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Monday 10 March 2008Grant rise. The University is to receive an extra £3m from the Higher Education Funding Council next year (2008/09) bringing its total annual grant to £57.1 million. This represents a cash increase of 5.7%. The scale of the University’s recent growth can be measured by the fact that its grant has risen by £26 million since 2001/02. The total contains increases for both teaching and research and additional student numbers for Cornwall and medicine/dentistry. Olympic green light. The University has been included on a list of possible pre-Olympic Games training camps for the 2012 London Olympics. It means facilities will be offered to national teams in the sports of badminton, basketball, road cycling, fencing, hockey, judo, table tennis and indoor volleyball. Science Park progress. The Regional Development Agency has set aside £19m to buy the site for the new Science Park, which is off Junction 29 of the M5. The project is a partnership involving the University, the Met Office, East Devon, Exeter City and Devon County Councils and the RDA. It is due to open in 2010 and will link to the University’s Innovation Centre in helping to develop new knowledge-led businesses. RAE work begins. The University’s 13 members of subject panels for the Research Assessment Exercise began work in January and will report in late December. The national panels are made up of leading figures in each subject area. They have the job of assessing different universities’ RAE returns and assigning a score which will determine future funding. Exeter’s return was a major improvement on the last RAE of 2001 in terms of quality, quantity and number of staff submitted. Science Strategy launch. All academic staff are invited to the launch of the University’s new Science Strategy on Wed 23 April in the Peter Chalk Centre. The aim of the day is to share information about the Strategy’s five major themes and plot future progress. The themes are: Climate Change and Sustainable Futures; Systems Biology; Extrasolar Planets; Functional Materials; Translational Medicine. RSVP: e.s.allgrove@exeter.ac.uk Our man in Dubai. Robin MacGregor is the new Director of the University’s Middle East Office based in Knowledge Village, Dubai. He was previously an International Officer at the University of Edinburgh, where he was responsible for the strategic development of recruitment from the Middle East and Africa. New Guild. A UK record number of students turned out to vote in this year's Guild elections. Some 26.6% of the student body cast their votes, bearing the previous record of 25.9% held by Loughborough. John Cox was elected as the new President of the Guild of Students and will take over from Jess Dow this summer. Mr Cox is currently the Guild’s Welfare and Equal Opportunities Officer. Sign up. Free taster sessions on British Sign Language are being offered as part of the University’s Diversity Programme. The sessions are aimed at complete beginners and will be delivered by an experienced deaf tutor and his interpreter. Sessions will take place in the Foreign Language Centre, Queen’s Building on Wed 30 April at 10.00-11.00 and 11.00-12.00. Places are restricted to 15 per session. Contact: e.a.stewart@exeter.ac.uk Press the button. During a recent fire at the University, staff cleared the building, called the fire brigade, but didn’t ring the fire alarm. This could have had serious consequences had the fire spread. The University's Fire Safety Adviser Andy Henson says: ‘If you discover a fire you should be the person to operate the fire alarm. That way you know it will be done; do not rely on someone else.’ Staff should know the location of their nearest fire alarm control point. Pension choices. Pension Salary Exchange (PSX), which was introduced for members of USS and ERBS in August 2007, will be continuing for the year beginning 1 April 2008. If you originally decided not to participate in PSX you can join from this date. If you no longer wish to enjoy the benefits of PSX you may withdraw by completing a form and returning it to the Pensions Office in Personnel and Staff Development no later than Monday 31 March 2008. Contact the Pensions Office (extension 3088; email a.j.rose@exeter.ac.uk). See: www.admin.ex.ac.uk/personnel/exeter_only/pension_salary_exchange.shtml |
EventsTue 11 Mar, 5pm Tue 11 Mar, 1-2.30pm Tue 11 Mar 1pm Tue 11 Mar, 4.15 pm Wed 12 March, 1.30-8.30pm Wed 12 Mar, 6.15pm Thur 13 March, 5pm Tue 18 Mar, 5pm Wed 19 Mar 4.15 pm For a full list of research events and seminars see www.exeter.ac.uk/ |
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