Dear Colleagues
The Research Excellence Framework 2014 is complete and the criteria and panels have been announced. These events are to update staff on the criteria and future steps.
There will be two briefing sessions on the following dates and times:
Monday, 17th October 2011 – 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm in John Dalton, Room E322
Thursday, 20th October 2011 – 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm in John Dalton, Room E244
Join Professor Val Edward Jones, the Director of Research, and Dr Paul Holmes, Director of the Institute for Performance Research for these briefing sessions.
To book a place, please email: m.hickman@mmu.ac.uk
Kind regards.
Madelyn Hickman, Research Administrator
Research, Enterprise and Development
x3623, Email: m.hickman@mmu.ac.uk
What are you doing on the Wednesday 5 October at 12.45? Why not pop along to the Acoustic Lounge, Grosvenor Building, All Saints and watch the amazing Emma Elizabeth www.emmaelizabethmusic.com and Toms Kaugers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MV3Kqu5u7c playing live.
This is a very intimate space and you can just relax on the leather sofas or sit and eat lunch whilst watching the live music.
See you there.
Martin Dexter, Art and Design
ESRI SEMINARS 2011-12: Autumn Term 2011
October 19th: 4:00 – 5.30 pm, Behrens 2.1, Didsbury Campus
Speaker: Irene Malcolm, University of Dundee
Title: Professional learning in the software localisation industry: privileging knowledge and the problem of gender in digital working
Abstract: This paper takes the software localisation industry as a case to examine knowledge practices among a group of “new” professionals in the digital economy. The international study on which the paper is based examined the practices of 10 workers from continental Europe, Ireland, the UK and South America. Localisers’ work entails the linguistic, cultural and software adaptation of digital products to support global communication. Given its significance, the lack of attention to this industry is surprising, with work in the social sciences limited to previous studies by the present author (Malcolm et al, 2003; Malcolm, 2009; Malcolm, 2011). Individual localisers are usually freelance, many are (women) home-workers who have no continuity of employment, and whose co-workers are geographically dispersed.
The problem that the paper addresses is how knowledge is developed and sustained among professionals whose activity is distributed. Much discussion of professional knowledge and work assumes some co-location of workers, shared work goals and a defined knowledge base (Eraut, 2007). Established theories of professional learning require further development to account for the different circumstances of those working in new contexts where sustaining shared professional practices and building shared knowledge are challenged. To explore this problem, the paper draws on a theorisation of professional knowledge in a tradition of continental European thought. It summarises some key ideas in the theories of Karin Knorr Cetina (1999, 2001, 2007, 2010), drawing on two central concepts: macro epistemics and information knowledge. It uses these to explore the social practices of warranting knowledge in the research data, illustrating the knowledge cultures involved. The paper discusses paradoxes that emerged from the data, highlighting gendered and exclusionary practices in the ways some knowledges were privileged.
October 26th: 4.00pm – 5.30pm, Behrens 2.1, Didsbury Campus
Speakers: Prof Marjorie Mayo, Goldsmiths, University of London; Dr Carol Packham, Manchester Metropolitan University; Zoraida Mendiwelso-Bendek, University of Lincoln
Title: Taking Part? Exploring resilience in civil society and third sector organisations. Interim findings of the ESRC Capacity Building Cluster (CBC) for Active Citizenship and Community Empowerment.
Abstract: The research finding have arisen from the ESRC, (Cabinet Office and Barrow Cadbury Trust funded) Capacity Building Cluster (CBC) in Active Citizenship and Community Empowerment, entitled ‘Taking Part?’
There has been increasing interest in strengthening research capacity in the Third Sector as Third Sector organisations find themselves under greater pressure to evidence their impacts whilst demonstrating that they provide value for money, in comparison with private as well as public providers. Meanwhile, universities have been coming under increasing pressure to demonstrate the impacts of their research initiatives.
The seminar will discuss the Third Sector’s role in promoting active citizenship and community cohesion, topics of specific relevance in the current policy context, with the Coalition Government’s Big Society and Localism agendas. We have evidenced sweeping changes in the sector and with them the potential to identify emerging issues and responses.
The notion of resilience has emerged as a theme within the CBC’s work with its partners. The term resilience has increasingly been used to refer to communities' and groups' ability to react to change and stress, and to adapt, bounce back’ and overcome adversity (Buzzanell:2010).
The seminar will discuss
1) Organisational strategies that have been emerging to enable the sustainability and survival of groups and organisations
2) Challenges to resilience, both to organisations and community members
3) Emerging forms of resilience
November 2nd: 4:00 – 5.30 pm, Behrens 0.1, Didsbury Campus
Speakers: Karen Nairn, University of Otago, New Zealand
Title: The emotional geographies of New Zealand’s neoliberal school reforms: Spaces of refuge and containment
Abstract: In research about the post-school transitions of New Zealand’s neoliberal generation we interviewed young people during what they thought would be their last year of high school about their post high school plans. Our participants included a group of four young men excluded from school and redirected to an Alternative Education programme. Their accounts of their experiences at school differed starkly from what they said about their Alternative Education programme. The emotional content of their accounts reveals how the social and material practices of these respective education sites are constituted differently. Alternative Education operated as a space of refuge from alienation experienced in mainstream schooling as well as a site of containment, separating Alternative Education students from their mainstream peers. Focusing on the emotional geography of one Alternative Education programme provides important insights into the emotional geographies of mainstream schooling and, more broadly, of neoliberal education reforms.
November 16th: 4:00 – 5.30 pm, Behrens 0.1, Didsbury Campus
Speakers: John Pryor, University of Sussex
Title: Jumping the lights- more than feedback.
Abstract: If knowledge is a sort of doing, an engagement between a knowing subject and what is known (Gill 1993); if learning is a contextualized performance involving students engaging with prospective and current social identities, and therefore an ontological as well as an epistemological accomplishment; if the differential risk that this involves is acknowledged; then formative assessment might be more than the activities prescribed by ‘assessment for learning’. This session draws on over a decade of research in school and university to explore what this more might be.
November 30th: 4:00 – 5.30 pm, Behrens 0.1, Didsbury Campus
Speakers: James Conroy, University of Glasgow
Title: Caught in the Middle: Childhood, Education and Adult Responsibility.
Abstract: This paper suggests that the assumptions made about the constructed nature of childhood in a post-Aries world are founded on modest historical and theoretical foundations and that, despite the parlous nature of these foundations, children's education has been and is increasingly shaped by the belief that the notion of childhood as a special, somehow protected space is mere romanticism. Children are no more or less responsible for the world than adults. The issues this throws up for the relationship between the public spaces of politics and economics and the more shaded spaces of childhood are complex and politicians of all persuasions are apt to imagine that educating children in such a way as to remedy the defects of the adult political spaces will likely remedy social, cultural and political defects. Drawing on Arendt's insights I wish to argue that this misunderstands the nature of childhood, the purposes of education and the responsibilities of adults, and that the attempts of politicians of all hues to manipulate the educational spaces for highly specified ends is mistaken both in intention and in import.
Barbara Ashcroft, ESRI
For compliance with Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation it is important for the University to have a record of what has been destroyed, when, why and on whose authority.
Each department is responsible for there own records retention, storage and timely disposal and must comply with the University guideline before disposing of any records.
Records to be destroyed must be approved and documented in a record destruction form.
A step by step guide and the record destruction forms are available on the MMU Records Management Website at:
http://www.mmu.ac.uk/records-management/destroying-records-guide.php
Many Thanks
Lubna Ayub
Information and Records Manager
Join us for the tenth Innospace monthly business group on Thursday 20th October, to share ideas, talk to the MMU business support network and learn something new.
The Innospace monthly business group creates a practical and supportive environment for NEW and ASPIRING entrepreneurs to prepare for the launch of their business.
The theme of this month’s workshop is to provide an overview of the key issues to consider when employing people within your business.
This session will take you through the basic aspects of employment law and will cover areas such as:
- Employee/ employer relationship
- Principles of an employment contract
- Policies and procedures in the workplace
Ruth and Jan established the HR Solutions Partnership in May 2007 to provide HR expertise to companies without their own HR department or who simply want to supplement their own internal HR support with consultancy advice, and /or managers who require support to help them navigate through the legalities of employing and managing people. However, their reputation in the market place has taken them beyond the small business sector, working with a wide variety of businesses across the UK and internationally.
Since then they have been involved in a variety of HR activities, ranging from the design of strategic HR initiatives for top Fortune 500 companies, bespoke training and development workshops, to the provision of day to day advice and guidance for small businesses.
Come along at 10am for coffee and join in the practical and interactive session on the theme of the month then stay and work with the MMU business support team on your business idea.
Bring along:
- any questions you may have regarding employing people
- any specific issues you wish to explore in relation to people you employ
- your laptop (if you like to work paper free)
Copies of slides will be made available after the session
To register for the event please go to:
http://innospacemonthlybusinessgroup.eventbrite.com
Refreshments will be provided.
This event has been organised by Innospace (www.innospace.co.uk)
and the ERDF NW HE Enterprise Champion Project (www.mmucfe.co.uk/).
Emma Mawby, Innospace
Do you or any of your colleagues perform research related to Improvised Explosive Devices? The International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems is publishing a special issue on all aspects of the application of computational intelligence techniques in dealing with the IED problem – including, but not restricted to:
• EOD robots
• Modelling techniques for prediction of placement
• Threat assessment
• Simulators for training in survival strategies and disposal
• Associated sensing and imaging
• Web Mining of IED ontologies by the intelligence community
• Team decision making
• The use of computational intelligence in the treatment of IED casualties
Prospective authors are invited to show an expression of interest by submitting an abstract by e-mail to the Guest Editor, Dr. James D. O’Shea by the 7th of November 2011.
Dr. James D. O’Shea
School of Computing, Mathematics and Digital Technology,
j.d.oshea@mmu.ac.uk
This short updating session covers two important areas for programme teams recruiting and planning for 2012: student finance and employability.
We are all aware that the announcement of £6,000-£9,000 tuition fees will bring radical changes to student finance for undergraduate students starting full-time study in September 2012. This session run by Recruitment and Admissions staff, will cover the key issues for student recruitment, the advantages and drawbacks of the new fee regime and student support package.
Penny Renwick, PVC, will then update colleagues on the latest approaches to embedding employability, followed by a short session to introduce the new Employability Online resource, provide an opportunity to discuss how this can link to employability embedded in the curriculum and encourage students to improve their prospects on graduation.
Friday 07 October 2011
14.00 – 16.30, Academic Practice Room, CeLT, 2nd Floor, Cavendish North
To book a place for this session go to:
Discretionary Closure Days
The University has approved a number of discretionary closure days for staff over the Christmas/New Year holiday break in addition to your annual leave allowance.
The University will be closed the following days over the Christmas/New Year holiday break:
| Monday 26th December 2011 | Bank Holiday |
| Tuesday 27th December 2011 | Bank Holiday |
| Wednesday 28th December 2011 | Discretionary Closure Day |
| Thursday 29th December 2011 | Discretionary Closure Day |
| Friday 30th December 2011 | Discretionary Closure Day |
| Monday 2nd January 2012 | Bank Holiday |
University Buildings will be closed from 5:30 pm on Friday 23rd December 2011 and will be re-opened on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.
Can all managers please bring this to the attention of all staff within their operational areas.
Gill Hemus
Director of Human Resources
Gerry Kelleher will be holding a range of Open Staff Meetings across the University in mid-October. The format of these meetings will be a short presentation covering issues such as the REF, the University Corporate Plan, HEFCE's proposals for 12/13 and MMUs response to the Government White Paper, followed by questions.
The meetings will be taking place as follows and all staff are welcome to attend.
18th October, 8.30 - 9.30am, Lecture Theatre B (LTB) Didsbury
21st October, 8.30 - 9.30am, New Lecture Theatre (NLT), Elizabeth Gaskell
25th October, 8.30 - 9.30am, Lecture Theatre 2, Aytoun
27th October, 8.30 - 9.30am, E223, John Dalton Building
28th October, 12.00 - 1.00pm, D09 (Room 9, Delaney Building) Crewe
31st October, 8.30 - 9.30am, Mable Tylecote 314
31st October, 12.00 - 1.00pm, Room 506, Hollings
Please contact Helen Lord on h.lord@mmu.ac.uk for any queries.
WHAT ARE ETHICAL ISSUES
Presenter: Dr Julie Scott Jones
There will be Workshop on Ethical Issues taking place on Tuesday, 1 November 2011 in Geoffrey Manton Building, Room 326 at 10.00 pm. This Workshop is aimed at staff/students who are appling for NHS ethical approval.
At the end of this session participants will have obtained information regarding:
Please book a place by contacting Maddie Hickman in Research Enterprise & Development at m.hickman@mmu.ac.uk
The Environment Team at MMU are hosting a Sustainable Travel Event in Grosvenor Park - All Saints Campus on Tuesday, October 11th between 11:00 am - 3:00pm.
There will be numerous exhibitors offering information on all aspects of travel related matters. There will be the opportunity to obtain first hand information regarding different travel options which are on offer within Manchester.
The companies supporting the event are offering advice and there will be many items to give away.
Why not come along to see what is available, discover how sustainable travel could also save you money and help the environment.
The exhibitors confirmed are: GMPTE, Northern Rail, GM Police, Edinburgh Cycle Company, Bike Right, Go Carshare
Ian Goodwin, Environment Team.