www.port.ac.ukSeason’s Greetings

CommunicatorIssue 36

Newsletter for University of Portsmouth staff

Winter 2011

Alumni event draws crowd • Page 3Moving to Moodle • Page 6Student athletes aiming for the top • Page 7Promoting the University • Page 8Halls go green for good causes • Page 10

Inside

Winter 2011 | Communicator

Editorial 03

Communicator | Winter 2011

Dates for your diary02

www.port.ac.ukSeason’s Greetings

Marketing our postgraduate opportunities is an important activity in supporting our headline aim to ‘maintain and extend a broad portfolio of courses’, and the Department of Marketing and Communications provides dedicated support to do just that.

We invite potential students to discuss individual requirements with staff at our Postgraduate Information Days, covering the full portfolio of Master’s, PGCE, PgDip and PGCert courses on offer. This year, more than 220 guests attended.

In 2012, the Information Days will move to Portland Building to provide more space. Postgraduate students, alumni, academic staff and support services can chat informally with prospective students about their experiences and show visitors what it means to be a postgraduate student at Portsmouth.

We advertise the full portfolio of Master’s courses on external websites, such as findamasters.com, prospects.ac.uk,

postgrad.com, and organise publicity for PhD studentships on findaphd.com, as well as assisting with advertising on jobs.ac.uk. You can find all current PhD studentship advertisements at www.port.ac.uk/studentships.

We also manage a Google campaign for all postgraduate taught courses at the University, directing all queries to the dedicated pages at www.port.ac.uk/postgraduate.

Researching the market is essential to delivering our portfolio, and we have market research resources to support you with course development. You can find more information at www.port.ac.uk/intranet/purpleportal.

For more information about how best we can support your course, contact the Postgraduate Marketing Coordinator: kate.rowsell@port.ac.uk or 023 9284 6223.

Inaugural lecture by Scott Armbruster, Professor of Ecology and Evolution

Wednesday 25 January 2012

6.00pm–7.00pm, Portland Building

T: 023 9284 3757E: events@port.ac.uk

A public lecture by Peter White, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Switchover Help Scheme

Thursday 2 February 2012

Peter is Chief Executive and board member of DSHS Ltd, the BBC subsidiary responsible for running the Digital Switchover Help Scheme, an organisation set up to help people move from analogue to digital TV.

6.00pm–7.00pm, Richmond Building

T: 023 9284 3757E: events@port.ac.uk

Music in the Round

Friday 3 February 2012

Doric String QuartetWell known for their playing of Haydn’s music, in this programme the Doric will be playing Haydn’s Quartet in D Op. 20 No. 4 along with quartets by Chausson and Schubert.

7.30pm, Third Floor Arts Centre, Portsmouth Central Library

T: 023 9284 3023E: music@port.ac.uk

One World Week

Monday 27 February – Friday 2 March 2012

A University-wide celebration of diversity involving both students and staff.

Programme available fromT: 023 9284 3715E: tom.lewis@port.ac.ukW: www.port.ac.uk/oww

University of Portsmouth Dramatic and Musical Society

Wednesday 1 March – Saturday 3 March, 2012

Die Fledermaus

This is a delightful Strauss operetta about revenge and mistaken identities, involving a bat, a Russian Prince, a maid and a missing pocket watch.

7.30pm, The King’s Theatre

T: 023 9282 8282

Melting ice-rising sea: Antarctic climate change and the environment

Wednesday 14 March 2012

An annual joint lecture with the Royal Geographical Society exploring environmental and climate change issues.

6.00pm–7.00pm, Portland Building

T: 023 9284 3757E: events@port.ac.uk

Music in the Round

Friday 16 March 2012

Ludwig String Trio

Led by Peter Cropper, the delightful trio presents a programme of music by Beethoven, Hindemith and Mozart.

7.30pm, Third Floor Arts Centre, Portsmouth Central Library

T: 023 9284 3023E: music@port.ac.uk

Inaugural lecture by Mike Nash, Professor of Criminology

Wednesday 25 April 2012

6.00pm–7.00pm, Park Building

T: 023 9284 3757E: events@port.ac.uk

Yoram Bauman, PhD, the world's first and only stand-up economist

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Economics like you’ve never heard it before.

6.00pm–7.00pm, Richmond Building

T: 023 9284 3757E: events@port.ac.uk

Café Scientifique Portsmouth

Every fourth Tuesday of the month

Come and discuss science in a relaxed café atmosphere.

8.00pm–10.00pm, Le Café Parisien

T: 023 9284 3757E: events@port.ac.uk

CERI Hot Topic Seminars

Monthly

A series of seminars organised by the Portsmouth Business School, offering the regional business community new ideas and practical insights into the development of their organisations in an informal and innovative environment.

January 25 – How to manage rising food prices

February 29 – Maximising your assets

28 March – Finding new market niches

6.00pm–8.00pm, Portsmouth Business School

T: 023 9284 4046E: ceri@port.ac.uk W: www.port.ac.uk/ceri

More than 200 Portsmouth graduates attended the first formal alumni event to catch up with old friends and renew ties to their alma mater.

The event, which was held at the House of Lords in October, was hosted by Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen, honorary graduate from the University, and included a tour of both Houses of Parliament followed by drinks and canapés in the Peers’ Dining Room.

Baroness Gibson gave a speech about her strong relationship with the University. She was made an honorary graduate in recognition of her work on trade unions and anti-bullying and harassment at work, most of it undertaken with Professor Charlotte Rayner at Portsmouth Business School.

John Craven welcomed the alumni, stressing the value that the University places on building and maintaining relationships with them, the best ambassadors of the University.

Alumni Relations Officer, Vicky Hodson, from the Department of Marketing and Communications said: ‘It was wonderful to see so

many former students from a wide range of courses and graduating years come together. There was a lot of fond feeling about the great start that Portsmouth gave to their careers.’

For information on the University’s Alumni Association, visit www.port.ac.uk/alumni or email alumni@port.ac.uk.

First major alumni event draws capacity crowd

Postgraduate study at Portsmouth

EditorialWelcome to the pre-Christmas edition of Communicator. This issue reports on a lot of firsts for the University, like our first London alumni event (below), new annual fund and the University Graduate School (page 4).

Although it only seems as if it were last week that we were welcoming our 2011 entrants, we are, of course, already hard at work recruiting students for 2012. Our centre spread details just some of the activities focused on making sure that our recruitment is as successful as possible, along with a timeline of the application process.

January and February see the launch of the 2012 National Student Survey (NSS). The survey is for final-year undergraduate students and the results will feed into the new Key Information Sets (KIS). We

really need to get a high participation rate this year, and a two-week promotional campaign from 6 February will aim to make sure as many students as possible complete the survey.

University Christmas e-cardThis year we have collaborated with one of our graduates from BSc Computer Animation, Ryan Potter, on the University’s Christmas e-card. To send the card please visit www.port.ac.uk/christmasecard.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Claire BrookesEditor, Head of Corporate Communications

Communicator | Winter 2011

Around campus 05

Graduate School Development Programme2011–2012

Geography researcher gives MIT lecture

Dr Dominic Fontana from the Department of Geography gave a public lecture into the sinking of Tudor warship The Mary Rose at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US in November.

Dr Fontana brought together Tudor art, geography, history and archaeology and took a step-by-step ‘detective’ approach to unravelling the events leading up to the disastrous sinking in 1545, when King Henry VIII watched as The Mary Rose capsized while engaging with a French invasion fleet off Portsmouth.

CEISR Professor recognised as Arab Spring expert

Yale University Press has published an updated version of the final chapter of Martin Evans' Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed (co-authored with John Phillips) in the light of the events of the Arab Spring.

Martin is Professor in Contemporary European History and a member of the Centre for European and International Studies Research at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The book was described as one of the best books on the phenomenon's origins by Marc Lynch, Associate Professor at George Washington University, US.

Funding for private sector job creation

The University has secured £3.3 million from the government to support its enterprise work with businesses in Portsmouth. The funding has been awarded to two projects:

Bridging the Gap: a collaboration between the University, The News and Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, providing £2 million to help local small businesses to grow and create new jobs.

The Cell Block: a collaboration between the University and Portsmouth Naval Property Trust to support the growth of creative industries.

These projects will enable University staff and students to play an important role in private sector job creation. For more information contact mark.baker1@port.ac.uk.

University sport wins National Lottery funding

The Department of Sport and Recreation has won £140,000 of National Lottery funding to help attract students back into playing sport or to take up a new sport for the first time.

The money was awarded under the £10 million Active Universities fund which aims to inspire students across England to play sport as part of the mass participation legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

One of the University projects will be an intramural four-sports varsity to compete against the University of Southampton.

Comment from the Chairman of the Board of GovernorsLooking back at the academic year 2010/11 it is clear that the University has had another very good year. Excellent recruitment of home and international students and careful management of resources have again placed us in a strong position to face the many uncertainties that lie ahead. Nearly all of our top level key performance indicators are positive, suggesting the University is in good shape. I think we can again be optimistic looking forward despite the continuing uncertainties.

Since I last wrote in Communicator in spring 2011, the Board of Governors has approved various fee proposals and the Access Agreement relating to widening participation. The detail of some of the new government policies remains incomplete and student demand for 2012 still somewhat unclear. So while the University remains confident in recruiting students from the UK and overseas, it is also very conscious of the need to continue to enhance the student experience.

The governors are pleased the University continues to perform well in the National Student Survey and is keen to build on its strengths. We are supportive of the commitment to work with schools and colleges and improve opportunities for students who come from under-represented groups, as required by the Access Agreement. The governors also support further improvements to facilities on campus.

Against this background, a wide consultation on the new strategy has begun. The establishment of a revised vision for the University will be a key task facing the governors this year. Any new strategy will need both clarity of direction and scope for flexibility to ensure we will be able to meet our challenges, particularly those arising from further external policy change.

Our ability to meet challenges and emerge well from a period of major change is enhanced by our financial position. But the overall success of the University will continue to depend most of all on the excellence of its staff.

Stuart IlesChairman of the Board of Governors

The University Annual FundThe University of Portsmouth Annual Fund is now up and running. The fund allows our alumni to support future generations of students, and is managed by the Alumni Relations and Development team in the Department of Marketing and Communications.

Student support and hardship: supporting students lacking enough funds to make the most of their time at Portsmouth, including bursaries and hardship grants.Innovative teaching: projects that enhance students’ learning experience, such as new facilities for real-life learning, developments in technology or field trips to broaden students’ horizons.Employability: real work skills, such as placements and experience, to ensure graduates stand out when applying for jobs and paving the way for future success. The Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Fund: will allocate funds where the need is greatest, reacting to challenges and developing areas that offer the most benefit to our students.

The Annual Fund will be launched in March 2012 in the University’s first telephone fundraising campaign. For more information visit www.port.ac.uk/supportus or contact the Development Officer emma.deabill@port.ac.uk or 023 9284 2706.

University Graduate School gets underway

The University Graduate School was launched at the Museum of Naval History in October. Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr David Arrell welcomed all new PhD students and highlighted the mission of the Graduate School: to enhance the experience of postgraduate research students and supervisors with a coordinated approach to support, development and training, from application to graduation.

Around 70 new students joined the Getting started with your PhD workshops and heard from more than 20 guest and University expert speakers. The workshops, delivered over three days, tackled issues such as managing your supervisor, essential library resources for successful PhDs, and A PhD asap.

Feedback received from a Faculty of Science student said: ‘Thank you for the useful three-day induction course for new PhD students. It was a pleasure to meet you and your team, and attending the course provided a marvellous opportunity to network with other PhD students.’

Continuing students attended a launch workshop and received, along with their supervisors, the 2011/12 Graduate School programme which includes more than 100 workshop opportunities and elearning courses designed to support their careers as PhD students and beyond.

To find out more about the new Graduate School visit www.port.ac.uk/graduateschool.

News in Brief

Around campus04

Bulgarian ambassador visits University

(l-r): International officer Saf Jeevanjee, Leonora Hristova, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Rebecca Bunting, Ambassador Lyubomir Kyuchukov, Deputy Director of the International Office Charlotte Ayres-Hill, outgoing Student Society President Petar Vuchev, and Zdravko Isaev.]

The ambassador was invited to Portsmouth’s celebration of European local democracy by Leonora Hristova, third-year international relations student.

Leonora said: ‘We very much looked forward to his visit because for us, the ambassador is one of the figureheads of democracy in our country. When a country such as ours has only lived under democracy for a short period, it is highly prized and valued.’

Lyubomir Kyuchukov was welcomed to the campus by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Rebecca Bunting and Deputy Director of the International Office, Charlotte Ayres-Hill. The number of Bulgarian students at Portsmouth has risen from just two in 2007 to 174 this year.

Students performed a traditional Bulgarian dance in local costume for the ambassador and the incoming president of the Bulgarian students’ society, Zdravko Isaev, presented him with Bulgarian bread he had made himself.

European Local Democracy Week (10–16 October 2011) celebrated human rights at local level. Among the wide range of free activities in the city the University hosted a public debate with experts discussing phone hacking and privacy.

An enterprising student secured a visit to the University by the Bulgarian ambassador during European Local Democracy Week.

Winter 2011 | Communicator

Winter 2011 | Communicator

University update06

Mock KIS: how the KIS might be presented

The software that underpins our current VLE, Victory, will no longer be supported by the supplier after 2013, so the University has assessed other options and after a scoping exercise involving staff and students, Moodle has been chosen as our future VLE.

Moodle will be familiar to many students who may have used it in college or school. It is one of the most popular VLEs in the UK higher education sector, with a flexible and customisable environment. The University will also benefit from advice and support available from the large UK Moodle community.

The University has already made a significant investment with over 4,000 course units in Victory. To move to Moodle, all units will need to be transferred by July 2013. This is the staged plan:

• Phase 1: rebuild 50 units for live delivery to students in February 2012.• Phase 2: at least half of all units will be live in Moodle by September 2012.• Phase 3: the rest of units will be rebuilt in Moodle by July 2013.

Phase 1 is well underway with DCQE and IS setting up infrastructure and configuring Moodle, while academic colleagues and online course developers are rebuilding the 50 units for February 2012.

To find out more about Moodle developments, visit www.moodleblog.port.ac.uk. You can also contact DCQE: carolyne.jacobs@port.ac.uk or stephen.webb@port.ac.uk.

Moving to MoodleColleagues in DCQE, IS and faculties are working together to implement Moodle, the University’s new virtual learning environment (VLE).

Student athletes aiming for the top Two students are flying high in sports by competing at London 2012 with support from the University.

Lauren Steadman, BSc (Hons) Psychology, and Cecilia Turk, MA Combined Studies, have been awarded London 2012 Scholarships by the Department of Sport and Recreation. The scholarships are designed to give them the best possible chance of making the GB team for the London 2012 Paralympic games next August.

The Department awards around 15 sports scholarships each year supporting our most talented student athletes, but this year provided a more advanced scholarship for students with Olympic or Paralympic potential for 2012. The scholarship includes financial support, mentoring, physiotherapy, facility access, sports science support, clothing, competition and transport expenses, and academic support.

Lauren is a member of the GB Paralympic swimming team. She swam in the Beijing Paralympics in 2008 at the age of 15 and this summer won gold in the International Paralympic Committee European Swimming Championships. Cecilia is a member of the GB Paralympic Boccia team and is a five-time National and once British champion.

Head of Department, Paul Tilley, said: ‘We have many talented student athletes competing at the highest levels. Being able to offer additional support and guidance can mean the difference between competing at European, World or Olympic levels or not.’

The role of public information about higher education was a central concern in the Browne Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance. Following a consultation process by the Higher Education Public Information Steering Group, three key themes of work were identified:

• All institutions would publish on their websites Key Information Sets (KIS) for each undergraduate course.

• Universities would also make it easier to access a Wider Information Set (WIS) related to their higher education provision.

• Enhancements to the National Student Survey (NSS) will be made.

Why is this work important to the University?Publication of KISs for all our undergraduate courses will give potential students and their advisors a further level of information that has the potential to affect their decision-making. For that reason it is extremely important that the University ensures the quality of all the data is as good as possible.

The publication of KIS data is likely to be the first step in a series of advances to enable the public to more easily compare courses at different institutions. Private companies, such as the consumer magazine Which, encouraged by the current government, have expressed an interest in creating market comparison type websites. The aim is to provide greater information to potential students to inform their future choices.

The University has established a Public Information Project (PIP) Board, chaired by Rebecca Broome, to ensure that all work is delivered and that KISs are available on our website by the end of September 2012.

Key Information SetKey Information Sets will be collated using information from the NSS, Destination of Leavers from HE (DLHE) survey, and other University returns. Universities will publish key information about each undergraduate course they offer on the course pages of their websites.

KIS will comprise:• student satisfaction (taken from NSS)• learning and teaching activities (expectation that this data

would link to other parts of the University website, including to a

programme specification)• assessment methods (percentage of written exams/practical

exams and coursework)• professional accreditation• costs and financial support, such as residential costs, student fees

and financial support• employment and salary information

Wider Information SetUniversities will also publish a wider information set, to be in place by September 2012. The wider information set should be made available under three categories: publicly available information on a university website, information available internally only and information available on request.

More information on the Public Information Project will be available shortly and staff will receive relevant updates through the Friday Staff Essentials bulletins.

Public information about higher education

E-portfolio The Department of Employability, working with DCQE, is developing an electronic portfolio to support student development. The e-portfolio will help students recognise and assess their achievements and plan ways to make the most of their potential.

The e-portfolio is structured in a series of linked webpages where students will record, organise and plan their development. At the heart of the system and as part of the University’s 2012 revised academic structure, are the Graduate Academic and Employability (GAE) skills. Students are encouraged to evaluate and evidence their GAE skills development, discuss analyses with their personal tutors and look at ways of addressing academic or personal development shortcomings.

Students can store different types of content (text, video, sound files, photos, blogs) and share pages with personal tutors, teaching staff, and other students. They can also track employment opportunities and build and store their CV, while personal tutors can use it to support tutorial contact with students. The e-portfolio can be exported to other professional portfolio platforms – as used by the NHS, for example – or to a stand-alone website.

The e-portfolio uses Mahara software, an open source programme used by many universities in the UK and the world. Mahara is fully compatible with Moodle, the University’s new virtual learning environment, so the two platforms will be developed together over the coming months.

Students from different disciplines around campus are now testing an early version of the e-portfolio and a revised version will be trialled in February 2012, with the final version being available in September 2012.

Improved teaching spacesInformation Services have been updating and refurbishing classrooms and lecture theatres over the summer. Working with the Estates Department, 31 rooms have received immediate attention for refurbishment and upgrade of audio-visual equipment to provide a higher quality experience for staff and students using teaching rooms.

IS is now responsible for 160 rooms across the University, and is drawing up plans to refurbish on a rolling cycle to ensure spaces remain at a professional standard.

To report any problems or give feedback on a pooled space, please contact the IS Service Desk: servicedesk@port.ac.uk or 023 9284 7777.

Google for staffThe University is looking at replacing our current email system, GroupWise, with Google Mail. Google

offers easy-to-use mail, calendar and chat functions plus more storage and better remote access.

In addition, the move will provide teaching staff with new ways of collaborating with students, who have been successfully using Google for the past two years.

Over the next few months, Information Services will be running a pilot of Google with selected members of staff, to review the effectiveness of the system in meeting the varied needs of different groups. A decision on the implementation of Google will be made next year.

University update 07

Communicator | Winter 2011

08 09

Potential undergraduate students receive a lot of information from many universities when making the difficult decision of which course and institution will be right for them. The Department of Marketing and Communications helps them with the process by providing useful information at key decision-making times, starting with the prospectus.

For 2012, we have sent more than 11,700 prospectuses responding to online requests (an increase of nine per cent on 2011), plus we distributed nearly 20,000 more prospectus at 27 UCAS fairs across the country.

Information targeted at potential undergraduates is readily available on the University website. We build a relationship with our potential students and our applicants by sending booklets on housing, finance and living in the city, plus emails and postcards to thank students for their application and to wish them luck in the their A Level exams.

Visiting PortsmouthStudents are encouraged to visit the University on one of our five Preview Days held in July, September and October. We saw more than 7,000 potential students this year, an increase of over 20 per cent on 2010.

Visitors can tailor their day to suit their interests, taking advantage of:

• welcome talks by the Vice-Chancellor or Deputy Vice-Chancellor• talks on their chosen subject by academic departments• presentations on finance, housing and the application process• information fair staffed by all student support services Preview Days give a flavour of student life in the city and visitors can hear first hand experiences from many members of the University community, especially the 45 students employed on the day. Staff from the Department of Marketing and Communications provides support and advice with help from all academic departments, student support services and our security, caretaker and catering colleagues.There are also a variety of tours throughout the day, including the

University Library, Halls of Residence and sports facilities. This year, coaches took around 1,000 visitors per day on tours of the city and the campus, including visits to Langstone Student Village. Another 750 visitors took walking tours of the campus led by our student marketing assistants.

All contact that a potential student has with the University – whether a prospectus, the website, a conversation at a Preview Day or a query over the phone – adds to the impression they have of the University. Our students and staff are the best ambassadors so it’s essential that all contact with us is positive.

Promoting the University

The Department of Marketing and Communications has recently refreshed the design of the University website’s homepage www.port.ac.uk to ensure it is focused on recruitment for 2012. Key landing pages, courses, undergraduate and postgraduate webpages have also been redesigned based on analytic information of what our key audiences are looking for on the top level of the website.

Our recently established Graduate School also has a new web presence for all potential and current postgraduate research students. The part-time courses landing pages, along with the Student Life and About Us sections will be improved in the near future.

Focusing on 2012 recruitment

January – November 2011

Prospective students read our prospectus and can visit the University on Preview Days.

September 2011 – January 2012

Prospective students apply online for a place at university through UCAS.

October 2011 – June 2012

As we receive applications, we send students an email and a printed card to thank them for choosing us, followed by an email offering a place.

November 2011 – December 2011

For those who haven’t visited us yet, there are winter drop-in events to showcase the University.

January 2012 – June 2012

Applicants either accept our offer as their firm choice, making us their number one university or their insurance choice, which makes us their number two if their firm choice doesn’t work out.

January 2012 – March 2012

Applicants apply for financial support, such as tuition fee loans, living cost grants and loans, and student bursaries.

February 2012 – April 2012

We invite applicants to department open days for an in-depth look at their chosen course with their academic department.

March 2012 onwards

Accommodation packs are sent out on a weekly basis as applicants firmly accept a place to study at the University.

July 2012 – August 2012

We either confirm places in halls of residence or we offer support and advice in finding a home in the private sector.

16 August 2012

Results day! Having received their results, applicants will either confirm their place with us or will check in Clearing with all other universities to find an alternative course that suits them.

Application process for 2012 students

Portsmouth admissions go paperless Over the last year, the University has worked to improve the undergraduate application process, providing offers of places to students more quickly and efficiently.

The new process removes the reliance on hard copy forms that applicants complete with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), and speeds up the review and approval process in our admissions teams in faculties.

Previously, we would wait for UCAS to send a hard copy of each application form, which would circulate to various staff for approval via our internal mail system, meaning applicants could wait several weeks to hear whether they had an offer from us or not. With 30,000 applications received in 2011, that added up to a frustrating wait for students, a lot of manual processing for staff and plenty of paper on desks and in files.

The new process keeps applications within a database – Admissions Plus – that Academic Registry and faculty admissions staff use to review applications and provide offers within days. By the first week in November this year, more than 1,300 offers were made compared to only 380 in the same period last year, and 780 in the year before. Applications are received from UCAS daily and are loaded into the database for admissions staff to begin the review. Standard applications that have no complications and meet or are predicted to meet the entry requirements are marked as Consideration Candidates and can be offered a place almost immediately. Any applications that require specific review, such as those with criminal records or a disability, are flagged as Further Consideration and can be identified by the appropriate support areas and dealt with in a timely manner. Applicants are already giving us positive feedback on the speedy and efficient process.

‘Thank you for your speedy response; I am happy I have applied.’

‘Thank you for such a swift decision and reply to my application. I received an offer the day after your university received my application which I was both honoured and astounded by.’

‘Thank you for bringing the DSA grant to my attention, I was unaware that it existed. I am now strongly considering applying for it.’

The process was trialled in 2011 by the Faculties of Science and Technology and is now being used by all admissions staff. Academic Registry is working with each faculty to ensure the process is tailored to the needs of applicants on their courses. Christine Giles, Deputy Academic Registrar, says: ‘We are working well with all faculty staff to ensure this new process is flexible enough to meet the needs of the whole range of courses for which we make offers. It’s a quicker process but is also a more consistent one as decisions are made by applying our admissions criteria more objectively.’

Faculty of Science Admissions Centre Manager, Jon Fry, says: ‘The paperless process is significantly less labour intensive than passing hard copies from desk to desk, which gives us more time to dedicate to supporting our applicants with the many queries we handle every day.’

In the next 18 months paperless processes will be introduced across all application types, including postgraduate taught and research, and international applications. As with the undergraduate process development, faculties and other departments will be closely involved in the establishment of the new processes.

Communicator | Winter 2011 Winter 2011 | Communicator

Recruiting for 2012 Recruiting for 2012

10 11Staff and student success Staff and student success

The University Careers and Recruitment website has won first prize at the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services Excellence Awards.

The site beat eight other universities and was shortlisted together with the universities of Manchester and Nottingham, but it was Portsmouth who came out on top in the category of Best Website. As well as positive feedback from users, a first prize win required the site to demonstrate good design, high quality content, interactivity, and sustainability. The site was created to respond to an increasing student demand and to provide a one-stop-shop for employability, linking to the Portsmouth Centre for Enterprise, Faculty Placement Offices, Research and Knowledge Transfer Services, and Student Finance. Since its launch in March 2011, statistics reveal a significant increase in traffic to the site and feedback from students suggests they appreciate having a central place for careers resources.

Runners support Brain Tumour ResearchMany members of University staff take part in the Great South Run each year, for personal benefit or to support various charities and causes. This year, a team of around 20 keen runners completed the ten-mile run in aid of Brain Tumour Research, the charity which funds the University’s Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence.

The Centre, headed by Professor Geoff Pilkington, aims to expand the research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms which underlie the migration of tumour cells and their invasion of normal brain tissue.

Brain Tumour Research is committed to raising £7 million to fund seven centres of excellence throughout the UK, including ours here at Portsmouth. A Centre of Excellence costs £1 million per year to run – that’s £2,740 per day to pay for a team of research fellows and postdoctoral researchers, their support staff and the materials that they need.

Our team of runners, some of them pictured, raised more than £2,000 for the cause.

Halls go green for good causes

Peter Mahoney, Andy Jones, Paul Tilley, Simon Brookes, Tracy Hunt, Paula Walsh and Simon Welling.

Staff and students in halls of residence have been promoting Green Portsmouth while supporting good causes. The Re-use initiative, running for the past three years, prevented four tons of material from going into landfill this year and helped people both inside and outside the University.

Students moving out of halls of residence re-used or recycled many items, including:

• 175 sacks of clothing, shoes, CDs/DVDs donated to OXFAM• 150 coat hangers saved for use by guests staying in halls over

the summer• 15 crates of dry and tinned food deposited with the Portsmouth

charity food bank • more than 30 crates of re-useable kitchen equipment – pots,

pans, crockery, glass and plastic kitchenware – given away to new students at Freshers' Fayre

• three large containers of portable electrical items recycled

Halls of Residence are continually looking for practical ways to reduce their carbon footprint. They have removed inefficient heating radiators and installed the latest LED motion-sensor lighting in corridors, stairwells and kitchens. With around 500 kitchens in halls, they are keen to procure only the most energy-efficient fridge freezers, microwaves and appliances.

Halls Environment AmbassadorsStudents in halls are asked to sign a Green Pledge, encouraging carbon-reducing activities in halls. The Halls Environment Ambassadors – volunteer students – encourage residents to stick to the pledge by organising Green Living educational tours, a Battle of the Halls recycling competition, a Switch it off, turn it down day and a shopping bag amnesty among other competitions and initiatives. Kerri, one of the previous ambassadors, said: ‘I found being an environmental ambassador very enjoyable and fulfilling. It allowed me to spread the word about the importance of sustainable living while at the same time gaining excellent employment skills. It helped me greatly in securing my first job with Essex and Suffolk Water.’

Symphony Orchestra is ten years oldThe University’s Symphony Orchestra is ten years old this year and to celebrate it, Colin Jagger, Director of Music, has programmed Dvořák’s New World Symphony for the autumn concert. The orchestra performed this same piece at its maiden concert on 21 November 2001 in St Luke’s Church.

The orchestra performs a wide variety of repertoire with three programmes each year. The first programme is usually a shared concert with the Big Band, and for the second it turns into a pit orchestra for the Dramatic and Musical Society production (Die Fledermaus in March 2012). The final programme either prepares music for the biennial international tour or might provide an opportunity to perform with the Choir.

The orchestra plays a wide range of music, and players are mainly students supplemented by staff, alumni, and community members.Students from all disciplines are free to enjoy weekly music-making as there is no traditional music degree at the University.

In addition to ensembles, the Department of Music offers private lessons on most instruments, individual practice rooms, chances to perform solo, a whole series of concerts (amateur and professional), and the chance to join the international music tour every two years, which will visit Slovenia in June 2012.

For more information about the Department of Music visit www.port.ac.uk/music.

Careers website wins at AGCAS awards

Paul Barnes Careers Advisor, on the left, collects award.

‘Brain Game’ victory for Portsmouth Business School team A team of Portsmouth Business School (PBS) staff and students combined brainpower to win The Brain Game – a quiz to pit local business brains against each other and raise money for St John Ambulance.

The quiz, held at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, was hosted by comedienne and Celebrity Mastermind Champion, Lucy Porter. There were eight teams of ten competing for the Brain Game trophy with rounds including questions on news, current affairs and entertainment.

Dean of PBS, Professor Gioia Pescetto, said: ‘Corporate hospitality events like The Brain Game are an ideal way for businesses to gain direct access to a dynamic corporate audience. We were delighted to sponsor the event to support the work of St John Ambulance and thrilled to win.

Young photographer hosts successful exhibitionA University photography student with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy hosted his first exhibition of work, Modern Vanitas, inspired by his condition. Tyran Hawthorn was diagnosed with the debilitating muscle-wasting condition when he was a child. In his work, he uses rotten fruit to capture experimental photographic images to illustrate his mixed emotions of anger about his condition.

The second-year BA (Hons) Photography student hopes the exhibition will raise awareness about the condition and raise money for the charity Action Duchenne, which supports sufferers and their families. Tyran’s ambition is to become commercially successful and develop his photography for album covers for some of his favourite heavy metal music. Tyran, who is wheelchair-bound and can move just two fingers on one hand, was helped by his friend and carer, Tim Connell, who arranged the objects under Tyran’s direction. Tyran then photographed the displays using a remote device to operate the camera’s shutter.

On the opening night the exhibition attracted visitors including the city’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Cheryl Buggy and husband Tim Tremlett, the President of the Hampshire Cricket League, and members of the public, staff and students.

The exhibition was also attended by the University’s Professor of Molecular Medicine, Darek Gorecki, who has spent years

researching Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the most common inherited muscle disorder and for which there is yet no cure. The condition affects one male child in every 3,500 births and about 100 boys are born with the disease in the UK each year.

Communicator | Winter 2011

Tim Connell and Tyran Hawthorn

Winter 2011 | Communicator

Winter 2011 | Communicator

12 13RKTS round up RKTS round up

A simulation of cosmic superstrings. Credit: Neil Bevis

University major partner in a €7.5million neuroscience project

Researchers in the Faculty of Science led by Professor Darek Gorecki are part of a European team awarded €7.5 million to build a collaborative network of neuro-scientists.

The Portsmouth team will be key players in a project designed to promote scientific exchange and understanding. The grant will facilitate collaborations between research partners to share knowledge, facilities and skills, and develop collaborative initiatives. It will lead to improved research opportunities and an enhanced learning environment for students, researchers and clinicians.

University key player in local economic growth conference

The University participated in the region’s Collaborate 2 Innovate conference in November, a joint initiative with Solent Synergy, the University of Southampton and law and accountancy firms Paris Smith and BDO.

Using real-world case studies, more than 400 businesses in the region saw that, through collaboration, organisations can increase their activity and profitability.

Professor David Brown, from the Institute of Industrial Research, and Luke Axel-Berg, from Stork Food and Dairy Systems Ltd, presented a

collaborative project to develop fault-predictive maintenance technology with artificial intelligence to maximise productivity as an example of best practice and the benefits of engaging with a university when analysing business needs.

If you would like to engage with local companies or look at how companies can help enhance the University’s curriculum, email purpledoor@port.ac.uk.

ESRC-funded seminar series at SHSSW

The Global Health and Social Care Unit in the School of Health Sciences and Social Work has received funding from the Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) to organise three seminars on post-transitional fertility in developing countries.

The first seminar in the series, coordinated by Dr Saseendran Pallikadavath, discussed causes and consequences of below replacement level fertility in developing countries.

Researcher wins plauditsDr Helen Vincent, a Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences, had her first post-doctoral paper selected as ‘paper of the week’ by the prestigious Journal of Biological Chemistry.

She and colleagues at the University of Cambridge discovered a previously unknown mechanism of gene regulation in bacteria, linking the metabolic status of the cell to the action of the enzymes responsible for controlling gene levels.

ICG Dark Energy Survey conference

The Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) hosted a collaboration meeting for the Dark Energy Survey (DES) attended by more than 120 astronomers from the 23

DES member institutes around the world.

The Dark Energy Survey is designed to uncover the nature of the mysterious ‘dark energy’ which gives rise to a repulsive gravitational force causing the expansion rate of the universe to accelerate.

The collaboration is building a new optical instrument and large digital camera on the Blanco four-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in the Chilean Andes. ICG has played a key role in the development of the survey, helping to buy the glass for the new lenses.

National award for doctoral dissertationDr Heather Lunt, from the Department of Sport and Exercise Science, won the Professor Tom Reilly Doctoral Dissertation of the Year award for her thesis on repeated cold water immersion and its effect on body performance at altitude.

The award winner is selected by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), the professional body for sport and exercise sciences in the UK.

Flying dinosaur fossil identified by Portsmouth expert

A small fossil fragment has been identified as being part of the world’s largest toothed pterosaur – a flying reptile that lived alongside dinosaurs.

Dr David Martill from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences examined the fossil at the Natural History Museum in London with a University of Leicester fellow paleontologist. Their study of the tip of a pterosaur snout that had been in the museum collections since 1884 showed it belonged to a huge individual with a wingspan that might have reached seven metres.

Scientist discovers key to race success

Dr Jo Corbett from the Department of Sport and Exercise Science has found how exhausted athletes push themselves at the last second to try to win races. The winning burst is due to the brain tapping into the body’s ‘anaerobic energy stores’ – produced by lactic acid fermentation when the muscles have no access to oxygen. His research shows that even when athletes reach physical fatigue they can improve performance by 1.7 per cent.

It will look back in time

The Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) is celebrating approval of a major new space mission that could shed light on the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. The Euclid satellite will launch one of the largest optical digital cameras into space by 2020 to take pictures more than 100 times larger than the Hubble space telescope.

ICG scientists are part of a European-wide team including nine UK institutions involved in Euclid that will be analysing data from the satellite. Professor Bob Nichol said that astronomers and physicists believe Euclid will revolutionise our knowledge of the universe.

Dinosaur series advised by Portsmouth expert Dr Mark Witton, from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SEES), was a special adviser to BBC1’s Planet Dinosaur series. He contributed to the series by providing his own drawings and images of flying prehistoric creatures known as pterosaurs to help the BBC’s design team produce the most accurate pictures possible. He advised the team on the appearance, habits and movement of pterosaurs and suggested possible scenarios in which they might appear.

Teenage girls given advice from bra experts Teenage girls were advised on choosing the right bra in a pioneering scheme designed to prevent health problems in later life. Experts from the Department of Sport and Exercise Science, led by Dr Joanna Scurr, visited secondary schools in September to talk to girls about the importance of good support. The girls were taught how to measure themselves and why the right bra is important, especially when exercising.

Plants could pave way for cancer treatment

Tropical plants could contain the ingredients to treat ovarian cancer, according to researchers from the Universities of Portsmouth and Strathclyde. The scientists have developed a programme for testing plant extracts for their ability to stop cells from ovarian tumours growing. In initial tests, several plant extracts killed the tumour samples taken from cancer patients.

Ian Cree, Professor of histopathology, pharmacy and biomedical sciences at the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Science, said: ‘This is a first – no one has managed to use cells obtained directly from cancers to screen an entire library of plant extracts and we are very excited by the results obtained.’

Research will benefit firms country-wide

Portsmouth Business School has beaten stiff competition from 14 different countries to win a research grant from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, enabling the school to undertake research on management performance.

The findings should help small and medium-sized businesses in the UK

improve management performance and communications with both customers and suppliers. The research will be carried out by Professor Lisa Jack and Drs Juan Manuel Ramón Jerónimo and Raquel Flórez-López from the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville, Spain.

Professor David Brown

Professor Bob Nichol

Dr Jo Corbett with a race participant in front of the virtual race course.

Dr Witton's depiction of a giant peterosaur known as an Azhdardid.

Communicator | Winter 2011

Professor Lisa Jack

1514 Staff development update Last word

To add to the turbulence in higher education, UCAS is consulting on major changes to the system through which students apply to universities. UCAS has put forward a two- stage change. The first is for 2014 entry, and the second is a much more radical suggestion that could not happen before 2016, and maybe not for a couple of years after that.

There are some obvious criticisms of UCAS system, which has grown more complicated over the years. It is clear that well-advised students are better able to cope with the system than those with less support. Some students wish they had applied to ‘better’ universities if their A-level grades exceed their expectations, but find that those universities are full when they try to upgrade. Clearing is a lottery, depending on who gets through first on the telephone, and does not give applicants a chance to make well-considered choices. The 2014 proposals are designed to help with these issues.

The much more radical possibility follows from the view of some in government, schools and indeed the general public that the system is slow, and students have to choose too early. The consultation proposes a system in which students would not choose where to apply until they have their exam results. The whole system would operate in the interval between the publication of results and the start of the university term. There is not enough time for this to happen on present timescales, and the UCAS consultation asks about ways to give the process more time: earlier exams, faster marking and a later start to our first term.

If the timescales can be achieved, the proposal at present is that potential students will apply to two universities. If neither accepts the student, they will enter a reorganised Clearing system. This might cause problems for students because some universities are heavily oversubscribed and do not take all applicants, even if they have the highest entry grades. So students – even with three grade As – might not get into either of their chosen universities, and be left with whatever places are left in Clearing.

As I write this, the consultation is just a week old, and I have heard little discussion of it. However, it is not clear to me that a more rapid system helps those who have less good advice and guidance. It might well be true that middle-class families will be best placed whatever the system, but a compressed process might be even more biased in their favour.

These possible objections are not a reason to say that the present system is the best possible, even as modified in 2014. However, I worry that the debate will become an argument between schools and universities over who gives way on the timing of exams and term dates, rather than an evaluation of the best ways of reforming the system for the benefit of students.

You can find the consultation at www.ucas.com/reviews/admissionsprocessreview. Let me know what you think.

John Craven

How to admit students

Last Word

Staff profile: Charles Joly Energy and Environmental Assistant

What brings you to Portsmouth?After living in Scotland for three years, I was keen to relocate to the south coast to enjoy more forgiving weather. I previously worked as an environmental consultant advising companies from a range of industry sectors, but working here gives me a more comprehensive approach to managing environmental impacts.

What does your role involve?I work with Ian McCormack, Energy and Environmental Manager, and our priorities are energy and waste. We are implementing various energy efficiency projects to reduce our carbon footprint by 30 per cent by 2015. We are also improving our recycling rate and making sure our waste is disposed of in accordance with legislation. We are working towards ISO14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management, which involves auditing our environmental impact and introducing better control measures.

What interests you most about the role?Seeing change in action is very motivating. Working on a project and seeing it happening on the ground is great – for example, the new battery recycling buckets are now being used widely.

What do you hope to achieve?I would like to change the way staff and students think about their interaction with the environment – to consider where and how things are manufactured or what happens to things we throw away. Every decision we make has an impact, be it recycling waste or being more conscious about energy use. As an educational institution, we have a responsibility to lead by example.

What keeps you busy outside of the University?I try to stop myself auditing when out and about, but sometimes it is hard not to notice a shop with lighting on constantly. I am convinced environmental issues will become core to businesses’ decision making, just as health and safety is now. At home I spend most of my time in the kitchen, and I love making my own bread.

Support Staff conference September 2011Fit for the Future: Creative ways of working in changing economic times

‘...an uplifting and inspiring experience…’ is how one member of staff described the day, while another stated that the conference underscored their belief that the University ‘... is an employer of choice and an excellent place to work.’

So did you attend the Support Staff conference and did you walk away from the day feeling inspired by ‘so much passion and enthusiasm about Portsmouth’?

If you didn’t attend, don’t you wish you had?

To see what you missed visit www.port.ac.uk/staffconference where you will find the programme, session materials and a video with the highlights of the day.

We want to hear from you about any future events at the University:• what topics would you like the University to consider? • are there any opportunities for development and knowledge-sharing that the University could benefit from?

If you have any suggestions or would like to be involved in future events, email staffconference@port.ac.uk.

Top ten tips Improve your time managementWe can't change the number of hours there are in a day but we can influence how we manage our time. These top ten tips give you practical advice for getting the most out of the hours you spend at work.

1. Analyse how you spend your time.2. Make time for planning your work.3. Be organised.4. Keep a to-do list.5. Prioritise.6. Understand your work habits.7. Set timescales for all your tasks.8. Delegate what you can.9. Be selective about the meetings you

attend.10. Keep interruptions to a minimum.

You can find more support, including suggestions on how to implement these tips at www.port.ac.uk/msd.

Champions receive green qualificationFifteen University Green Champions were awarded the Environmental Principles and Best Practice qualification by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. The qualification is part of the Champions’ training in raising awareness of green issues to members of staff.

Green Champions work to encourage their colleagues to be more energy efficient, recycle, and reduce the University’s impact on the environment. Your Green Champion is the first point of contact for any environmental queries you have.

Find out who is your Green Champion at www.port.ac.uk/greenportsmouth. If your building is not covered, why not become a Green Champion? For more information, email greenportsmouth@port.ac.uk.

Managing the University’s environmental impactAs a large and diverse organisation, the University’s activities impact on our local and global environment. We are currently working towards ISO14001 certification, which will result in a more systematic and thorough approach to improving our environmental performance.

The University has been recognised with a first class award in the UK Universities Green League, and we will build on this success to bring sustainable practice in all aspects of our activities. This depends on all staff and students contributing to making positive changes to reach our objectives: consume less energy, be more resource efficient, and deal with waste responsibly.

You can find the University’s Environmental Policy and more information on what you can do to help reduce our environmental impact at www.port.ac.uk./greenportsmouth.

A stress-free ChristmasOccupational Health has

advice and guidance on many subjects, such as tips for a

stress-free Christmas, on their website at

www.port.ac.uk/ohs.

Communicator | Winter 2011 Winter 2011 | Communicator

Die FleDermaus

University of Portsmouth Dramatic & Musical Society presents

by Johann Strauss adapted English version by Ian Gledhill

Producer: Nathalie GunnMusical Director: Colin Jagger

1st–3rd March, 2012King’s Theatre, Southsea

Box Office: 023 9282 8282www.kings-southsea.com