Awards and prizes in March

This month, our outstanding staff and students have been recognised through a number of awards. Last night, prizes were given out at the University’s first Sustainability Action Awards. See the full winners list here.

It has been announced that our Human Resources (HR) department retained the HR Excellence in Research award for a further two years. In a further success story, iSolutions have been awarded for the design and build of the new Data Centre.

Continuing this month’s achievements, Estates and Facilities have won the acclaimed ‘Apprentice Employer of the Year’, and we have also reached the second round of the prestigious S-lab awards, for our Wind Responsive Fume Extract system.

Finally, this month we held a number of events in celebration of International Women’s Week. In addition, we hosted workshops and lectures to coincide with National Science and Engineering Week and Interdisciplinary Research Week, to take our world-leading research out into the community.

Staff profile – Ines Teresa-Palacio

Ines staff profile finalName and job title

 Inés Teresa-Palacio, Head of Strategic Marketing

How long have you been at the University?

I studied my MA in Transnational Studies at the University in 2006 and started working for the International Office in March 2007.

What has been your career progression at the University?

I worked in the International Office for five years as a Country Development Manager with responsibility for India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Latin America and the international UK market. I moved to Communications and Marketing in February 2012 and spent 18 months as Senior Marketing Manager. Last August I took on an acting appointment to cover the role of Head of Strategic Marketing and have recently been confirmed in the position on a permanent basis.

What does your current job involve?

I lead on the University’s corporate marketing activities to meet our education, research and enterprise agendas. I manage the University’s marketing team, which consists of 30 marketing professionals embedded within the eight faculties, RIS and the arts venues. I also work very closely with the newly-established marketing team in the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus and am part of the Communications and Marketing Senior Management Team.

What are the main challenges you face in your role?

Marketing can play a strategic role within the Higher Education sector but there is often a misunderstanding about what marketing professionals should and can do. Within our University, we need to demonstrate how marketing can contribute to the success of the organisation. Competition is fierce within the sector and we must ensure that we keep up to date with the latest developments and trends in marketing and communications, and that we are able to act quickly ahead of our competitors.

What do you hope to achieve in your role that has not been done before?

I would like to build a better understanding between the marketing team and the different University areas to ensure that we proactively share knowledge and build a strong network of contacts with academic and Professional Services colleagues.

What do you enjoy about working at the University?

It is great to be able to work with different people from very diverse backgrounds and interests who are passionate about everything they do. I also love the contact with students, which reminds you of the transformational value of education. And last but not the least, the campus is beautiful, especially in the summer!

What do you like about working in Southampton?

Southampton has been my home since 2002 when I first arrived in the city as an Erasmus student. I keep very good memories of my student life here and I have seen how the city has been renovated in recent years. We are privileged to have the Common right outside the University, to be so close to the New Forest and nearby beaches, and London.

What do you do in your leisure time?

As a Spaniard, I love cooking and organising big gatherings with friends and family, and have adopted the British tradition of BBQs in the garden. I also enjoy long walks with our dog Lincoln, a Rhodesian Ridgeback that weighs more than me and loves releasing adrenaline in the Common! I go back to Spain to visit my family as often as possible and try to escape to the sunshine every opportunity I have.

To find out more about the work of the Communications and Marketing team go to http://www.resource1.soton.ac.uk/commsmarketing/ 

 

If you have not made it to the knitting exhibition in Hartley Library – watch this video to find out what has been going on.

We aspire to be a University of opportunity and inspiration and want to celebrate our staff who embody the excellence and creativity we strive for as an organisation. Nominate an exceptional member of your team for this year’s V-C awards.

Coffee and Cake Welcome – meeting for new staff. As part of the University induction you can come along to one of our informal coffee mornings where you will have an opportunity to meet a member of the University Executive Group and meet other new members of staff.

Workplace Giving scheme

This week, the University is promoting the Workplace Giving scheme which allows you to give to your chosen charity, direct from your pay.

If you missed the offer in December 2013 now is your chance to take advantage as Workplace Giving UK will give an extra £10 to your chosen charity for the first month as a thank you if you sign up between Thursday 27 March 2014 and Friday 4 April 2014!

You can give to any charity (or multiple charities) and it will automatically be tax-free (regardless of your tax-bracket). 

Please take a look at the Workplace Giving UK website to use the tax calculator, get charity information or to just start giving from the next payroll. Further information can be found on the Human Resources website.

Thank you to all of you who have already joined the scheme, your donation will make a big difference to your charities.

And finally

southampton-uni-challengeDespite a recent loss, Southampton still scored a decisive victory over Queen’s Belfast in their first quarter-final match of BBC2’s University Challenge. The team must win one more time to reach the semi-finals as part of a new double-elimination format at this stage of the competition.

Susan Ponsford, Faculty Academic Registrar

Susan PonsfordWe went to interview Susan Ponsford, Faculty Academic Registrar,  Student and Academic Administration – Medicine to find out what her job involves and what her average day consists of.

 

A description of Susan’s job:

The responsibilities of my role are broad and varied.  I am responsible for managing the SAA team in the Faculty of Medicine and in turn they ensure the smooth running of recruitment and admissions, student administration, placements and timetabling, curriculum and quality assurance, assessments, and support for the graduate school who look after Postgraduate Research programmes. I work with an excellent team of 30 people who are based across two campuses and we work very closely with academic colleagues and colleagues in NHS Trusts.

Like many peoples’ jobs, my role is never the same from one day to the next so it is difficult to describe a typical day, there is no such thing- however below gives a flavour of the work I do.

07.30 – I arrive in work after a one hour journey from Christchurch.  Getting to work early means that I usually have an hour, while it is quiet, to check through my emails, checking back through messages from previous days that need my attention quickly.  Although I might have a plan for the day this is often thrown out of the window by something quite unexpected which needs an urgent response.

09.00 – my morning is often taken up with meetings, possibly with colleagues from other parts of the SAA workstream, Faculty meetings or one to one meetings with members of my team.  The work that is undertaken by myself and my team changes depending on the time of the year and where we are in the Student lifecycle. Currently, our major focus is on assessment and Quality Assurance as well as the ongoing support for our students and their programmes of study.

12.30 – lunchtime, I tend not to stop for lunch – I usually bring in a sandwich or some food from home and eat on the go.

13.30 – My afternoon again is quite likely to be made up of further meetings, quite often I have to travel between the main Highfield Campus and our site at Southampton General Hospital. 

15.30 – if I am out of the office, I may go to General Medical Council events, where I meet people in similar roles to me in other institutions to learn best practice and to find out if we are all facing the same challenges – which we usually are!

17.30 – If possible I leave work and head home.

Evening – I live ten minutes from the sea, so every evening I take my dog (a boxer) for a walk before something to eat and bed.

To get in touch with the SAA team in the Faculty of Medicine contact studentoffice.fm@soton.ac.uk

Media Digest February 2014

Read about the major media appearances for the University during the period 21 January – 20 February 2014. During that time, media appearances related to the University created 85.8 million opportunities to view and hear stories via print, broadcast and online outlets. The advertising equivalent value of these appearances in print and via commercial broadcast media reached £155,898.00.

Below are stories which reached national and international audiences:

Yarnold SochiSkeleton Gold
The University’s part in supporting Lizzy Yarnold’s gold-medal winning performance in the skeleton bob at the Sochi Games achieved widespread coverage in UK national media – The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Times and BBC online – with specific references to graduates James Roche and Rachel Blackburn who designed and delivered Amy Williams’ sled ‘Arthur’ in 2010 as well as Lizzy’s sled ‘Mervyn’ this year. A blog by James was also published on the UKTI website.

 

The Jump Wind TunnelThe Jump on Channel 4
The R.J. Mitchell wind tunnel featured in Channel 4’s new series The Jump watched by 1.7 million viewers. The wind tunnel was used to put competitors, including Olympic rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave and investigative journalist Donal Macintyre, through their paces in the Speed Ski section of the competition.

Watch the wind tunnel in The Jump here (the first appearance is at eight minutes in).

 

floodFlooding comments
Robert Nicholls, Professor of Coastal Engineering, spoke to Sky News about coastal flood defences in response to the storms and flooding experienced across the UK. His comments were also reported on local commercial radio stations across the country including Wave 105, City Talk FM Liverpool, Key 103FM Manchester and CFM Radio Carlisle.

A new study by Professor Nicholls’ predicts that climate change threatens to cause trillions in damage to world’s coastal regions if they do not adapt to sea-level rise. The study featured around the world including articles in The Australian, French Tribune, Scientific American, Zee News (India), Red Orbit (USA), Newsroom America and many more.

Read our press release here.

Professor of Physical Geography, David Sear was interviewed by LBC Radio about river dredging and what can be done to help minimise the swelling of rivers. He’s also commented on the same issue via the BBC News Channel (focusing on the Somerset Levels), ITV Meridian, BBC South, Sky News (online) and the Voice of Russia.

Railway researchRailways and climate change
William Powrie, Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Dean of Engineering and the Environment, spoke to BBC TV South Today about his research into the impact of climate change on railway infrastructure. The interview was featured on the BBC News website.

Watch a YouTube video about the University’s work to improve railway design here.

 

sunshineHere comes the sun
University research revealing how sunlight can reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke by reducing blood pressure through altering levels of nitric oxide in the blood resulted in widespread media interest both nationally and internationally. Articles have appeared in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Daily Mail, and on the front page of The Daily Express. Additional coverage included NBC News, ABC News, Newstrack India, Huffington Post and The Toronto Sun among many science and health news websites.

                                          Read our press release here.

 

PhotonicsSilicon photonics coverage
The Engineer, New Electronics and science websites reported on a new £6m project, led by Professor Graham Reed from ORC, to bring silicon photonics to the mass market.

Read our press release here.

 

 

StairsGetting academics moving
m.c. schraefel Professor of Computer Science and Human Performance, contributed a blog for the Guardian HE Network on getting academics moving to improve health and wellbeing.

 

 

 

Immunology labResearch changing cancer treatment
Peter Johnson, Professor of Medical Oncology, was interviewed by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about the ways new research can help the fight against cancer.

Listen to the interview here.

Research February 2014

Professor Guy Poppy warns us that a ‘perfect storm’ is on the way and we need to prepare ourselves.

The University has received an award of £100K from NERC to increase, advance and accelerate impact from NERC investments in research – find out more and how to apply here.

The Computer Law and Security Review founded and edited by Professor Steve Saxby has been admitted to the prestigious Social Science Citation Index in the Web of Science.

Education February 2014

You now have free access to a library of 1,000s of high quality online instructional videos, e.g. online SharePoint training via Lynda.com.

Numbers of postgraduate research students embarking on PhD degrees in Biological Sciences have doubled over the last academic year and are set to continue at this level.

The University’s Archaeology of Portus MOOC is due to be launched on 10 March, further information to follow on www.southampton.ac.uk/moocs.