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13 January 2011 |
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 News
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• LSE students join world leaders to propose international
financial reforms
A group of 32 LSE Masters and PhD students ended the first week of the
new year at a prestigious symposium in Paris, organised by the French
government. The students were among 500 attendees at the third ‘Nouveau
Monde, Nouveau Capitalisme’ colloquium, where speakers included the prime
minsters of France and Greece, finance ministers from the UK, France, Chile,
Italy and Poland, and economists Jeffrey Sachs and Joseph Stiglitz. Taha
Afshar, a PhD student in the Department of Management, introduced the second
roundtable, ‘How to reform the international monetary system’.
Professor Iain Begg of LSE’s European Institute, who accompanied the
group, said: ‘The contributions of the LSE and Columbia students to the
roundtable on reforming the international monetary system were thoughtful
and well-received. Yet what the debate also exposed was the sheer difficulty
of achieving change. For example, the problems in moving from a dollar
dominated monetary system to one that would be both more symmetric and
better balanced.’
Before the symposium, the LSE delegation met colleagues from Sciences Po
Paris, Columbia University and the American University in Cairo to debate
the themes of the conference, organised through LSE’s partnership with
Sciences Po. This partnership, developed over the last ten years, includes
postgraduate double degrees in five fields, support for research and PhD
student exchange and a programme of regular events.
Victoria Volossov, a student on the LSE-Sciences Po Double Masters Degree
in European Studies and part of the LSE delegation said: ‘It was a great
chance for students from LSE, Sciences Po, Columbia University and the American
University Cairo to share ideas and work together in an exciting
environment.’
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• Appointment
to Decision Analysis editorial board
Dr Alec Morton, from the Management Science Group in the Department of
Management, has been appointed to serve on the editorial board of the
INFORMS journal Decision Analysis.
Decision Analysis is a quarterly journal dedicated to advancing the
theory, application, and teaching of all aspects of decision analysis. The
primary focus of the journal is to develop and study operational
decision-making methods, drawing on all aspects of decision theory and
decision analysis, with the ultimate objective of providing practical
guidance for decision makers. For more information, visit the
journal's website.
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• LSE questions Aung San Suu Kyi live in London
LSE staff and students got the opportunity to put their questions to
Aung San Suu Kyi, the recently released Burmese opposition leader, when
she spoke live via videolink from Burma on Tuesday 14 December.
In the lecture, which was jointly organised by LSE Global Governance and Al Jazeera, Aung
San Suu Kyi stressed the need to create a '…people's network of
democracy that stretches across the world'.
Al Jazeera's documentary about the event, entitled At the Crossroads:
a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, is now available to view on the
Al Jazeera website.
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• Creating tomorrow’s liveable cities
On Wednesday 19 January Dr Nancy Holman (pictured), director of Planning
Studies at LSE, will be a panellist at The Economist conference Creating
Tomorrow’s Liveable Cities taking place in London.
The conference will bring together key people in urban planning and
regeneration with influential thinkers in fields ranging from architecture
to psychology, to inspire and stimulate fresh thinking on the future of the
UK’s cities. The half-day forum will address these issues through various
addresses and panels.
For more information, visit
the
conference website.
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• Academics abroad
Professor Bridget Hutter, Department of Sociology, will be visiting
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, as a Genest Global
faculty member this month. On Monday 17 January, she will deliver the
Genest public lecture 'Risk Regulation - An Interdisciplinary Research
Approach'.
In December 2010 Dr Jenny Kuper, Department of Law, was one of four legal
experts invited to attend a meeting in Indonesia organised by Forum-Asia.
Forum-Asia is a group of South East Asian NGOs who are trying to have an
input into the new ASEAN human rights declaration (the first new regional
human rights declaration for many years) with the aim of ensuring it
measures up to international standards. The meeting involved preparing a
model draft of the declaration for the regional NGOs to use in lobbying the
ten members of the new ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission.
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 Notices
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• New
LSE leave planner
The School has now launched a leave planner for 2011 and 2012. It comes in
two parts: Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec and is double sided. Side one is for 2011 and
side two for 2012. At the end of 2011, you simply turn it over to display
2012.
The planner is:
- laminated so you can use highlighters on it which can be later
erased if need be
- School closure dates indicated
- comes in A5, A4 or A3 sizes, for either team or individual use
- each of the two parts is either A5, A4 or A3 depending on size
ordered
- term periods shaded to differentiate between term time and non-term
time
- term dates stated (2010-11 + 2011-12 on the 2011 planner, and
2011-12 + 2012-13 on the 2012 planner)
This has been introduced through the School's
Bright
Ideas scheme by Chuwie Teape from the Fees Office, Finance Division,
with the artwork provided by the Design Unit.
Please click here to view it.
To place your order, please email
repro.admin@lse.ac.uk stating the size and quantities required, along
with a valid budget code. They are priced as follows:
- £2.80 (A3)
- £1.50 (A4)
- £1 (A5)
Remember that each of the two parts for each planner is sized as above.
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• Here to help -
LSE's Staff Counselling Service
The LSE Staff Counselling Service is up and running and aims to
support all staff in their work, whether full or part time.
A number of staff have already benefitted from the
opportunity to look at personal or work difficulties in a confidential
space. At the moment, the service can offer quick access and a range of
appointment times.
If you would like to discuss any issue, please complete an online registration
form on the
website, email
staff.counselling@lse.ac.uk, or call 020 7955 6953.
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• Staff
consultation on travel policy
The Finance Division is updating the School’s Financial Regulations for
its travel policy (SP2) and will shortly open a period of consultation for
all staff to comment and suggest improvements. The consultation period will
run from Friday 14 January to Friday 11 February.
Please take time to make your views known and help us produce a policy
which is workable, coherent and produces a cost effective environment.
Comments should be sent to Simon Sefton, deputy financial controller, at
s.m.sefton@lse.ac.uk by Friday 11
February so that revisions can be put to the DMT in March.
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• Embrace
general meeting
Embrace, the School’s black and ethnic minority group, invites all staff
to attending its general meeting on Thursday 20 January at 6pm in the Graham
Wallas Room.
At the meeting, staff will have the opportunity to talk to committee
members about developing Embrace's aims and objectives and promoting them
within LSE. Staff may also want to discuss the Embrace Launch, which will be
taking place on Thursday 31 March 2011, or about establishing the Embrace
website.
All questions and queries are welcomed. For more information about
Embrace, email Daniel Beckley (pictured) at
d.beckley@lse.ac.uk.
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• Electronic Research Administration survey
The University of Sunderland is calling on LSE staff to take part in
a national survey about Electronic Research Administration (ERA).
The survey aims to find out whether or not the use of ERA systems can
actually have a positive effect on the quality and/or quantity of research.
So, if you are an academic member of staff, a researcher, a research
manager, or a research administrator, please take 10-15 minutes to
complete this
survey. The survey will be open until Tuesday 18 January.
More information can be found on the
University of Sunderland website. |
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 Research
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• Children
need more help to block online threats says European internet study
Internet companies should provide more ways for children to block, filter or
report alarming online content and contacts, recommends a new study for the
European Commission.
The report suggests that both children and parents are reassured when
given tools to take action against online dangers such as bullying, sexual
content and intrusive strangers. Yet they often don't use the options
available (including online safety advice or the so-called 'panic buttons'
operated by social networking sites) and the industry could do more to
promote their use.
More than 25,000 children from across Europe (and one of their parents)
were interviewed for the study, EU Kids Online, based at LSE and
funded by the Commission's Safer Internet Programme.
More
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• Near
Field Communications and privacy study launched by LSE and Nokia
A study into the implications of Near Field Communications (NFC) for users'
privacy, in a mobile telecoms market where technology is converging, is
being launched by LSE and Nokia.
Researchers from LSE will investigate how information generated by customers
of mobile services is being used and whether customers' behaviour is
affected by concerns about privacy. They will also look at the regulations
and policies governing NFC in Europe and Asia and consider the incentives
and barriers to the commercial development of NFC.
More
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• Research opportunities
Candidates interested in applying for any research opportunities should
contact Michael Oliver in the
Research Division at
m.oliver@lse.ac.uk or call ext 7962.
The Research Division maintains a regularly updated list of
research funding opportunities for academic colleagues on their website.
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• Research e-Briefing
To sign up for
research news, recent research funding opportunities, research awards that
are about to start, and examples of research outcomes, click
here. The next issue is out
at the end of January 2011.
More
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• Latest opportunities from LSE Enterprise
LSE Enterprise offers you the opportunity to undertake private teaching
and consultancy work under the LSE brand. We help with bidding, contracts
and other project administration, enabling you to focus on the work itself.
To see the latest opportunities click
here or visit
http://twitter.com/lseenterprise.
If you would like us to look out for consulting opportunities in your
field, email your CV and summary of interests to
lseenterprise.consulting@lse.ac.uk
Email exec.ed@lse.ac.uk to be
added to our Executive Education database. |
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 Events
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• LSE Works
This new series of public lectures, sponsored by Sage Publications, will
showcase some of the latest research by LSE's research centres.
LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where
appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy.
The first lecture in the series,
How did London get away with it? The Recession and the North-South
Divide, will take place on Thursday 20 January. For more
information, visit
LSE
Works.
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• Other upcoming events include....
2011 Global Civil Society Yearbook Launch
On: Thursday 13 January at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre,
Clement House
Speakers: Pierre Calame, director of the Fondaion Charles Léopold
Mayer for the Progress of Humankind, Judy El-Bushra, programme
manager of Africa Great Lakes Region and researcher at International
Alert, and Dr Hakan Seckinelgin, lecturer in international social
policy in the Department of Social Policy at LSE.
The Naked City
On: Monday 17 January at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New
Academic Building
Speaker: Professor Sharon Zukin, professor of sociology at Brooklyn
College and City University Graduate Center.
The Net Delusion: does free information mean free people?
On: Wednesday 19 January at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New
Academic Building
Speaker: Evgeny Morozov, contributing editor to Foreign Policy and
runs the magazine's influential and widely-quoted Net Effect blog.
Lunchtime Concert
On: Thursday 20 January at 1.05pm in the Shaw Library, 6th floor, Old
Building
Performers: Anna-Liisa Bezrodny (violin), and Alexander Karpeyev
(piano).
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• Podcasts of public lectures and events
European Democracies and Human Rights: from present failures to future
protection
Speaker: Thomas Hammarberg
Recorded: Thursday 9 December, approx 88 minutes
Click here to listen
Some Mistakes about Preferences
Speaker: Professor Daniel Hausman
Recorded: Monday 13 December, approx 87 minutes
Click here to listen
Conflicts, Civil Society, and Democratic Development in Burma
Speakers: Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Professor Mary Kaldor, Aung
San Suu Kyi, Amartya Sen and others
Recorded: Wednesday 15 December, approx 119 minutes
Click here to listen |
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 60
Second Interview
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• with..... David Coombe, director of the Research Division
I joined the School towards the
end of last term after 16 years at
the University of Kent, where I held
various posts at departmental,
faculty and central levels, as well
as working for HEFCE on the last RAE
and for the QAA on institutional
audits.
I'm motivated by a drive for
high-quality service and a belief
that work should be challenging and
rewarding. I currently spend most of
my spare time studying for an MBA in
Higher Education Management at the
Institute of Education and enjoying
family life. If I don't get out at
least once a week for a long spin on
my road bike, I start to go mad (and
it’s now been five weeks since my
last ride...)
What are your main objectives
at the moment?
To get to know the Research
Division and the School, what we do,
how and why - and how we might do
things better.
Is there anything you cannot
do and would like to learn?
To fly a plane (a childhood
dream), to play a musical instrument
(a childhood failure), and to speak
Spanish (once fluent, now
forgotten).
Where is the most interesting
place you have visited?
Machu Picchu (as a child),
Bermuda (for a QA review of a law
degree programme, of all things),
and Three Cliffs Bay, Gower (the
best place in the world to get away
from it all).
With which famous person would
you like to have dinner and why?
Winston Churchill. Not very
original, but his sense of destiny,
self-confidence, and obstinate
single-mindedness fascinate me.
What book are you currently
reading and which have you enjoyed
most in the past?
I'm reaching the end of Barack
Obama's Dreams From My Father,
and I have just started Vince
Cable's The Storm. Most
enjoyable book? - Francis Collins's
The Language of God, closely
followed by Richard Dawkins's The
Greatest Show on Earth.
If you had a time machine,
where and to what era would you go?
I'm too attached to modern
Western freedoms, human rights,
comforts and medicine (anesthesia!)
to risk going back in time! But if I
had to? Probably way back to the
primeval past - perhaps to see what
the world was like at the end of the
Cambrian explosion. |
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 Training
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• Training
for staff and research students at LSE
Staff courses scheduled for next week include:
- Effective writing at work
- One-to-one IT training
- Moodle basics
- Moodle next steps
- Recruitment and selection
- Grammar and punctuation essentials
For a full schedule and further details, including booking information,
please see www.lse.ac.uk/training. |
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 Media
bites
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• Daily Mail (13 January 2011)
Thanks for propping up the euro French tell Cameron as Britain is
described as 'solid partner'
the European Union does not have the funds to rescue such a big economy
as it did Ireland and Greece, said Professor Christopher Pissarides, of
LSE. Spain’s demise would be ‘a very serious problem’ and ‘might even
see the end of the euro’, he said.
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• The
Guardian (8 January 2011)
For an independent south Sudan, finding a new name is just the start
Denisa Kostovicova, a lecturer in global politics at the London School
of Economics, agreed. 'The biggest lesson of Kosovo is that independence
can open a lot of problems if they are not sorted out in advance and can
spoil independence,' she said. 'Independence then becomes part of the
problem.'
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• The Economist ( 7 January 2011)
Momentum in financial markets: Why Newton was wrong
Paul Woolley of LSE has suggested that momentum might result from an
agency problem. Investors reward fund managers who have recently beaten
the market; such fund managers will inevitably own the most popular
shares. As they get more money from clients, such managers will put more
money into their favoured stocks, giving momentum an extra boost.
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