INNOVATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH METHODOLOGY

Keele and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India have been successful in securing a competitive grant to pioneer an 'International Outreach Methodology' in social and legal research to locate/develop pathways for relevant postgraduate and doctoral level education which will draw on action research, reflective practice and community engagement.

The UKIERI Innovations in Research grant will provide £50k to support lead applicants; Dr Jane Krishnadas, pictured, as Director of Legal Outreach, Keele, and Professor Lakshmi Lingam, as the Deputy Director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' new UG and PGT campus in Hyderabad, to pioneer an 'International Outreach' project which will design, evaluate and model a research and teaching methodology in social and legal studies at the intersection of academic and practitioner engagement.
 
This multi-disciplinary and multi-level project will provide opportunities for  research scholars to undertake short term exchange visits to increase their internationalisation skills through their encounters with researchers and scholars, gaining real-world experiences in their work with community partners and make a valuable contribution to their independent research. A major element of the exchange will be the opportunity to work within the organisations of the community partners on a range of social-legal issues such as homelessness, intimate/societal violence, asylum and immigration, poverty and debt.
 
Dr Krishnadas has been supported in this at Keele by Alison Brammer (Law) and Jane Boylan (Social Work) and the programme also builds on the community partnerships cemented through the Community Legal Outreach Collaboration at Keele.

An exchange arrangement with IISER Pune, reported in last week's edition, involved two students coming to Keele for two months earlier this summer, working in the research labs of Professor Pat Bailey and Dr Mike Edwards on the synthesis of compounds of medicinal interest. Later in the summer, two 2nd year students from Keele spent a similar amount of time at the University in Pune, again working on medicinal chemistry projects. The funding will also allow the exchange of academic staff, and it is planned for this to take place in 2013.

SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY DELEGATION VISITS SPIRE

SPIRE was pleased to welcome to Keele a seven-strong delegation from Tongji' University's School of Marxism. The delegation was led by the School's Dean, Professor Xiaoqiang Ding, pictured between Professor Richard Luther (centre) and Professor Bulent Gökay, Head of SPIRE. The visit builds on Professor Luther's presentation earlier this semester of research papers at Tongji.

Like Keele, Tongji has identified the environment and sustainability as a strategic institutional priority. Discussions focused on common research interests (in political parties, urban politics and the environment), as well as on developing collaboration via, for example, staff visits and postgraduate student training. The delegation also met Professor David Shepherd, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Humanities and Social Science.

CRIMINOLOGISTS TO RESEARCH MENTORING IN PRISONS AND THE COMMUNITY

A team of criminologists from Keele has been awarded £34,000 to conduct research into a ground breaking project on mentoring for women in prison or Youth Offending Institutes and community settings.  They are: Professor Anne Worrall, Dr Mary Corcoran, pictured, and Dr Julie Trebilcock with Ms Gillian Buck. 

Gill Buck's doctoral research on peer mentoring by former prisoners is supervised by Mary Corcoran and Professor Ronnie Lippens.   All are members of the Research Institute for Social Sciences.

The 'Youth in Focus – Sisters Project', which is operated by the charity, Spurgeons, is funded by the Big Lottery.  The project aims to recruit and develop a network of mentors who will befriend, motivate and support young women in custody and through their transition to release and afterwards.   The research, which will last for 22 months, will be conducted in several locations including a Youth Offending Institute and prison for adult women in the West Midlands. The researchers will investigate all aspects of the project including the recruitment and retention of mentors and mentees, the characteristics of mentoring relationships and outcomes for altering the circumstances of women being mentored.

The Keele team brings to the project combined expertise on women in the criminal justice system, the development of mentoring in criminal justice settings, partnerships between voluntary sector and statutory agencies and work with vulnerable people in custody.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, joined colleagues from across the faculties and directorates to celebrate their professional development achievements during 2012. Colleagues who have studied successfully for awards co-ordinated by the Learning and Professional Development Centre gathered for an informal lunch at Keele Hall and were presented with their awards and certificates.  Colleagues celebrated achievements studying on the MA in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and associated awards as well as receiving NVQs awards and certificates for study routes accredited and endorsed by the Institute of Leadership and Management.

RETIREMENT OF LARRY GIFFORD

Professor Larry Gifford, Deputy Head of the School of Pharmacy for the past four years, having brought extensive experience from his previous position as Head of the School of Pharmacy at Manchester University, has retired. 

Larry played a major role in helping establish the undergraduate school at Keele and building solid foundations for the future.

The new Head of School, Professor Nigel Ratcliffe, commented that in his short period of overlap he had immediately come to respect Larry's knowledge, experience and connectivity with both staff and students.  These sentiments were echoed by former Head of School, Steve Chapman, who acknowledged the contribution and influence that Larry had had during on development of the MPharm course. 

Professor Andy Garner, Dean of the Faculty of Health, presented a gift to Larry along with a letter securing his future involvement via his appointment as an Emeritus Professor.  Larry expressed his desire to continue contributing to the success of pharmacy at Keele and presented the school with a framed print from Damien Hirst, entitled "Pharmacy", along with a beautiful mortar and pestle he had designed and crafted in wood, which is to be an awarded annually to the member of staff voted by the students to best illustrate how innovative research can inform practice.

TOP PRIZE FOR PAPER

Dr Nick Forsyth, Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, collaborated on a paper which has won the runner-up prize for paper of the year in one of the leading aging journals; Aging Cell, which is published by the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

"Comparative biology of mamalian teleomeres: hypotheses or ancestral states and the roles of telomeres in longevity determination" was published in the October 2011 issue of Aging Cell.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE KEYNOTE

Dr Lydia Martens, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, delivered a keynote address at the international and multidisciplinary Child and Teen Consumption conference, held at the IULM in Milan last week.

During the presentation entitled: Selling Babies: Child-Caring Moralities in Commercial Encounter Platforms, Dr Martens challenged reified ways of thinking about markets and the consequent binary oppositions this leads to.

She illustrated how inspiration from cultural practice theories could be used to think about markets as interactional practices in which practitioners perform the interrelating practices of selling, knowledge creating and child-caring.

The conference was attended by delegates from 30 countries.

SAFER PARKING AWARD FOR KEELE

Keele has achieved the Park Mark Safer Parking Award in respect of its campus car parks.

The award is given to parking facilities that have achieved the requirements of an assessment conducted by the Police and the British Parking Association.

Keele has put in place measures to deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour, thereby doing everything they can to prevent crime and reduce the fear of crime. 

The Safer Parking Scheme is an initiative of the Associations of Chief Police Officers, aimed at reducing crime and the fear of crime in parking areas. 

David Gray, Keele University's Head of Security said: "This award is very welcome reassurance for staff and students of the safety of our campus.

"The independent assessment of our facilities is a clear endorsement of our efforts to maintain this campus as a safe place to study."

The Scheme's Area Manager, Michael Gardner, pictured above with David Gray, said: "We are delighted that these car parks have achieved the standards required by the scheme, as it means that they are now delivering safer psarking for the car park's students, staff and visitors.

"Keele University have been working closely with us to achieve the standards required.

"This award is testament to their hard work and commitment in that respect."

Chief Inspector Neil Hulme, Newcastle Borough Local Policing Team Commander, said: "Keele University fully deserves the Park Mark award for their excellent approach to reducing car park crime."