ManMetLife Weekly Stories

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Tim Parker — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 10:22:48 +0000

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Boost research funding success with RKE's 'Grants Academy'

Mark Dyer — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 10:31:04 +0000

THE Research and Knowledge Exchange Office is opening up recruitment to the New Year cohorts of the Grants Academy 2016, an intensive training programme that gives attendees an understanding of 'grant craft' and how this can help to maximise their chances of funding success from research councils and other prestigious funders.

The cohorts are scheduled to take place on:

Tuesday, February 2, and Wednesday, February 3; Peer review session on March 15.Tuesday, March 29 and Wednesday, March 30; Peer review session on May 4.

What is the Grants Academy?

The Grants Academy teaches applicants how to craft applications to UK research councils and other prestigious research funding agencies. As well as increasing the likelihood of success, the Academy offers continued support throughout the bid writing process.

Who is the academy for?
Any academic submitting a research proposal will get support from their Research Development Manager including advice on the fit to funder, how best to complete various aspects of the application, budget preparation and so on.

However, there may be staff who require more intensive advice whilst working on a substantial grant application for submission to a major funder.

Participants must have an idea at the appropriate stage of development and must commit to writing and submitting a proposal and attending the mandatory sessions.

Benefits of the Grants Academy
Participants will benefit from dedicated support from an external grant craft expert in parallel with the knowledge and experience of our in-house Research Development team.

How to apply?
Applications to join the New Year cohort are now open. If you are interested in making an application, then the following process applies:

Step 1: Contact your relevant RDM for an informal conversation about your eligibility, the maturity of your idea and the suitability of your proposal to your chosen funder. We want you to get the most out of Grants Academy by focusing on a proposal that works for you and your funder, so this pre-work is very important.Step 2: Once you have found the right funding scheme and your RDM is satisfied that you will benefit from the course, you will be asked to complete a short application form. The form needs to be signed by your departmental head to ensure: a) you are given the time to attend; and b) that we have something in writing demonstrating a commitment to the programme.

Completed and signed applications must be sent to grantsacademy@mmu.ac.uk no later than two weeks before the scheduled cohort. Please specify in the email which cohort you would like to be considered for.

Deadline for February cohort applications: 4pm January 19 2016 Deadline for March cohort applications: 4pm March 15 2016Step 3: You will attend an initial two-day session with trainer Dr Martin Pickard , who will provide an intensive workshop focusing on grant craft. The first day of the session will be held in a venue around the city centre. After the session, you will work closely with your RDM to continue preparing your proposal.Step 4: Four to six weeks after the two-day workshop you will attend a mandatory peer review session to receive feedback on your proposal and find out more about how peer review works in practice.Step 5: You will continue working with your RDM until your application is submitted.

Research Development Managers:

Manchester School of Art – Germaine LoaderFaculty of Business and Law – Gareth CantelloCheshire campus - Germaine Loader and Kelly Lavender-SmithFaculty of Education – Kelly Lavender-Smith and Germaine LoaderHLSS – Germaine LoaderHollings – Justin Smith and Germaine LoaderHPSC – Kelly Lavender-SmithScience and Engineering – Justin Smith, Gareth Cantello and Kelly Lavender-SmithFor European proposals in any Faculty please contact Margaret Eastcott

Introducing the Evernote App

Christine Smith — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 12:22:16 +0000

EVERNOTE is a productivity app that can be used to store anything and everything online. You can upload and access the online information saved from multiple devices. It doesn't matter if it is a laptop, tablet or smartphone - all the content will be synchronised.

You can use it to:

Clip journal articles, webpages etc. for reading laterTag articles, webpages and notes to pull together related ideas and concepts Search for information across multiple documents - including text in pdf's and imagesRecord impromptu interviews with audio notes

Dee Vygas from the Learning Innovation team is running a short 1 hour workshop to get you started with Evernote on Tuesday 9 February between 3-4pm.

By the end of the session, you will have created your free Evernote account and should be able to:
• Create and organise notes using notebooks and tags
• Capture and organise papers, articles and web pages
• Take photos and record audio from within Evernote
• Create and save searches
• Sharing notebooks and notes

To book contact Maddie Hickman: m.hickman@mmu.ac.uk x3623

Transport for Greater Manchester walking event

Lynn Bonser — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 09:50:12 +0000

FIND OUT more about the health benefits of walking and what we are doing to support walking in the workplace.

Come along to our walking event on Tuesday, January 19, from 12pm – 2pm, Ground Floor , Birley.

During the event our travel advisors will be on hand to:

Provide travel advice on walk routes and journey planning Advise on how walking can benefit your health and wellbeing Offer free goodies to those interested in walking

If you feel like burning some calories and getting a feel for the local area, we will be holding a 30 min led walk, leaving the ground floor at 12:30pm.

Find out more at www.tfgm.com/walking.

The Sandwich Shack is back!

Carmen Shallcross — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 13:13:47 +0000

THE SANDWICH Shack has been such a success at John Dalton that it is back this term as well. Opening on Monday, the stall will pop up at Dalton Food.

The stall offers freshly made food to go with a different street food speciality each day. Meatball marinara on Mondays, get creative and build your own burger on Tuesday, go for a British speciality on Wednesdays , it's brisket of beef on Thursdays, or pop in on Friday for a chicken paniette.

Don't miss it!

Let’s talk about sex

Kat Dibbits — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 11:31:32 +0000

THE latest strand of Humanities in Public starts this month… and it’s a subject that matters to everyone.

The innovative public engagement festival will be tackling the topics of sex, sexuality and gender.

Project Manager Helen Darby said: “Sex – be it our gender, sexual orientation, biological make-up, our attraction for somebody else, the act of intercourse or procreation – matters to all of us. Sex is a tremendous source of joy, love, connection, identity and pride, but it can also provoke great shame, stigma, fear, worry and vilification.

“The intention of this HiP strand on sex is to examine just a few of the pressing questions that sex confronts us with, such as: How is our era of increased sexualisation affecting and changing our relationship to our own bodies and to each other? What does parenthood signify? Can our ideas about disease and sexuality inform each other?

“Our events will match a discussion of questions like these with numerous fun activities and popular, accessible events that take a lighter look at sex, gender and sexuality, particularly as examined in performance and representation on stage and screen. We hope that you will be able to join us and allow yourselves to be inspired, thrilled, enthused, educated and – ultimately – satisfied by what we have to offer.”

Events include screenings of films starring the original sex symbol, Valentino, a candid look at sexuality and cancer and a “polyamory day” looking at relationship diversity.

The launch will take place at HOME on January 28 from 5pm to 6pm. Tickets are free and are available online by clicking here.

Full events listing:

SEX Strand Launch, 28th January, 5pm-6pm, HOME. Tickets are FREE and available here.

SEX SYMBOL: Valentino!, screening of The Son of Sheik with talk and live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand, 28th January, 6:20pm-9pm, HOME. Tickets available at homemcr.org

Queer Film Festivals as Activism: an International Symposium, 5th – 6th February, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are £25 and include entry to film screening and Bird la Bird performance. They are available here.

This event includes a screening of Acting Out: 25 years of Queer Film and Community in Hamburg, 5th February, 5:30pm – 7pm. You can book your free ticket for the screening ONLY here.
This event also includes a performance by Bird la Bird, 6th February, 7:30pm – 9pm. You can buy your ticket for the performance ONLY for £5 here.
Sex, Sexuality and Cancer, 8th February, 6pm – 8pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here.

My Name is Gerry Potter, documentary screening, poetry performance and Q&A, 12th February, 6pm – 9pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here.

Polyamory Day, a workshop and information fair on relationship diversity, 21st February, 10am – 6pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are £5 and available here.

Myra Breckenridge, featuring Kate O’Donnell and Cheddar Gorgeous, 26th February, 2pm – 6pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here.

Queer Story Showcase: ‘Let’s talk about sex’, 3rd March, 6pm – 10pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here.

Sex and Stigma, 4th March, 12 midday – 4pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here.

Hot Sex Time Machine: 30 years of sex on screen, 5th March, 10am – 7pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here. Each film is ticketed separately.

Vanilla Shakes?, exploring sexual coupledom and the everyday, 9th March, 6pm – 8pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here.

Being Childfree with Kate Fox, 11 March, 6pm – 9pm, 70 Oxford St. Tickets are FREE and available here.

IT pop-up helpdesks return

Kat Dibbits — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 11:34:28 +0000

DO YOU have a burning IT issue you’ve been meaning to sort out?

Want to know more about our recent Office 365 ProPlus and printer launches?

Would you like some new tips and tricks on all things IT?

Then come along to one of our IT pop-up helpdesks across campus from Monday January 18 to Friday January 22.

IT Services are here for you – let us help you with your IT, hear from us about our IT training workshops on offer and find out more about your IT Services and what they mean for you.

You’ll find us from Monday, January 18 in the following buildings;

Monday – Friday

Business School

Tuesday

Brooks Crewe Manton

Thursday

John Dalton Crewe

Friday

70 Oxford Street

We’d love for you to come and say hello and give us your feedback on ways we can improve your IT.

Keep up-to-date with us throughout the week by following us on Twitter @MMU_IT.

New exhibition explores history of Bollington

Kat Dibbits — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 11:36:22 +0000

A NEW exhibition will explore the history and vernacular of the Cheshire town of Bollington.

Continuity in Architecture and Bollington Arts Centre are pleased to present “Oddments and Epigrams” an exhibition showcasing work undertaken in Bollington by more than 20 postgraduate students at the Manchester School of Architecture.

Continuity in Architecture is a postgraduate atelier, which has been established at the Manchester School of Architecture for more than 20 years. The atelier runs programmes for the design of new buildings and public spaces within the existing urban environment. The emphasis is on the importance of place and the idea that design of architecture can be influenced by the experience and analysis of particular situations. This interpretation of place can provide a contemporary layer of built meaning within the continuity of the evolving town or city.

For the past few months, the atelier has been working in collaboration with the Neighbourhood Planning Committee in Bollington to investigate the local area in a bid to better understand the history and vernacular of the town. The Neighbourhood Planning Committee have been developing a plan for the town that would sustain the lace for the foreseeable future, that would allow the town to grow without losing its inherent character and would facilitate a future for all of the residents, not just those who can afford to live there. This partnership will develop a masterplan for Bollington, it will identify areas that appropriate development can take place, propose designs for new buildings, suggest the redevelopment of existing structures and recommend areas for public space.

Two projects

“Oddments and Epigrams” will include the work from two projects. The first is a research book which seeks to interrogate the essence of Bollington’s existence by exposing key elements pertaining to its history, culture, and character. The main focus is on the historic evolution of the town through the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and most notably the topography; with heroic remnants of the Industrial Revolution such as the canal and the railway, contrasting with a calmer and more picturesque local vernacular of cottage, terraces, garrets and greens.

Other work on show includes proposals for a series of interventions in Bollington from a project inspired by Caruso St Johns book entitled "Knitting, Weaving, Wrapping, Pressing”. The interventions aim to find a formal solution to a series of site specific problems uncovered from the earlier research. Projects include a cast golden stone, a series of reflections, a devore print, a mill redefined by light, the interior of a landmark, a water driven sculpture, a temporary cinema and a market day flag to name just a few.

We are pleased to invite you to the exhibition opening night on Sunday, January 17, from 7pm at Bollington Arts Centre. Students and staff will be present to discuss drawings, models and interventions with drinks and nibbles.

The exhibition is then open until Wednesday, January 20.

Five Minutes With...Abi Dean

Maryam Ahmed — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 11:43:42 +0000

GET TO know colleagues from all around the University's various faculties and departments in our weekly Q&A with a new member of staff each week. If you want to feature or nominate a colleague, let us know.

Name, role and

department:
Abi Dean, Active Lifestyle Officer, MMU Sport

How long have you been at Manchester Met:
The role is brand new, I only started at the end of September but before this, I had been working at the SU for nine months.

Favourite thing about the University:
I love how diverse it is. The more new people I meet across the sites, the more I learn more about how many amazing people we have here at Manchester Met.

A typical working day:
Each day is different! Whether it’s supporting participants on our HealthyU programme or linking up with colleagues and partners to see how we can deliver the best possible programme for staff and students. I even had to step in to take the Jogging Club –despite not classing myself as a runner, I had a great time meeting everyone and going for a light jog around Manchester.

What is your ideal weekend:
Spending time with my friends. My weekend usually starts catching up on our week’s events on a Friday, before playing hockey on a Saturday. On a Sunday, I like to go exploring or try something new - whether that’s walking in the Peaks, wakeboarding at Salford Water Park or traveling the North seeing friends.

Interesting fact about you:
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m that interesting, but I’ve walked with lions in Africa and white water rafted down the Zambezi! Generally, if I’m scared of something I like to try to tackle it head on which has also lead me to do a bungee jump and a sky dive, despite not being able to step onto the top row of the Manchester Arena without feeling like I’m going to fall over all the chairs to the bottom!

What are you reading, watching or listening to at the moment:
I don’t really watch that much but I’m a big fan of ‘The Biggest Loser’, I find it absolutely harrowing to watch the journey that the contestants go through and the barriers they overcome. I also enjoy reading ‘The Week’ magazine and catching up on all the weekly news.

Favourite place in the region:
I’m going to say the Ribble Valley. It’s just on the other side of Clitheroe and I was lucky enough to be brought up there.

Person you would most like to meet, past or present:
David Attenborough as I bet he has some amazing stories!

What items would take on a desert island and why:
I’d take Bear Grylls, a hammock, a solar powered iPod and lots of sun screen. Bear can take care of everything whilst I sit back and relax – which is rare for me.

Want to star in ManMetLife's 'Five Minutes With...' section or nominate a colleague? Let us know: ManMetLife@mmu.ac.uk

Sports Massage Therapy now available

Maryam Ahmed — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 12:45:40 +0000

Sports Massage Therapy appointments are now available at the Clinic run by the Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care at Manchester Met.

Led by Cari Thorpe and Smarak Mishra, Senior Lecturers in Physiotherapy, who said: “Massage therapy can be effective to aid in recovery from injury, minimise risk of injury or simply to de-stress from a hard day. It mobilises joints and muscles to alleviate pain both before and after sporting events as well as any work-related conditions.”

Located in the Brooks Building, the Clinic is open staff, students and
the public. Highly experienced staff and students provide all treatments at the Clinic, which include Acupuncture, Physiotherapy and a range of massages. Discounts are also available for valid Manchester Met staff and students.

Appointments are available for Sports Massage Therapy on Tuesdays 5-8pm and Fridays 1-4pm and costs just £15 per 30 minute session – much cheaper than elsewhere in Manchester.

To book an appointment, please call 0161 247 6837 or email theclinic@mmu.ac.uk.

"With big data comes big responsibility"

Kat Dibbits — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 12:56:31 +0000

JACKI Njorige, Head of Strategic Planning & Management Information, recently wrote for the website Wonkhe about the HESA and Jisc Business Intelligence programme. You can read her column below, or visit the website to add your own comments.

The need for better business intelligence has become almost a given in the sector. Improved competitive insights and more strategic decision making are needed more than ever now that efficiency and greater student choice are centre stage.

The Green Paper on higher education in England and the Spending Review have made it very clear that these are going to remain key areas of focus for the sector.

However, as many of us are finding, the realities of achieving more sophisticated BI capability are proving far more complex. Those of us working within the planning sphere understand the fantastic potential we have to create the foundations of a more evidence-based approach. So what’s standing in the way?

We have seen huge strides in the professionalisation of the planning and management information function. However, one of the biggest stumbling blocks in realising the full benefits of this development is the historic ‘ghettoisation’ of data. The sector’s understanding of data’s potential to help HE providers develop business management systems that will help it perform better should run, like the words in a stick of rock, right throughout our organisations. We all need high-quality insights about the wider environment in which we operate to help us make better informed decisions about our courses, products and services, and to help us pinpoint potential effectiveness and efficiency gains. Senior managers need increasingly to see it as a strategic tool and engage with its potential.

For the past year I’ve been a consultant for the Business Intelligence project being run jointly by HESA and Jisc. The first major milestone from this project is the launch of Heidi Plus, which is to old heidi what the bullet train was to the Flying Scotsman. While heidi has been a much-loved and valuable part of our data and planning system for some eight years, the need for a data and analytics tool with significantly upgraded capability is clear.

Heidi Plus will make it possible for decision makers at all levels of an organisation to more easily access, analyse, understand and act on information anytime and anywhere. The combination of more detailed data sets alongside cutting edge analytics functionality should help data professionals make the case for more sophisticated use of data as a management tool.

It will both provide prepared content and enable users to get creative to generate their own insights to inform evidence-based decision making. Dashboards and visualisations have been developed to help answer the common business questions we in provider organisations face, but it will also make it possible to generate bespoke analyses and visualisations based on HESA data sets, and other sector data, to answer our own individual priority business questions. Jisc will use its Heidi Lab project to experiment with data-driven insights and features that may be migrated into Heidi Plus.

The new service differs in how users interact with data and is more flexible, with extra features including visualisations, case studies, narrative, examples of insights gained and actions taken. It aims to open up access to closed data sets provide better access and application of data. This should help us react faster and more intelligently to increasing resource constraints and assist in compliance with existing regulation, such as OFFA fair access.

As we all work through the changes needed to keep up with the demands of delivering more efficiency and more student-centric service delivery, we need to be focussed on maximising the value of our management information and raising awareness of this powerful asset. We now have big data, but with big data comes big responsibility to make sure we generate insight and not simply more data.

Fashion student named Young Designer of the Year

Maryam Ahmed — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 11:41:16 +0000

A RECENT graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University was named Young Designer of the Year 2015 at The Clothes Show held in Birmingham in December.

Rebecca Carrington created a ready to wear garment for a top fashion blogger inspired by the Tokyo fashion scene that impressed judges.

Having visited Tokyo for the first time a couple of years ago, Rebecca said: “I was in awe of the way Japanese girls and women dressed to be ‘cute’. In Britain, we often opt for clothes that are more sophisticated as we grow up but that wasn’t the case in Japan so I felt inspired.

“I wanted to blend objects with clothing and in Japan there were all these little trinkets. When I came across a doll key ring, I decided to use key rings as a way of connecting the trinkets I was inspired by onto the clothing.”

Award-winning year

Rebecca’s final piece was modelled on the catwalk at the annual retail event, which includes stalls from designers, beauty demonstrations, music performances and fashion shows.

On winning, the young designer said: “When they said my name I was in complete shock, I never thought I would have won. Most of all I am grateful that my design was recognised and supported by people in the fashion industry and it was really exciting for me to see my work on the catwalk again.”

Earlier last year, Rebecca’s clothing collection also won the £5,000 gold prize at the Phoenix Cup fashion Competition held in China: “It was an amazing opportunity winning an international competition. I got to go to the city of Ningbo with two of my classmates, share my work and meet other designers.”

Joe McCullagh, Head of Design and Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching at the Manchester School of Art, said: “We are all absolutely delighted for Rebecca on her awards - both are highly acclaimed and internationally recognised and a testament to Rebecca’s hard work.”

The secret to success

The BA Fashion graduate said: “My course at Manchester Metropolitan University was demanding and fast paced but that's what the fashion industry is like, so the course reflected that and it definitely contributed to my success.

“At University, you have the freedom of being able to experiment with print, knit, film, textiles and other things before deciding which path you were interested in and you could be interested in all of them and overlap them. It was the freedom that made me try new techniques and then my tutor would suggest what’s working well and what’s not working so well.”

On her plans, Rebecca said: “I like to go by short term goals rather than look towards the future. You have to work hard and have a lot of self-motivation and passion for what you're doing to succeed in the fashion industry so I want to take time and learn more about fashion to develop my skills and creativity.”

Joe McCullagh added: “Rebecca's work typifies the individuality and creativity from our fashion students. We congratulate Rebecca and we know that she will go on to further great things in the future.”

How a single image changed the immigration debate

Jim Aulich — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 13:08:42 +0000

PROFESSOR Jim Aulich, Dr Simon Faulkner and postgraduate researcher Ray Drainville from the Manchester School of Art have contributed to The Iconic Image on Social Media: A Rapid Research Response to the Death of Aylan Kurdi.

The report illustrates how a few tweets from journalists went viral to almost 20 million people around the world in just twelve hours. The report falls into four sections dealing with the social media response, political impact, the meaning of the image and picturing death on the web and in social media. The contribution from the MSA focuses on the iconography of the images familiar to us from the media: their meaning and how and why those particular images gained their currency and power.

Published by the Visual Social Media Lab based at Sheffield University, the report is one of the outputs from the ESRC-funded research project ‘Picturing the Social’ led by Dr Farida Vis, a former PhD student in MIRIAD.The 35,000 word document also features contributions from the other members of the team based at Sheffield, Royal Holloway, Wolverhampton Universities and the commercial social media analysis platform Pulsar, among other academics. The report also features contributions from Google News Lab, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia University and international nonprofit organization WITNESS.

It was immediately picked up by The Independent, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Yorkshire Post, Corriere della Sera, Press Association , AOL News, BT.com and the Irish Examiner.

The report can be found here:
Visual Social Media Lab - The Iconic Image on Social Media: a rapid research response to the death of Aylan...

Lord Mandelson appointed Manchester Met Chancellor

Chris Morris — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 16:42:32 +0000

Manchester Metropolitan University’s Board of Governors have unanimously agreed to appoint Lord Mandelson to the role of Chancellor for a five-year term, in the first instance, from 1 April 2016, succeeding Dame Dianne Thompson DBE.

Lord Mandelson will be formally invested as Chancellor at a ceremony later this year.

The role of Chancellor is to act as the most senior ambassador and ceremonial head of the University, promoting its mission, vision and values. Lord Mandelson will support the efforts of the University leadership team to be world-class providers of education and research, and to work in partnership with business, industry, public sector and university collaborators, as Manchester occupies an increasingly important place on the world stage.

Lord Mandelson has a distinguished track record. He is a former European Trade Commissioner and British First Secretary of State. Prior to this, he was Minister without Portfolio, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Northern Ireland Secretary and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the British government. He is now a working peer in the House of Lords, President of the Policy Network think tank, chairman of Global Counsel, a consultancy and advisory business he co-founded in 2010 and a senior adviser to Lazard. He became President of the Great Britain China Centre in 2015.

Vanda Murray OBE, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the Board, said: “We sought a Chancellor who is committed to excellence and who believes in the transformative power of education to change lives and benefit society. As a world-class statesman who has held the highest offices of state, Peter will bring immense expertise, knowledge and skill to enhance our relationships with business and international partners.”

Professor Malcolm Press, Vice-Chancellor, said: “We are delighted that Lord Mandelson has enthusiastically embraced this opportunity to be part of Manchester Metropolitan’s future. We are already in the global top 3% of universities and we play a vital role in transforming the lives of our students. We seek to build on our successes, strengthening our research, growing our links with business, and developing strong international partnerships. Peter will be enormously influential in all these regards. Regional devolution and the Northern Powerhouse agenda provide us with tremendous opportunities. We are committed not only to the success of our University, but to Manchester as a whole, working with our world-class partners here in the City and beyond to achieve this.”

Lord Mandelson said: “As a former Northern MP, I am strongly committed to the vision of Manchester Metropolitan University and to the changes Manchester is undergoing. The city has the vision, the professional organisation and teamwork to play a key role in radically reshaping Britain’s economy and political system. That was an important project for me in my time in government and so I am delighted to accept this offer to contribute further as the Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University. As a former EU Trade Commissioner, I look forward to enhancing the international relationships of Manchester Metropolitan and to working with the Vice-Chancellor and colleagues across the University to do this. It will be a great honour to be associated with such a successful, world-class university.”

Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive, Manchester City Council, said: "I am very pleased that Peter has accepted the position at Manchester Metropolitan University and that he will be renewing his relationship with the City. Peter’s commitment to work with all stakeholders within the City and the wider region will play a large role in ensuring we achieve our full economic potential - an issue of national as well as local importance.”

Thailand English Teaching Programme 2016-2017

Anthony Picot — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 09:31:12 +0000

THE British Council and the Ministry of Education in Thailand are once again running the ‘Thailand English Teaching Programme’ in 2016 to help improve the English language skills of children in Thai schools and develop cultural links between Thailand and the UK.

This is a great opportunity for students and recent graduates from Manchester Met to go to Thailand for placements in schools and colleges in order to gain valuable work and life experience and learn about the unique Thai culture - so share the news.

The Thailand English Teaching Programme now runs throughout the summer and autumn/winter periods and places students on assignments as ‘English Teaching Assistants’ or ‘ETAs’ all around the country.

There will be two kinds of placements on offer to students and graduates in 2016/2017:

Summer programme: 4-month summer and autumn term-long placements: June to September 2016 or November 2016 to March 2017 - Open to students and graduates in Education or English language teaching-related disciplines.One term programme: 9-week placements: June to August 2016 - Open to students and graduates from all academic disciplines.

Confidence and motivation

Students gain confidence and motivation to communicate in English as a result of having a native speaker in their classroom as well as having the unique opportunity to learn about British culture and society. UK students benefit from developing important life skills and cultural understanding through living and working in Thailand. These skills are essential in order to compete in the 21st century workplace.

Placement fees

Following four successful years of TET, with ever increasing participation, we are expanding the services once again to include a wider range of opportunities for students.

In order to continue to be able to sustain the level of support that we offer to both students applying for and joining the programme, as well as offer a larger number of places next year, we are introducing a placement fee for the 2016 programme.

The TET 2016 Programme placement fees, are:

9-week placements - £2004-month placements - £250

The programme is still heavily subsidised by the British Council and Thailand Ministry of Education, representing excellent value for money for participating students. The new fees will ensure that the quality of services offered to UK universities and students alike will continue to be of the highest standard and that we can expand the programme in future to meet the ever increasing demand for places.

What next?

Applications for the TET 2016 programme are now open. Follow and share the link below so students can find out more and register for the application: https://www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-create/opportunity/work-volunteer/thailand-english-teaching-programme

Free Microsoft Office for staff

Chris Morris — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 13:05:16 +0000

IT Services has great pleasure in letting you know about a ground-breaking new staff benefit to improve opportunities for online collaboration between staff and students.

Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus provides access-anywhere applications for university staff to work on the move. It also integrates with Office 2013 which is now available across all university owned devices..

New opportunities for collaboration between staff and students

This project will improve support, encourage flexible working and give staff more reliable file-sharing, while facilitating new opportunities for online collaboration. It’s not just for teaching staff- it’s for all staff to realise the benefits of collaborative working.

What you need to do

University staff and students have Office 2013 available to them on all university owned devices, pre-installed and therefore there is nothing you need to do to access this software.

If you would like to download the package on up to five other devices for free NOW then go to www.mmu.ac.uk/proplus

Instructions on how to use OneDrive can also be found here.

Find out about the potential this package has to improve ways of working and support for staff on the IT Services website.

Office 365 ProPlus shouldn’t be installed on any devices which are already running Office 2013. This is because it may cause operational issues with your device and if the device is not university property, we cannot support possible complications. Check what version of Office you are using.

As always you need to be mindful about the data you handle on behalf of the university. This package offers more secure file-sharing than other third party cloud services like Dropbox, but please ensure you do not store Confidential Information in the cloud. Data is a fundamental university asset, required for the effective operation of the university and the services it offers including teaching, learning and research; and administrative, management and commercial activities. There are a number of principles we have to adhere to as staff at the university to ensure the data we handle is protected, shared and managed appropriately; the Data Classification Policy outlines our corporate responsibility in this area. You should read the Data Classification Policy before sharing data using Office 365.

How it works

Download and install Office 365 ProPlus on up to 5 devices. Connect to the internet at least once every 30 days so that Office 365 ProPlus subscriptions can be checked against the licenses that the university has purchased.

If this does not happen then the programmes will go into a reduced functionality mode. The Office 365 ProPlus subscription ends after a member of staff has left the university. A notice will be issued together with a grace period and the opportunity to purchase alternatives directly from Microsoft.

How to install Office 365 ProPlus

The new package is really easy to use but we’ve published a range of support and guidance on our website. There are a number of step-by-step guides for PCs, Macs and mobiles including a number of FAQs to support the installation.

How to use OneDrive

A short training programme for One Drive will soon be available on our website.

Careers & Employability – What’s on this week?

Fiona Dangerfield — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 11:06:56 +0000

The Careers & Employability Service offers a fantastic programme of career development workshops and employer presentations to help our students maximise their chances of career success. The workshop sessions are crammed with information and practical tips, whilst our employer presentations offer students the chance to network, find out about job opportunities and what organisations look for in potential candidates.

Encourage your students to take part in the range of career development workshops and employer presentations taking place on campus next week:

Daily jobsHUB

Get help with your job search.

Drop-in service available Monday to Friday

1.00pm-4.00pm Employability Hub, Business School Building, Manchester

How to write winning CVs

Monday 11th January

11:00am – 12:00pm Room 3.22, Business School Building, Manchester

Summer Internships

Tuesday 12th January

12:15pm – 12:45pm Room 4.06A, Business School Building, Manchester

Interviews for teacher training courses

Tuesday 12th January

1.00pm – 2.00pm Room G-02, Frances Wood Building, Cheshire

Networking: build your personal brand

Tuesday 12th January

2:15pm – 3:15pm Room 5.02, Business School Building, Manchester

I don’t know what I want to do when I leave uni

Thursday 14th January

1:00pm – 2:00pm Room 3.11, Business School Building, Manchester

Interviews for teacher training courses

Friday 15th January

10:00am – 11:00am Room 3.21, Business School Building, Manchester

More events and full details can be found at www.mmu.ac.uk/careers/events.

MMU Careers & Employability Service Events are subject to change. Please check www.mmu.ac.uk/careers/events for the latest information.

Are you reviewing your assessment strategy?

Kat Dibbits — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 14:27:57 +0000

HAVE YOU been thinking about reviewing the assessment strategy for your unit or programme? Have you got periodic review coming up? Are you writing a new programme? The Assessment in HE unit takes you through a review of your existing assessment and feedback practices and the evidence-based design of an updated strategy.

Assessment in HE runs in the spring term face to face from January 19 to February 28, 4-7pm, or in the summer term as a fully online unit. If you register for credit , then your assignment will be to present your revised assessment strategy for a unit or programme of study in Higher Education.

The assessment format is negotiated with the unit tutors so that it can be closely related to your practice needs. The unit is suitable for all teaching staff at Manchester Met and in collaborative partners.

Go to the unit website http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/cpd/accredited/unit_details.php?unit_id=12 for more information, and to register.

£800,000 speech study to guide NHS practice

Chris Morris — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 14:32:35 +0000

NEW clinical techniques to better prescribe vital symbol-based communication aids to improve the quality of life of children with limited natural speech are being developed in the Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care.

Speech and language researchers will influence current practice to improve the consistency and quality of clinical decision-making when providing symbol communication aids in the NHS.

Children with little or no natural speech often communicate through symbolic communication aids to convey their thoughts, feelings, requests and to hold conversations. Evidence has shown positive impacts on children’s wellbeing, sense of belonging and educational attainment.

Symbol aids are typically handheld devices or computer-based software that speak pre-stored words or phrases through the use of images, thereby providing independent communication.

Quality of life

Chief investigator Dr Janice Murray, Reader in Community Rehabilitation, said: “The impact symbol communication aids have on children with little or no intelligible speech cannot be underestimated with implications on everything from wellbeing through friendships to educational achievement.

“However, decisions about communication aid provision are complex and children who use symbolic systems present the greatest challenge in identifying appropriate aids. We want to further enhance the quality of life for these children but need to ensure that the current process is as effectual as it could be by determining how to optimise clinicians’ decisions when assigning the correct symbol communication aids.”

Typically, developing children start producing words between 12 and 18 months, developing fully expressive speech around four years. Children with conditions like cerebral palsy may struggle to develop intelligible speech.

Specialist communication aid services are commissioned by NHS England, delivering high-cost services to one in 2,000 people, including 8,627 children and young people under 25 years, as potential beneficiaries.

Clinical input

The £800,000 three-year project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research's Health Services and begins this month. The project will be overseen by relevant academics, PPI, clinical and NHS England commissioning members. Research will involve focus groups and observations with clinicians, in-depth interviews with participants and a systematic review of current research.

Co-Investigators for the project are: Professor Juliet Goldbart, Associate Dean and Research Institute Director in the Faculty, Simon Judge , David Meads & Professor Stephane Hess . Core members of the Manchester Met team include co-researchers Stuart Meredith and Liz Moulam, both with personal experience of the process of symbol communication aid recommendation.

Five Minutes With…Deb Snell

Maryam Ahmed — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 14:40:16 +0000

Name, role and department:
Deb Snell, Organisation Development and Training Officer and IiP Co-ordinator

How long have you been at Manchester Met:
Since January 2012

Favourite thing about the University:
The people. They are all so diverse, all so friendly and all achieve so much!

A typical working day:
I am not sure I have a typical day. One day I could be running a HR Recruitment Skills Course , the next I’m championing the IiP framework with an external company, the following day I could be delivering an ILM cohort for staff, and the next working with a specific department or faculty in the University to deliver a bespoke training programme.

What is your ideal weekend:
I have two young children so Friday night in my house is movie night. This involves PJs, Annie and as many strawberries as my girls can eat.
Saturday is dance day. This includes street dance and ballet class for my girls, followed by Strictly Come Dancing .
Sunday is playtime. This can be bike riding, a children’s party, craft sessions, board games and, dare I say, a bit of homework for the girls.

Interesting fact about you:
I lived in the North East for nearly 10 years

What are you reading, watching or listening to at the moment:
Reading: Harry Potter – my girls and I are working our way through the set. I’m not sure who is enjoying it the most

Favourite place in the region:
I’m not sure I can pick just one. I love the city to go and see a show or enjoy afternoon tea. I love Lyme Park, so many memories made and re-lived, and I love being in my home playing with my girls .

Person you would most like to meet - past or present:
My great grandad. I never met him but in 2015, I visited the Cheshire Regiment Museum in Chester. In the First World War, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. I would love to hear about his life and tell him how humbling his actions have been to me.

What items would you take on a desert island and why:
My two daughters…I couldn’t live without them <3

Want to star in ManMetLife's 'Five Minutes With...' section or nominate a colleague? Let us know: ManMetLife@mmu.ac.uk