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| 17 December 2001
This issue: Bulletin Online: University links: |
Welcome to Bulletin volume
8 number 11 The
University has made a dramatic leap up the national league tables for the
quality of research in universities, according to the national media's
assessment of the RAE results. The Independent puts the University in
tenth place, with The THES, The Times, The Daily Mail and The Financial
Times all ranking Southampton one spot lower. The
difference is explained by the inclusion of the specialist Institute of
Cancer Research in many of the league tables, but with a narrow subject
base and only 112 staff selected, it does not compare with the 930 staff
returned in 34 units of assessment by Southampton. Southampton's place in the top 10 of UK research universities has
been assured by the results.This is a huge improvement on 1996 when The
Higher placed Southampton 20th. In one
of a number of spectacular outcomes of the RAE results, Engineering at
Southampton is now ranked as the UK's number one Faculty. Only Oxford
gained a clean sweep of the top grade of 5* in Engineering, but with far
fewer staff entered into the RAE. Other
newspaper rankings vary, with the highest given by the Guardian, where the
University is placed eighth, whereas the Daily Telegraph table places
Southampton sixteenth. The
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) published the full
results of the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise on Friday. They show that
there have been significant increases in the amount of high quality
research carried out over the past five years. Sixty-four per cent of the
research submitted was of national or international levels of excellence,
compared to forty-three per cent at the time of the last RAE in 1996.
At the
meeting of University Council on Thursday, the Vice-Chancellor said that
the University's success had also produced a difficulty. The management of
research had improved, the performance and ranking internationally had
improved, but the funding had not. So the funding reward of the
University's success will be less if the Government does not allocate more
money for research. The HEFCE Board was due to meet the following day, the
Vice-Chancellor said. Chair of
Council, Dame Yvonne Moores, added that the staff of the University should
be justifiably proud of their achievement and said that she was personally
delighted by the University's success. Southampton's results in the RAE were published in a special
edition of Bulletin. Arijit Banerjee Several
hundred students attended an event of thanksgiving held at the University
last Wednesday in memory of Arijit Banerjee, a third-year student in the
Faculty of Law. The event coincided with Arijit's funeral in
Middlesborough, to which around 20 students and staff from Law travelled
from Southampton. After gathering outside the Law Faculty at a spot which
held special memories of Arijit, who was an extremely popular student,
friends were were able to record messages in a book of condolences.
Tributes were paid to Arijit from friends in the Law Faculty and halls of
residence, and the event also included readings and music.
The
Golden Jubilee website features a different year each week, counting down
to the main Jubilee celebrations next year. Arts on
Campus In 1978
an investigation began into the possibility of creating a single building
to house the University's photographic and fine art
galleries. The fine
art gallery existed in the Nuffield Theatre (now the Gallery Restaurant in
the Nuffield) and put on a number of notorious exhibitions, though none so
audacious as a performance by Genesis P. Orridge and Cosy Fanni Tutti who,
without hitting the headlines, gave a performance featuring nudity....
Find out
more at: http://www.goldenjubilee.soton.ac.uk/. University No 1 for arts Each of
the cultural centres on Campus (the John Hansard Gallery, the Nuffield
Theatre and the Turner Sims concert hall), were all placed as No.1 'must
see' shows recently in the Guardian Guide. The Gina Pane exhibition, the
Nuffield's Christmas show, and the current concert programme at the Turner
Sims were all singled out for praise. Meanwhile A Christmas Carol at the Nuffield is selling extremely
well and has also received great reviews from the local press. The theatre
prides itself on presenting a Christmas show and not a Pantomime-making it
very different to many other productions, and providing an alternative to
the big shows at larger theatres. Nightwaves Distinguished biographers Michael Holroyd, Miranda Seymour, Ray
Monk, and Andrew Motion took part in a discussion held at the University's
Avenue Campus last week and broadcast on Radio Three last Friday in the
Nightwaves series. The event, entitled Fact and Fiction in Biography, was
organized by Polly Clark, poet in residence at the Southern Daily Echo, as
the final event of her residency, and was hosted by the University's
Philosophy Department. A large audience from around the region heard an
extremely stimulating discussion which also included readings from the
authors' biographies by actor Sean Baker. Accolade for University Professor Professor Timothy Leighton (ISVR) has been named as the Inaugural
recipient of the International Medwin Prize for Acoustical Oceanography.
This is the first time the prize, set up by the Acoustical Society of
America, has been awarded. Acoustical Oceanography, which is the use of sound in the discovery
and understanding of physical, chemical and biological parameters and
processes in the sea, is one of the largest disciplines in acoustics.
Professor Leighton gave an address and received the prize in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, earlier this month. Discount on University book orders Managers
at the University's Waterstone's Bookshop would like to remind staff that
the store gives 10 per cent discount on all official University orders.
The shop pays a turnover rent to the University and therefore the more
books sold the more the University profits. Although the bookshop has a
sole base on the Highfield Campus, orders can be delivered throughout the
University campuses. Bookstalls can also be provided at conferences when
appropriate. For
further information contact the Manager, Gully Trevena, on 023 8055
8267. 30 years at University Colleen
Sheriff recently celebrated 30 years of service in the Estates and
Buildings Department. She is pictured with Don Bradnum, retired University
Maintenance Officer, and the Director of Estates and Buildings, Patrick
Reynolds. Carols on Campus The
University Chaplaincy team wishes to thank all those who contributed
towards the retiring collection for Christan Aid`s appeal for Afghan
refugees. A total of £193 is being sent to the appeal.
Three
new research grants totalling over £400,000 have recently been awarded to
the University's Department of Archaeology. Head of Department Professor
David Peacock has been awarded £87,800 from the Leverhulme Trust for work
at Quseir al-Qadim on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Professor Peacock and
colleagues are involved in the ongoing excavation of an ancient port,
believed to be Myos Hormos, an important first century trading centre
linking Europe and the east. In
addition a project led by Professor Simon Keay to develop a web and
CD-based reference system for Roman amphorae (pictured) across Europe has
won £200,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Board. Amphorae are the
containers that were made and used all over the Roman world from the third
century BC to the sixth century AD. Another
team co-ordinated by Dr Joanna Sofaer Derevenski will receive
approximately 200,000 Euros from the European Commission for their
contribution to a Research Training Network (under the EC's Human
Potential Programme). The aim is to establish an international network of
young researchers, at PhD and post-doctoral level. All those involved will
work on a comparative exploration of the formation of Bronze Age
communities in Europe. Lectureship in Intellectual Property Law Baker
& McKenzie recently announced that it has sponsored a lectureshipat
the University. The firm and the Law Faculty have welcomed Caroline
Wilson, a respected IP academic to the post. Caroline joins the University
from the Intellectual Property Research Institute at Queen Mary College,
where she held a fellowship in Intellectual Property Law. At Southampton,
Caroline will also be responsible for editing the IP Law chapter of the
Sweet & Maxwell Encyclopaedia of IT law. Commenting on the sponsorship, Co-Manager of the IP Group, Michael
Hart said: 'Intellectual Property law is an area of enormous interest to
the Firm and the opportunity to sponsor the lectureship at Southampton was
a great fit with our interests in this area. IP Law
is constantly evolving and the sponsorship underlines our commitment to
staying at the cutting edge.' Wellington Prize winner History
graduate and 2001 Wellington Prize-winner, Annette Walton, received her
award from the Duke of Wellington himself last month. The prize was for
her dissertation 'The use of propaganda in the First Civil War,
1643-1646'. The
award took place on the evening of this year's Wellington Lecture,
delivered by Professor Dana Arnold. Christmas postal deliveries and collections Following the normal 9.00 am delivery and collection on Friday 21
December, a second, collection only will be made at 11.00 am. A third and
final delivery only will be made at 1.00 pm. Normal
postal services will be resumed from Wednesday 2 January
2002. Southampton Christmas toy appeal Many
thanks to all staff (well over 100 of you!) who contributed toys to the
City's Christmas Toy Appeal. The sacks of toys were collected from the
University last week and will be distributed this week by Southampton
Voluntary Services. SVS have asked us to extend their own thanks to
everyone who took part, and to say that the toys will make a
difference. Your questions answered... Can
lectures be webcast? If the John Hansard moves to the city centre, what is
planned for its existing site? Is it possible to get NUS cards? All these
intriguing questions and more are answered on the SotONLINE website.
Visit www.today.soton.ac.uk/question Folders, facts and figures University annual reports, facts and figures leaflets, A4
presentation folders and University bookmarks are available from External
Relations. Other
publications which are also available to departments are the City Council
annual brochure, and the Independent's Best of Southampton
guide. For more
information contact Caroline Robbins 8059 3212, email cpr1@soton.ac.uk December pay Salaries
will be paid into bank accounts on Thursday 20 December. University closure The
University will be closed for Christmas from Friday 21 December until
Wednesday 2 January 2002.
The
Nuffield Theatre A
Christmas Carol The
Phoenix Film Theatre Wednesday 19 December All
diary information is available on sotONLINE
The
Royal Society Family Demonstration Lecture Seminar Marine Life Talk
Research Fellow in Combinatorial Chemistry, Department of
Chemistry. Research Fellow in Textile Crafts, Winchester School of Art.
Research Assistant, Department of Electronics and Computer Science.
Arts
Faculty Office Supervisor, Academic Registrar's Department. Finance Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering. Clerical/Administrative Assistant, Part-time, School of Medicine,
Cancer Sciences, Immunology & Immunotherapy. Laboratory Technician, School of Medicine (Human Genetics). Research Technician, Full-time, School of Medicine, Infection,
Inflammation and Repair, Allergy & Inflammation Sciences. Assistant Librarian (User Services), National Oceanographic
Library. Assistant Librarian (Collection Management), National Oceanographic
Library. Part-time Library Assistant (Document Delivery), Biomedical
Sciences Library (Boldrewood). Chargehand (multi-trades), Estates and Buildings. Chargehand, Estates and Buildings - Winchester School of Arts.
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