Life as a Loughborough University London student

Diplomacy, Business and Trade MSc student, Kyle Paisley, has written this blog on his life as a Loughborough University London student.

A week at Loughborough University London tends to be a busy one. My week revolves around balancing lectures, group work, sporting activities and maintaining a social life. Depending on the time of year, I have around 10-15 hours of lectures a week, accompanied by tutorials. As a Diplomacy and International Governance student, my lectures usually consist of debates to gather a wide range of views, which I love! Alongside lectures I have several group projects, the most prominent being the Collaborative Project module. This involved up to three meetings a week with a diverse team of students solving a real-business problem.

After an intense day of lectures and group meetings, it is very easy to get tempted into going for a refreshing drink with my friends. Located a couple of minutes from campus is Canalside, an array of restaurants and bars by the Canal. What is great is that many of the bars and restaurants offer student discounts!

In addition, a 10-minute walk from campus is Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre. There is a free Here East bus that you can catch from campus to directly outside the shopping centre in 5 minutes! Westfields in Stratford hosts a selection of shops and restaurants to suit everyone! The Vue Cinema is also located there which allows you to relax after a busy day on campus. What is great, Stratford Underground and Stratford International Station are close by so you can get home afterwards easily. Unite Stratford One (an accommodation provider), in particular, is located right next door to the shopping centre!

Alongside studying, I really like to keep fit and healthy. There are many sports facilities located around the campus, especially because we are situated on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the former 2012 Olympic Games Park. You can enjoy a morning swim at the London Aquatics Centre clearing the mind before a busy day at University or go to the Copper Box Arena to partake in sports such as basketball. There is also a newly established football club which takes place on Wednesday evenings. As well as this, there are a number of gyms available nearby including in the East Village, Westfields and Copper Box.

Surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, I sometimes take a stroll with my friends and admire the park. Loughborough University London also offers a relaxation space in the Enterprise Zone where students can listen to music and enjoy a study free atmosphere, as well as develop business ideas.

Weekends in London are amazing and full of opportunities! A benefit of London is the large number of jobs available and how many allow international students to work for up to 20 hours each week which conforms with their Visa. As well as this, you can take the Underground to Central London locations in 15 minutes, enjoying sites such as Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street and Hyde Park. I would recommend any student to make the most of their time living in London and exploring the city.

Loughborough University London would like to thank Kyle for writing this blog. If you like the sound of what we offer, make sure to check out our webpage and other blogs.

Postgrad Awards

FindAMasters and FindAPhD  have launched the Postgrad Awards to honour and reward excellence in postgraduate teaching, supervision, learning and research.

FindAMasters and FindAPhD want to reward exceptional people whose dedication, determination and passion for their work is outstanding!

The award categories are:

• Master’s teacher of the year
• PhD supervisor of the year
• Master’s student of the year
• PhD student of the year

Prizes include £500 for student winners and a Postgrad Awards trophy!

If you know someone deserving of one of these awards, be sure to nominate them here (link). You can nominate a peer, your lecturer or supervisor, or one of your master’s or PhD students. You may also nominate yourself for any of the awards, providing you have at least one supporting statement from a peer or student, or from your lecturer/supervisor.

Nominations must be received by 5pm on Tuesday 30 April 2019! Nominate now!

FindAMasters and FindAPhD will contact shortlisted applicants by Friday 28 June 2019 and will announce the winners by the end of July. Further information about the Postgrad Awards can be found here.

Marketing and Advancement Internship: Application advice from current Interns.

Applications are now open for passionate and talented Loughborough University graduates and Part B students to join our award-winning Marketing and Advancement Team.

Continue reading

Why are Roma also hated?

Dr Aidan McGarry, Reader in International Politics within the Institute for International Governance and Diplomacy, has written an article on ‘Why are Roma also hated’ in partnership with The Conversation.

Roma are one of the most marginalised and persecuted groups in Europe, and anti-Roma attitudes are on the rise.

In many societies, it is perfectly acceptable to denigrate them by invoking the negative traits and characteristics that all Roma are supposed to possess (crime, delinquency, parasitic lifestyle …).

Romophobia is evident in the hate speech delivered by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who called for ethnic profiling of Roma, but also in the attacks of neo-Nazis who destroyed houses and killed innocent people Roma in Ukraine, or in the forced eviction of 8,161 Roma from their homes by the French authorities in 2017.

Roma occupy the lowest position in virtually all socio-economic indicators, including educational attainment and educational attainment, unemployment, life expectancy and infant mortality. A study on societal attitudes towards different groups – led by Sadaf Lakhani, Audrey Sacks and Rasmus Heltberg for the World Bank in 2014 – found that Roma were as low as paedophiles and drug traffickers in some European states. Since their arrival in Europe in the XIV the century (from India), Roma have suffered exclusion and discrimination. It is imperative to try to understand why.

Romophobia in question

In my book Romaphobia: The Last Acceptable Form of Racis , I show that anti-Roma prejudices are not only a historical artefact but are actively replicated by actors and institutions seeking to strengthen their position in power. Romophobia is defined first of all as the hatred or fear of people perceived as being Roma, Gypsies or “of the journey” and implies the negative attribution of the identity of a group. Romophobia is therefore a form of racism, cut in the same fabric as this one. It causes marginalization, persecution and violence.

To understand where romophobia comes from, it is necessary to grasp the relationships and processes that have historically created and nourish it today. Nationalism has repeatedly proved to be the preferred tactic to pacify the people, by strengthening the emotional bonds of solidarity with their so-called alike.

This collective identity is constructed by a political elite that claims a common territory, a history, a myth of origin, a language and / or a common religion in order to foster solidarity. However, the construction of a collective identity is divisive and necessarily implies the demarcation of boundaries between “them” and “us”. This is deliberate: the goal is to produce solidarity and stability within the Nation. But this can be done by targeting minorities (including Muslim and Jewish communities) who unintentionally play an important role in the processes of nation-building in Europe.

Why Roma rather than another community?

The key to understanding why Roma are marginalized across Europe lies in our understanding of territory and space, as well as in the processes of building and maintaining identity. An example of this identity work is the stereotype of the Roma as itinerant “nomads” who have neither home nor fixed roots, which serves to justify their exclusion.

Nowhere are the Roma considered as “ours” as members of society. As a people without territory, the Roma do not correspond to the conception of Westphalian nationalism in which a nation merges with a sovereign territory. They are thus excluded from public life, considered as a problematic community that does not “fit” into the projection of the Nation. This makes Roma scapegoats of choice.

From the earliest days of nation-building, Roma are instrumentalised to serve the interests of the political elite. They are excluded from the articulation of the Nation, their difference exploited as a fuel to build the Nation as corresponding to “us” (the majority) and not to “them” (Roma). The Roma, as a strongly constructed and civilized identity, become these necessary “others”, positioned outside the Nation. This is the historical rule and not a recent exception. Roma have not only been excluded from some nations, but from all the nations of Europe. They have been stigmatized and persecuted in all European states at one time or another. The historical experience of Roma communities in Romania, Slovakia or Spain was singular in each case, but she translates this same romophobia. Politicians “build” the Roma and treat them as a separate and problematic entity living in the state, but separated from the nation. With predictable results.

Historically, all acts of widespread violence and the dehumanizing treatment of Roma (expulsion, deportation, murder, enslavement …) have been supported by national construction projects. It is therefore reasonable to ask whether the exclusion of the Roma is deliberate, as a by-product of the construction of the State and the Nation. If so, then romophobia would be part of the matrix of European nationalism and persistent examples of romophobia should not surprise us.

Romophobia, the last acceptable form of racism

In view of the predominantly negative attitudes towards Roma across Europe, romophobia appears largely acceptable . It is present in informal conversations at home and at work, in the stereotyped portrayals of carnival gypsies in the media, when state authorities accuse the Roma of kidnapping children with blond hair and blue eyes , when urban planners place Roma in ghettos , when political elites target Roma communities and shave their houses or expel them en masse …

The very identity of the Roma is considered disturbing or threatening.

The widespread confusion between Roma culture and crime in countries such as Hungary or Italy is evidence of this, as is the recurrent expulsion of Roma communities from their homes in France.

In Europe today, it is important to take into account lessons from the past, such as how the targeting of the Roma led to the attempt of their extermination by the Nazis.

Fascism and right-wing populism are no longer marginal, but once again become ordinary: they are the subject of open discussions in the media by politicians seeking expeditious means to garner support. Nationalism thus always contributes so effectively to spreading this ideology of hatred and exclusion.

You can view the article here.

Update to Windows 10 Staff Task Sequence on Friday 12th April

The Task Sequence changes have now been made and tested. If you encounter any issues then please log a case with the Service Desk.

Configuration Manager from 1710 to 1810

All work has now been completed and the service is available again

Introducing: MSc Disability, Design and Innovation

The Global Disability Innovation Hub is delighted to announce the launch of a brand-new master’s degree, delivered in partnership with UCL, Loughborough University London and the London College of Fashion.

The Disability, Design and Innovation MSc is a flagship programme for the newly established Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub), which brings together world-leading expertise in disability, technology and innovation across all three Universities.

This programme blends design engineering with global policy and the societal context of disability, giving students a unique insight and the skills to be innovators in the field of global disability.

The multidisciplinary programme will create a new breed of graduates who will be able to apply design thinking to the complex problem of disability. They will also learn how ICT and technology can be harnessed to improve the lives of over 1 billion disabled people living across the world.

You can now apply for the Disability, Design and Innovation MSc for September 2019 entry. The application deadline is Friday 14 June 2019. Apply for September 2019 entry now.

For more information about the Disability, Design and Innovation MSc, including details on entry requirements, modules, fees and more, please visit UCL online.

Coping with homesickness at University

Currently, over this Easter holiday, I’m reuniting with friends and family in beautiful Essex. Returning home brings mixed feelings since the contrast between home life and Loughborough life is so huge! Continue reading

'Does a Masters really matter?': Busting the basic stereotypes associated with Masters

A couple of years ago, if someone had suggested pursuing a Masters, I would have said “as if!”. Had they said a double Masters, I would have been bemused by the ‘joke’. Continue reading

Making Loughborough your home before you get here

So, this time last year I received a silver envelope through the letter box from Loughborough with a card in that was the beginning of this whole experience, which is actually insane, looking at how far I’ve come and developed as a person already.

Continue reading

Easter Opening Times across campus 2019

If you’re in Loughborough over the Easter holidays make sure to check out the various opening times across campus over the next few weeks.

Pilkington Library

• Monday 8th – Friday 12th April | 9am – 8pm
• Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th April | Closed
• Monday 15th – Thursday 18th April | 9am – 8pm
• Friday 19th – Tuesday 23rd April | Closed
• Wednesday 24th – Friday 26th April | 9am – 8pm
• Saturday 25th April | 9am – 2am
• Sunday 26th April | 10am – 2am

Open as usual from 29th April. More information

Union Shop

• Monday 8th – Friday 12th April | 8:30am – 5:30pm
• Saturday 13th April | 10am – 4pm
• Sunday 14th April | Closed
• Monday 15th – Thursday 18th April | 8:30am – 5:30pm
• Friday 19th – Tuesday 23rd April | Closed
• Wednesday 24th April – Friday 26th April | 8:30am – 5:30pm
• Saturday 27th April | 10am – 4pm
• Sunday 28th April | Closed

Open as usual from 29th April.

Powerbase Gym

• Closed until 14th April
• Monday 15th – Thursday 18th April | 6:30am – 8:30pm
• Friday 19th – Monday 22nd April | 9am – 5pm
• Tuesday 23rd April – Friday 26th April | 6:30am – 8:30pm
• Saturday 27th – Sunday 28th April | 9am – 5pm

Open as usual from 29th April. More information

Holywell Gym

• Monday 8th – Friday 12th April | 6:30am – 8:30pm
• Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th April | 9am – 5pm
• Monday 15th – Thursday 18th April | 6:30am – 8:30pm
• Friday 19th – Monday 22nd April | 9am – 5pm
• Tuesday 23rd April – Friday 26th April | 6:30am – 8:30pm
• Saturday 27th – Sunday 28th April | 9am – 5pm

Open as usual from 29th April. More information

Haslegrave

• Open as usual, 24/7 access with your student card.

Medical Centre

• Open as usual
• Friday 19th – Monday 22nd April | Closed

More details

Student Services

• Open as usual
• Friday 19th – Tuesday 23rd April | Closed

Find out more

Creative and Print Services

• Open as usual
• Friday 19th – Tuesday 23rd April | Closed

More information

Preparing for those lingering exams

Stressed about your upcoming A-Level exams? Well it’s time to read the following blog, then get offline and stop the procrastination! Continue reading

tracing drawology

humhyphenhum (Deborah Harty & Phil Sawdon)

#tracing drawology is the latest phase of the drawology project, curated by humpyphenhum. It is facilitated and supported by Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The drawology project sits within Deborah Harty’s wider practice-led research project, drawing is phenomenology.

DRN 2019 Conference: Embodied Drawing

TRACEYDrawing Research Network Conference 11-12^thJuly 2019

Conveners: Drawing Research Group, Loughborough University

The conference aims to explore the notion of embodied drawing. By embodied drawing we suggest that ‘embodied’ could be synonymous with the act of drawing, that drawing is an act of embodiment. As such, the making of a mark expands to become an act of mediation. Yet if all bodies are mediat(ing)ed, they too mark the skins and surfaces of other bodies in the briefest immediacies – in traces of gesture, events, at and through the borderline. A curious folding of/with materiality – a drawing. And as drawing expands there come lines of flight and queer becomings: of further technological mediations, prostheses, computer augmented realities, boundary-making practices that offer up new forms of embodiment, of bodies yet to be named, without outline. And so we ask; what does it mean to have a body? What can they do? What can be drawn?

Registration is now open for the conference and can be booked online by clicking on the link below:

https://store.lboro.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/school-of-the-arts-english-and-drama/upcoming-eventssymposiums

Delegate rates:

£100 Early bird rate until 30 April 

£120 full rate

£60 unaffiliated

Please note the conference fee includes lunch and refreshments for both days and a buffet dinner on Thursday 11th July 2019.

Can collaborative simulation models help organisations improve their efficiency?

Over the last 10 years, academics within the School of Business and Economics have been researching and developing ways of involving people from different stakeholder groups in modelling processes which help identify and improve the performance of a whole range of different processes within organisations.

One of the most successful modelling tools we have developed is PartiSim – which stands for Participative Simulation.  Through our research, conducted in partnership with Kent Business School, we have developed a framework, stakeholder-oriented tools and manuals, which combined with the support of an analyst and facilitator from our research team, can help organisations build models of their business processes and identify ways to become more effective.

We use a well-designed process involving tailored workshops, delivered in a non-technical way, to better understand the organisation and to help plan improvements.  With the support of experts from our research team, members of the organisation attend workshops co-creating models and analysing outcomes, where they can experiment with different possible options to understand the potential impact on performance or to identify ways to become more efficient.

In PartiSim workshops managers and organisations are supported to turn findings into actionable insights and to ultimately make informed decisions.  PartiSim has been used to support organisations within the health, manufacturing and finance sectors, demonstrating the applicability of the approach to different contexts.

Most recently PartiSim was used in a small financial services organisation to improve operations in their savings department, this time led by the Information Systems Analyst based within the company, supported by academics at Loughborough University. The flexibility of our approach and the impact of PartiSim can be summed up by the Information Systems Analyst’s feedback:

“PartiSim provided a comprehensive, agile tool to identify root causes of issues experienced, specifically in relation to efficiency, performance and data accuracy. The nature of the approach is underpinned by collaborative stakeholder participation which I found to be a critical element in achieving staff buy-in, acquiring varied sets of opinions and data in a controlled yet effective manner and justifying a series of phased recommendations to exceed the objectives defined. Due to executing the investigation in a live working environment, multiple factors would change on a regular basis and the adaptability of the framework ensured any changes could be considered and embedded immediately, which is a huge benefit of PartiSim.” (Jamie Kirk)

One of the benefits of using a participative approach is that instead of simply presenting managers with an answer to their problems, the group goes through a process of idea generation and creative thinking to reach commonly agreed and shared opinions about the action to be taken.  We have seen that this approach really works as a way of getting people to buy in into the changes identified through the modelling process and it also gives them confidence to implement the changes in their organisation.

Our work on Partisim has also attracted significant attention from the research world. 

Last year, the research team was invited to give a tutorial on PartiSim at the Winter Simulation Conference 2018 in Gothenburg. This was a privilege as the Winter Simulation Conference is an internationally renowned conference in the modelling and simulation field. Attendees found the tutorial inspiring and we were buzzing from the positive response and feedback received at the conference.

Following that we have received more invitations to present PartiSim to different audiences. In 2019 we are due to hold a workshop at the UK’s System Dynamics Chapter Conference and at the Wales NHS Wales Modelling Collaborative event, which we are looking forward to.

If you are interested in improving the performance of your operational processes and are looking to involve and empower your employees in the delivery of the analysis, do get in touch.  We would be happy to discuss how PartSim could help your organisation.

This Blog post was written by Dr Antuela Tako, Reader in Operational Research and leader of the Simulation Practice research interest group. Antuela can be reached on a.takou@lboro.ac.uk or via Twitter: @AntuelaTako

3D Printing Workshops

Every Wednesday this April, come along to our campus between 3pm-5.30pm to find out more about 3D printing at the ‘Neighbourhood: can we 3D print the future east London?’ workshops.

We’ll be using 3D printing pens to draw small buildings, objects and text by layering shapes onto a map of the area while holding informal discussions on the changes taking place locally – all levels of experience are welcome to join.

These sessions are taking place on 3 April, 10 April, 17 April and 24 April. Everyone is welcome to come along and can join in at any time!

There are limited spaces, so if you would like to come along please email Saif Osmani at s.osmani@lboro.ac.uk

Update to Windows 10 Staff Task Sequence

Dear Colleagues,

On Friday 12th April, from 8:00 am to 9:00 am, the Windows 10 Staff Task Sequence will be updated to provide support for the following additional Dell laptops:

• Latitude 7490
• XPS 13 9380
• XPS 15 9570

The Task Sequences will be at risk during this period. It is therefore recommended that you do not attempt to image any Windows 10 staff computers at this time.

CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION AND HELP?

Please contact our Service Desk at it.services@lboro.ac.uk for more information

Prevent Toshiba Z30s upgrading from 1607 to 1709

Dear Colleagues,

It has been identified that when the Toshiba Z30 models are upgraded from 1607 to 1709 it adds a considerable time to the boot process. Further issues have been identified such as being unable to get a wireless connection.
The mandatory date for PCs to migrate to 1709 was the 25/03/2019 but I have now prevented the upgraded on Z30s.

We are currently working with McAfee to resolve the problem and will update you as soon as we have a fix or a workaround.

Please do not hesitate to log a case and pass to EUC if you have any questions

Kind Regards
Gary

Upgrade Configuration Manager from 1710 to 1810

Dear Colleagues,

Configuration Manager will be unavailable during the above dates due to being upgraded to the latest version which is 1810. The upgrade is required in order to be fully supported by Microsoft and to take advantage of the new features.

During this time you will be unable to reimage or upgrade PCs or run applications via the Software Centre.
Once the upgrade is completed and a full QA carried out then a further correspondence will be sent.

President's Team Blog Post: March 2019

This blog post is part of a series of monthly posts detailing the activities of the DR President’s Team (President: Leah Henrickson; Vice-President: Hugh Tawell).

Note: This post refers to PhD/EngD Students as Doctoral Researchers (DR) and Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs). This is because the University uses the former language, and the Union uses the latter.

Happy March, doctoral researchers!

This month has gone by quickly, as we’ve been keeping ourselves busy with administration and planning. We hosted fewer social events than usual this month, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t still doing our best to represent you and provide you with a stellar student experience. Here’s what we got up to.

Loughborough London Feedback Forum

On 6^th March, we travelled down to Loughborough’s London campus with Kamal, the LSU Postgrad EO, to solicit feedback from London students about their experiences. With the support of Student Voice staff, we were able to collect and analyse dozens of feedback cards received on the day. Plus, we got to chat with the amazing Loughborough students in London. We’re now working on applying students’ feedback in meaningful and productive ways.

The photo accompanying this post is of Hugh, Leah, and Kamal on their day in London.

Postgraduate Family Meetup

On 24^th March, we supported Kamal as he led the first-ever Postgraduate Family Meetup. This day served as an opportunity for postgraduates and staff with children to meet one another and socialise. LSU Action volunteers were on hand to help keep the kids entertained, Zumba got everybody moving, and the event way – in Hugh’s words – ‘lit’.

We’re hoping this event becomes an annual tradition so that every year the many postgraduates with children will be able to get to know one another and swap ‘you’ll never believe what my child did’ stories over tea and biscuits.

Other Administrative Stuff

Our last PGR Rep meeting was on 20^th February, and there were lots of action points for us to follow up on. We’ve been working to ensure that information gets fed forward to the relevant departments/people, and that we’re all doing what we said we were going to do.

We’ve also been planning the Postgraduate Awards, figuring out which awards we are going to offer and soliciting funding from various bodies. More information should be available about this in our next post – keep your eyes peeled for details!

As it’s Easter Break for the undergraduates in April, the University may seem a bit quieter than usual. However, that doesn’t mean that great events aren’t happening! Our friends at the PhD Social & Support Network have recently recruited a new committee that has dived into planning a bunch of exciting socials that we’re happy to support by advertising here. The events are as follows, with links to their respective Facebook events included if you’d like up-to-date details:

• Wednesday, 3^rd April, 12PM – 3PM: Keep Calm and Go Dog-Walking (https://www.facebook.com/events/2117219845014246)
• Thursday, 4^th April, 6PM – 9PM: PGR Movie Night (https://www.facebook.com/events/412053039353672)
• Friday, 12^th April, 7PM – 12AM: Pub Crawl/Pub Golf (https://www.facebook.com/events/2339546259648566)
• Thursday, 18^th April, 2PM – 5PM: (https://www.facebook.com/events/2322882071282021)

Also, get excited for Loughborough’s first-ever Pint of Science event, scheduled for 21^st May at the Needle and Pin. Ticket sales will begin 8^th April. This event is organised by Loughborough doctoral researchers, and will feature some of our doctoral researchers as speakers.

Well, that’s a wrap, folks! Hopefully we’ll see you at some of the Social & Support Network’s events in April. If you’re travelling in April, have a safe and enjoyable journey and we’ll see you when you get back.

If you want to keep up-to-date with our activity, join the ‘Doctoral Researchers of Loughborough University’ Facebook group and follow us on Twitter. If you’re a London student, join the ‘Loughborough Students’ Union London 2018-2019’ Facebook group.

Leah and Hugh.

PRES 2019

Are you a Doctoral Researcher at Loughborough University London? Make sure to complete the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) by 17^th May 2019!

PRES is a national survey conducted by institutions across the UK and globally.  The survey allows you to provide feedback about your experience which helps us to keep doing the things that you love and to make improvements to areas that you think could be better.

You should have received an email to your university inbox from studentsurveys@lboro.ac.uk sometime during week commencing 11^th March 2019. The email provides you with a unique link for you to complete the survey and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Your feedback is confidential to the Doctoral College and any reporting of the feedback will be anonymous. The findings from the PRES will be used to improve your programme and the Doctoral Researcher experience for students across the University.

It is so important to complete the survey because your feedback helps us to develop an enhanced Postgraduate Research Experience for the remainder of your degree as well as future researchers.

Further information can be found on the Doctoral College webpages. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Doctoral College at pgresearch@lboro.ac.uk.

Loughborough University London – Annual Review 2018

2018 was a year of notable achievements and memorable moments for the Loughborough family. Take a look below at some of our most notable achievements from Loughborough University London over the year.

University of the Year

Loughborough University was named University of the Year for the second time – the first university in the history of the rankings to achieve this!

The ranking is based on nine indicators including student satisfaction with teaching quality, graduate prospects and the wider student experience.

1^st in the world for sports subjects

We were also named number one in the world for sports-related subjects for the third year in a row, meaning we have topped the ranking each year since its inception!

As well as this, we  ranked 28th for Art and Design, and top 50 for Communication and Media Studies.

4^th in the Guardian University Guide

Loughborough University has been ranked 4th in the 2019 Guardian University Guide, rising two places from last year!

This year’s table has recognised 21 of our University’s 28 subject areas as top 10, including 4th in Media & Film studies, 4th in Design & Crafts, and 5th in Business, Management & Marketing.

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey

The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey is an opportunity for our master’s students to give confidential feedback to their university about their experience. Loughborough University London received a collective score of 85% for total student satisfaction, which is 6% higher than the sector average and 4% higher than the highest performing Russel Group universities in the survey.

Collaborative Project

As part of our Collaborative Project module, 881 postgraduate students worked in 166 multi-disciplinary teams to deliver on a brief set by one of our 32 partner organisations. Organisations involved included Chelsea FC, WaterAid and Mobike.

Global Disability Innovation Hub launched

In summer, Loughborough University London celebrated the launch of its partnership for the Global Disability Innovation Hub. The Hub aims to bring together academics, local communities, experts and people with disabilities to drive innovation through collaborative and creative thinking, ultimately making a positive difference to the lives of over one billion people with disabilities across the world.

New Digital Technologies research informs smarter football coaching

Dr Varuna De Silva, a lecturer from the Institute for Digital Technologies, has published an article discussing how the football industry is using Artificial Intelligence to inform smarter football coaching and how his research could change the way players and staff conduct post-match analysis.

Diplomacy and International Governance academics research 28+ Perspectives on Brexit

Professor Helen Drake and Dr Nicola Chelotti form part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ERSC) funded research project ‘28+ Perspectives on Brexit.’ The project looks at the UK’s negotiated withdrawal from the EU, specifically from the perspectives of the other EU member states (the EU27), and the EU institutions themselves (the + in EU28+).

Expanding the #LboroFamily

In October 2018, we welcomed 908 new students to the #LboroFamily as part of the 2018-19 cohort at Loughborough University London. We are looking to expand and grow in years to come!

A warning to the Bank of England's Mark Carney

Economist Dr Jon Seaton has a warning for the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney…

Dear Mr Carney – have you forgotten the Phillips curve?

Recent employment rates now match the low levels of the early 1970s, so with very low interest rates, rising wage inflation and low productivity is it any wonder that people are concerned that we could return to the ’70s eye wateringly high 24% inflation levels?

Indeed, this is what the economic theory of the Phillips curve would predict! Why is the Governor of the Bank of England seemingly not bothered about these factors?

The truth is double-digit inflation is unlikely as the new 1.9% CPI rate suggests, furthermore macroeconomists and policymakers have a pretty good track record these days, but, Brexit or not, inflation is still likely to be public enemy number one. The UK economy is nowadays extremely fast at transforming cost rises to inflation – meaning policymakers must be quick to react.

In the boom-bust ’50s and ’60s, the one policy choice you could rely on was between a high inflation-low unemployment economy or a low inflation-high unemployment economy summarised in the empirically proven – in its day – Phillips Curve, where inflation and unemployment varied together in a tightly bound trade-off dance (see graph from 1951-1968).

Inflation vs unemployment 1949-2018 – five year centred moving average

Data source ONS, calculations/plot (Seaton 2019)

Time and economic theory move on, and more sophisticated measures of these relationships evolve, as well as economic policy – it needed to evolve fast as from about 1966-1993 (see graph) inflation was more or less out of control.

However, despite the 2007/8 global financial crisis, evidence of successful control of inflation is clear from 1993 to the present day as it lives within the golden window of 2-4%, see graph.

Despite this remarkable result, the Phillips curve relationship might yet be a structural catalyst for massive changes in unemployment and inflation.

This is because the cost of high inflation is eye wateringly high levels of unemployment. From 1993 to 2014 in the five-year averaged series, notice that unemployment varies from about 5% to 9% while inflation ranges from 2% to 4%. In the ’50s and ’60s, we see inflation vary from 2% to 6% while unemployment varies from 1.5% to about 2.5% – in that past, it seems we did not care too much about inflation rather we cared much more about unemployment.

With the advent of much more monetary aware policies, tighter restrictions were imposed on inflation, mainly because the cost of bringing down inflation is higher unemployment!

Why should we remember the Phillips curve now?

At present, unemployment in the UK is at the lowest level in 44 years: 3.9%, since the early 1970s. The rate of inflation should, therefore, be popping through the roof, and is rising but weighing in at a meagre 1.9% (in 2018 it was in 3% territory) compared to the ’70s 24%!

As interest rates – the chosen instrument of inflation control – are at their lowest levels for about 400 years and quantitative easing pumped billions into a policy desperate economy, simply stated we seem to be sitting on an inflation time bomb. At least that is what the unemployment-inflation Phillips curve trade-off would tell us.

Brexit has been our saviour – at least for the short term

In times of potential inflationary pressure, dampening expectations in the real side of the economy is fundamental – maintaining high taxes, tightening government expenditure, the go-to for market-based economic policy – is a good ideology to follow, especially when trade wars threaten to raise prices of an import hungry nation like the UK.

However, we have to some extent benefited from Brexit uncertainty since from the impact on consumer and business confidence, consumers holding back planned expenditures, business leaders holding back on key investments.

Employment has grown instead of capacity, reducing productivity as we lack investment in machinery, infrastructure, training and education. The housing market – one of our growth engines – has stalled in London. So despite astonishing economic success in labour markets – low unemployment is to be celebrated – but so far because of these dampening effects, we have not seen the full Phillips curve on the impact on inflation.

Fast and furious!

But as Brexit and tight fiscal policy dampen the economy, the sudden reduction of uncertainty combined with rapidly increasing wage inflation (3.4%) – the pass through to price inflation can be extremely rapid as the UK economy is surprisingly adept at pushing through cost shocks to consumer price inflation.

It is interesting to note that Sir Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability and member of the Monetary Policy Committee, seemed to suggest in 2017 that the Phillips curve was misshapen or in hiding! Despite the belief that old economic theories and policies might be dead or resting, they do teach us to be ever vigilant, so we do not make the mistakes of early economists, policymakers and regulators. So, Mr Carney – don’t forget the lessons from the Phillips curve!

This Blog post was written by Dr Jonathan Seaton, Reader in Business Economics and member of the Economics discipline group and the Accounting and Finance discipline group. Jon can be reached on j.s.seaton@lboro.ac.uk

The trend of rising child poverty towards record levels is now beyond dispute

In 1999, Tony Blair promised to abolish child poverty by 2020. In that year, 3.3 million children were in poverty on the government’s preferred measure. By 2010, this was down by a million, after the longest sustained fall in child poverty ever recorded. Today’s poverty figures show the reversal of that trend accelerating. By 2017/18, child poverty was back to 3 million, the same level as at the turn of the century. Forecasts show that by 2021, on present policies, it will reach record levels.

There are many ways of measuring child poverty, but now on all of them, the trend is up. Anti-poverty campaigners like to use a measure that looks at income net of what households spend on housing; this “after housing cost” measure, which did not rise this year as housing costs eased, is nevertheless half a million above 2010. Another measure, which the Government has been quoting recently, is “absolute” poverty – this is income below 60% of median in a given year (currently set at 2010) rather than in the current year, so it is not “relative” to contemporary income. Until today, it was possible to say that this had fallen (just) since 2010, but it too has just increased sharply, and is 200,000 above the 2010 level (or 100,000 above after housing costs).

These trends clearly reflect the cuts in family benefits and tax credits, announced in 2015 and now starting to feed into the figures. It is, of course, not surprising that the poorest families are getting poorer given that the freezing of their benefits mean that their value erodes steadily with inflation. There are now no remaining fig leaves to imagine that things have improved rather than deteriorated during the present decade. There is also a new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd, who seems to care about these things. We can only hope this signals a change in direction. But with the swirling instability in our government, who knows who’ll be the minister next week, let alone next year.

This year’s Venture Crawl 2019 breaks all records

Last week, thirteen universities came together to run the UK’s biggest Venture Crawl.

Eight buses transported 300 students around London on routes designed to stimulate entrepreneurial skills, creative thinking and action.

Universities that took part in the event include King’s College London, UCL, London South Bank University, Brunel University London, The University of Westminster, Loughborough University London, Birkbeck University of London, University of East London, London College of Fashion, The University of Greenwich, City University of London, Regent’s University London and The University of Manchester.

As part of the tour, Loughborough University London students visited a collaborative workspace called Work Life  and met the co-founder of local start-up, ‘The Canvas Tribe’.

Students also visited One Tech and discussed the support that is available for underrepresented tech founders in London. One of their main goals is to double the number of female and BAME-led tech start-ups raising investment through our programmes. Students heard how One Tech is making support available for underrepresented tech founders in London and how it is working with investors to enable them to make better decisions.

Other spaces included Huckle Tree and WeWork which are coworking spaces for entrepreneurs, start-ups and growing businesses.

The Venture Crawl ended with a celebratory event at Plexal, Here East and provided an opportunity for students to network with each other and the organisations involved. Students were also invited to take part in a pitching competition  to pitch their business idea to a panel of entrepreneurs.

Find out more about Venture Crawl 2019 by reading our news story.

Dear Mr Carney - have you forgotten the Phillips curve?

Dear Mr Carney – have you forgotten the Phillips curve?

Recent employment rates now match the low levels of the early 1970s, so with very low interest rates, rising wage inflation and low productivity is it any wonder that people are concerned that we could return to the 70s eye wateringly high 24% inflation levels? Indeed, this is what the economic theory of the Phillips curve would predict! Why is The Governor of the Bank of England seemingly not bothered about these factors?

The truth is double-digit inflation is unlikely as the new 1.9% CPI rate suggests, furthermore macroeconomists and policymakers have a pretty good track record these days but Brexit or not inflation is still likely to be public enemy number one. The UK economy is nowadays extremely fast at transforming cost rises to inflation – meaning policymakers must be quick to react.

In the boom-bust 50s and 60s the one policy choice you could rely on was between a high inflation-low unemployment economy or a low inflation-high unemployment economy summarized in the empirically proven – in its day – Phillips Curve where inflation and unemployment varied together in a tightly bound trade-off dance (see graph from 1951-1968).

Inflation vs unemployment 1949-2018 – five year centred moving average

Data source ONS, calculations/plot (Seaton 2019)

Time and economic theory move on and more sophisticated measures of these relationships evolve, as well as economic policy – it needed to evolve fast as from about 1966-1993 (see graph) inflation was more or less out of control. However, despite the 2007/8 global financial crisis evidence of successful control of inflation is clear from 1993 to the present day as it lives within the golden window of 2-4%, see graph).

Despite this remarkable result, the Phillips curve relationship might yet be a structural catalyst for massive changes in unemployment and inflation.

This is because the cost of high inflation is eye wateringly high levels of unemployment. From 1993 to 2014 in the five-year averaged series, notice that unemployment varies from about 5% to 9% while inflation ranges from 2-4%. In the 50s and 60s, we see inflation vary from 2-6% while unemployment varies from 1.5% to about 2.5% – in that past, it seems we did not care too much about inflation rather we cared much more about unemployment. 

With the advent of much more monetary aware policies, tighter restrictions were imposed on inflation, mainly because the cost of bringing down inflation is higher unemployment!

Why should we remember the Phillips curve now?

At present unemployment in the UK is at the lowest level in 44 years, 3.9%, since the early 1970s. The rate of inflation should, therefore, be popping through the roof, and is rising but weighing in at a meagre 1.9% (in 2018 it was in 3% territory) compared to the 70s 24%!

As interest rates – the chosen instrument of inflation control – are at their lowest levels for about 400 years and quantitative easing pumped billions into a policy desperate economy, simply stated we seem to be sitting on an inflation time bomb. At least that is what the unemployment-inflation Phillips curve trade-off would tell us.

Brexit has been our saviour – at least for the short term

In times of potential inflationary pressure, dampening expectations in the real side of the economy is fundamental – maintaining high taxes, tightening government expenditure, the go-to for market-based economic policy – is a good ideology to follow, especially when trade wars threaten to raise prices of an import hungry nation like the UK.

However, we have to some extent benefited from Brexit uncertainty since from the impact on consumer and business confidence, consumers holding back planned expenditures, business leaders holding back on key investments. Employment has grown instead of capacity, reducing productivity as we lack investment in machinery, infrastructure, training and education. The housing market – one of our growth engines – has stalled in London. So despite astonishing economic success in labour markets – low unemployment is to be celebrated – but so far because of these dampening effects, we have not seen the full Phillips curve on the impact on inflation.

Fast and furious!

But as Brexit and tight fiscal policy dampen the economy, the sudden reduction of uncertainty combined with rapidly increasing wage inflation (3.4%) – the pass through to price inflation can be extremely rapid as the UK economy is surprisingly adept at pushing through cost shocks to consumer price inflation.

It is interesting to note that Sir Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability and member of the Monetary Policy Committee, seemed to suggest in 2017 that the Phillips curve was misshapen or in hiding!. Despite the belief that old economic theories and policies might be dead or resting, they do teach us to be ever vigilant, so we do not make the mistakes of early economists, policymakers and regulators – So Mr Carney – don’t forget the lessons from the Phillips curve!

ENDS

A day in the life of a student

Security, Peace-Building and Diplomacy MSc student, Selsabil has written this blog on a day in the life of a Loughborough University London student.

They say a week is a long time in politics. It’s the same for me, being a student in the Institute of Diplomacy and International Governance at Loughborough University London. For one module, ‘The Art of Governance: Diplomacy, Negotiation and Lobbying’, this is particularly true. As a block-taught module, the content will span over three weeks which in allows you to view the content as interlinked.

9.50am

I arrive to campus to attend my lectures and in the morning, I always see a group of relatively tired faces. Some are gazing longingly into the blue lights of their phone screens; however the majority are eager to tackle arguably the biggest question of British politics currently, Brexit!

10am-1pm

My first lecture is centred around understanding and practicing negotiations. The week prior to this lecture, a senior diplomat from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office joined our campus to discuss their role in the midst of Brexit, so I was looking forward to this lecture in gaining a deeper understanding of the workings of government officials.

Dr Nicola Chelotti, who has written extensively on Diplomacy and negotiations within Europe, begins the class with a definition of negotiation and for the next three hours we progress into a detailed exploration of the functional elements of negotiation to navigating multi-layered interests.

Before the break, we were asked by Nicola to form into pairs for a class activity: the Ultimatum Game. In this game, which intends to illustrate considerations of power, rationality and consequence, Player 1 must choose from a gift of £100 what amount to offer Player 2. If Player 2 decides to reject, neither Players get any money. I decide to suggest a 50-50 split with my partner, who naturally accepts. I later learn another pair accepted a 99-1 split, which Nicola explained was technically a rational decision.

2pm-5pm

Professor Helen Drake, Director of the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance, begins the afternoon session. The content concerns the multi-layered complexities of the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU).

The class takes its natural progression from an academic based understanding to a more practical understanding. This is done through simulating some aspect of the current Brexit negotiations by dividing the class into UK and EU groups each mirroring the genuine interests. It was interesting, eye-opening and certainly put the reading and class material into perspective.

For more information on our Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance master’s programmes, please see our webpage.

Collaborative Project Show 2019

On Tuesday 5 March 2019, students, staff and senior representatives from each partner organisation came together to celebrate the outcomes and achievements of the latest Collaborative Project module.

In its biggest and most ambitious year to date, the Collaborative Project module saw postgraduate students from across the campus work in 166 multi-disciplinary teams to deliver on briefs set by 32 partner organisations.

From helping Chelsea FC to implement a digital-first internal communications system, to helping WaterAid to enhance accountability of providing safe drinking water, the Collaborative Project module has enabled students to make a significant and meaningful contribution to individual organisations, as well as industry and society.

Reflecting on her experience, Digital Technologies student Olga said:

The thing I enjoyed the most about the Collaborative Project was being a part of a driven and enthusiastic team. We all loved the brief that we had been given and enjoyed what we were working on.

Find out more about the Collaborative Project Show by reading our news story. You can also check out photos from the evening on our Facebook page.

Pessimistic, confused and frustrated: how the EU views Westminster’s mess

Dr Nicola Chelotti, Lecturer from the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance, has written an article for The Times to highlight the EU views on Brexit following the House of Commons votes on a number of Brexit issues last week.

Last week the House of Commons voted on a number of Brexit issues (the Withdrawal Agreement, no deal, and an extension) over three days. I spoke to a number of EU officials directly involved in the Brexit negotiations to understand their reaction and see what the mood within EU institutions is. Three responses stand out, in particular: pessimism, a sense of confusion and frustration.

There is a general sense of pessimism with regard to the final outcome of the negotiations (with or without an extension). Confidence in the government’s capacity to avoid a no-deal Brexit has considerably diminished. The day after the (second) rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement was described by one national representative as the most pessimistic day in the entire two-year period.

Read the full article on The Times.

Get Pruning - Join the Fruit Routes

A Non-Sporty Guide to Living at the ‘Sporty’ University

During my most recent conversations with parents and prospective students, I have encountered the following questions:

‘How intimidating is sport in Loughborough?’ ‘Will I be a misfit here if I am not as sporty?’ ‘How does one survive if they have zero inclination towards sport?’ Continue reading

Institute for Sport Business Careers Symposium

The Institute for Sport Business is proud to offer current students and alumni the opportunity to hear from industry experts on the latest careers and developments in sport business.

Balancing your time at University

When thinking of what to write for this blog, I thought about everything I’ve been juggling recently. Continue reading

Check Your Lumps & Bumps at the Library!

Have you checked for Lumps & Bumps lately?

All across campus tomorrow the University will be hosting Lumps and Bumps, a 12-hour collaborative event hosted by Loughborough University and Loughborough Students’ Union which aims to equip attendees with the knowledge and confidence required to check themselves.

Each session will showcase a range of techniques that can be used to detect these life-threatening diseases, as well as raising the profile of the vital work carried out by our charity partners – CoppaFeel! and Ballboys.

The event is open to all regardless of any prior training that you may have received. We strongly believe that refreshing your memory of what to look out for is just as important as learning the techniques and signs in the first place.

There is no restriction on who can attend the sessions and we welcome attendees to learn how to check both breasts and testicles if they wish to.

The sessions themselves are simple and take around 30 minutes. The format will be a mixture of presentation-led content with an opportunity to then practice technique on specialist training mannequins.

Training locations

• Room 1 – Union on the hour (starting 8am)
• Hazlerigg – council chamber on half hour (Starting 8:30am)
• New victory hall – half hour
• Roaming Pod- on the hour

Roaming Pod Route

On the hour on each of the locations:

• Towers dining hall, Design school – 8am-11am
• Student village – 11am-2pm
• Fusion – 2pm – 5pm
• Holt – 5pm onwards

The Library will also be hosting sessions on the hour in Seminar Room 1.

The Institute for Sport Business experience

Ahead of the Institute for Sport Business Careers Syposium on Friday (22 March 2019), we caught up with Anush, a Sport Business and Leadership alumnus, to find out more about his experience studying an Institute for Sport Business programme.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your year at Loughborough University London

I moved to London in September 2017 to pursue an MSc in Sport Business and Leadership, and I must say that was one of the best decisions of my life. I spent an extremely enriching year at Loughborough University London, which helped me grow both professionally and personally. I made it my aim to participate in as many activities as possible and work at all kinds of sports events ranging from the Team Table Tennis World Cup to the first ever powerboat race on the River Thames. Since completing my course, I have been a Research Intern at the Sports Authority of India’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme, and I am currently working as an Athlete Manager at GoSports Foundation where I manage Olympic and Paralympic athletes from India. 

Why did you choose Loughborough University London?

I chose the Institute of Sports Business for to two major reasons. The first being, the great reputation Loughborough enjoys in the sporting world, coupled with the fact that I would be studying in London, which is truly a global sporting city. The combination of Loughborough’s academic and sporting excellence in addition to an opportunity to study in London was simply too good to pass up. Furthermore, studying at Loughborough University London offers students the opportunity to work and volunteer at events being held on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, thus, contributing to the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics.

What were your highlights from the year?

Personally, there were many highlights for me across the year. The year began with site visits to the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, Bisham Abbey Training Centre, Wembley Stadium, and Lord’s Cricket Stadium as part of our studies. Institute for Sport Business students were also exposed to the art of movie-making as we made our very own short films for one of our leadership modules. The practical nature of assignments and projects was also very exciting as we got to work on projects for leading Premier League clubs, sports technology companies and non-governmental organisations involved in sports. The quality of guest lecturers at the University was also excellent allowing us as students to explore the different facets of the sports industry.

Did you face any challenges during your studies?

The most challenging aspect of the course was the length of the modules. Unlike most other universities where modules are spread across a whole semester, modules at Loughborough University London are taught over a period of 3 weeks. This format mimics the sports industry in many ways; I frequently need to be on top of my game and my studies taught me great time-management and organisational skills. The experience of going through these intensive modules has helped me immensely – I am able to handle pressure and make quick, yet well-informed, decisions in important moments. 

What would your advice be for Sport Business students?

My advice to all current and prospective Institute for Sport Business students would be to explore as much as you can throughout the duration of your course. Take the time to interact with your peers and get to know them their cultures better. The truly global student cohort at Loughborough University London provides an opportunity to learn from people who come from all over the globe, and create a global professional network.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Institute for Sport Business or the Careers Symposium, please take a look at our website.

Poetry Readings & Book Signing Event

Next week the Martin Hall is hosting an evening of poetry readings, book signings and Q+A with two young poets with brilliant debut publications.

Shruti Chauhan (pictured) is a Loughborough English graduate of and has previously performed at the University as part of the Three the Hard Way national tour with Jean Binta Breeze and Lydia Towsey. She won the prize for Best Spoken Word Performer at the Saboteur Awards 2018, as well as the National Poetry Library’s Instapoetry competition in the same year.

Her debut collection is from Burning Eye Books, which has a reputation for publishing work by the best spoken word poets.

Nellie Cole recently graduated from Birmingham University. After publishing work in a couple of anthologies, her debut publication is Bella: “a work which blends factual evidence with folklore, superstition, hearsay and the imagination, these poems explore the Worcestershire murder mystery ‘Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?’”

She read from the publication at 2018’s Verve Poetry Festival, and is a workshop leader and writing mentor.

The event takes place next Tuesday, 19th March, from 6pm-7.30pm in the Stanley Evernden Studio in Martin Hall. Admission is free, but space is limited. To book a place email Kerry Featherstone.

Borrowing Books Over the Easter Vacation

With exams looming on the horizon, the Easter holidays are a good time to take breath and take stock before the Summer Term starts. It’s also a good opportunity to catch up with your reading – so why not stock up for the holidays safe in the knowledge that you won’t have to return or renew them until the start of term.

Our extended Easter vacation loan period begins next Monday, 18^th March. All books borrowed from the Library or renewed after this date will be issued until the following dates for the following users:

• Undergraduate Long Loan and Week Loan books will be due for return on the 1^st May.

• Undergraduate Finalist & Postgraduate Long Loan and Week Loan books will be due for return on the 3^rd May.

• Staff and Researcher Week Loan books will be issued until the 3^rd May.

• External & Alumni loans will continue on a 4-week rolling basis.

You’ll be pleased to hear that we do not recall books over the Easter Vacation. The last Recall notices will be sent out on Monday 18^th March and recalls will restart on 29^th April.

However, please be aware that any books issued from the Hold shelf that still have outstanding requests on them, will still only issue for One Week, so take care to check your receipt when borrowing.

Breaking the creative careers stereotype

Panicked about a career in the creative industry? Heard that stereotype of “It’s hard to make it as a creative”? Read my tips below on how it is possible! Continue reading

Just Landed this March: Pop-Up Art Exhibition

An innovative pop-up art exhibition by Loughborough students begins tomorrow in the Shirley Pearce Square tomorrow (Thursday 14th March).

Landed features work by second year Fine Arts students installed inside shipping containers – hence the name!

The exhibition begins at 2pm tomorrow and will remain landed until Wednesday 27th March. It will open to visitors 11am – 3pm Monday to Saturday (except on Thursdays, which will be 12pm – 3pm), but closed on Sundays. Admission is free.

Library STEM Subject Guides

Finding the right sources of information for any subject can be tricky, given the vast amount of resources there are available to you via our vast range on online resources. This is especially true of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (or STEM) disciplines. With that in mind, our Academic Librarians have created a set of online guides tailored to these subject areas.

You can find the complete A-Z list of all the guides by following this link:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/subjectguides/

Each link gives you a concise run-down of everything you need to know about finding information for your subject, including the contact details for the Academic Librarian responsible for the School/Department concerned.

Be sure to visit and bookmark the links for future reference – you’ll certainly find them useful!

Break Through to International Markets

Are you looking to breakthrough to international markets? Apply to attend our ‘Break Through to International Markets’ event by Friday 15 March 2019!

Pioneering Women of Loughborough for British Science Week 2019

This week is British Science Week, and to mark the occasion
the Women’s Engineering Society at Loughborough University have launched a poster campaign across campus utilising images and information courtesy of our very own archives.

A Pioneering Woman of Loughborough showcases the life and work of two remarkable Alumni who both graduated from the then Loughborough Engineering College in 1922 – Verena Holmes and Claudia Parsons.

Verena Holmes became the first woman to be elected to the prestigious Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1924, and was President of the Women’s Engineering Society in 1931.

Along with Verena Holmes and Dorothea Travers, Claudia Parsons was one of the first women to be admitted to the Loughborough Engineering College, and went on to become the first woman as well to circumnavigate the world in 1938.

In her honour, the University launched a series of Memorial Lectures aimed at raising the profile of women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, given by such luminaries as
Maggie Aderin Pocock, Kate Bellingham, Helen Czers and Jessica Wade, who delivered last year’s lecture.

The University further honoured Claudia by naming its newest Hall of Residence (to be opened this September) after her.

The photographs and accompanying information detailed for the campaign were provided by the University Archivist Jenny Clark, who is based here in the Library.

What is a postgraduate open evening?

Postgraduate open evenings are a way of finding out more about your options once you have completed (or nearly completed) an undergraduate degree.

By attending an open evening and chatting to current students and teaching staff, you will get a feel for the university and its master’s and PhD degrees, and you will hopefully leave the event knowing whether a postgraduate degree is for you.

What happens at an open evening?

Academics, current students and support staff are usually located across a series of stalls, so you can chat about your interests and learn about the opportunities and learning experiences on offer with each programme. Don’t worry if you are shy – there are always plenty of current students on hand to introduce you to the right people.

Get the most out of the event

#1 Find out about the programme

Depending on your interests, there are often a broad range of programmes for you to choose from. By going along to an open evening, you can chat about your interests and your plans for the future, and find out which programmes are most suited to you.

Top tip: If you already have an idea which programme or subject area you’d like to study, go ahead and ask anything you like about the programmes. No question is too big or too small!

#2 Take a look around

It’s important that you like the campus as much as you like the programmes, because you could be spending a lot of time there! Make sure you take a tour of the building so you can be sure that you like the atmosphere and you are satisfied with the facilities.

Top tip: When you are on the tour, why not ask your guide about the local area, or about everyday things like where to get the best coffee?

#3 Find out what its really like

At Loughborough University London, a postgraduate programme isn’t all about the degree.  The networking opportunities, industry exposure and lively social events make the experience so much more than that. 

But don’t just take our word for it – current students will be on hand throughout the evening, and will happily share their experience both inside and outside the classroom. Don’t be afraid to ask for their honest opinion!

Did you know: Loughborough University has an excellent reputation for student experience. In fact, we have topped the Times Higher Education (THE) Student Experience Survey eight times – more than any other UK university!

#4 Ask how the programmes will make you more employable

Many universities offer opportunities to develop your skills and enhance your employability. At Loughborough University London, our postgraduate degrees include guest lectures, workshops, networking sessions and careers advice as part of the curriculum. By engaging with the teaching of your degree, you will have developed the necessary skills and experiences, as well as built the industry connections you need to further your career.

Head to the careers stall or speak to current students to find out how their degree is helping them to meet their future career goals.

Did you know? In 2019, Loughborough became the top university in the UK and Europe for employer-student connections (QS Graduate Employability Rankings).

Upcoming Open Evening

If you’re interested in visiting Loughborough University London, the next Open Evening will be on Thursday 14 March, 5pm-7pm.

Book your place!

Contact us

If you have any questions about postgraduate study, or about our Open Events, please contact us at london@lboro.ac.uk

To my ladies at Loughborough

In the light of International Women’s Day, it’s only right to celebrate women at Loughborough. Women in what can sometimes be perceived to be a man’s world. Continue reading

Start a Conversation - University Mental Health Day

Would you know what to say to a friend or colleague if you suspected they were struggling with their mental health, and possibly having thoughts about suicide?

Today (Thursday 7th March) is University Mental Health Day, and Loughborough University is using its voice to ‘start a conversation’.

During transitions and periods of emotional distress, such as leaving home for the first time and arriving at university, some students can feel alone, isolated and at times have thoughts about death.

There are many support services available at Loughborough University and sometimes a friend, academic or warden will see signs that a student is having difficulties.

However, there are also things which staff and students can do to make people feel less alone and more confident to share difficult feelings.

This year the University is asking the Loughborough Family to pledge to start a conversation.

Specifically, we are asking you to pledge to:

• Start a conversation if you feel overburdened or worried
• Start a conversation with a friend, family member or colleague if you are worried about them
• Start a conversation and ask for help if you need it
• Keep an eye out for warning signs in others

The University’s Mental Health Team will be out and about on campus today with plaques featuring each of the messages above.

They are asking students to consider making one of these pledges, and if they feel confident enough, to share photos of themselves with the plaques on social media, using the hashtags #startaconversation and #lborofamily.

Below are some tips of what to do if you are concerned about someone:

• Things to look out for – whether it is a friend, supervisee or colleague, know the signs to look out for. These include changes in behaviour, a loss of interest in activities or talking about hopelessness or feeling alone.
• Offer help – There’s no better way to show that you’re a kind, approachable person than to be helpful. If you find yourself in a situation where you can lend a hand, do it. For example: “It looks like you are having a difficult time, do you need any support?”
• Show empathy – Empathy is the skill of being with someone and showing that you understand their perspective. For example, as an academic you may have experienced the pressure or anxiety linked to research, so by talking to and showing your understanding to a colleague or student it can really help them.
• Be authentic – Showing that you genuinely care and are worried about an individual’s wellbeing is the first step in an interaction. E.g. “I’ve noticed you’ve not been around a lot lately and I’m worried about you, is there anything I can do to help?”
• Know where to go next – Having an understanding of both the University and wider community support services that can help students who are experiencing mental ill health or emotional distress is a good place to start.

The University has a Medical Centre on site, Wellbeing Advisers within Academic Schools, a Student Advice and Support Service, alongside Mental Health and Counselling Services.

The Library also has its own range of Mood-Boosting and ‘Books on Prescription’ self-help works among our Leisure Reading collection upstairs on Level 4.

The local community can offer support through the NHS’s Let’s Talk Wellbeing service, as well as Harmless – which supports people bereaved by suicide – and Turning Point, which offers a 24-hour crisis helpline.

The Start a Conversation website also offers advice and resources. Should you require urgent help, visit the Leicestershire NHS webpages for contact details.

Want to find out more about postgraduate study?

Join us from 5-7pm on Thursday 14 March 2019 to find out about the postgraduate taught, research and enterprise opportunities at Loughborough University London.

From talking cats to time travel... here's what I recommend you read this World Book Day

Data Cabling Maintenance Work in the Library

Tomorrow morning (Friday 8^th March) contractors will be in the Library to do some data cabling work in the foyer and other areas of Level 3. They are hoping to get the majority of the ceiling work done before the Library opens at 8.30 but other works will continue throughout the morning. The works are to sort out some issues which have arisen with the network.

Facilities Management and IT Services have apologised for any inconvenience this may cause.

STEAM Week on Campus 11th-19th March

Need to let off a bit of STEAM before the end of term? Look no further!

STEAM is a week of inter-disciplinary adventures, involving Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. From creating your own light-work, artist talks and a games jam to building a Future Machine and experiencing an Algoraves electronic music and light pojections night in LSU.

All these events are FREE but workshops must be booked in advance. For booking information and full timetable of events, visit this link.

International Women's Day 2019

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2019 – which takes place on Friday 8th March – the University will be running a variety of events throughout the week across campus.

From creative workshops, to inspiring career talks and film screenings, the events are open for both staff and students to attend and are all free of charge.

To find out more about what’s on this week and to book your place on certain events, visit the University’s dedicated International Women’s Day webpage.

Loughborough University London as part of The Southern Africa Innovation Support Program (SAIS)

Loughborough University London in December 2018, in Pretoria, South Africa, delivered a Training Program within SAIS 2 (Southern Africa Innovation Support Program) with the mission to catalyse new businesses and foster the culture of local and regional entrepreneurship.

Have Your Say! Library Focus Group

At the Library we pride ourselves on our openness to feedback, comments, and, when necessary, criticism. And thanks to you, we’ve made a number of changes to the ways we can help you get the best out of your studies.

From improvements to wifi coverage and IT facilities to loan recalls during vacations, to extended opening hours, you’ve told us what you’d like – and we’ve listened.

We’d like your help to help us help you again! We’re running a Library Focus Group on Wednesday 13th March at 12.15pm in Library Seminar Room 1 to get your feedback about how we’re doing. We’re open to discussion on any subject related to the Library – our resources, study spaces, skills support, anything you like.

By way of an added incentive, we’re throwing in a free lunch as well!

If you are interested in attending, please email library@lboro.ac.uk to register.

We look forward to seeing you – and hearing your ideas.

'Lumps & Bumps' Event, 20th March

Doctoral Researcher President Team’s Post (February 2019)

This blog post is part of a series of monthly posts detailing the activities of the DR President’s Team (President: Leah Henrickson; Vice-President: Hugh Tawell).

Note: This post refers to PhD/EngD Students as Doctoral Researchers (DR) and Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs). This is because the University uses the former language, and the Union uses the latter.

—

How is February already over? The shortest month of the year turned out being one of our busiest. Here’s what we got up to.

Postgraduate Quiz Night

On 4^th February, we co-hosted a postgraduate quiz night at the Doctoral College with the LSU Postgrad EO and the PhD Social & Support Network. The quiz was designed and led by a Doctoral Researcher from the Design School, who did a fantastic job testing participants’ knowledge of obscure facts and Loughborough landmarks. The evening ended in a tense tie-breaker, when two teams were asked to recall the age of the quiz master’s cat, which had been mentioned in passing earlier in the night. It was like University Challenge, but with more cats and laughter.

Research Committee Meeting

On 5^th February, Leah represented PGRs at the latest Research Committee Meetings. In these meetings, all of the Associate Deans (Research) (ADRs) and other members of research support services from across the University discuss issues related to research on campus. These meetings cover a lot in three hours, the ADRs are all very aware of Doctoral Researchers’ unique needs and they shared some of the ways they were supporting their students’ research.

PGR Lead Rep Meeting

On 20^th February, we hosted our second PGR Lead Rep meeting of the academic year, with all of the Loughborough-campus Schools represented. The Reps offered feedback on some proposed changes to student ID cards, responded to updates at the LSU, and updated one another on how their own Schools were doing. The Rep meetings are a great place for everyone to bounce ideas off each other, and we’re looking forward to seeing what all the Reps have gotten up to when we next meet with them in April.

Night Out at the Union

What a way to end the month! On 23^rd February, we co-hosted the second Postgraduate Night Out at the Students’ Union with Kamal, the LSU Postgrad EO. More than 250 postgrads and their guests boogied until the wee hours of the night, with five DJs keeping everyone on their feet. We can’t wait for the next Night Out – hopefully we’ll see you there.

The photo accompanying this post is of Leah and Hugh at the Night Out.

LSU Elections

We spent the campaign period for the LSU Elections shouting about postgraduates’ unique needs; you can read our Twitter coverage of #LSUElections here. The Union offers a lot for postgrads, but there’s still room for further improving the postgrad experience. Postgrads make up about a third of the University’s population, and we strove to get candidates thinking about them

We’re now currently working on sorting out an event for postgraduates with families, as well as another low-key film night (much needed after that night out). Keep your eyes peeled for invites in the biweekly Doctoral College bulletin.

If you want to keep up-to-date with our activity, join the ‘Doctoral Researchers of Loughborough University’ Facebook group and follow us on Twitter. If you’re a London student, join the ‘Loughborough Students’ Union London 2018-2019’ Facebook group.

Leah and Hugh.

Have You Taken an #lborostudyselfie Yet? £50 to be Won!

**UPDATE**: If you nominate a friend to take a #LboroStudySelfie there’s a chance you BOTH can win a prize 😃 Get tagging 😜

University Mental Health Day

On Thursday 7 March 2019, Universities from across the UK will be coming together to raise awareness of staff and student mental health for #UniMentalHealthDay.

CiteULike Reference Software News

Important information for people using the CiteULike reference software – their website is closing! If you are a user of the site, you have until 30^th March 2019 to download your saved citations.  After that date CiteULike will no longer be accessible.

Loughborough University has an Institutional subscription to Mendeley, which is our recommended reference management software. Check out the videos on Learn (https://learn.lboro.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3539) to discover how Mendeley can help you in your studies.

LSU London

Loughborough Students’ Union London (LSU London) is an organisation run to ensure that you have the best possible experience whilst studying here. LSU London have had a number of changes recently, so we have written this blog to explain a bit more about them and what they do:

Intelligent vehicles taking me to the USA!

Written by Nicolette Formosa.

I suddenly realised I was in Washington DC, 3600 miles away from Loughborough! This is where my research took me last. In January, I was lucky enough to visit America, this big giant country which I had never set foot on before. All this thanks to my PhD research and Loughborough’s Doctoral College.

Last summer I stumbled upon the Doctoral College’s International PhD Exchange grant; a scheme designed to provide Doctoral Researchers with funding to visit an institution of their choosing to improve their research and promote on-going research activities at Loughborough University. Needless to say, I did not waste any time in jumping on this unique opportunity.

My area of research is in road safety. After getting accepted to present at the world-famous Transportation Research Board conference in Washington, together with my supervisor we started working on organizing an exchange at the University of Central Florida (UCF), Orlando. After getting in touch with Dr. Abdel-Aty, who is one of the most productive scientific authors worldwide in the field of road safety, it was agreed to join his research group for a definite period of time.

After receiving the long-anticipated email saying I was accepted, I was soon preparing my luggage to fly first to Washington followed by Orlando. It was a cold January in the nation’s capital with morning low temperatures mostly in the below 0°C range. At one point the snow was as much as 10 inches deep and the occasional snow ball fight was not missed. Most of the people were concerned about the government shutdown, but this did not let us down. The conference was attended by a strong 14,000 audience from all corners of the world. Presenting my research at this conference gave a good exposure to the current research being conducted at the University of Loughborough.

After the conference, it was time for a domestic flight heading to Orlando. When I set foot to the orientation day at the university in Orlando, I gazed around and realised that I had another two weeks here, so I wanted to make my time worthwhile. Orientation day was quite interesting which also included an introduction to life in Orlando, cultural norms and food. Any fears I was experiencing prior to starting this journey quickly vanished and I was looking forward towards the next two weeks at this university.

The hostel where I stayed was a good 35 minutes’ walk from the campus, but the nice weather made it easier to enjoy this daily trip. The people at UCF made me feel at home and were ready to support in all the different needs. Current research techniques were shared, and the occasional university gossip was never boring. Most of the time was spent in the lab working on the development of models and the data which was used to prepare and present a joint paper between both universities.

Outside office hours, I had the opportunity to explore in more depth Orlando and also managed to squeeze in some fun and exciting activities such as visiting world-renowned theme parks. The time spent in this county has been so far one of the most rewarding activity of my career. It helps you to become a more open and independent person and grow in intercultural sensitivity.

I would strongly recommend such a programme to anyone as it is an opportunity for growth and a chance to make new friends. Such a journey does not only help you learn about new aspects in your field of study, but it also gives you the power to both face changes and make changes.

Communicating research to the public. With a three-course dinner!

Written by Joanne Eaves.

A couple of weeks ago, I was offered the opportunity by the Doctoral College to present my research to Loughborough’s Rotary Club. The evening intended to build awareness within the local community of the work Doctoral Researchers do at Loughborough, and boy did it do just that!

Two fellow Doctoral Researchers and I each delivered 15 minute presentations that summarised our research, followed by 10-15 minutes each of questions from the Rotary Club members. The prospect initially seemed quite daunting: my research is about the cognitive psychology of arithmetic, so at the best of times I count myself lucky if the audience don’t run a mile when I mention the word ‘maths’! How on earth do I communicate my PhD work in a way that informs and engages the public, without making them want to dash to the exit?

It’s a clever skill to develop. If I’m being completely honest, I thought about how I explain my work and daily activities to my parents! Extract the most important bits, the ‘take home’ messages, and tell it as a short story. Avoid unnecessary (yet interesting) details at all cost (save that for the Q&A if necessary), have no more than 10 words per slide, and use a picture in places where you know you’re at risk of rambling. It seemed to do the job for me! Many asked insightful questions relating to my research that really made me think about its broader impact and how it could be communicated with teachers. Even some viva preparation was thrown in – one gentleman prefaced his question with “This is a question I would ask at a viva: …”

In hindsight, I probably needn’t have worried too much; the Rotary Club are not your average audience. They’re very well informed and many have a background in academia or ties with the University; they therefore have a genuine vested interest in the research we conduct, and really want to know about what’s going on (they even knew of my department and colleagues!) A couple of the members commented that the evening was “the most entertaining they’d had yet”, and seemed thrilled at the prospect of running another in the future.

To any Doctoral Researcher, I’d recommend seeking opportunities like this. Too often we find ourselves cocooned in our own research bubble, focusing independently on our own niche research questions, designing, coding, writing behind our locked doors. Dare we talk about it? Only to our supervisors, immediate colleagues, and academic Twitter if we feel brave. It’s too easy to forget what it’s all for – the public!

If anyone would be interested in presenting at a similar event in future please contact DoctoralCollege@lboro.ac.uk.

Diving headfirst into University

My Loughborough experience has been one of excitement and growth.  Continue reading

From applicant to undergraduate!

Coming to Loughborough has been a huge emotional rollercoaster; but one that I’m loving absolutely every second of.
Continue reading

My home away from home

One semester into my course and I can’t fathom how my last four months at Loughborough University just flew by. And this journey has been incredible!    Continue reading

'It's down to the 'Loughborough Experience''

I cherish the pride that I feel when going back home for the holidays and telling people that I go to Loughborough University. Continue reading

Finding your wings and learning to fly

Placement.  Moving away from home.  Leaving your comfort zone.  Three scary things to think about, however has anyone ever wished they never did them? Continue reading

World Book Day Book Exchange

To celebrate World Book Day next Thursday (7th March) the School of Arts, English and Drama will be running a book exchange in the Martin Hall.

Simply show up at the Martin Hall Office on 1pm with a (preferably used) book of any genre that you really love, and that you are willing to part with, and you will gain a new book to read from others donations.

If you want to drop books off before this, they have a box in the Martin Hall PGR Office. It’s a great opportunity to have a spring clean of those cluttered book shelves and recycle some well-loved texts.

World Book Day is a registered charity on a mission to give every child and young person a book of their own. It’s also a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

To find out more, visit this link: https://www.worldbookday.com/

Here East and its opportunities!

Loughborough University London alumna, Lindsay Kim has written a blog on the wide range of opportunities at Here East and London!

Producing and presenting posters: a guide for Doctoral Researchers

Written by Joel Warburton.

Joel is a 2^nd Year Doctoral Researcher at the School of Business and Economics, and recently won the Delegates Choice Prize for Best Research Poster at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference.  In this blog he shares some thoughts and tips about how to get your research out there with a winning research poster.  For more guidance, book to attend the Doctoral College’s workshop ‘Making an Impact with Posters’.

It can be easy to think that as a Doctoral Researcher you have little to say to the ‘outside’ world, that it’s perhaps better to get your head down, and get your doctorate out of the way, before you think about presenting your discoveries or ideas at conferences.  If you share these thoughts, please take a moment to reconsider!

Presenting your research at conferences can be very useful to
Doctoral Researchers at all stages of their development, even if you have yet to collect data. Participation in off-campus activities can encourage you to look outwards, make connections and share ideas to support, not hinder, your doctorate.

It’s important to share and discuss your work with others (researchers, public, industry) for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, it builds your skills in talking about your research.  It takes practice to get the message across to a range of audiences, in a concise and clear way.  With practice, by the time your Viva comes around, you will be much better at communicating and discussing your topic, and your confidence levels will act as a support, rather than undermine your performance. 

Secondly, getting your research ‘out there’ will bring fresh perspectives to your work.  Feedback from others can prove very useful, for example with regards to topics to include in your thesis, or even suggested amendments or re-directions to your research approach (discuss with your supervisors first!). Building your profile and network within your research/practice community will also help from a career point of view, perhaps widening your post-doc options.

Research posters are a great way to share your work, generate feedback and connect with others outside of your network. They form part of most research conferences and are taken as serious contributions to the programme. Additionally, if you are somewhat anxious about speaking to large groups, posters offer a much more low key, and personal way of talking about your topic.

To that end, I’ve compiled some tips for presenting posters at conferences, but first some general info about the application process.

Target your efforts – Do some research about which conferences are suited to your topic.  Organising bodies focus on different disciplines, and within that each conference will have a series of different themes for that year (more of that later). Some acceptance panels are more demanding than others- you need to pitch for the right one. Speak to your supervisors or other lecturers about which ones are best, depending what you want to say.

Look Ahead – To get your poster accepted onto the programme you need to submit an abstract. Conferences advertise their submission deadlines well ahead of time, sometimes as much as a year in advance.  Poster abstracts are similar to abstracts in journal articles, in that they give a summary of the content.  You don’t always need to have the poster ready at the point of application, just a description of its message.  Make sure you submit before the deadline. You will be notified of the decision well ahead of the actual conference, so for some conferences, you only need to produce a poster if you are accepted!

Follow the Rules – Each conference will have its own rules about the abstract format (word count, sub-headings etc.) and the topics/themes the submission panel wants to hear about.  Make sure you stick to the rules about format, but take advice from your supervisors about how close you need to be to the conference themes. Abstracts are sometimes accepted when they are deemed ‘close enough’ to a theme of the conference.

Get Involved Locally – There are loads of opportunities to present your poster locally before you try for an external conference.  The Doctoral College has the Summer Showcase and the Annual Research Conference, and your own School may also provide opportunities to present a poster. Your supervisors and fellow researchers are a great source of feedback.

The Poster

Your poster should be a conversation starter, not a wall mounted thesis.  Keep it simple and attractive and it will reel people in for a meaningful discussion or just a few questions and answers. This should be the objective.  A good poster will mean that you end up learning just as much as the attendees have.

Basics – Makes sure you follow the event guidelines with regards to size (A0, A1 etc) and orientation (portrait or landscape).  Whatever application you use (PowerPoint, Illustrator, Canva etc.) make sure that your size is set before you start designing, some don’t scale up/down too easily. Make sure text can be read from about 1.5m away. Headline font around 72pt and main text 28pt works well. Leave space at the edges (to avoid cut-off when printed) and double check for spelling/grammar! References, contact details, institution and co-authors (your supervisors) should be included. Want to go one step further? Why don’t you include a QR code that links to either a PDF copy of the poster, your contacts details, blog or a video of you explaining your research? Click here for a video of how to create a QR code.

Eye catching – A Google search for “research posters”will produce thousands of different posters, but often, the majority will look very similar, wordy and dull.  Your poster will be presented amongst several others, sometimes facing away from the entrance, perhaps at the end of a long line. You need to make the poster stand out, so make it look different. If you use colour wisely it can pull people in. However, overdo it, and it will turn people off.  4 or 5 colours in a co-ordinated theme works well, but there are some great posters just using 1 or 2. Material Palette is a tool that creates a suggested colour scheme for you; give it a go, it’s free!   

Word Count – Less is more.  Too much text can be a real turn-off and overwhelming, particularly to non-specialists.  It’s a really important skill to be able to distil your work down to a brief description (a skill I am still working on!).  Aim for 350 words or less on the whole poster.  It’s not a lot, but you will end up with a poster that’s more inviting because of the negative space it contains.

Graphs and Pictures – Don’t overdo it.  1 or 2 graphs/pictures that are essential to your message can be a great way to communicate your idea, but get too technical and the poster will drive people away.  For the most technical subjects, and if you are delivering to an expert audience, this might not apply. However, think very carefully before breaking this ‘rule’ as your work might be more specialist than you think and even other academics/practitioners in your field may appreciate a gentler introduction to your topic.

Content – Make sure that the poster explains your research as a standalone display, but also try and design it in a way that helps you deliver your pitch when you are standing alongside it. Use sub-headings and sections as pointers, and to break up the text. You should also make it clear in what order the sections of the poster should be read. Use arrows or numbered paragraphs to help you do this.

Printing – I found Loughborough Campus Print services to be about half the price of commercial printers, and they produce great quality.  An A0 print costs approximately £13 and you may be able to claim this back from your school funds.  Ask for a practice print in a smaller size to do a final check.  I wish I had done this on a recent poster, as the text was harder to see in print than on screen due to the colours I used. Leave yourself enough time to order a reprint if this happens.

At the Conference

Great, you got your poster accepted and you are at the conference.  Now the work begins!

Before the conference/showcase invite some of your existing network to meet you at the poster.  Also reach out to some of the other attendees/presenters in your field of research and ask if they could spare a minute to meet you at your poster. This acts as an ice breaker as you both will immediately have something to talk about. Not all will agree, but some will be happy to meet up.

Practice a short 1-minute introduction to the poster and its message.  When the poster session begins, stand to one side of your poster and when someone approaches, give them time to scan it. Then ask if they would like a quick run though. If they say yes, deliver the 1 minute ‘pitch’. If not, invite questions and leave them alone. Some people just want to read and absorb, so don’t be too pushy, but equally don’t stand-off altogether.

Some conferences have a snapshot session where you might get 60 seconds on the main stage to invite people to your view your poster at a specific time.  You can try and describe the basics during this time or, as I have seen done to great effect recently, spend the 60 seconds posing questions that your poster/research aims to answer. 

Don’t forget to use the poster afterwards in social media, or perhaps a blog, to continue the conversation and the good work that you started.

Hopefully this blog has given you some good ideas and makes sense.  You’ve nothing to lose, give it a go and good luck!

On the Radar: Materials Conversations

A day as a Loughborough University London student

Sport Business and Innovation MSc student, Victor Manuel Alvarez-Gines has written this blog about a day as a Loughborough University London student.

Tension - Student Charity Art Exhibition

Loughborough’s Art & Design School this month will be hosting a charity art exhibition showcasing and selling work produced during a collaborative project by students from Loughborough and Japan.

Tension is a postcard exhibition featuring work by students on each pathway of Loughborough University’s Art and Design Foundation Studies course – 3D Design, Fashion and Textiles, Fine Art and Visual Communication – and a visiting group of Curatorship and Fine Art students from Joshibi University of Art and Design in Tokyo. The students will work together to curate the exhibition.

All the postcards in the exhibition will be for sale, with proceeds going to a local children’s hospice charity, Rainbows.

Tension will be open to the public 10am-4pm, from Tuesday 26th February until Friday 1st March in the Fine Art Gallery, based in the School of the Arts, English and Drama, Loughborough University, Epinal Way, LE11 3TU.

The risks and rewards of collaborating with competitors

What is coopetition?

It is not uncommon for small businesses to struggle to compete within their markets, as they often possess an insufficient volume of resources and capabilities. With ever-changing customer preferences, fierce competition, and technological developments, one must ask the question – how can small entities survive and grow within their markets? Over the last few years, I have been researching the notion of coopetition – a set of activities that can serve as one tool to help small business’ chances of surviving and growing within their markets. Just like any concept, there have been debates as to how coopetition should be defined, conceptualised, and measured, but it ultimately surrounds the ways that companies collaborate with their competitors (Bengtsson and Kock, 2014).

Types of coopetition

In my ongoing research, I have investigated how there are various ways that firms can collaborate with their competitors. For example, drawing upon my work in the New Zealand wine industry, I have found that coopetition can be an informal or formal set of activities (see Crick, 2018). Informally, coopetition can be as basic as an inexperienced owner-manager of a vineyard and winery asking a more experienced competitor for advice about harvesting, effective advertising, sourcing seasonal employees, and so on. Formally, some vineyards and wineries have developed contracts and have teamed-up to target export markets. They have found that by entering export markets as a group of vineyards and wineries, they can create a more exciting experience for their customers than if they did so as individual brands. The latter case highlights that coopetition provides firms with a “safety in numbers” way of operating, whereby, they can share costs and receive mutual benefits, including generating increased sales.

What are the benefits of coopetition?

Ideally, coopetition is intended to improve the performance of all the rival firms involved. The reason being is that by collaborating with competitors, companies have access to new resources, capabilities, and opportunities that would not be available to them if they competed using their own assets. For instance, I have undertaken some research on how coopetition is implemented by sporting organisations (see Crick and Crick, 2016). In such research, I found that coopetition can help firms to improve their sales, access new equipment, save costs through joint promotion, and share knowledge between competing firms. Indeed, I have found that larger businesses can utilise these improvements in their performance and concentrate their efforts on other opportunities, such as expanding to attract new customers. Therefore, coopetition can be a performance-driving set of activities for small and large organisations. Though, larger entities are more likely to not need to engage in coopetition to survive within their markets (like smaller firms), but can still experience certain performance-driving consequences.

What are the drawbacks of coopetition?

It is critical to note that coopetition is comprised of cooperative and competitive forces (Arslan, 2018). This means that regardless of any collaboration that occurs between such organisations, they are still rivals, competing for similar customers. Henceforth, firms have to be very careful to engage in an “optimal-level” of coopetition – something that could be difficult to achieve in practice. Some of my recent research has focused on the extent to which coopetition improves company performance (see Crick, 2019). Specifically, I have found that if firms engage in “too little” coopetition, they risk not being able to survive within their markets, as they are likely to be under-resourced. However, it is more concerning if business engage in “too much” coopetition, as they could create tensions, such as conflict and power imbalances with their competitors because they cannot differentiate between the opposing forces of cooperativeness and competitiveness. Likewise, with “too much” coopetition, companies can lose certain points-of-difference or competitive advantages, as they may have shared excessive quantities of information with rival firms. In short, despite the many benefits of coopetition, there are also some major drawbacks.

How should practitioners best-manage coopetition?

To emphasise an important point, coopetition can be harmful for company performance if firms engage in “too little” or “too much” of such activities. From my ongoing research, I have found that firms should collaborate with their competitors to the extent where they access new resources, capabilities, and opportunities, but should then resume competing as an individual entity, with minimal dependency of their rivals. This way, firms can increase their performance and mitigate the chances of failing within their markets, but at the same time, retain some aspects of their business model that differentiate them from their rivals. Otherwise, if firms continue to engage in coopetition, there could be a diminishing-returns effect on their performance.

Directions for future research

Academics have been researching coopetition for over two decades (led by Bengtsson and Kock, 1999). Yet, there are many issues within this body of knowledge that are under-researched. First, there are very few measures of coopetition for scholars to test. Part of my ongoing research is developing and validating a multi-dimensional measure of the coopetition construct to test the antecedents and consequences of firms collaborating with their competitors. Second, scholars have focused on the performance outcomes of coopetition, but far less research has been conducted on the drivers of such activities. In future research, it would be interesting to uncover more information about the factors that motivate organisations to engage in coopetition. Third, some of the dark-sides of coopetition have emerged in recent investigations. It would be of interest to undertake more research on the specific negative consequences of coopetition and how firms can minimise any damage to their performance.

About the author

This Blog post was written by Dr James M Crick, Lecturer in Marketing at the School of Business and Economics (Loughborough University) and Adjunct Scholar in the Telfer School of Management (University of Ottawa). Dr Crick is a member of the Centre for Service Management and the Marketing and Retailing discipline group and can be contacted via j.m.crick@lboro.ac.uk.

References

Bridge the Gap! Feminist Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon

Celebrations of research

Recently Loughborough University London’s doctoral researchers celebrated journal publications by two of their own.

Hosting these celebrations has become a tradition among the PhD students, when someone publishes a journal article, a book chapter or a book. This was initiated by the PhD students, in particular Fiona Meeks, however faculty members also attend. 

PhD researcher, Fiona Meeks initiated the publication celebrations because talking to other people in the same position positively affects mental health, and celebrating fellow PhD students’ achievements is important. Such events bring people together to give them the opportunity to share their experiences. 

PhD students whose publications have been celebrated, so far, are Sophie Peng, Gori Olusina-Daniel, Lena Langosch, Jennifer Agwunobi, and Dan Read.

To read more on the publications celebrations, please see our news story.

MS Feb 2019 Software Update Deployment To Park IT PCs

Please see below a list of the February 2019 MS Software Updates. The updates will be deployed to your PCs today. If you have any problems with the updates or do not receive the updates, then please let me know. It is imperative that the updates get installed on as many PCs as possible at this stage of the roll out so that we can test against any potential issues.

For those of you doing the Mee Too checks, please let me know if you get any issues.

If your PC name has changed because of a Windows 10 upgrade then please provide the name.

List of Updates…

2019-02 Security Update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems (KB4487038)
2019-02 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 for x64-based systems (KB4486474)
2019-02 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 for x86-based systems (KB4486474)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.7.2 for Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64 (KB4483452)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems (KB4487026)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems (KB4487020)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems (KB4486996)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x86-based Systems (KB4486996)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems (KB4487017)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1803 for x86-based Systems (KB4487017)
2019-02 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems (KB4487044)
2019-02 Security and Quality Rollup for .NET Framework 3.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2 for Windows 7 (KB4487078)
2019-02 Security and Quality Rollup for .NET Framework 3.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2 for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 for x64 (KB4487078)
2019-02 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB4486563)
2019-02 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x86-based Systems (KB4486563)
2019-02 Security Update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems (KB4487038)
2019-02 Security Update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems (KB4487038)
2019-02 Security Update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems (KB4487038)
2019-02 Security Update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x86-based Systems (KB4487038)
2019-02 Security Update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems (KB4487038)
2019-02 Security Update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1803 for x86-based Systems (KB4487038)
2019-02 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems (KB4485447)
2019-02 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems (KB4487327)
2019-02 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems (KB4485448)
2019-02 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x86-based Systems (KB4485448)
2019-02 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems (KB4485449)
2019-02 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1803 for x86-based Systems (KB4485449)
Adobe Acrobat DC Update 19.010.20091
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Update 19.010.20091
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Adobe Flash Player 32-bit/64-bit PPAPI 32.0.0.142
Office 365 Client Update – Monthly Channel Version 1901 for x64 based Edition (Build 11231.20174)
Office 365 Client Update – Monthly Channel Version 1901 for x86 based Edition (Build 11231.20174)
Security Update for Microsoft Excel 2010 (KB4462186) 32-Bit Edition
Security Update for Microsoft Excel 2013 (KB4461597) 32-Bit Edition
Security Update for Microsoft Excel 2013 (KB4461597) 64-Bit Edition
Security Update for Microsoft Excel 2016 (KB4462115) 32-Bit Edition
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Update for Microsoft Access 2013 (KB4032252) 32-Bit Edition
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Experiences in the Classroom and Beyond: The Role of Race and Ethnicity

Chetanraj Dhillon, Jennifer Kavanda Ebende, James Esson, Line Nyhagen and Alex Sherred

During the 2017/2018 academic year, staff and students in the School of Social Sciences conducted a research project on how someone’s race and ethnicity can influence their student experience here at Loughborough University (LU)[i]. The rationale for the project was data indicating that a degree attainment gap based on race and ethnicity exists here at LU. The degree attainment gap is “the difference in ‘top degrees’ – a First or 2:1 classification – awarded to different groups of students[ii]. In a previous blog post[iii], Nuzhat Fatima (former Loughborough Student Union Welfare and Diversity Executive Officer) provided an overview of the potential contributors to and implications of this situation for students.

Our study aimed to better understand the local factors at LU that may underpin the degree attainment gap between students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. To achieve this aim, we examined experiences both within and outside the classroom, taking into account the specific characteristics of the University, including the racial, ethnic and gendered composition of its undergraduate student body, the campus environment, and the market town that surrounds it. Crucially, we sought to include perspectives and experiences from students of white and black and other minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. This inclusive approach allowed us to identify perspectives and experiences that may be unique to the BAME student population at LU as well as those that may be shared by white and BAME students.

A key principle within the project was that students themselves are uniquely positioned to conduct research on the experiences of students. Therefore, a mixed team of BAME and white student researchers were part of the research team and helped carry out the data collection. Below, the student researchers provide some reflections on their experiences as part of the project.

Chetanraj Dhillon, Geography and Environment

Why this project?

There were three key reasons why I wanted to be part of this project. First, by the time I reached the end of my second year studying geography with economics, I had developed a strong interest in pursuing a career in academia. But while my grades indicated that I had pretty good analytical skills, I felt I lacked practical insights about what it is like to conduct research. Without these insights it was hard to determine whether academia was something I should pursue as a post-graduate. This project provided a way for me to get this first-hand experience conducting research. Second, and perhaps more importantly, this project gave me the opportunity to expand upon my knowledge of issues about ethnic and racial inequality within higher education, and contribute towards an endeavour which had the potential to significantly improve the wellbeing of current and future students at Loughborough University.

What was it like?

In a word, rewarding. This is not to say that the project did not have its challenges because it did – particularly recruiting participants for the focus groups. But being part of a highly supportive team of researchers where we shared ideas and best practice helped me overcome this issue. The project also enabled me to critically reflect on my experiences past and current where I was the recipient of hostility or awkwardness, which I could never establish with certainty were the result of pure chance or because of my ethnicity and appearance. Discovering that I was not the only one at Loughborough University to have had such experiences, nor such burning questions, provided me with a sense of comfort. On the one hand, I realised I was right not to assume that all these experiences were because of overt racism. On the other hand, my experiences and insights from speaking to participants and the other researchers did point to a concern that ethnic and/or racial prejudice, whether intentional or unintentional, has become commonplace on campus.

What have you taken away?

More than I have the space to elaborate on here. In particular, and beyond the development of valuable research experience that provided some useful transferable skills, I have come to better appreciate the wide range of experiences that individuals have while at university, and how these experiences can be impacted – for better or worse – by one’s race and/or ethnicity. Ultimately, I completed the project with a sense of satisfaction, reassured of the value of the work we did, and the necessity of further research on the topic of race and ethnicity, as well as other diversity factors such as gender and sexuality that shape someone’s journey through higher education.

Alex Sherred, Geography and Environment

Why this project?

Throughout my time at Loughborough studying Geography, I had a keen interest in human geography modules particularly related to issues surrounding ethnicity and racial differences. However, due to my desire to fulfil a career as a Meteorologist, most of my modules including my dissertation needed to revolve around physical geography where issues of social difference are not covered. This research project caught my attention because it enabled me to delve into issues on race and ethnicity outside of my taught modules, but in a context where I would still be guided by academic staff who could help me further my knowledge. Also, the research conducted could in turn could help Loughborough University understand student perspectives regarding the BME attainment gap within the higher education system, and potentially address issues students are having on account of their ethnicity or race.

What was it like?

Challenging and thought-provoking. All the student researchers found it challenging to recruit participants, but an additional area that I found difficult was being diplomatic when analysing and discussing the results. As a white person, I sometimes found it hard to understand the cause of the negative encounters my BAME peers/participants encountered. This was mainly the case where overt racism hadn’t taken place, but perhaps the participant encountered what they perceived to be a ‘micro-aggression’. The difficulty of making sense of these encounters is something that I discussed in project meetings with the project team, especially Chetanraj. But overall, being part of a project that aimed to gain perspectives into student experiences at Loughborough University from different ethnicities and racial perspectives enabled me to reflect upon my own ethnicity and race in relation to those of different ethnic and racial backgrounds.

What have you taken away?

A major outcome I found was that on one hand not one student experience is the same as another student’s experience regardless of ethnic or racial differences, but on the other, someone’s ethnic and racial identity has a significant impact on their overall experiences at University. On a more personal level, I have become more conscious of my own ethnic and racial identity as a white person, because before working on this project I didn’t really think about whiteness as an ethnic or racial category.  I am also more understanding and aware of the challenges and issues that people of ethnic and racial minority backgrounds face in higher education and in wider society.

Jennifer Kavanda Ebende, Politics and International Studies

Why this project?

Daunting. This was the initial feeling I had when my eyes landed upon the word researcher in the project proposal and job advert. Before encountering this project, I had always associated the word ‘research’ with post-graduates and academics. The idea of an undergraduate student being a researcher on a funded project was unheard of to me, so the chance to take up what seemed like a unique opportunity was appealing.  But what really drew me into the project, was the fact that I could see myself in it. The project focused on the degree attainment gap in the Social Sciences, Geography, Politics, History & IR departments here at Loughborough University, with a special focus on Black and Ethnic minority students – a category I fall in to. It was touching to see a prestigious University being so proactive in bringing about a change, so much so that I wanted to be a part of that change.

What was it like?

Being a student researcher was challenging, but it was the challenge that made the experience worthwhile. I found I had to exercise an immense amount of patience when searching for students willing to take part in the focus groups. My favourite part of the project was listening to Black students share their experiences of everyday life at Loughborough University, and while I had to maintain my position as focus group moderator, I could often relate to the many positives and the few negatives the participants shared within the discussion. One participant recounted an incident when a fellow student made derogatory comments about the food they were cooking. The criticism was because the food was from a different culture. This reminded me of a similar situation I had encountered in my first year, but because of becoming desensitized to these types of encounters I had never given it much thought. But participants expressed that students encounter such micro-aggressions regularly and while this leads to becoming desensitised to them, it adds to a feeling of being out of place at Loughborough University.

What have you taken away?

In retrospect the project has developed me in many ways. My analytical skills were pushed to the limit when analysing the data and contributing to writing the final project report. I also learnt how to conduct a focus group, which involved developing a range of transferable skills, such as communication, time management and leadership. I also learnt the importance of being a good listener. It surprised me to hear that the white students did not regard themselves as belonging to a race per se. This was interesting to me because it almost suggested that anything outside of white needed to be classified, alluding to ideas of it not being ‘normal’. I did feel a sympathy for all the participants that were interviewed. I felt a sympathy for the White participants who unknowingly enjoy the fruits of having a raceless identity through no fault of their own. I also felt a sympathy for the Black and Ethnic Minority participants, who are frequently met by the ramifications of having a race. After being a part of the project, I am more understanding that it is nobody’s fault as to why things are as they are. Centuries worth of ill practices perhaps could take just as long to unlearn, and many projects such as this one to dismantle.

[i] Contact persons for more information: Dr Line Nyhagen (L.Nyhagen@lboro.ac.uk) and Dr James Esson (J.Esson@lboro.ac.uk)

[ii] The Equality Challenge Unit – https://www.ecu.ac.uk/guidance-resources/student-recruitment-retention-attainment/student-attainment/degree-attainment-gaps/

[iii] http://blog.lboro.ac.uk/teaching-learning/2017/06/15/degree-attainment-gaps/

Academic Writing Workshops

This term the Academic Language Support Service is running a series of free workshops on academic writing.  These workshops are designed primarily for students whose first language is English. 

The available workshops are as follows:

• Using Supporting Evidence

SMB104 – 27th February 2019, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

• Punctuation and Proofreading

D109  –  28th February 2019, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

• Coherence in Writing 1  

Bridgeman BRI 2.08 – 5th March 2019, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

• Coherence in Writing 2

Bridgeman BRI 2.08 – 12th March 2019, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

• Paraphrasing and Summarising

Bridgeman BRI 2.08 – 6th March 2019, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

To book any of the workshops click on the titles below or go to Learn module LBA001 

How shoppers’ sense of safety may be jeopardising the town centre footfall

UK town centres are significant contributors to the economy. As in the early days, town centres in the UK have been trading hubs that create jobs for the inhabitants of the towns. Unfortunately, our town centres have been in turmoil for the past decade. Retail footfall is declining, vacancy rates are increasing and the towns look more haunted than ever…

The issue with UK town centre footfall has been an unsolved mystery until now. UK shoppers have abandoned their towns in search for shopping convenience. Despite the different attempts by academics, practitioners and retail gurus to find solutions to this problem, yet the issue pertains. Indeed, if you ask anyone who follows retail news to predict a news piece for the next month, they are more likely to suggest this:

“Footfall in High Streets Drops by X Percentage”

Before you continue reading this article, I want you to take a minute to think about justifications for this trend. The majority of us would attribute this problem mainly to the limited range of shops, convenience of online shopping, expensive parking – and some would blame the weather for it too! Whilst all of this is indeed true, we tend to turn a blind eye on some critical aspects of shopping in a town centre, such as public security.  

Let’s think about it. Have you ever went shopping to a place, and few minutes after arriving there you felt uncomfortable and decided to walk away even though the shop you want is right there? And so you decide to go shopping to a different location and never go back there again? Some of us can relate to many incidents like this. Maslow’s hierarchy of need suggests that at basic level, humans value the need of safety and security. This in mind, we can understand our rational decision to walk away from a place once you feel unsafe. Even if the shop you are heading towards is the best in the business, the location might put you off from visiting.

Whilst investigating the issue of the town centre, many consumers attributed their decision to shop elsewhere because of the assortment of shops (and the eternal issue with parking). What was not expected was to learn how public security and haunted atmospheres pushed many shoppers away from the town centre, even when their favourite shops were right there! The discomfort from walking down empty paths and the negative vibe stimulated by looking at empty shops with no shoppers patronising the area created a negative shopping experience in the town centre. Further, the sense of emptiness stimulated the fear of burglary for some shoppers, which encouraged an ‘avoid’ behaviour by some shoppers to maintain their safety.

In the retail industry, the quality of product/service appears to be a factor of many, that can influence customer experience and retailers’ performance. Customer experience is the outcome of direct and indirect interactions with the retail environment. Hence, from our example, we learn how atmospheric cues of the town centre create an emotional and social experience for the consumer, which ultimately influence their future shopping intentions.

Whilst shoppers may perceive fulfilling their goals as the most important aspect of shopping, we have learned that people pay close attention to their surroundings too when shopping.  It is therefore essential to maintain a lively atmospheric cue that stimulates a sense of safety and comfort for consumers to try and solve part of the issues encountered by our shoppers.

This Blog post was written by Majd AbedRabbo, a doctoral researcher in the SBE. Majd is a member of the Marketing and Retailing group as well as a member of the Town Centres research interest group and can be reached on M.AbedRabbo@lboro.ac.uk.

#LboroStudySelfie Photo Competition

Weddell Sea Expedition: Science programme complete

Commencing My Fellowship at the Welsh Assembly

UKRI Parliamentary Fellowship at the National Assembly for Wales Research Service: Starting Out and Initial Impressions

Article by Robert Byrne, EngD student

This is the first of three blog posts reflecting on my experience during a 3-month placement within the Environment and Transport team of the National Assembly for Wales Research Service. The Research Service is an expert, impartial and confidential research and information service designed to meet the needs of Assembly Members and their staff.

Upon arrival at the National Assembly for Wales, I entered Tŷ Hywel – a red brick building holding Assembly Members (AMs), Commission staff and Cabinet offices behind the impressive, modern and sustainable Senedd building on the waterfront (image below). After passing the airport-style security, I was greeted by my line manager and introduced to the rest of the Environment and Transport team – a friendly group who immediately made me feel welcome.

The first week consisted of an induction to become familiar with the functions and processes of the Assembly and Research Service. This involved sessions on; devolution of powers in Wales, legislature processes and of course, Brexit – which is additionally complex when taking devolution into account. An extra focus was on the Welsh language – as all work must be bilingual and every live debate or document is translated into Welsh and English. Having grown up in Wales, I’ve also decided to reignite the dying embers of my GCSE Welsh and join weekly classes for Assembly Commission staff.

In Wales, a new First Minister, Mark Drakeford, has recently been elected and the definite highlight of the first week was attending his inaugural First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) and sitting in on the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs (CCERA) Committee – one of the main committees which the Environment and Transport team support.

To watch debates and Assembly Members (AMs) in action, or to bump into an AM who I’ve followed in the media for years in the corridor, feels like a privilege. However, the Assembly is incredibly open to the public. Any member of the public can watch FMQs, debates and committee meetings from the modern and stylish viewing galleries. If unable to attend, anyone can watch live and past debates on Senedd TV. The transparency and accessibility of the Assembly, along with the level of careful work behind each debate, committee and report, were the most eye-opening facts from the first week.

The Research Service is made up of teams of experts on policy relevant topics, who support the 60 AMs through; responding to enquiries, providing advice to committees and publishing reports, research briefings and blog posts . As any work published can have implications for policy and the reputation of AMs or the Assembly, it must be accurate, reliable and impartial.

Throughout my time here, I am hoping to be involved in all aspects of this work and I have already worked on a wide range of topics. These have included; writing a blog and research briefing on oil spills, updating a research briefing on planning legislation, responding to an AM’s enquiry on parking charges and updating the Environment Brexit Monitoring Report. I have also attended meetings with clerks and legal services aiding the CCERA Committee – learning about the processes behind its work has been insightful.

Due to the variety of work and the continually moving debate, the workplace feels very alive. Normally, after Christmas, you would be forgiven for experiencing annual January blues. However, everyone seems motivated and happy at work. After just a couple of weeks, this has contributed to myself already feeling part of a team. I am certainly anticipating the rest of the placement with excitement, looking forward to becoming more involved and making the most of the opportunity. 

Research Service work: Senedd Research In-Brief Blog / Senedd Research Twitter / National Assembly for Wales Research Service Homepage / National Assembly for Wales Facebook

Climate Change Environment and Rural Affairs Committee Work: CCERA Committee Homepage / CCERA Committee Twitter

The parliamentary fellowship was provided to Robert Byrne by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of the UKRI Policy Internship Scheme which enabled this article to be completed.

International Management MSc and take-home exams

On-amon (Jinny) Chungpaiboon, International Management MSc student, has written this blog on her master’s programme and specifically offers her advice on take-home exams.

Calling All Finalists - National Student Survey 2019

Health & Wellbeing Event - Overcoming Adversity

Mindfulness for Study Workshops

London's Art Galleries and Museums

Design Innovation Management MSc student, Nichamon has written a blog on three of her favourite art galleries and museums – which are FREE to visit!

#1 Tate Modern

If you are a contemporary art lover, you can’t miss this gallery. Tate Modern has a various collection of international modern and contemporary art including some famous art work of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Marc Chagall.

Opening times:

Sunday to Thursday: 10am-6pm
Friday to Saturday: 10am-10pm

#2 Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum is one of the largest decorative arts and design museum’s in the world. It holds many permanent collections of the UK’s architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, and theatre and performance.

Opening times:

Monday to Thursday & Saturday to Sunday: 10am-5.45pm
Friday: 10am-10pm

#3 Saatchi Gallery

If you have had enough of classical art, Saatchi Gallery offers you contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in order to exhibit his collection to the public. This gallery is trendy and unique and is a world leading museum on social media.

What is lovely, many artists shown at the gallery are unknown to both the public and commercial artist world, so showing at the gallery has helped launch careers!

You can also enjoy a shop in the gallery and some tasty food in the Saatchi café and restaurant nearby.

Opening times:

Monday to Sunday: 10am-6pm

London is full of other galleries and museums (many of which are free) including The National Gallery, The Wallace Collection, Camden Arts Centre, South London Gallery and Tate Britain.

Loughborough University London would like to thank Nichamon for writing this blog and expressing her interest in art and culture.

Dawsonera Ebook Platform Downtime, Saturday 9th February

In order to complete some planned system maintenance, Dawson Books have advised us that their Dawsonera Ebook platform will be unavailable for a brief time this Saturday (9th February) between 8pm to 11pm.

Dawson Books apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any queries about any of these planned sessions, please contact Dawson Books by email at help@dawsonenter.com

Doctoral Researcher President Team’s Post (January 2019)

This blog post is part of a series of monthly posts detailing the activities of the DR President’s Team (President: Leah Henrickson; Vice-President: Hugh Tawell).

Note: This post refers to PhD/EngD Students as Doctoral Researchers (DR) and Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs). This is because the University uses the former language, and the Union uses the latter.

—

Are you all still keeping up with your New Year’s resolutions? Our resolution was to keep working hard to ensure that the Loughborough doctoral experience is as good as it can be – and we’re still trying our best!

First, what you have to look forward to.

Postgraduate Quiz Night (4^th February 2019, 7PM – 10PM)

Get your thinking caps on, and join us for a postgraduate quiz night on 4^th February – with prizes! Come individually, or as a team. Co-hosted in collaboration with the LSU Postgrad EO and the PhD Social & Support Network.

Postgraduate Union Night Out (23^rd February 2019, 10PM – 3AM)

Ready for the next postgrad-exclusive Union night out? Here’s your chance to see what the Union is like as a nightclub. Get ready to let your hair down and party with other postgrads on 23^rd February! £1 entry for all Loughborough postgrads (bring your student ID card) and their guests (18+). Entry closes at midnight. Co-hosted with the LSU Postgrad EO.

Now, the stuff we did in January.

Meeting with LSU Postgrad EO (Kamal)

We meet with Kamal, the LSU Postgrad Executive Office, regularly to plan social events and talk about any issues we may have faced in our roles. At our latest meeting on 15^th January, we planned the two events listed above and got started on planning our events in March. Kamal also laid out his plans for postgraduate representation through the LSU this year. Then we spent a little while chatting about friend things because, you know, we’re friends.

Doctoral College Induction

On 16^th January, Leah welcomed the newest cohort of Loughborough doctoral researchers at the Doctoral College’s January Induction. She introduced them to the PGR Rep system and gave them the 4-1-1 on how to balance research and life. They laughed at her jokes, so they’re winners.

Meeting with London LSU Representative

Leah trekked down to Loughborough’s London campus on 21^st January to meet with Charlene, who is the new LSU London Education & Advice Administrator, and to get a tour of the campus. Leah and Charlene discussed ways in which the London student’s experience could be improved. Because we’re still looking for PGR Reps in London (hint, hint!), making changes on the London campus can be difficult, but – with the help of the LSU, the Doctoral College, and the University in general – we’re committed to helping make the London campus the best that it can be.

The photo accompanying this post is of the London campus’ library.

Doctoral College Sub-Committee

Hugh represented doctoral researchers at the most recent Doctoral College Sub-Committee on 22^nd January. The Directors of Doctoral Programmes (DDPs) in attendance appreciated that we had sent them the minutes from our latest PGR Rep meeting, and noted how well all the Reps were doing in their roles.

And that was January! If you want to keep up-to-date with our activity, join the ‘Doctoral Researchers of Loughborough University’ Facebook group and follow us on Twitter. If you’re a London student, join the ‘Loughborough Students’ Union London 2018-2019’ Facebook group.

Leah and Hugh.

Get the Know How for Semester 2

All set for Semester 2? If your answer is the wrong side of “maybe”, let us help you give your academic skills a timely boost through one of our range of ever-popular Get the Know How sessions at the Library.

Ranging from handy tips on essay & report writing to developing your critical thinking and introductions to referencing & bibliographic software, there’s something for every academic occasion that will stand you in good stead for the duration of your course.

Each session runs for between 50 – 90 minutes, depending on the subject matter, and they’re hosted in Library Seminar Room 1. However, as these courses have always proved extremely popular in the past, we are asking that people register for them first via Learn Module LBA001. To do that – and to look at exactly what courses are on offer and when – visit this link:

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/students/eventsandworkshops/

LSU Health & Wellbeing Week 4th-8th February

Spotlight On… New Semester Resolutions

As your New Year resolutions fade, how are you planning to start the new semester? What was your feedback like for your exams or coursework? Have you got plans for improving your grades next time? Come along to our Spotlight stand this week to share your thoughts and get support for any library-related issues such as:

• Better time management
• Better academic practice and referencing
• More criticality 
• More academic information resources

We look forward to seeing you at our stand in the Library foyer on Tuesday 5th February between 12-2pm, and Thursday 7th February between 2-4pm

If you can’t make these times and have a query, don’t worry, you can always contact your academic librarian directly:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/students/contactus/academic-librarians/

Venture Crawl 2019

Thirteen universities will come together on Wednesday 20 March 2019 to run the UK’s biggest Venture Crawl.

British Standards Online New Feature - Tracked Changes

British Standards Online has launched a new tracked changes feature to some of its key standards.

You’ll now find it easy to identify what’s changed between different versions of standards at a glance, using a clear colour-coded system: green equals an addition, red equals a removal.

To find out more, visit the BSOL website here – https://bit.ly/2DJjCDK

8 approaches to Inclusive Learning and Teaching

A uniquely collaborative approach to addressing the issues of inclusive learning and teaching (with contributions from 39 people over 30 institutions) has identified 8 approaches to inclusive learning and teaching:

1. Know your student cohort
2. Embed inclusivity within institutional processes (including estates)
3. Co-create curricula with inclusive design
4. Rearrange lecturing approaches to adopt a range of strategies
5. Teach academic writing so that students can learn
6. Create learning assessments that truly assess learning
7. Adapt for retention
8. Foster a good work placement ethos

The Inclusivity Gap examines the gap between assumptions of background preparedness for learning that students possess, and those they actually do and presents examples of good practice already happening in higher education providers around the country. 

A range of chapters address a range of questions:

from chapters about disability, students from non-traditional backgrounds and students who are ‘slow learners’ to chapters addressing the ‘elephants in the room’ (issues relating to recruitment, inclusion and difficulties nobody appears to want to discuss);

from chapters about retention to those concerning physical learning spaces;

from chapters written by renowned academics to those offering the student voice (with one chapter where a student argues with passion on behalf of black and minority ethnic students and one where a student bravely describes her experience of mental health issues)

–  this book is a comprehensive contribution to a host of issues surrounding the inclusivity debate with the aim of beginning to close what the editor has termed ‘the inclusivity gap’.

Dr Pauline Hanesworth (senior adviser with Advance HE), commenting on the book’s “broad approach” described it as “an important contribution to the growing work on inclusivity in higher education … [it] will become a must read for all working to develop an inclusive approach to learning and teaching”.  Whilst Dr John Cater (VC of Edge Hill University) said that it “is an outstanding and timely collection of essays, neatly organised and structured to support all of those involved in the student journey, from recruitment through to graduation” and Prof Colin Bryson (RAISE) described it as “a timely and valuable book about a really important issue in higher education”.

The Inclusivity Gap published as an e-book by Inspired by Learning [ www.inspiredbylearning.eu ]  ISBN: 978-1-909876-10-1 

Chinese New Year celebrations in London

Chinese New Year is only a week away, falling on the 5 February 2019! We want everyone to have the most enjoyable and memorable celebrations, so here are a few ways to celebrate Chinese New Year in London.

Brexercise! Brexit lessons for keeping fit in 2019

Senior Lecturer for the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance, Dr Tim Oliver has given his advice on how to Brexercise in The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Brexit blog, alongside Dr Andrew Brinkley.

Windows 10 Task Sequence Changes - 25/01/2019

The changes have been made live. The reimaging testing is still continuing but I will send out a further correspondence if any issues are found.

Update to the Windows 10 Staff Task Sequence on 25/01/19

The Windows 10 Staff Task Sequences will be updated on Friday 25th January. The Task Sequence will be at risk during this period. It is therefore recommended that you do not attempt to image any Windows 10 staff computers at this time.

The following change will be made….

Add Step to reset USB Hubs just before reboot out of WinPE. This is necessary if the Dell DA300 USB-C Mobile Adapter is being used for imaging. The step is only applied to when imaging the following Dell devices:

 Latitude 3390
 Latitude 5290
 XPS 13 9365
 XPS 13 9370

Please note we do not advise imaging computers via a docking station. For the listed machines we recommend using the Dell DA200 or DA300 Adapters.

The McAfee Agent will also be updated to version 5.5.0.447 at the same time.

TIMESCALE

25/01/19 – 08:00am-10:00 am

CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION AND HELP?
Please contact our Service Desk at it.services@lboro.ac.uk for more information

Top 5 student discounts that you should not miss!

Digital Marketing MSc student, Wariporn has written a blog on student discounts you cannot miss whilst studying in London/UK:

Quick & Easy Meals for Revision Success

Maintaining a balanced diet while revising for exams can be tough; especially when it’s so easy to reach for the takeaway app. We’re here to help! We asked LSU Cook ‘n’ Bake for their best, quickest recipe ideas, as well as adding some of our own to the mix.