. It will be a new artwork made of old, used bottles.
School children, families and community groups can help create the artwork at workshops organised by Durham County Council. For details of when and where the workshops will be held, please visit bit.ly/2miz5Ey
Science talks tackle big issues facing society today From how the universe began to the scariest threats to life as we know it: our scientists are tackling the big questions and challenges facing the world today. And they’re passionate about sharing their discoveries with others. Saturday Morning Science is a series of public talks aimed at your people and adults alike. There will be 27 talks between September 2019 and May 2020, all held at our Calman Learning Centre, off Stockton Road, Durham City. Each will begin at 10.30am and last 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes for questions, and then refreshments.
School children, families and community groups can help create the artwork at workshops
Lumiere Bottle Festoon
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September - October 2019
College round-up
Sam Dale
There’s lots going on across our College communities. We’ve recently welcomed Jeremy Cook as our new Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Colleges and Student Experience), and chosen new Heads for Trevelyan, St Mary’s, Hild Bede, Stephenson and the new South College. Here’s a round-up of other news… Ustinov hosted Matariki delegates for a day of sessions exploring ‘Empowering Learners through the Wider Student Experience’. Two of Ustinov’s Global Citizenship Programme (GCP) scholars gave presentations on the GCP, including work to take the programme ‘on the road’ across the University. We welcomed friends from six partner universities to St John’s for the second Matariki Global Citizenship Conference. The theme was ‘Empowering Learners’ and the four-day event included presentations from each visiting university and Durham colleagues including Sam Dale, Director of Student Support and Wellbeing.
That followed Ustinov’s own fifth annual conference, which had the title: ‘Under the Microscope: Global Citizenship, Immigration, and the Refugee Crisis’.
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Outgoing JCR President Amy Kuner helped establish a new initiative to help make College Balls and formal events more accessible and environmentally friendly. ‘Rent A Dress’ allows students to hire a formal outfit for just £5, with the fee going towards any cleaning required. Students staged the musical 'Grease' during Cuth’s Week, raising £300 towards outreach work. An impressive feat given rehearsals began just 24 hours earlier!
Hild Bede Theatre performed student Eliza Jones’ adaptation of the novella 'Yellow Wallpaper.' The Durham Student Theatre blog 'First Night' described the show as ‘well thought through’ with a ‘clear vision behind it’. Student Finola Southgate’s original song 'We’ll Have Nun Of It' was performed in Caedmon Hall. A Palatinate review said Finola was ‘an exceptional writer and composer’. We’re now hoping the show will be chosen for the National Student Drama Festival 2020. Staff and students commemorated the First World War Battle of Gravenstafel Bridge with a service in the College Chapel. Several Bede students lost their lives in the Battle.
John Oliver
We’ve welcomed Matthew Morgan as our first Arts and Community Outreach Fellow. Matthew will bring together various artistic projects, including the College Choir, as well as existing outreach work. Meanwhile, John Oliver has joined us as a Junior Research Fellow in Bystander Education. A former Grey College JCR President, John has worked with the University on bystander intervention training for several years. He’s developing a bystander curriculum specific to Durham, which will be used to train Freshers’ Representatives and other student leaders.
Matthew Morgan
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September - October 2019
Bringing
forgotten music back to life RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Professor Jeremy Dibble in our Department of Music is helping to revive the lost works of great composers. Jeremy tells us about his work here.
In 1915 celebrated composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was about to embark on a conducting tour of the United States.
never made the trip across the Atlantic.
The tour was to include a performance of his choral piece, 'Song to the Soul', in the town of Norfolk, Connecticut.
Jeremy is helping to bring the works of Stanford and his fellow composer Sir Hubert Parry back to life for today’s audiences.
World War One intervened and Stanford
Now, thanks to Jeremy’s work, 'Song to the Soul' will be performed in Norfolk in 2020 - 105 years after it was first meant to be heard by US audiences.
Working from the composers’ original manuscripts, Jeremy helps to edit and orchestrate pieces that have long since been forgotten or have never been heard at all. It’s a long process, often taking years to research, edit and complete, and sees him poring over the original documents created by Stanford and Parry that are housed in
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There’s a real buzz when you have worked on a manuscript when you hear it for the first time and the last time it was heard was in 1913.
music and recording industry since the mid-1980s, Jeremy has helped revive a number of Stanford and Parry’s works. Jeremy’s work has had international impact with requests to perform revived works coming in from choirs and orchestras in North America, Germany, France and Ireland, as well as the UK. Performers include the Ulster Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales and Melodia Women’s Choir of New York City. Earlier this year, Parry’s oratorio 'Judith' was performed to great acclaim in London for the first time since the late 1800s. In June a recording of Stanford’s 'Mass Via Victrix 1914-1918' was released on CD and the first ever recording of his last opera, 'The Travelling Companion', is due to be released this month.
the collections of libraries up and down the UK and overseas. “I’m used to the smell of dust and paper,” he jokes.
“Sometimes I have to make judgments and ask myself is this what Stanford or Parry would have done?” Jeremy says.
Jeremy then sets about creating an orchestral score based on the manuscripts so the music can be performed and recorded.
“There are times when I have to make a decision and I probably have to put my own input into it. I do feel a responsibility to get it as close to the original as possible.
The manuscripts don’t always paint a complete picture of what would be the final piece and this is where Jeremy’s in-depth knowledge of Stanford and Parry’s music comes in (he’s been a fan since his school days and has researched into them for almost 40 years).
“One can feel daunted by the sense of responsibility, but I am more excited by the process of getting the music to the stage of being performed and recorded. I’m more fired up by the privilege of it really.” His efforts have certainly paid off. Drawing on contacts he has been making in the
Also this month, Stanford’s opera 'The Veiled Prophet' will be performed at the Wexford International Festival in Ireland. Another “lost” Stanford piece, 'Fairy Day', will be performed in New York City in 2020 – over 100 years since it was first due to be performed in the USA. “There’s a real buzz when you have worked on a manuscript when you hear it for the first time and the last time it was heard was in 1913,” Jeremy says. “When the music speaks after a century just existing on paper I think that’s probably where I derive the greatest satisfaction. That and the fact that people want to perform it.”
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Alexander McCallSmith copyright Kirsty Anderson
September - October 2019
Kirsty Wark copyright Heather Yates
Roger McGough copyright Nick Wright
Top writers lined up for Durham Book Festival Durham Book Festival returns in October, with a star-studded line-up and something to suit all tastes. Will we see you there? Among the writers taking part are: Chocolat author Joanne Harris, BBC broadcasters Kirsty Wark and Carrie Gracie, poet Roger McGough, No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series author Alexander McCall Smith, and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin writer Louis de Bernières.
We’re also passionate about making literature accessible to all, in innovative ways, and inspiring new audiences to share our love of books.
Playing our part: sharing, hosting, sponsoring
This year’s Festival Laureate is awardwinning poet Raymond Antrobus, who will write and perform a new poem inspired by Durham, visit local schools, and work with our students.
As a University, books are really important to us. Our English Department is a world leader, and we have some great writers, artists and thinkers among our staff and students.
That’s why we’re proud to once again be supporting the Festival. Many of our staff will be speaking or performing, we’re hosting a huge range of events across our venues, and we’re once again sponsoring the Festival Laureateship.
Don’t miss… The Durham University Showcase, featuring some of our most exciting writers and teachers – at St Chad’s College Chapel, on Saturday 12 October, at 2pm. Your chance to go behind the scenes at our Palace Green Library, with the Inside the Archives events series.
Louis de Berniäres, copyright Ivon Bartholomew
Raymond Antrobus
5 to 13 October Over 100 writers, artists and thinkers Over 80 events Tickets on sale now: durhambookfestival.com
Writing Durham: podcasts and short films about contemporary writers, presented by our own Dr Laura McKenzie.
Follow
And for your chance to get really stuck into the Festival, why not help out by volunteering? Keep an eye on the Festival website for opportunities.
Facebook: DurhamBookFestival
However you get involved, enjoy the Festival!
Twitter: @durhambookfest, #DurhamBookFestival Instagram: durhambookfest
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SPOTLIGHT FEATURE:
The Durham Research Methods Centre
Our new Durham Research Methods Centre has launched to promote the development and application of advanced quantitative and mixed research methods across the University and the region. Dr Adetayo Kasim, Director of the Durham Research Methods Centre Describe your Centre. The Durham Research Methods Centre (DRMC) facilitates the use of advanced quantitative and mixed methods to promote world-changing research. What are the three main things people should know about the DRMC? • We work on quantitative and mixed methods research; • We provide training in research methods, including statistics; • We collaborate on grant applications as co-applicants.
How can staff and students engage with you and your Centre? Postgraduate students and staff can engage with the Centre’s activities or contact us directly at enquiry.drmc@ durham.ac.uk. Early career researchers with methodological expertise can apply to become Fellows, advising on grant applications or running short training courses, with potential for new research collaborations and teaching experience. What is the Centre’s main objective? To promote development and application of advanced quantitative and mixed research methods, in Durham and the region. What would you say is your main challenge? To develop the Centre’s capacity to
“Did you know…?” Our growing community of DRMC Fellows will include early career researchers who often have cutting edge techniques at their fingertips to solve methodological challenges of inter- and cross-disciplinary research.
support the use of innovative quantitative and mixed research methods across the University and the region. What is the future of big data in social sciences and health? Big data will have a large influence in the field. The DRMC will work collaboratively with Durham’s new Institute for Data Science to ensure computational social science techniques are used to address social science and health challenges.
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September - October 2019
What's on in our
libraries and museums
Zing Kitchen, Teaching & Learning Centre Venture into the new Teaching & Learning Centre and you will find Zing Kitchen. Opening for the busy start of term, the team will be ready to serve healthy fresh food fast….with an exciting new range of products. Pop in for a bacon and roast pepper ketchup sandwich, bespoke salads to go exactly as you choose, freshly made sandwiches and jacket potatoes. Try one of our hot dishes: healthy grains, charred harissa chicken with sides of sweet potato and greens, choose your main and sides exactly as you like it!
How can Durham’s museums help you? What you see on display in our museums and galleries is only the tip of the iceberg. In addition to displaying many of our treasures in our public galleries, there are tens of thousands of objects from around the globe in our research collections. These range from prehistoric archaeology to contemporary art and are all available for students and staff to use. In the last academic year the museums team provided more than 1,550 hours of teaching and teaching support for courses
Norman Cornish: The Sketchbooks Palace Green Library, 16 November 2019 – 23 February 2020 For the renowned north-eastern artist Norman Cornish, sketching was second nature and an inherent part of his everyday life. This exhibition of little seen sketchbooks will present a new dimension to the artist’s practice, focusing on his observations of life, landscapes and family, revealing the inner artistic processes behind some of his most iconic works.
at Durham and other universities, using more than 2,000 objects that are not normally on show to the public. Over the same period, students, academics and other researchers from Durham, the rest of the UK, and 16 other countries worldwide came into our stores to study more than 2,600 objects. Go to discover.durham.ac.uk and select ‘Durham Museums’ to search all of our online collections and discover how our collections can work for you.
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Ceremonies and Services at Durham Cathedral Seeing all of the graduands and the proud guests who come to watch them graduate really does remind me why we all work at the University.
Why not take part in the many events at the University throughout the winter? You are invited to attend the following ceremonies and services to be held in Durham Cathedral during the winter months: • Remembrance Service – Sunday 10 November 2019 • Founders and Benefactors Service – Sunday 24 November 2019 • Winter Congregation – Thursday 9 and Friday 10 January 2020 Staff are welcome to attend as a University guest at these events or, if eligible, can join the Staff Procession. As a member of staff you can also get involved at Congregation by volunteering to marshal, an essential role in producing professional and
celebratory occasions for our students and their guests, with lunch and cakes provided too! See the comments from marshals at the recent Summer Congregation: “Being a Marshal was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Seeing all of the graduands and the proud guests who come to watch them graduate really does remind me why we all work at the University.” “I’d recommend being a Marshal for anyone who hasn’t done it before as you meet staff from other parts of the University, it is a happy occasion for the guests and coffee and cake in the Cathedral café makes up for the early start.” Look out for notices on Dialogue Signposts to register for these ceremonies and services.
University Honorary Awards All staff are encouraged to submit nominations for candidates they would like to receive honorary awards from the University. Nominations for Chancellor’s Medal to be awarded in 2020 should be submitted by 18 October 2019. Nominations for Honorary Degrees to be awarded in 2021 should be submitted by 3 February 2020. Further information, including the nomination form, is available at durham.ac.uk/ceremonies/honorary
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Mental health is a key topic in the university sector – for students and staff
We care about Health and Wellbeing at Durham Health and wellbeing affects everyone, and we all have a role to play in creating a supportive community in which every student and member of staff have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. While we currently offer a wide range of support through our Occupational Health, Health and Safety, Human Resources and Organisation Development services and all of our student support services, we want to do more. We are currently developing an ‘all University’ Health and Wellbeing Strategy, to create a healthier and more productive place to work. In April and May, 1,500 students and 1,200 members of staff completed a Health and Wellbeing Survey – thank you all for your time. Comprehensive analysis of the survey data is underway which will help to inform the topics of
discussion at future consultation events. The Strategy will address areas such as mental health, nutrition, physical activity and substance use. Mental health is a key topic in the university sector – for students and staff. Recognising the impact of mental health on our whole community we have prioritised the development of mental health training. A range of new online modules are available on DUO duo.durham.ac.uk. The modules are intended to help staff recognise poor mental health in themselves and others and to give them the tools they need to start, what can sometimes be, difficult conversations. They will also serve as a resource at a particular moment of need.
• Core modules are useful for everyone, dealing with student or staff mental health concerns, to help everyone to recognise the signs of poor mental health in themselves and others, and how to respond • Student Support modules offer information and guidance on the policies and good practice relating to student mental health • Staff Support modules offer information and guidance for line managers supporting colleagues with mental health concerns Face-to-face training on mental health continues to be available on the University Training Course Booking System, durham.ac.uk/training.course. Courses address general issues of stress management and developing resilience, as well as specific courses for staff dealing with students; Responding to Distressed Students (1 hour) and Mental Health First Aid (3 hours). You may be invited to look at some of the online material as preparation for a course or as a resource for further information. Both the Counselling Service and Occupational Health have delivered bespoke training to particular staff groups upon request. The intention with online modules and face-to-face training is not to train you to become a mental health professional, but rather to know how to respond and how to signpost individuals towards appropriate support. We hope that all the training provision will contribute to the development of Durham University as a fair and respectful employer and to provide an enabling and transformative education and student experience. Feedback on the modules will be very much appreciated, to counsel.training@durham.ac.uk.
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Do you want an easy way to give to charity? We’re proud to offer you Payroll Giving as part of your employee benefits package. CAF Give As You Earn, our new online platform, was launched this summer to enable you to make regular monthly donations to a charity of your choice. Payroll giving is a simple, taxefficient way to donate as donations are taken straight from your salary before tax is deducted. Want to sign up? You can donate to any UK-based charity, and you can support as many charities as you wish. Search for ‘Payroll Giving’ on the internal webpages to find our personalised link to the CAF Give As You Earn platform.
My Durham – Staff benefits and how to get them My Durham is the central hub from which eligible staff can access a range of employee benefits including retail, entertainment and travel discounts as well as the Cycle to Work scheme. This month’s special offers include 5% off at Tesco, 10% off Expedia hotel bookings and the chance to win a European city break for two. Registration for My Durham is quick and simple; email reward. team@durham.ac.uk with your preferred email address and you should be able to access the platform within five working days.
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Environment
Schedule GREENSPACE
September - October 2019
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The Environment Schedule for the academic year 2019/20 is designed to address a wide range of environmental issues in order to support environmental sustainability at the University. Annual awareness weeks are planned for waste, water and energy, along with promotion of National Walking month, Earth Hour, World Environment Day and the University’s Environment Week. Look out for further details of events as part of these campaigns, as well as additional activities occurring throughout the year. Further details are available at durham.ac.uk/greenspace/.
Environmental Sustainability Training Module – online now We would like to encourage you to complete the online Environmental Sustainability Training Module and find out how you can make a difference. The module includes video clips from staff and students talking about activities in their Colleges and Departments and you will find details on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. The online training can be accessed using the DUO homepage under ‘My Organisations & Online Training’. Why not take the module today and find out what small steps you can take?
Travel on Arriva Bus Services for £1 per day Staff and students are able to travel at reduced rates around Durham City and Durham County with the Arriva bus services, using their valid campus ID card. This now includes travel from as far as Barley Mow (Gateshead), Tow Law,
Bishop Auckland and Sedgefield, including more local destinations such as Brandon, Framwellgate Moor, Ferryhill and Coxhoe. Tickets can be purchased directly from the driver using either cash or a contactless card payment. Further details are available at durham.ac.uk/greenspace/travel/public/ bus/arrivadayticket/
“Did you know…?” from the new academic year we will have a new secure bike shelter with swipe card access adjacent to the Teaching and Learning Centre?
Waste (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Awareness Week Waste Awareness Week starts on Monday 4 November and this campaign encourages everyone to reduce the volume of waste we produce and to ensure that we all follow correct recycling procedures. With the campaign we also support the University’s pledge to reduce single use plastics durham.ac.uk/greenspace/wastemanagement/singleuseplastic Watch out for the many different activities scheduled for the awareness week. Our ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign will also take place during this week, which encourages our students to take only the food they really need both at college and at home. Colleges monitor their food waste and the College that shows the biggest reduction in food waste per head will win the prestigious John Turner Trophy. The full details are available at durham.ac.uk/greenspace/wasteKeys of Light management/wastecampaign
Last year, by segregating waste on site we avoided costs of £80,652 (compared to disposing of all waste in a single container). The biggest saving was achieved by the segregation of food waste, avoiding costs of £32,040.51 compared with disposal in the General Waste bin.
Bike Safety Week: Cyclists – Be Seen, Be Safe! Bike Safety Week is a campaign to promote bike safety and encourage cycling as a sustainable means of travel and will run from 21 October. With a little preparation, cycling in the winter can be as enjoyable as in the summer. Further details are available on the Greenspace Cycling website at durham.ac.uk/greenspace/travel/cycling
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September - October 2019
New for '19 To help you get started in the new '19/20 academic year, we’ve made our IT services for staff and students even better.
These changes are in direct response to your really useful feedback. Please keep sharing your ideas on how we can improve and do things differently. Email cis.comms@durham.ac.uk
1 2 3 4, 5 6 7 89 Students and staff said:
Students said:
Students and staff said:
We want to access our applications wherever we want – not just on campus or in the classroom.
We want to create our own mini networks in our College bedrooms, so our devices can talk to each other.
We want more storage space for personal documents.
We’ve launched AppsAnywhere, a UK University first that will give all staff and students access to hundreds of applications from your chosen device.
Link IT is our new service that will enable you to create a mini, private network so your wireless printer, phone, tablet, smart TV and more can all communicate with each other.
Staff said:
Students said:
Students and staff said:
We want more storage options for our research storage.
We don’t want to have to re-authenticate our devices when we come back to campus from holidays.
We need better Wi-Fi coverage across campus.
We’ve now released robust, secure, highly available Personal Research Storage and Shared Research Storage to over 3,500 research-active members of staff.
We’ve removed our authentication process, so there is no more quarantine! Instead, just log into DU Student Wi-Fi, add your credentials once, and you’ll be good to go.
You can now choose between 1TB of OneDrive for Business cloud-based storage, or your onsite J Drive / Home Directory storage space with up to 10GB of storage.
This summer, we’ve completed a Wi-Fi upgrade which has resulted in faster connection times. We’ve also added more access points to some of our worst-affected sites, improving connectivity and speed.
Students said:
Students and staff said:
Students and staff said:
We want to be able to see more of our lectures via Lecture Capture.
We want to be able to fix problems ourselves and self-serve.
We need to be more futurefocused and innovative.
We’ve added Lecture Capture equipment to more lecture theatres and teaching facilities, giving academic staff more opportunities to create video content for sharing.
We’ve launched our IT Service Catalogue which gives you access to lots of IT information, knowledge articles and FAQs to help you find the answers you need. If you’re still unsure, log a call with the Service Desk.
We agree. We’re busy writing our Digital Strategy and hope to share it with you later this year. What’s more, there’ll be loads of opportunities to have your say and get involved in shaping our digital future.
Visit durham.ac.uk/cis for more information on these new services.
Dialogue
21
AppsAnywhere and Everywhere! Have you ever wanted to access a University application or programme at home or on the go? Good news, you can now do this with AppsAnywhere. AppsAnywhere will replace MDS Anywhere, and in a UK University first, it will give all staff and students access to hundreds of applications from your chosen device. You just need your Durham University ID and password to log on, and then you’ll be able to access whichever apps you need to do your work and study. We are transforming the staff and student experience by making Windows software securely available from any
device. Whether you want to check your Outlook emails on your phone, update a presentation on your tablet or even read a Word document on your PS4, AppsAnywhere will enable you to do this.
wherever in the world you are, whenever you need them.
You will also have anywhere, anytime access to software applications on any device, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Chromebooks, as well as specialist academic software such as ArcGIS and SPSS.
Dr Cris Bloomfield from CIS said, “We’re the first university to embrace the full potential of AppsAnywhere – an exciting new system for staff and students to deliver access to university software and resources from anywhere in the world. It works on almost any Internet-enabled device giving great flexibility in how we can learn, teach, research and work in future.”
No longer will you be restricted to accessing these programmes from our open access teaching machines in our classrooms, but you also can get them
Click on the Durham University crest on your start menu or visit apphub2.durham.ac.uk/login to access AppsAnywere.
22
Dialogue
September - October 2019
“If you just keep going, you will get there” If you’ve ever wondered what sort of challenges and hurdles some of the world’s leading experts overcame to achieve success, then take a listen to a recent podcast we did for Northern Power Women, an organisation which calls for more opportunities for women in work across the North of England. You’ll hear Professor Louise Bracken, Executive Director of our Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR) and Professor Sue Black from our Computer Science department talk about their careers. Louise gives an insight into the importance of partnerships throughout her career. She also talks about how Durham’s research is helping women around the world, including a project which empowers women in Nepal to help prevent risks such as landslides and fires.
Sue, a champion for women in tech, talks about her journey to becoming a leading computer scientist. Leaving school at 16 and a single mum by 25, Sue credits tech with changing her life. Sue is on a mission to get women into tech roles and is the brains behind our TechUP Women programme, which will retrain 100 women across the North and Midlands regions of England for a tech career. To listen to the podcast, visit northernpowerwomen.com/podcast
TechUP Women programme, will retrain
100 women across the North and Midlands
Dialogue
23
What would you like your epitaph to be? She came, she saw, and off she popped.
On a scale of 1-10, how much do you care what other people think of you?
An insight into
Nine and a bit. What’s your greatest vice? Having fun. Any nicknames? I get Jules quite a lot – or Willy Wilson! What’s the worst job you’ve ever done? Bingo caller at a Prize Bingo – I used to nod off and say some numbers twice and some not at all. What’s your favourite place in the world?
NAME: Julie Wilson
What achievement are you most proud of?
JOB TITLE: Project Officer, Inclusion Matters Project, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
My two boys, who I think have turned out spectacularly. What was your best subject? Chemistry and Art (bit of an odd mix).
Have you got any pets? Unfortunately not since losing my 17 year old Jack Russell, Muriel earlier this year, actually her name was Maisie but as she reached her senior years and turned into a cantankerous old trout, everyone called her Muriel. She was loved lots and we all miss her. What are you reading at the moment? This questionnaire – not reading anything in particular at the moment, just really trying to brush up on my EDI knowledge to help me in my new role. Which historical figure would you most like to be?
When was the last time you laughed and why? Today, at work and I could not possibly say why! What did you want to be when you were a child? Just happy. Where will you be going for your next holiday? Ibiza. What skill or talent would you most like to acquire?
No-one springs to mind but I’d quite like to have been Queenie in Blackadder.
Learn to play sax – been meaning to do it for years now but haven’t quite got around to it.
What was the first record you bought?
Give me a picture of your ideal day:
Grandma we Love You by St Winifred’s School Choir. The shame!!!
Wake up, sun is shining, breeze coming in the bedroom window. Get up, several cups of tea, mess around in the garden, out for a nice walk then have people round for a BBQ and cocktails in the garden. Happy days!
Home Tell me a secret: Take Hart art programme on CBBC in the 70s – I had a picture displayed on the Gallery! What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Sunscreen – I have ginger skin. What’s your greatest indulgence? Friends and family – can’t get enough of them.
What’s on at the University
@/durhamuniversity
@Durham_Uni
@DurhamUniversity
@DurhamUniversity
Durham University invites you to Celebrate Science 2019 Enjoy three fun-packed and fascinating days of FREE events and activities
A Gala Theatre and Durham Student Theatre Co-Production in Association with Unfolding Theatre
Tuesday 29 - Thursday 31 October 2019 Palace Green, Durham
10am until
4pm
September
Free Family Events
Visit: durham.ac.uk/celebrate.science ALPH/07/19/980
Monday 30 September - Saturday 5 October
Tickets: £10 - £16 Box Office: 03000 266 600 Book online: www.galadurham.co.uk
Lord of the Flies
Celebrate Diwali – Special late night opening!
Celebrate Science
Dates: Monday 30 September – Saturday 5 October
Venue: Oriental Museum
Dates: Tuesday 29 – Thursday 31 October
Date: Saturday 26 October
Times: 10am – 4pm
Times: Evening performances 7.30pm, Matinees Tuesday 1 & Thursday 3 October 1pm
Time: 6pm – 8pm
Now in its tenth year! Our annual Celebrate Science festival returns to Palace Green for another three fun-packed and fascinating days of FREE children’s events, activities, workshops and experiments celebrating science!
Gala Theatre, Millennium Place, Durham, DH1 1WA
Venue: Gala Durham
A new production of William Golding’s classic adventure with a twist, performed by Durham students in conjunction with Gala Durham. Book tickets online at galadurham.co.uk
October
Celebrate the Hindu Festival of Light with a spectacular shadow puppet show, traditional puja prayers to the goddess Lakshmi, food tasting, games, dancing and much more. See the Museum decorated in spectacular style with diyas, flowers and lanterns made by the community, and the first 100 children will receive a free flower garland. Advance booking and charges apply.
Venue: Marquee on Palace Green
durham.ac.uk/celebrate.science
November Norman Cornish – The Sketchbooks
Durham Book Festival Venue: Various venues across Durham City Dates: Saturday 5 – Sunday 13 October This year’s Book Festival brings a host of international writers to Durham with a packed programme of talks, workshops and events this October durhambookfestival.com
Haunting Halloween Venue: Botanic Garden Date: Monday 28 October Time: 1pm – 3pm Visit the Garden for the popular spooky mask making session. Make a mask from the craft materials provided and by collecting items from the Garden.
Venue: Dennison Stoddart Gallery, Palace Green Library, Durham Dates: 16 November 2019 – 23 February 2020 Times: 10am – 5pm For the renowned north-eastern artist Norman Cornish, sketching was second nature and an inherent part of his everyday life. This exhibition of little seen sketchbooks will present a new dimension to the artist’s practice, focusing on his observations of life, landscapes and family, revealing the inner artistic processes behind some of his most iconic works.
For more information on University events go to durham.ac.uk/whatson