Author: Ian Richards

Public Interest Disclosure (Whistle-Blowing) Policy

Ian Richards / / Administration

The Board of Governors’ Audit Committee has recently updated the University’s Public Interest Disclosure Policy. This allows staff and students to ‘blow the whistle’ about serious concerns about malpractice in the workplace which cannot be dealt with by the more standard internal policies, such as disciplinary or grievance procedures. It is intended to cover malpractice such as corruption, unlawful practices, and serious financial maladministration, where it is believed that there is a public interest, and not simply a personal implication, justifying disclosure outside the usual channels. The Policy is derived from legislation designed to protect whistle-blowers from repercussions, as long as they have properly followed the process set out in the Policy.

The Policy can be found on the Portal at
https://ps.lincoln.ac.uk/services/hr/Employment/Whistleblowing/SitePages/Home.aspx

Disclosures of serious malpractice should normally be made, at least initially, to one of the people mentioned in section 5.2 of the Policy.

Rotary Club talk on International Bomber Command Centre

Ian Richards / / Events

The Rotary Club of Lincoln will host an illustrated talk on Lincolnshire’s International Bomber Command Centre project.

IBCC_logo

The talk by Air Vice Marshal (Rtd) Paul Robinson will take place on Monday 24th October 2016, starting 6.00 pm, at the County Assembly Rooms, 76 Bailgate, Lincoln LN1 3AR

The event includes a buffet meal with tickets priced at £14.00.

Paul Robinson flew Harriers in Germany during the Cold War and served in a number of senior appointments at home and abroad before settling in Lincolnshire. Four years ago, he volunteered to help with the Lincolnshire Bomber Command Memorial Trust and is a member of its management board.

Staff and students of the University can reserve places at the event by contacting Rtn Alfred Schneider PHF at the Rotary Club of Lincoln, by email: aschneider2810@virginmedia.com or telephone: 01522 521484

Please reserve places by Monday 17th October 2016, noting dietary requirements.

 

Lincoln launched to new heights in Times Good University Guide

Ian Richards / / News

The University of Lincoln has risen to its highest ever position in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide.

MAB Main Administration Building
University of Lincoln

In the latest edition of the guide, published this weekend, Lincoln has jumped 11 places to 51st position in the overall rankings out of 128 higher education institutions listed.

The University has improved in nearly all categories of the table but most significantly in the areas of teaching quality and student experience, where it is ranked in the top 10 nationally on both measures.

It follows the institution’s success in the latest National Student Survey, in which it was placed in the top 10 in the UK for overall student satisfaction* with several of its courses ranked number one for their subject areas.

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017 is intended for students and parents making choices about undergraduate courses for entry in the 2017/18 academic year.

Lincoln’s rise in the latest edition comes days after the University was placed in the top 800 in the world for all universities in the prestigious THE World University Rankings 2016-17, a clear indication that Lincoln’s reputation is growing globally.

To read more, visit: http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/news/2016/09/1270.asp

 

Multi-Faith Chaplaincy

Ian Richards / / Administration

The University has a Multi-Faith Chaplaincy service, which offers pastoral care, a confidential listening ear and spiritual support to anyone in our University community, whether they consider themselves religious or not.

Based at Witham House, next to the Sports Centre on the main Brayford Pool Campus, it is led by the University Chaplain, Subash Chellaiah. The facility provides a place for worship, prayer, interfaith discussion and hospitality and can be used for meetings by registered Faith Societies of the University of Lincoln Students’ Union.

The Multi-Faith Chaplaincy also has a team of volunteer Chaplains and Faith Advisors from a range of different faiths and religions who are available to meet with students or staff by appointment. This includes representatives of local Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish faith communities, among other faiths and religions. The service can also provide guidance about local places of worship and faith leaders in the local community.

For more information visit: http://chaplaincy.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/

 

Siemens UK CEO opens state-of-the-art engineering facilities

Ian Richards / / News

The Chief Executive of Siemens UK, Juergen Maier, was special guest at a ceremony to officially open the newly expanded engineering facilities at the University of Lincoln.

The event at the Engineering Hub on the University’s main Brayford Campus on Thursday 8th September 2016 celebrated the award-winning partnership between the University and Siemens.

SWP-16-1760_03_Juergen_Maier_Siemens_Eng_Hub_Plaque
Professor Mary Stuart and Juergen Maier

Lincoln’s School of Engineering was the first dedicated facility of its kind to be created in the UK in more than two decades, welcoming its first students in 2011. The result of a pioneering collaboration between University of Lincoln and Siemens, it has won a series of national awards and accolades as an example of how industry and academic can work together, including a prestigious Lord Stafford Award.

The expansion of the Engineering Hub provides additional training spaces and offices for Siemens, as well as new academic spaces for staff and students. The shared facilities further consolidate the unique partnership between the University of Lincoln and Siemens.

To read more, visit: http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/news/2016/09/1264.asp

Graduation live stream

Ian Richards / / News

University staff and students can watch a live stream of this week’s graduation ceremonies at Lincoln Cathedral.

The ceremonies are being streamed on YouTube for the first time this year to give even more people the chance to enjoy the culmination of our students’ degree studies.

Over the course of four days from Monday 5th – Thursday 8th September 2016, the University will present academic awards to more than 3,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from across all of its academic Colleges. Ceremonies begin at 10.30am, 2.30pm and 7.30pm.

To watch graduation live, follow the link from the Graduation pages on the University’s website: http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/campuslife/graduationceremonies/

Lincoln Cathedral annual Magna Carta Lecture

Ian Richards / / Events

Lincoln Cathedral’s annual Magna Carta Lecture will take place on Wednesday 1st June 2016.

Guest speaker is the Australian High Commissioner The Hon Alexander Downer AC.

University of Lincoln staff and students can benefit from a half price ticket offer which can be redeemed by entering the code ‘mclecture’ when booking tickets via the Cathedral’s Eventbrite page.

For more details, see: https://lincolncathedral.com/forthcoming-events/magna-carta-lecture/

Lincs Cath Lectures Lincs Pride

Lincoln named in UK’s top 50 universities

Ian Richards / / News

The University of Lincoln has been named in the UK’s top 50 universities in the Complete University Guide 2017.

The latest version of the national university league table is published online today (Monday 25th April 2016) at www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk  

The main table of the Complete University Guide 2017 ranks 127 higher education institutions on ten measures: Student Satisfaction, Research Quality, Research Intensity, Entry Standards, Student: Staff Ratio; Spending on Academic Services; Spending on Student Facilities; Good Honours degrees achieved; Graduate Prospects and Completion. It also provides separate listings for 70 academic subjects.

Placed 49th in the main table, the University of Lincoln is also positioned in the national top ten of the Agriculture subject area.

Professor Mary Stuart, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln, said: “Our place in the rankings reflects the steady work we have been developing to ensure the best experience for our students and to create the environment for excellent research to flourish.
“Students and staff at Lincoln have worked hard to achieve this recognition and I am grateful to all our community for their commitment to our development.
“This year applications to Lincoln have been higher than ever and I look forward to welcoming another excellent student year group this September.”

Around £200 million has been invested in developing Lincoln’s main Brayford Pool Campus over the past two decades since it was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1996. A further £130 million capital programme was announced last year which will provide state-of-the-art new buildings for staff and students in engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, nursing, social care and psychology.

The University of Lincoln’s approach to research-engaged teaching has been recognised with a commendation from the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for enhancement of student learning opportunities. Lincoln has also won a series of national awards and accolades for its approach to working with employers, including a Lord Stafford Award and Times Higher Education Award.

Graduate prospects are strong with nine out of ten of Lincoln’s most recent graduates in work or further study six months after completing their studies and more than 70% of those working in graduate level roles – above the national average (Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2015). This highlights the University’s focus on supporting students to develop the right skills to gain excellent jobs.

The latest rankings also reflect Lincoln’s success in the last national assessment of university research standards, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. More than half of Lincoln’s submitted research was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent in REF 2014 and it was placed in the top ten nationally for the quality of its research outputs in the Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science subject area.

The team behind the Complete University Guide has compiled university league tables for almost 20 years. Since 2007, these have been freely available on line. The Guide is an autonomous division of Hotcourses.

Dr Bernard Kingston, principal author of TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk, said: “There is a considerable degree of stability at the upper end of the league table this year. While dramatic changes may be newsworthy, this stability indicates that the rankings are robust and credible for young people seeking a university place – our primary purpose.”

See the Complete University Guide 2017 tables at: www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk

 

Lincoln leads major new study into students’ employability skills

Ian Richards / / News, Research

The University of Lincoln will lead a major new study exploring how extra-curricular activities can contribute to students’ academic success and employability skills.

Experts from Lincoln’s Educational Development & Enhancement Unit (EDEU) will follow a group of undergraduates from enrolment through to graduation to measure the ‘distance travelled’ in developing sought-after transferable skills during their time at university.

The three-year longitudinal study, supported with a grant of just under £300,000 from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), will involve students from a variety of academic disciplines across the arts, sciences and social sciences.

A collaboration with the University of Huddersfield, the project aims to test and evaluate measures of ‘learning gain’ – defined as the improvement in knowledge, skills, work-readiness and personal development made by students during their time spent in higher education.

To read more, visit: http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/news/2015/11/1171.asp

 

Lincoln to host UK premiere of new documentary, The Genius of George Boole

Ian Richards / / Events, News
George Boole
George Boole

George Boole, the pioneering Lincoln-born mathematician whose work laid the foundations for the digital age, is to be celebrated in a new documentary film narrated by Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons.

First screened by RTE in Ireland, the documentary will be premiered in the UK on 25 October during Frequency 2015, Lincoln’s festival of digital culture, just a few days before the bicentenary of Boole’s birth – ‘George Boole Day’- is celebrated on 2 November 2015. Filmed in Ireland (Cork), the UK and US, this 58 minute film shines new light on the life, work and legacy of a man whose role in the digital revolution is not widely known.

Born in Lincoln, George Boole was an English mathematician, philosopher and logician. He worked in the fields of differential equations and algebraic logic, and is best known as the author of The Mathematical Analysis of Logic (1847) and An Investigation of the Laws of Thought (1854). His algebra of logic, now called Boolean algebra, forms the basis of today’s computer languages and electronic circuitry. Much of the ‘new mathematics’ now studied by children in school – set theory, binary numbers and Boolean algebra – has its origins in Boole’s work.

Produced by multi award-winning Oxford Film and Television, and commissioned by University College Cork, The Genius of George Boole assembles industry leaders and academics from across the globe to explore the life and importance of one of the scientific world’s greatest unsung heroes, exploring the huge impact of his work on technology today.

The UK premiere is presented at The Collection, Lincoln, in partnership with The University of Lincoln and Threshold Studios as part of Frequency Festival of Digital Culture 2015. Other events to mark the occasion in Lincoln include:

• a special exhibition ‘The Life and Legacy of George Boole’ at Lincoln Cathedral, where there is a stained glass window honouring Boole’s achievements. Conceived and created in a partnership between University College Cork and the University of Lincoln, it draws upon the Boole Papers and the collections of the Royal Society to tell the story of his life and work.
• a talk on Boole’s life and work by Canon Dr Mark Hocknull of Lincoln Cathedral and the University of Lincoln. Boole combined his interests in mathematics and theology and Hocknull holds doctorates in both science and religious studies. Book at: http://www.lincolncathedralshop.com/more-info/canon-dr-mark-hocknull
• a talk about the mathematical legacy of Boole’s work by Dr Evgeny Khukhro of the School of Mathematics & Physics at the University of Lincoln. Book at: www.lincoln.ac.uk/events
• a George Boole trail taking visitors on a tour of locations significant to Boole’s life in Lincoln, which can be downloaded from Visit Lincoln’s website: http://www.visitlincoln.com/trails/george-boole-trail

Boole was born in Lincoln on 2 November 1815, the son of a struggling shoe-maker. Largely self-taught in mathematics, he started work as an assistant teacher before establishing his own school in Lincolnshire at the age of 19. He began to produce original mathematical research and, in 1844, he was awarded the first gold medal for mathematics by the Royal Society. He stayed in Lincolnshire until his appointment in 1849 as the first professor of mathematics at Queen’s College, Cork (now University College Cork) in Ireland. Boole died prematurely from a fever at the age of 49 and is buried in Cork. Although he was recognised as a genius in his own lifetime, it was not until almost a century later that the far-reaching implications of Boole’s work would become apparent. An American electronics engineer named Claude Shannon realised Boole’s logic could be applied in producing electrical circuits: a discovery that started the digital revolution. Today even the most advanced computers and smart devices still depend on Boolean logic.

For tickets to the UK premiere of The Genius of George Boole, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-genius-of-george-boole-narrated-by-jeremy-irons-uk-premiere-tickets-19128878992

For further information about screenings of The Genius of George Boole visit: http://georgeboole.com/film/

For more details on Frequency Festival, visit: www.frequency.org.uk