Read the Vice-Chancellor's Update for October 2021. 

This update includes reflections on the installation of our new Chancellor and an update on institutional progress in our Research and Innovation portfolio.

Feedback on the update is welcome and can be sent to vc.office@qub.ac.uk.

Contribution Rate Increase from 1 October 2021

The USS Trustee has confirmed that the USS member contribution rate will increase by 0.2% from 1 October 2021. The contribution rate will increase from 9.6% to 9.8% of pensionable salary. The University contribution will increase by 0.3%, from 21.1% to 21.4% of pensionable salary. This increase will happen automatically, members do not need to do anything.

Please note that the 9.8% member contribution rate replaces the 11% rate that was scheduled to apply from 1 October 2021 under the 2018 Valuation.

Member Consultation

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Queen's Sport's weekly Campus Run returns on Wednesday 20 October from 1.00pm to 2.00pm, starting at the front of the PEC building. Walk, jog or run the route while socialising with colleagues and students.

All staff and students are welcome. Contact activecampus@qub.ac.uk for more information.

At Queen’s, we are working with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Public Health Agency to support and encourage students, staff and the wider public to get vaccinated against Covid-19. To make this as easy as possible, we have arranged an on campus walk-in vaccination centre for anyone who is not yet fully vaccinated. 

 

Upcoming clinics:

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All staff and students are encouraged to avail of the University’s free asymptomatic testing facility or at home test kits before coming on to campus for any reason and then arrange regular testing twice a week or as often as possible for as long as you are on campus.

This testing is only for students and staff without COVID-19 symptoms (asymptomatic) - to help confirm that you do not have COVID-19.

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Any member of staff or student who is either self-isolating, has developed symptoms or has received a positive test is asked to please inform the University via our dedicated online portal.

StopCOVID NI app

Please download the STOPCovid NI contact tracing app: Google Play Store; Apple App Store.

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The University continues to closely monitor the situation in relation to COVID-19 and to align our approach with guidance from the NI Executive, Public Health Agency and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Please continue to review our FAQs for staff and students and the Public Health Agency website. 

Useful contacts

If the information you are looking for is not addressed in the University's Coronavirus (COVID-19) FAQs, there are a range of contact points for staff and students:

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The University is currently advertising for the following positions internally:

• 21/109280 – Manager, Evolve Clinical Trials, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences
• 21/109278 – Research Assistant, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences
• 21/109262 – Senior IT Technician, Centre for Public Health
• 21/109285 – Research Governance, Ethics and Integrity Manager, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
• 21/109281 – Procurement Advisor (Grade 5), Finance

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The 2021 Staff Excellence Awards are open for nominations.

Open to all staff, awards are available in six categories based on our Core Values, ICARE:

• Delivering Excellence 
• Community Impact
• Innovation
• Outstanding Leadership 
• Team of the Year 
• Lifetime Achievement

Any member of staff can submit a nomination online up until the closing date of Friday 5 November 2021 at 5.00pm. Award entries should relate to work undertaken in the period between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021.

Further information on the Awards, including how to nominate, is available on the Staff Excellence Awards website: http://go.qub.ac.uk/excellenceawards. 

October is Black History Month and the University is celebrating African and Caribbean culture with a programme of events hosted by the Queen's University African and Caribbean Society.

Upcoming events include:

• African History Seminar
• How to be an ally workshop
• BAME round table talk 
• Looking Back Thinking Black showing 

Queen's University signed up to the Advance HE Race Equality Charter (REC) in 2020. The REC aims to improve the representation, progression and success of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students.

The REC team held two focus groups on language and terminology earlier this year where colleagues, in particular those who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, as well as staff with an interest or expertise in racial equity, were invited to share their views on preferred terminology in relation to race and ethnicity.

Staff who have not yet had the opportunity to participate are invited to the third staff focus group, taking place on Thursday 4 November from 2.00pm to 3.30pm in the Great Hall.

More information | Register.

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The BAME & International Staff Network invites all staff to the upcoming lecture talk, 'BME Experiences in Higher Education: Social justice, Inclusion and White Privilege', hosted on Wednesday 10 November between 1.00pm and 2.00pm via MS Teams.

The Guest Speaker is Professor Kalwant Bhopal (University of Birmingham).

More information / Register.

PRISM will host an in-person Meet and Greet on Thursday 21 October from 11.00am to 12.00pm in Queen's quadrangle, cloisters and Great Hall.

This informal coffee morning is a great way to find out more about the network and its role within the University, providing an opportunity to meet current LGBT+ staff members and allies. Tea, coffee, traybakes and free PRISM merchandise (including t-shirts, face coverings, and rainbow lanyards) will be available.

This event is free to attend and all are welcome!

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'Research Careers: Learning from Setbacks on the Road to Success' is an online event facilitating open and honest conversations about the challenges faced by researchers building careers in academia, industry and other sectors.

This event will take place on Thursday 11 November from 11.30am to 1.30pm and is open to everyone in the research community – staff or student, academic or non-academic. It will be of particular interest to early career researchers, their managers and supervisors, and those who support them.

More information | Register.

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The Communications Team are keen to promote research findings with a strong news angle in the media. If you have an upcoming research paper to be published that has the potential for news coverage, please complete a publicity request proforma to provide more detail about your story and email to:

• MHLS: comms.officer@qub.ac.uk (Suzanne Lagan / Michelle Cassidy)
• AHSS: s.devlin@qub.ac.uk (Sian Devlin)
• EPS: emma.gallagher@qub.ac.uk (Emma Gallagher)

The relevant Communications Officer will be in touch to discuss next steps.

Find out more about how the Communications Office can promote your work.

For internal communications advice and support, please contact: internalcommunications@qub.ac.uk.

The first week of November is International Stress Awareness Week. To mark this, Staff Wellbeing have partnered with Inspire to deliver a session on stress management, taking place on Thursday 4 November from 11.00am to 12.00pm via Zoom.

This webinar equips participants with an understanding of the causes of stress and how it can be managed effectively. Participants will become knowledgeable about the nature of stress, its management and prevention and how to recognise stress in yourself. The webinar will define work stress and how it differs from work pressure and assist participants in developing preventative skills in managing stress.

Register here. The link to join the session will be circulated on Tuesday 2 November.

On Thursday 11 November from 11.00am to 12.00pm Parenting NI will provide an online support session for mothers.

It can be challenging for working mums to achieve a balance. This session explores some of the common issues that working mums face including support and advice on how to how to balance the current pressures that we are facing during the pandemic.

Register here.

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It can be challenging for dads to access support and lead a healthy lifestyle. On Thursday 18 November from 11.00am to 12.00pm Parenting NI will provide dads with tips and hints.

This online session explores the importance of looking after yourself as a busy working dad and how fathers have an important role to play in their children's lives.

Register here.

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Children need help with homework, and so do parents. On Thursday 2 December Parenting NI will provide a session exploring supporting and encouraging children with homework, aiming to help make homework time less stressful for all.

The session will take place from 12.00pm to 1.00pm via Zoom.

Register here. The link for this session will be circulated on Tuesday 30 November.

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Christmas can add extra pressures for parents. On Thursday 9 December Parenting NI will provide tips and hints on how to cope with it.

This online session discusses parent's concerns about Christmas, explores setting expectations and equips parents with the skills to manage family conflict and stress during the holiday period. The session will take place from 11.00am to 12.00pm via Zoom.

Register here. The link will be circulated on Tuesday 7 December 2021

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Queen's Gender Initiative, the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Gender Equality Team and the Diversity and Inclusion Team invite you to attend a virtual Active Bystander Training session (dates and times given below).  

This training aims to empower staff across the Queen's University community to challenge poor behaviours which have become normalised and bring about change through the reinforcement of messages defining the boundaries of unacceptable behaviour. We hope that by working together we can create a safe and supportive working environment within our community and urge everyone to attend.    

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The Diversity and Inclusion Unit are increasingly working to embed a workplace culture at the University that is inclusive of everyone. To continue to support staff awareness and consideration of LGBTQ+ issues, a Trans and Non-Binary Awareness session has been organised for Thursday 21 October at 10.30am in partnership with The Rainbow Project.

More information | Register.

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The Diversity and Inclusion Unit have arranged with The Rainbow Project to deliver a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Awareness session on Tuesday 19 October at 10.00am. 

Book your place on iTrent Self-Service and, if you have already attended one of these sessions, please do let your colleagues know.

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The annual coffee morning held by Eveline Burns in the RVH/Centre for Medical Education, in aid of Cancer Focus NI's The David Whiteside Forget Me Not Fund, is this year being replaced with an online fundraiser.

Staff are invited to make a donation in memory of Eveline's father and everyone who has lost a loved one to cancer.

Donate here.

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Senate, as the Governing Body of “The Queen’s University of Belfast”, carries overall responsibility for the mission, strategic vision, performance and governance of the University. The Queen’s University of Belfast is a registered charity and, as such, members of the governing body are also charity trustees. Senate consists of 23 trustees, the majority of whom are non-executive and are appointed/elected for a period of four years. 

Under the Statutes of the University, Senate is now seeking to appoint a number of new members, to act as charity trustees, to commence in 2022 - these new members will be drawn from the following constituencies:

• Co-opted Lay Members (4 members)
• Academic Staff (2 members)
• Support Staff (2 members)
• Academic Council Members (2 members)

Senate has established a Nominations Committee with responsibility for bringing forward recommendations in relation to the co-opted lay members and this process is now underway. Further information, along with details on how to nominate individuals or to submit an expression of interest for consideration by the Committee, is available via our website.

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The video/podcast series, The Partition of Ireland: Causes and Consequences, is now available in full. In each episode of the series, a leading expert analyses aspects of the origins, nature or legacies of partition, based on their own original research.

The 24 talks feature eight academics from Queen's University alongside contributions from scholars at other universities in the UK, Ireland and the USA.

All of the talks are now available here, as videos or podcasts (with sub-titles available for the latter).

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The Faculty Engagement Hub within the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences promotes and supports a public engagement culture and community of practice across the MHLS disciplines. To that end the Faculty Hub has launched a new Public Engagement website that showcases how we 'show and share' what we do in ways that arouse curiosity, awaken a love of discovery and broaden the understanding of the journey from discovery to recovery.

For more information, or to discuss a FMHLS public engagement idea, please contact Donna at d.rogers@qub.ac.uk. 

The latest from Queen's Policy Engagement (QPol):

• ESRC Festival of Social Science 2021. Register for events here.
• Event: Queen’s Policy Engagement October Post-Brexit Clinic: Thursday 28 October, 12.30pm online. Register here.

To submit an article to QPol, email Kevin at qpol@qub.ac.uk.

The Conversation is a news website featuring articles by academics - often republished to global media outlets. Articles by Queen’s academics published in The Conversation have been read by 12.5 million people internationally. Read the latest:

• Dr Nik Ribianszky: How the experience of Black people freed from slavery set the pattern for African Americans today
• Professor John Nagle (QUB), Dr Tamirace Fakhoury (Aalborg University): Pandora papers: as ordinary Lebanese suffer, elite secretly drain off billions
• Dr Connor Bamford: Here’s what happens when two very different respiratory viruses infect the same cell – new study

Read the latest staff news stories on the Staff Gateway:

• Queen's receives prestigious Green Flag Award
• Visit from Taoiseach Micheál Martin
• Queen's launches new Postdoctoral Development Centre
• In Pictures: Black History Month opening ceremony
• Queen's Celebrates Black History Month 2021

Queen's Staff Blog provides a space for staff to share our reflections, knowledge and experiences and build a connected University community:

• BLOG: John McAleese shares memories of his time working as a plumber at Queen's.

If you are interested in writing a staff blog piece, please contact internalcommunications@qub.ac.uk.

The 2021 John Bell Day Lecture, entitled 'Spooky Action at a Distance', will take place online on Thursday 4 November at 1.30pm. The Guest Speaker is Professor Angelo Bassi, University of Trieste.

Register here.

Staff who would like to submit a question in advance should include it when registering. Otherwise there will be an opportunity to submit questions throughout the event.

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Staff are invited to this year's series of The Wiles Lectures: 'In the History of Civilisation', taking place from Wednesday 27 to Saturday 30 October.

The Guest Lecturer is Professor Chris Wickham (University of Oxford) who will provide four lectures on the topic 'Rethinking the Commercial Revolution of the 11th and 12th-Century Mediterranean'.

Register here.

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Staff are warmly invited to the 20^th Annual Sir Bernard Crossland Lecture, taking place online on Wednesday 20 October, from 6.00pm. 

Now in its 20th year, the Chief Executives' Club at Queen's and Engineers Ireland host this prestigious lecture series, in association with The Institution of Engineering and Technology. 

The 2021 lecture, entitled 'Race for the Seas' - The Race to Decarbonise the Maritime Industry will be given by Dr Iain Percy OBE, Founder and CEO of Artemis Technologies.  

Further information.

 

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A series of multidisciplinary ideation workshops are being planned in the coming months. As a precursor, Research and Enterprise are offering two short (half-day) design thinking introductory workshops aimed at early career researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students from all disciplines. This an opportunity to learn how to think and act like an innovator.

Register here before 12.00pm (noon) on Monday 25 October to enable your personal personality profile to be generated prior to the event.

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The call is now open for applications to the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account to support impact from social science research at Queen's. Funding (up to £20k) is available for impact-related activity, placement opportunities and partnership building.

Applications are welcomed from staff across the University working on social science research. You do not need to have been a previous recipient of ESRC funding in order to be eligible to apply. The deadline is midnight, Monday 29 November 2021.

View available opportunities and application forms.

Information session
There will be an information session on Monday 1 November at 11.00am via Microsoft Teams. To register, or for further information about the scheme, please contact Alice Neeson at a.neeson@qub.ac.uk.

Queen's has an excellent track-record of collaborating with private industry, public sector organisations, and the third sector to successfully deliver impactful, user-informed research. To support the development of these collaborations, the University will again commit a number of studentships (funded via Department for the Economy and EPSRC) commencing in October 2022 for projects across the institution that will involve significant work with a non-academic partner.

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The Lean Programme's team at Queen's invites aspiring academic entrepreneurs, early career researchers (PDRAs/PhDs) working across any discipline at the University to apply to be part of the Belfast Hub Seedbed Incubator online recruitment workshop taking place on 3 to 4 December.

Participants will receive free training to explore how their research or technology can be applied to the agri-food sector, and will hear from leading industry including PepsiCo and Kerry Group why they need your solutions to fix the agri-food system. 

The application deadline is Friday 19 November 2021 at 12.00pm GMT. Successful applicants will be notified week commencing 22 November. For more details contact k.crossey@qub.ac.uk.

Apply to participate in the event.

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Early Career Researchers at Queen's working on a business idea, a product or a service, are welcome to register for the Innovate UK-funded Lean Launch Programme. This is a 10-week online customer discovery programme allowing you to rapidly test whether there is a market for your idea, product or service.

The application deadline is Monday 1 November at 12.00pm.

For more information on dates, or to apply, please visit the Lean Launch Programme website or email kat.maguire@qub.ac.uk with any questions.

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Details of ongoing works being carried out across the University campus can be found on the Estates Directorate webpage.

For information, please follow this link.

 

This week's new and returning films at Queen's Film Theatre, your cinema on campus. Staff ticket price: £5 (standard ticket price £6.95).

If you are 26 and under join LUMI to get tickets for £4 everyday, all year round. 

NEW THIS WEEK:

ARRACHT: This famine-set Irish language drama was Ireland’s entry for Best Foreign Language film at last year’s Oscars.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: Acclaimed director Todd Haynes explores how The Velvet Underground created a new sound that changed the world of music, cementing their place as one of the most influential bands in rock and roll.

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The Naughton Gallery is delighted to launch its new exhibition, SLIP TANK, by Belfast-based sculptor, John Rainey. This is a specially-commissioned exhibition from one of the region's most exciting contemporary artists, and will continue until January 2022.

Opening reception: Thursday 21 October, 5.30pm to 8.00pm. Free admission. All welcome. No booking necessary. NB: The Gallery asks that all visitors comply with COVID-19 regulations in place, including social distancing and the wearing of a face covering.

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Organisational Development have organised a series of QWork demos, taking place every Wednesday from 12.00pm to 1.00pm via MS Teams.

All Hiring Managers and other colleagues involved in the new process are invited to participate. 

These sessions will explain how to search the system to identify and engage individuals to suit your roles, provide information on how to pay staff and demonstrate how QWork can benefit your recruitment needs.

Join the meeting.

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LinkedIn Learning – an extensive online learning resource – is available for all Queen's staff. Sign up here to request your individual access.

LinkedIn Learning top features include:

• Content: 15,000+ digital courses taught by industry experts.
• Curation: Relevant course recommendations in Professional Skills, Creative, Technical, IT Learning and many more.
• Convenience: In-depth and bite-sized courses for learning when and where suits you.
• Develop your skills and career with learning paths and bite-sized videos for learning 'in the moment'.

Contact stafflearning@qub.ac.uk if you have any questions about requesting access.

Need a 1-2-1 Consultation?

Book a 30-minute virtual session with a Digital Learning Developer from your Faculty, School or VLE Pedagogy Support Team. Subject to availability.

Check availability and book a consultant.

Assessment Handbook 2021-22

The Handbook of Assessment Guidance and Support 2020/21 provides advice on all aspects of assessment practice at Queen's for the current academic year.

Thinking of using ePortfolios in your teaching?

Find out more about Digital Portfolios, who and what they can be used for, and ePortfolios in Canvas or One Note for assessment and reflective work.

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A number of the Centre for Educational Development courses for the 2021-22 academic year have been listed on iTrent self-service, and are now open for booking. For up-to-date information please follow us on Twitter @QUB_CED or check the CED website.

• SEDA Mentoring Course: 15 November, 1.00pm to 4.00pm. Register here.
  
  The programme is delivered online initially, taking onto account the current COVID 19 restrictions with two online workshops and 22 weeks of online activities with online support for work-based learning for trainee mentors. Assessment on the programme is against SEDA Values and Outcomes and will make an ideal case study for anyone interested in applying for SFHEA.

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The University and Students' Union have together launched a campaign to raise awareness of unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour on campus.

The campaign encourages students who have experienced or witnessed bullying, harassment, sectarianism, hate crime, or sexual misconduct to report it using the Queen's Report & Support service. It also promotes the fact that there is help and support available.

This campaign runs from 11 to 24 October and aligns with Hate Crime Awareness Week (9 to 16 October).

Staff are encouraged to promote this message to their students.

Find out more.

The University's Student Support and Hardship Funds are available to support students in financial hardship during their studies and we would encourage tutors, advisors of studies and all colleagues in student-facing roles to help signpost students to the funds where appropriate:

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Places are still available on the following online courses. Register via iTrent Self Service.

• Introduction to Microsoft Publisher: Wednesday 20 October, 10.00am to 11.00am
• Introduction to Power BI: Wednesday 20 October, 2.00pm to 3.00pm
• Introduction to Pivot Tables: Thursday 21 October, 9.30am to 10.30am

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When using a teaching space on campus, select the correct audio and camera input in Device Settings. Instructions are available in all rooms. There are two options, (either will work for audio to be sent over Teams and for recording):

1. Audio Devices: Microphone: can be "USB PnP sound device" if there is either lapel mic or desk mic in the room. You will need to turn these mics on to make them work. There is no local audio heard in the room in smaller spaces. If there are no additional microphones in the room you should set the microphone to webcam c930e microphone and stay close to the camera for audio pick up.
2. For audio to be heard in the room select Device Settings: Audio: Speaker: ExtronScalerD(intel® Display Audio).

We recommend you carry out a test recording prior to your session starting, as a previous user may have changed the settings. Should you have any issues please contact Media Services on 028 9097 6499 (8.00am to 5.00pm).

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