SPECIAL EVENTS MARK VICE-CHANCELLOR'S RETIREMENT

Two special events were held at Keele Hall this week to mark the retirement from Keele of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Janet Finch.

A dinner, hosted by members of Council and attended by a number of former members of Council and local guests, was held in the Salvin Room on Monday and there was a cocktail party for members of staff in the Ballroom at Keele Hall last night.

Professor Dame Janet Finch retires at the end of this month after serving as Vice-Chancellor for 15 years.

She said: "It has been a great pleasure and privilege to be the Vice-Chancellor of Keele University. The dinner and cocktail party this week have given me the opportunity to say farewell to colleagues from across the University. I am grateful for all the good wishes that I have received as I begin the next chapter of my life."

Professor Dame Janet Finch has recently been appointed Chair of Main Panel C for the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework exercise, the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. She will also take an honorary position at the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life, based in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester, as well as assuming non-executive roles in several national organisations.

STARS JUST GOT BIGGER

Using a combination of instruments on the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive stars to date, one weighing at birth more than 300 times the mass of the Sun, or twice as much as the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. The existence of these monsters — millions of times more luminous than the Sun — may provide an answer to the question "how massive can stars be?"

A team of astronomers, including Raphael Hirschi, Astrophysics at Keele, used ESO's Very Large Telescope, as well as archival data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, to study two young clusters of stars, NGC 3603 and RMC 136a in detail. The team found several stars with surface temperatures over 40,000 degrees — more than seven times hotter than our Sun — and a few tens of times larger and several million times brighter.

The illustration shows RMC136a.

KEELE GERONTOLOGISTS VISIT SINGAPORE AND AUSTRALIA

Professor Miriam Bernard, Director of the Centre for Social Gerontology, with two of her doctoral research students: Julie Melville (ESRC CASE student) and Jenny Liddle (Research Associate on the LARC project), have returned from a three-week visit to Singapore and Australia. They participated in two major international conferences, presented papers on their various research projects, visited housing developments for older people and worked with colleagues at the National University of Singapore, and at Monash University in Melbourne.

In Singapore, the 4th International Consortium of Intergenerational Programmes Conference addressed the theme 'Linking Generations: Family, Work and Community', while in Australia the team attended the International Federation on Ageing's 10th Global Conference on the theme of 'Climate for Change: Ageing into the Future'. Julie gave well-received papers on her doctoral research evaluating the UK's first purpose-built intergenerational centre and on her work with the Beth Johnson Foundation's European Map of Intergenerational Learning project. At both conferences, Professor Bernard, pictured above, was an invited speaker in plenary symposia on 'Multigenerational Approaches to Social Inclusion and Community Cohesion', where she spoke about the work of Keele's Centre for Social Gerontology. She also presented papers on her 'Ages and Stages' Project and on the research she, Jenny Liddle and colleagues have been doing on retirement communities. Her paper presentation at the IFA Conference - 'Then and Now: The redevelopment of Denham Garden Village into a 21st century retirement community' - was supported by a British Academy Overseas Conference Grant.

At the National University of Singapore, Professor Bernard gave an invited talk on 'Designing a Mixed Method Longitudinal Study of Ageing: the experience of the LARC project', to a session co-organised by the health cluster in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Tsao-NUS Initiative on Aging. At Monash, she presented the 'Ages and Stages' project to an international seminar organised by MonRAS (Monash University's 'Research for an Ageing Society' cross-faculty initiative) and held talks on potential collaborations.

KEELE STUDENT AT THE VICTORIAN PHARMACY

Undergraduate pharmacy student James Scott was on TV last week taking a part in the BBC series "The Victorian Pharmacy". James is shown being treated for a bruise with a remedy made from earthworms.

James spotted an article about the programme in the Pharmaceutical Journal and got in touch with the producer to say he would like to get involved and represent his school at the same time. He was contacted a few weeks before the project started and invited along for two days of filming. 

James, who has just completed the third year of the MPharm programme, is the President of "KAPS": the Keele Association of Pharmacy Students.

RESEARCH GRANTS

Professor Gauthier Lanot, Research Institute for Public Policy and Management, has been awarded £24,017 by the Low Pay Commission for a project on "the minimum wage and human capital accumulation of young low paid workers during an economic downturn".

Dr Zoe Robinson, pictured left, Nicola Ruston and Professor Mark Ormerod, Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics, have been awarded £4,980 from National Energy Action's new Cheshire-Lehmann Fund, which has been established to support active research and evaluation into the relationship between fuel poverty and energy efficiency.  The project, entitled "Evaluating 'in the home' fuel poverty alleviation interventions in North Staffordshire", will build on their current work with disadvantaged communities, and will investigate the effectiveness of fuel-poverty alleviation interventions carried out by third sector organisations such as Beat the Cold, helping to inform future resource allocation and intervention strategies to ensure efficient, effective and fair fuel-poverty alleviation strategies.

Professor Barry Godfrey, Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice, pictured, has been awarded £1,913 by the British Academy for a project titled "Courtrooms and the public sphere in the British Colonies, 1750-1950".

He has also been awarded £4,340 by the Wellcome Trust for a project titled "Convicts: health care within and outside the penal estate, 1750-1950".

BUCS BALL AT KEELE HALL

Former England rugby union player Josh Lewsey, MBE, pictured left, was guest of honour at the BUCS Ball at Keele Hall last week, which was attended by more than 300 members and guests, celebrating a successful year of university sport.

The evening saw awards presented to universities, teams and individuals who had been integral to the success of higher education sport during the 2009/10 season.

The opening speaker for the conference was Chris Holmes, Director of Paralympic Integration, London 2012, and Kevin Mattinson, Keele University Pro Vice-Chancellor for Community and Partnerships, gave an opening address.

GENDER, WORK AND ORGANIZATION INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

The journal `Gender, Work and Organization' held its 6th Biennial International Interdisciplinary conference at Keele Hall this week, which was opened by Professor David Shepherd, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Conference organiser Dr Deborah Kerfoot (Research Institute for Public Policy and Management) welcomed 344 delegates from 38 nations, organised in 17 streams and four workshops. Emeritus Professors Pat Yancey Martin (Florida State University, USA) and David Morgan (Keele) gave keynote addresses.

Gender, Work and Organization is published by Wiley Blackwell and jointly edited by Deborah Kerfoot and David Knights (Emeritus, Keele).

INVITE TO MONETARY POLICY ROUNDTABLE

Professor Costas Milas, Keele Management School, pictured below, received a personal invitation by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee to take part in the Monetary Policy Roundtable held at the Bank of England last week.

The meeting addressed the implications of Eurozone's fiscal crisis for the UK economy.

KEELE CYCLING BUG

Keele Cyclists, the University's new bicycle users' group (BUG) held their first meeting last week. Twenty-six enthusiasts of all abilities attended and, with support from the environmental manager and transport manager, addressed a range of issues to encourage and support cycling at Keele.

Keele Cyclists have a new web page which gives information about cycling on campus and local rides, shops and clubs and you can also join an e-mail list if you would like more information.

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT

The following academic appointment has commenced in post.

School of Public Policy and Professional Practice

Maureen Morgan, Senior Teaching Fellow in Clinical Management and Leadership, who was previously a Professional Officer with the Department of Health.

KEELE TEACHING INNOVATION SYMPOSIUM

The Learning Development Unit last week hosted the 2010 Teaching Innovation Symposium in the Chancellor's Building. Introduced by Professor Marilyn Andrews, Pro Vice-Chancellor, this was the largest symposium ever, with about 85 Keele staff attending.

The keynote presentation by Professor Phil Race (Leeds Metropolitan University) was entitled "Smarter Assessment and Feedback". Many of the excellent presentations and photographs are available on the LDU website.

Issue Two of the KLE newsletter (July 2010), tracking progress of the development of the new virtual learning environment for 2011, is also available on the website.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

18 July 1977

Whilst playing host to the Open University Summer School for the seventh successive year, the 20,000th OU student is to cross the University's threshold.

This achievement was commended by OU Host Regional Director Mr Michael Richardson as a "substantial milestone, both for the Open University and Keele University". The summer schools attract students of all ages and from all walks of life.