About the W100 Survey

This survey is coordinated by The World 100 Reputation Network, a group of leading global universities, of which Queen's University is a member. The survey is managed by Times Higher Education, who ensure that all responses remain anonymous and confidential in accordance with the UK’s Market Research Society Code of Conduct. If you have any questions about the research, please email: research@theworld100.com.

• View this project’s privacy policy here.

Please contact the tax team with any queries at tax@qub.ac.uk.

What the chatbot can do 

• Quickly search the People and Culture website and SharePoint for HR information and resources.
• Retrieve specific information from key documents and resources.
• Answer frequently asked HR questions, covering topics such as leave, benefits, and other staff-related matters.

How to get the best results

To help the chatbot understand your query more accurately:

• Be clear and specific with your questions (e.g “How do I find guidance on annual leave?”). 
• Rephrase your question if the chatbot doesn’t understand. 
• Type ‘start over’ to begin a new conversation if the chatbot cannot understand your query.

Further information and resources

• Please be reassured that your interactions with the chatbot are private and secure.
• Staff are encouraged not to provide personal information.
• Staff can continue to email hrhub@qub.ac.uk for any HR-related queries. Additionally, the chatbot enables staff to raise a support ticket, which will be logged automatically with People Services, who will respond to you directly.
• For further guidance and support on using the chatbot safely and securely, please refer to the University’s wider guidance. 

This engaging event will spotlight the University’s leadership in sustainability and look ahead to global conversations at COP30. Attendees can expect thought-provoking discussion from expert panelists, student perspectives, and insights on how we can continue to drive positive change across Queen’s and beyond.

Award Categories

Staff and students can nominate individuals and teams, including for our new Queen’s 180 Award, which recognises those whose work reflects Queen’s long-standing civic mission and has made a lasting contribution to society through education, research, innovation, or community engagement.

• Celebrating Innovation 
• Best Collaboration 
• Delivering Excellence 
• Outstanding Leadership 
• Exceptional Contribution 
• Student Choice Award
• Queen’s 180 Award

Award entries should highlight work carried out between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025, with the exception of the Queen's 180 Award and Exceptional Contribution Award, which recognise achievements over a longer time period.  

• Further details on each award category and submit a nomination.

More information

The successful applicant will work alongside the current Co-Chair and be supported by the committee. The term is one year, with the option to extend.

What the role involves

• Co-lead the committee, set priorities, and coordinate a small number of activities/events across the year.
• Contribute to strategic planning and policy development on race equality.
• Lead/support cultural and community-building activities and social activities for BAME and international staff.
• Represent iRise at key University forums and align our work with the Race Equality Charter and Athena SWAN commitments.

Time and recognition

The commitment is meaningful but manageable. Please speak with your Head of School/line manager so your contribution is recognised in your workload.

Queen’s recognises that some colleagues may need to travel for research. To support sustainable practices, Queen’s has launched the Sustainable Research Hub, offering tailored resources to help researchers align their work with the UKRI Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation. The hub includes support for funding applications, information on sustainable lab programmes (LEAF and Green DiSC), and advice on sustainable travel for fieldwork and conferences.

This year’s Black History Month events at Queen's offer an engaging and insightful journey through Black history and culture, and reflect the outstanding work and contributions of our African Scholars Research Network, African Caribbean Student Society, Africa and Africans at Queen's Network, iRISE, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team and the Students’ Union.

* Professor Eric Morier-Genoud on his curated display:

A procession led by Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice-Chancellor, will leave the Black and White Hall and proceed to the War Memorial where two minutes silence will be observed to commemorate all those who lost their lives in war-time. Representatives from a number of University organisations will lay wreaths at the War Memorial, before the procession is led back to the Black and White Hall.

Refreshments will be served after the event in the Whitla Hall for all those attending.

Staff are also reminded of the resources available on the ​Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Team intranet for the new processes, including the Academic Offences Presentation and School templates.

For further queries, or if you have any issues accessing the form, please contact ced@qub.ac.uk / 028 9097 5845.

* There is also an option for staff or students to make a report on behalf of another student and anonymous reports can be made too.

• Find out more on the Report + Support website.
• Advice and Guidance for staff on supporting disclosures and support helpline are available from the Safe and Healthy Relationships website.

Each week teams will mix and rotate, so you will get the chance to play with new teammates and enjoy some relaxed, good-spirited football. There's no need to have a team – simply sign up as an individual and turn up ready to play.

Contact activecampus@qub.ac.uk with any queries, or for more information.

* Signposting includes capacity in the Graduate School silent study space.

For PGRs there is a new ‘Meetings’ tile. This feature gives students a clear view of their formal meetings – both initiated and submitted – helping them stay on track with required meetings throughout their academic journey. This visual prompt acts as a reminder and a tool to support timely progress and engagement.

Support and information:

• New Student AI Guide: Learn with AI.
• AI Case Studies of Queen's staff.
• AI self-help guide: AI on assessment.
• AI self-help guides: Saving time.
• AI student support page.
• Explore the AI Hub.

• Subscribe here.

This newsletter includes the latest R&E information on:

• Research Quality
• Impact and Engagement
• Funding
• Enterprise and Innovation
• Knowledge Transfer Partnership
• Awards and honours
• Training and Development
• Research to Reality

• Green Fund

  Staff and students can receive up to £2,000 to empower them to create and deliver projects within a chosen area that benefits the environment. 

  Queen's Sustainability Team is looking for innovative and original projects that promote environmental awareness amongst staff and students, impacting the wider Queen’s community.

  As part of our Strategy 2030 commitment to embracing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we are encouraging Green Fund applicants to incorporate the SDGs into their projects.

• RiSC+ Flexible Fund (Strand 2: Stakeholder Fund)

  This fund offers up to £15,000 to support short, collaborative projects focused on building a more resilient UK critical minerals supply chain. It is ideal for those working across industry, policy, civil society or the third sector who are keen to strengthen the UK’s position in global critical minerals. Projects should aim to address real-world supply chain challenges, foster innovation, and create meaningful partnerships.

  This is a fantastic opportunity for colleagues to engage with an interdisciplinary community, explore new collaborations, and generate impact-focused projects. Please share this opportunity with colleagues and across your wider networks.

  About ReImagining Supply Chains (RiSC+) Network Plus

  The ReImagining Supply Chains (RiSC+) Network Plus is led by Queen’s University Belfast and brings together academic, industry, and government partners to rethink how supply chains can become more sustainable, secure, and socially responsible.

  • Follow the network on LinkedIn at @RiSC+ Network
  • Contact the team at riscplus@qub.ac.uk
• Research and Innovation Conference Fund

  This Fund continues to support colleagues to present their research at high-profile international conferences.

  This year a number of changes have been introduced. All colleagues considering an application are encouraged to read the updated guidance and application form carefully before applying.

To contribute an article to Queen's Policy Engagement, please email Kevin at qpol@qub.ac.uk.

• A Protestant candidate has added a twist to Ireland's presidential race, by Dr Peter John McLoughlin
• Hamas at a crossroads as the Gaza ceasefire deal comes into force, by Dale Pankhurst
• How to discover a planet, by Professor Christopher Watson (QUB) and Dr Annelies Mortier (University of Birmingham)

• Staff members progress in the 2025 Academic Progression exercise
• Queen’s Professor named Fellow of the American Physical Society

Tea and coffee will be provided.

If you are not able to make it to one of the sessions and would like to arrange a separate time to speak with the team, please email internalcommunications@qub.ac.uk to arrange.

If you would like to submit a question in advance please include it in your registration, otherwise, you will be given an opportunity to submit questions throughout the event.

* Please note the Zoom link will be present on your confirmation email and ticket – this will be circulated again the day before the event.

This event is organised in association with the School of Mathematics and Physics and Business Engagement at Queen’s University Belfast.

• John Stewart Bell - The man who proved Einstein wrong

  Bell, John Stewart (1928–90), physicist, was born 28 July 1928 in Belfast, second child among one daughter and three sons of John Bell and Annie Bell (née Brownlee) of Tate's Avenue, Belfast. Both families were of Scottish protestant extraction. Although his father had left school at 12, his mother saw education as a route to a fulfilling life and encouraged her children. However, means were limited and only John was able to stay at school over 14 years of age. He was educated at Old Ulsterville elementary school and Fane St. secondary school before attending the Belfast Technical College, where an academic curriculum, combined with practical courses, provided a sound basis for his future interests in practical and fundamental aspects of science. His interest in books and science from an early age earned him the nickname ‘the prof.’ at home. At the age of 16 (1944) he began working as a junior laboratory assistant in the physics department of QUB under its professors Karl Emelaus and Robert Sloane. Recognising his ability, they encouraged him to attend first-year lectures. The following year, with money saved from his job and some extra support, he enrolled for a degree course. A scholarship was later awarded and he graduated with a first-class degree in experimental physics (1948), staying on to achieve a second degree in mathematical physics (1949). He was particularly interested in quantum mechanics, and encouraged by the crystallographer Paul Peter Ewald (qv), who taught him in his last year at QUB, he applied for a position at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, near Oxford (1949). There he worked under Klaus Fuchs (later arrested for espionage, 1950) on reactor physics before moving to Malvern to work on accelerator design. Here he met Mary Ross, a member of the design group, and they began a collaboration that lasted his lifetime, marrying in 1954.

  He published around eighty papers in high-energy physics and quantum field theory. In 1964 he published his greatest contribution to quantum theory, ‘On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox’ (Physics, 1, 195–200), what he called his ‘non-locality theory’, which showed the potential for detecting instantaneous communication between sub-atomic particles that are far apart. This deviates from Einstein's relativity theory, where nothing travels faster than the speed of light. Although his paper was at first ignored, it was taken on board by the physics community. Henry Stapp of the Lawrence National Berkeley Laboratory, California, called his result ‘the most profound discovery of science’ (H. Stapp, ‘Are superluminal connections necessary?’, Nuova Cimento (1977), xl B, 191–205). Another of Bell's papers discredited an earlier ‘proof’ by von Neumann of the impossibility of adding hidden variables to the theory of quantum mechanics.

  Unassuming and modest about his own work, he is remembered for his intellectual precision, integrity, and generosity, as well as a keen Ulster sense of humour. An incisive critic, he could be irritated by those less rigorous in their views of quantum physics than himself. He was a frequent visitor to Belfast, where his family remained. His younger brother David, after studying at night, qualified as an electrical engineer and became a professor at Lambton College, Canada, where he wrote several textbooks.

  
  Sources:

  • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-29904682 
  • https://alumni.qub.ac.uk/john-stewart-bell- 
  • https://heritage.humanists.uk/john-stewart-bell/ 

About the Speaker

Dr Ourania Varsou is a medically-qualified Senior Lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Glasgow, where she leads curriculum innovation across bioscience, medical and dental programmes. She is the POCUS and Anatomy Director at Ballater Medical and serves as the MVLS College Ethics Committee Vice Chair at her home institution. She also holds leadership roles within the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland as Exchange Grant Challenge Lead and Advisory Group Chair. Her research focuses on ultrasound imaging, humanities in healthcare/biosciences and generative AI in higher education. A strong advocate for inclusive, creative and active pedagogies, Dr Varsou promotes interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teaching approaches across sectors.

The live FameLab NI Final will be on Tuesday 17 February. The regional winner from Northern Ireland will then go on to compete at a FameLab UK Final, hosted live at Cheltenham Science Festival

The Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Faculty Engagement team is the NI National Hub for FameLab UK, also supporting the NI Science Festival.

More information

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of research and knowledge about humans and society. It is a key element of ESRC’s commitment to share UK social science research with new audiences.

This year the festival is being held from 18 October to 8 November 2025 and features hundreds of free events across the UK for both children and adults, run by 41 universities and research institutes. Events are on a huge range of topics, including health and wellbeing, the environment, crime and justice, and equality.

This event is framed by the Northern Ireland Climate Action Plan and wider statutory obligations under the Climate Change Act (NI) 2022, which requires all departments to deliver on carbon budgets, adaptation planning, and just transition commitments.

The annual Call for Ideas is intended to give people a role in programming the festival, from suggesting speakers to directly creating and delivering events. Not every proposal can be successful, but all will be seriously considered.

• Conference: 40 Years On: Reflecting on the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Tuesday 11 November, 9.30am to 4.30pm, Riddel Hall
• Research Workshop: International Legal Institutions and the 'Temporal Turn': Exploring Institutional Time, Tuesday 18 November, 12.00pm to 1.30pm, Fellows Room, Mitchell Institute, 18 University Square
• In Conversation event: Race and the Question of Palestine, Dr Lana Tatour in conversation with Professor Marsha Henry, Dr Alice Panepinto and Dr John Reynolds, Monday 24 November, 5.00pm to 6.30pm, Moot Court, School of Law
• Symposium: Understanding Gendered Violence in Irish Language Studies, Tuesday 25 November, 9.00am to 3.30pm, An Chultúrlann Arts Centre, 216 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 6AH

Beyond events, the Society advocates for postdocs by maintaining strong connections with the Postdoctoral Development Centre (PDC) and other key university bodies and looks forward to welcoming new members this academic year.

New Postdoc Induction: Find out how you can make the best of your time at Queen’s and hear about the support available to postdocs in the University.

Career Exploration Interview: At this session Dr Julia Miskelly, Global Account Lead at Illumina, will reflect on her career to date and share insights into the opportunities and challenges she has encountered along the way.

Decision Making – Career Choices: This workshop will provide you with the tools and knowledge required to make confident and informed career choices.

Postdoc Parents Network event: This relaxed, informal Play Awareness session aims to provide parents with the skills, knowledge and confidence to engage in meaningful play with their children and to understand the many benefits of play in relation to their development. They will also gain practical ideas which they can incorporate into their homes to enhance opportunities for play.

Supervising Skills for Assistant Supervisors and Postdocs: This workshop will prepare you for the supervising role and enable you to have a positive experience and supervision relationship with your students.

• Too Much: Melodrama on Film
• Princess Mononoke
• After the Credits: Film Discussion Group
• It Used to be Witches: Under the Spell of Queer Cinema + Appropriate Behaviour
• Depeche Mode: M
• Hundreds of Beavers: Revenge of the Beavers Tour + Q&A
• NT Live: Mrs Warren's Profession
• Belfast Film Festival
• Bugonia
• QFT Late: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Staff tickets are priced at £8.50. Staff and students aged 26 and under can join LUMI to get tickets for £6.00 every day, all year round.

The first part of this session will outline the application process, and the second part will provide in-depth examples and guidance to support potential applicants.

About the NTFS and CATE awards

The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) recognises, rewards and celebrates individuals working in UK higher education who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession. In 2025, the University can nominate up to three individual members of staff who teach and/or support learning in higher education for the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme. The NTFS 2026 Guidance document provides details about the Scheme and the criteria.

The Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence scheme recognises and celebrates collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning. The Scheme highlights the key role that teamwork plays in higher education. Each award will recognise a team which has enabled a change in practice for colleagues and/or students at an institutional or discipline level. The University can nominate one Team that can clearly demonstrate impact on teaching and learning through collaboration. The CATE 2026 Guidance provides details about the Scheme and the criteria.

More information

Further information on the NTFS/CATE schemes and the Online Briefing Session, as well as details of how to apply to go forward as a Queen’s nominee is on the Centre for Educational Development website. Queries can be directed o.hamill@qub.ac.uk.

• One-to-One Consultations: Staff can book a 30-minute virtual session with a Digital Learning Developer from your Faculty, School or VLE Pedagogy Support Team (subject to availability).

Please feel free to contact the University Safety Service at safety@qub.ac.uk or 028 9097 4613 should you have any queries or training requirements.