• LSE ranked top university in London in Guardian university guide

The School was also named the UK’s fourth best university in the 2012 Guardian university guide.

• How well did you sleep last night?

• Dr Andrew Walter

Andrew, originally from a small town in Western Australia, is a reader in the Department of International Relations and an academic director of TRIUM, which will be celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

• LSE ranked top university in London in Guardian University Guide

LSE has been ranked as the top university in London and the UK’s fourth best university in the 2012 Guardian University Guide, a rise of four places compared to its position in the 2011 guide.

The result is particularly notable as the Guardian rankings do not take into account research quality, an area where LSE performs very strongly.

Professor Judith Rees, Director of LSE, said: 'We are very pleased with being rated as the top university in London, especially as the Guardian rankings tend to be focused on teaching and the student experience. As this guide and others have shown, the School invests significant resources to improve our facilities and the overall student experience, while our graduates continue to have outstanding job prospects and starting salaries.'

• LSE begins search for a new Director

The School has begun the search for a new Director by convening the Directorship Selection Committee. It comprises nine members including staff, members of the Court of Governors and the Students’ Union General Secretary.

LSE has appointed executive search agency Perrett Laver to work with the Committee.

The Committee will consult with Council, members of the Court and academic staff before making a recommendation to Council.

There will be further announcements later.

The members of LSE’s Directorship Selection Committee are:

• Peter Sutherland, Chair of the Court of Governors, ex officio
• Anne Lapping, Vice Chair of the Court of Governors, ex officio
• Lord Grabiner of Aldwych, independent Governor, nominated by the Court
• Johannes Huth, independent Governor, nominated by the Court
• George Gaskell, Pro Director, nominated by the Academic Board
• Paul Kelly, academic Governor, nominated by the Academic Board
• Chrisanthi Avgerou, member of the Academic Board, nominated by the Academic Board
• Leonardo Felli, member of the Academic Board, nominated by the Academic Board
• General secretary of the LSE Students’ Union
   

• LSE Stelios scholar shines at International Student Awards

Vyacheslav ‘Slava’ Polonski (pictured), a BSc Management student and LSE Stelios scholar, was named runner-up in the nationwide 2011 British Council's Shine! International Student Awards, competing against over 1,200 students from 118 countries.

The awards are a major initiative from the British Council that shines the spotlight on international students and their contributions to life in the UK. A judging panel met last month to discuss the merits of short-listed entries and Vyacheslav’s entry was judged to be one of London’s best.

Vyacheslav said: ‘It’s a great honour for me to receive this recognition from the British Council. The dynamic and thrilling city of London has given me new intercultural experiences, while LSE has broadened my horizon and inspired me to think outside the box. I thank my parents, my friends, LSE and the British Council for enabling me to walk down the right path and pursue my dreams.’

• MPs adopt LSE IDEAS' suggestions for reinvigorating UK foreign policy

The House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee has drawn heavily on evidence presented by an LSE team in a new report which calls for the role of the Foreign Office (FCO) to be protected and strengthened.

LSE IDEAS, the research centre for international affairs, diplomacy and strategy, had presented MPs with written evidence that Britain's standing abroad would suffer unless the FCO was put back at the centre of UK government.

• LSE announces its new Honorary Fellows

LSE welcomes four new Honorary Fellows this year.

Eileen Barker (pictured), Professor Emeritus of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion at LSE, is among those becoming an Honorary Fellow. Also being honoured are Tharman Shanmugaratnam, minister for finance in Singapore, Angela Mason, deputy leader of Camden Council, and Audrey Eu, a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

• LSE marks the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia

On Tuesday 17 May members of Spectrum, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) staff network at LSE, spent the lunch hour distributing flyers to mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. They also engaged in some subtle direct action, with same-sex hand-holding on Houghton Street.

'Although great strides towards equality have been taken over the last 15 years in the UK, we wanted to highlight the fact that human rights for LGBT people remain elusive in much of the world.

'This is important in an international school like LSE, where people come with very different attitudes. The event was a success and we got some very positive and encouraging feedback from students and staff alike,' said Carl Hornsey, chair of Spectrum.

• LSE shares ideas at the World Economic Forum Regional Summit on Africa

On Friday 6 May, Thandika Mkandawire (pictured), the chair in African Development, and John Page of the International Growth Centre (IGC) took part in an IdeasLab at the World Economic Forum Regional Summit on Africa in Cape Town.

In a demonstration of LSE’s newest institutional partnership, they joined forces with two academics from the University of Cape Town (UCT), Nicoli Nattrass (director, AIDS and Society Research Unit) and Edgar Pieterse (director, Centre for Cities in Africa) to discuss the topic, 'Sustaining Africa’s Growth Path.'

The vice-chancellor of UCT, Dr Max Price, introduced the event and the audience joined in lively discussion with the panel after their presentations.

Professor Mkandawire said: 'It was good to have had this opportunity to present academic ideas to interested global leaders from the world of business and elsewhere. I was also pleased to share the stage with my colleagues from UCT alongside John Page, and am sure that the partnership with UCT will develop in lots more ways that are mutually beneficial and reflect LSE’s commitment to the African Initiative.'

• LSE student completes training for trek to the South Pole

In December 2011 Garrick Hileman (pictured), a postgraduate student in the Department of Economic History at LSE, will be part of the team 'Polar Vision' who will trek from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole to inspire blind and partially sighted people and raise awareness and funds for two sight-related charities.

The team recently completed its first major milestone. It braved arctic weather conditions in Iqaluit, North Canada, to complete polar expedition training.

A video from the training expedition can be watched at http://vimeo.com/23681563 or you can read the blog at http://polar-vision.org/blog/?id=134.

• How well did you sleep last night?

Sleep is as important to our health as eating, drinking and breathing; poor sleep can increase the risks of having poor health. A recent report produced by the Mental Health Foundation found that poor sleep can significantly increase the risk of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2011, which runs from 23 to 30 May, LSE's Health and Safety team have arranged for Dr Dan Robotham, senior researcher with the Mental Health Foundation, to give a lunchtime talk on the impact of sleep on mental health and how to achieve better quality sleep.

The talk is open to all staff and students and will take place on Wednesday 25 May from 12-1pm in the Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building. To book your place, visit the Training and Development Portal, and email health.and.safety@lse.ac.uk for more information.
 

• Call for applications under the partnership PhD mobility bursaries 2011-12

Applications are invited from LSE PhD students for mobility bursaries to visit one of the School's institutional partners (Columbia University (New York), the National University of Singapore (NUS), Peking University (Beijing), Sciences Po (Paris), or the University of Cape Town) in order to work informally with an advisor on their PhD thesis, research and/or on related publications and presentations, and to introduce them to the academic culture, professional contacts, and employment opportunities of another country/region.

For 2011-12, up to 10 bursaries are on offer to visit one of the five partner institutions listed above. For any one partner institution, up to two flat rate bursaries of £2,500 are available.

Students registered for PhD studies at any LSE department and who have already been upgraded to full doctoral student status are eligible to apply. Each visit should be a minimum of two months and a maximum of three months in duration.

Full details about the bursaries, including application procedures, can be found here. Any further enquiries should be directed to academic_partnerships@lse.ac.uk.

• LSE academic to exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

Dr David Stainforth of LSE's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Centre for the Analysis of Time Series, is leading the preparation of an exhibit at this year's Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, which runs from 5-10 July.

The exhibit is entitled 'Confidence from Uncertainty: interpreting climate predictions' and aims to explore how we make and communicate predictions, how and when we can deduce probabilities, and the role of computer models in these processes. It will focus on climate change where basic physics is enough to highlight the severity of the problem but forecasting the details is one of today’s grand scientific challenges.

The exhibit will be brought to life via a combination of interactive computer based probability games and hands on physical games. The team hopes to then develop the exhibit into an ongoing interactive website, encouraging people to engage with the characteristics of different forms of confidence and uncertainty in relation to climate science.

More information will be posted on the exhibit page as the project progresses.

• Managers should be assessed on work-life balance

Managers' performance appraisals should include their effectiveness in helping employees achieve a good work-life balance, according to new research from LSE.

The study, by Alexandra Beauregard of LSE's Department of Management, found that even if options such as flexible working hours and help with childcare are available to employees, this does little to reduce stress unless there is positive endorsement from managers.

• Research opportunities

• Research e-Briefing

• 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.

• New LSE events....

A lecture by Traian Băsescu, president of Romania
On: Monday 6 June at 5.15-6.15pm. The venue will be announced to ticketholders.
Speaker: Traian Băsescu (pictured).
This event is free and open to all, but a ticket is required. One ticket per person can be requested on Friday 27 May.

• Other events include....

The Lessons of Northern Ireland for Contemporary Counterterrorism and Conflict Resolution Policy
On: Monday 23 May at 6.30-8pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building.
Speaker: Professor Richard English, professor of politics and, from September 2011, director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews, Martin Mansergh, an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and historian, Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to prime minister Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007 and member of the LSE IDEAS advisory board, and David Trimble, Conservative Peer and Nobel Peace Laureate.

An Economist Tries to Grapple with Catastrophic Climate Change
On: Tuesday 24 May at 6.30-8pm in the New Theatre, East Building.
Speaker: Professor Martin Weitzman, professor of economics at Harvard University.

• Spectrum events

Spectrum, the School’s LGBT staff network, has two upcoming events to which all staff are invited:

Thursday 19 May
The Spectrum Committee will be hosting a drinks reception outside the Wolfson Theatre in the NAB from 5-6pm as part of the Gay Liberation Front at 40 Conference, which the School is hosting. Please do come along and join us.

Wednesday 25 May, 6-7.30pm, NAB LG.03
Talk and discussion - Does coming out in the workplace help or hinder your career? With Dr Ashley Steel of KPMG, the most visibly out lesbian in the City, and David Christmas, the director of Student and Registry Services at SOAS.

• The Self in Context: social, cultural and historical perspectives

Institute of Social Psychology 12th graduate conference
Friday 3 June
Speakers: Professor Jonathan Potter, Loughborough University, Dr Gail Moloney, Southern Cross University, Australia, and Dr Derek Hook, Birkbeck College.

The aim of this conference is to bring together contemporary research, theory and practice on the social, cultural and historical dynamics that contribute to the constitution of the self on a societal level.

European social psychology has been making the case for social psychology beyond the dichotomy of individual/society. It emphasises the all-encompassing force of the social environment and with it the study of social dynamics in their own right as they affect, and are affected by, the individuals of the particular society. This conference seeks to explore this trend by encouraging greater communication between the social sciences, and will provide a forum for scientists from a wide range of disciplines such as social psychology, sociology, anthropology, psychoanalysis and cultural studies.

To register, visit the LSE E-Shop. Registration costs £25. For more information, click here.
 

• Podcasts of public lectures and events

Pakistan: a hard country
Speaker: Professor Anatol Lieven
Recorded: Monday 9 May, approx 85 minutes
Click here to listen

A World Without Superpowers: de-centered globalism
Speaker: Professor Barry Buzan
Recorded: Tuesday 10 May, approx 92 minutes
Click here to listen

Nicole wants to hear from you!

Do you have some news, an achievement, or an aspect of LSE life that you would like to share? If so, then I would love to hear from you, contact me at n.gallivan@lse.ac.uk or on ext 7582.

The next edition of Staff News is on Thursday 26 May. Articles for this should be emailed to me by Tuesday 24 May. Staff News is emailed every Thursday during term time and fortnightly during the holidays.