• Jolly good fellows

Professor Simon Hix, Professor Martin Loughlin, Professor Andrea Prat and Professor Odd Arne Westad are four of only 38 academics to be elected Fellows of the British Academy this year.

• Do you have an idea about how to make LSE a better place to work in?

Then why not put it to Bright Ideas - the School's staff suggestions scheme - which aims to harness your good ideas and thoughts.

• Dr Siva Thambisetty

Dr Thambisetty, LSE's first Regional Champion for India, grew up in a small university town near Calicut, Kerala, and wanted to be an astronaut when she was younger.

• Four LSE academics elected Fellows of the British Academy

Professor Simon Hix, Professor Martin Loughlin, Professor Andrea Prat and Professor Odd Arne Westad are four of only 38 academics to be elected Fellows of the British Academy this year.

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the promotion of the humanities and social sciences. It is an independent, self-governing body of more than 900 Fellows, including Marina Warner, Seamus Heaney, Eric Hobsbawm and Lord Bragg.

• Customer First and Investors in People accreditations

At the end of June 2011, the Estates Division, Finance Division, Residential and Catering Services were all awarded Customer First accreditation. The combined Finance and Facilities Division (Estates, Finance, Residential and Catering Services) were also successfully reassessed for the Investors in People accreditation, which was first awarded in 2003. Both assessments were co-ordinated by Ian Spencer, director of Residential Services.

Customer First is an assessment standard for service excellence. It is about meeting customer expectations on a consistent basis and developing an organisational culture that puts customers at the heart of what it does. All four areas were awarded full compliance status at their first attempt.

The Investors in People standard helps organisations transform their business performance and provides a framework for continuous development.

Mike Ferguson, director of the Finance Division, said: ‘I am pleased that the assessor recognised the commitment and quality of service of the Finance Division, and this has provided some useful pointers to ways of further improving the division, which we're now working on. I am also grateful to the people who put together the assessment and assisted the assessor.’

• LSE Keynes v Hayek debate to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4

More than 1,000 people attended the BBC Radio 4 debate Keynes v Hayek hosted by LSE on Tuesday 26 July.

The theatre was packed with over 460 people, and more than 450 people were accommodated in other theatres where the debate was being streamed live.

Keynes and Hayek, two of the great economic thinkers of the 20th century, had sharply contrasting views on how to handle financial crises and ensure economic recovery. While Keynes advocated state spending, Hayek believed in tight debt controls.

The event saw modern day followers of Keynes, Lord Skidelsky, emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Warwick, and Duncan Weldon, former Bank of England economist, debating with modern day followers of Hayek, George Selgin, professor of economics at the University of Georgia, and Jamie Whyte, head of research and publication at Oliver Wyman & Company. The debate was chaired by Paul Mason, economics editor of Newsnight, BBC 2.

• The graduation day story

Graduation is one of the best and busiest times of the year for students and staff at LSE, and the latest film from the 'Stories from LSE' series tells the story of a graduation day through the eyes of Rachel Leighton and her family.

A student in social policy, Rachel graduated last year with a 2:1 and was joint winner of the Janet Beveridge award for conspicuous achievement in final examinations.

The film takes viewers through the day, from gown fitting and graduation photograph to getting her degree from Sir Howard Davies, then director of the School.

Rachel is keen to put her experience to good use and encourage greater participation in higher education following graduation. 'What I really want to get into is widening participation to universities - getting children from non-traditional backgrounds into higher education,' she says.

• LSE student shortlisted in the first Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards

Vyacheslav ‘Slava’ Polonski (pictured), a BSc Management student and LSE Stelios scholar, has been recognised for his outstanding entrepreneurial business ideas at the first ever Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards. Vyacheslav was shortlisted from applications received from all 50 Santander partner universities by a panel of experts including members of universities and Santander.

Vyacheslav’s business proposal was for ‘Robopitch’, a fully automated guitar tuner designed for a pleasant and pure guitar sound experience. It is a unique technological invention that is able to tune automatically any type of guitar to standard or more complex tuning settings, and was designed and patented by the team. The device also provides several additional functions to show how to play the guitar or to bring to perfection one's playing skills. With this innovative business product, Vyacheslav and his team became national champions in the Netherlands and came second in the European finals of BearingPoint's flagship competition on entrepreneurship last month.

• LSE academic speaks at first European Parliament debate on paternity leave

At the end of June 2011, the first European Fathers Congress took place in Brussels at the European Parliament. The aim of this was to debate the call for a European minimum standard of fully paid paternity leave.

Dr Konstantina Davaki (pictured) of LSE Health was invited as the only academic speaker to report on the need for the introduction of a European paternity leave. Dr Davaki’s basic arguments were based on fathers' right to work, as well as the right to become carers on the basis of the European Union's proclaimed commitment to gender equality and the promotion of work-life balance. Dr Davaki stressed the importance of fathers' presence in the first months of their babies' lives, the health, economic and social benefits of paternity leave, and the need to see its introduction as a social investment. Finally she focused on the importance of policies in shaping attitudes and gender roles.

• Voluntary Leavers Scheme

This is a reminder that the School is running a Voluntary Leavers Scheme, available to all staff, on a time limited basis. The closing date is 18 November 2011.

The scheme has been set up to enable LSE to meet a number of challenges over the next few years. The School needs to ensure that it has the right skills in the right places to address these challenges successfully. This simple scheme will allow a re-balancing between the skills and interests of staff and the future needs of the School.

This is not a redundancy scheme and it is not targeted at any one group of staff, division or department. It is not driven by the need to make savings. Indeed, the School does not anticipate making any redundancies for financial reasons in the foreseeable future. Rather, the LSE Voluntary Leavers Scheme is broad brush, flexible and open to all. Eligible members of staff who leave under the scheme will receive a generous financial package that includes Career Transitions Support.

The scheme is voluntary on the part of the individual and discretionary on the part of the School: only cases of mutual benefit will be approved.

• Deadline for Michaelmas term Events leaflet approaching

If you are organising an event and want it listed in the Michaelmas term Events leaflet please send the following details to pressoffice@lse.ac.uk by Thursday 4 August:

• date, time (from and to)
• venue
• banner
• title of event
• speaker's title and name
• chair's title and name (if applicable)
• short blurb about the event (20-25 words)
• short biography on speaker (15 words)
• contact details if not being handled by Conferences as part of the Public Lecture Programme
• A high resolution image of the speaker if possible (please note that if we have a particularly large number of events we may not be able to include all the images submitted).

• Tell us about your bright idea

Have you ever thought of a really good idea about how to make LSE a better place to work in, but didn't know how to take it forward?

If so, why not put it to Bright Ideas - the School's staff suggestions scheme - which aims to harness your good ideas and thoughts. The scheme is coordinated by a small group of volunteers from across the School and supported by the secretary and director of administration.

Our aim is to help LSE become an employer of choice, that listens closely and responds to staff interests and ideas. You may see your idea become reality, and there is even a small, discretionary fund to reward exceptional ideas.

If you have a 'bright idea', tell us about it using the suggestion form.
 

• Campus re-numbering

This Summer, the School will continue to improve signage throughout the campus, following the success of the new campus numbering system within the Old Building and the introduction of intuitive building codes to all buildings. A full list of affected buildings can be viewed on the Estates webpage.

Implementation of this new system will mean that the room numbers within each building will change in the following ways:

• The single letter prefix allocated to each building will be removed from all room numbers, as it has been replaced by a three letter prefix. This new prefix will not appear on the door signs, though will precede room numbers when written on web pages, within documents or on timetables.

• The first digit of the room number indicates the floor level, followed by a decimal point and then the allocated room number.

• In corridors, numbering will be in sequence as you travel through the corridor i.e. across and down the corridor rather than consecutive numbers along one side and then another.

The majority of numbers in publications and on web pages will be updated automatically, though Estates do require the help of departments to manage and update their own websites and documents accordingly.

For more information regarding the new numbering system, including change schedules and updated plans, visit the Estates webpage. If you have any queries, email Phil Newsham at p.newsham@lse.ac.uk.
 

• Get your nominations in….

Nominations for Honorary Doctorate are now invited.

The LSE Council may award an Honorary Doctorate on ‘persons who have made an outstanding contribution to the increased understanding, or appreciation of “the causes of things” and their practical application in the social sciences or related fields.’

The deadline for nominations is Friday 18 November. A further call for nominations will be issued next term. This reminder will hopefully give you a chance to think about possible nominations well in advance of the deadline.

• Here to help - LSE's Staff Counselling Service

The LSE Staff Counselling Service aims to support all staff in their work, whether full or part time.

A number of staff have already accessed and benefitted from the opportunity to look at personal or work difficulties in a confidential space. The service can offer quick access and a range of appointment times.

If you would like discuss any issue, complete an online registration form on the website, email staff.counselling@lse.ac.uk, or call 020 7955 6953.
 

• 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.

• Times, Raconteur ‘Future Cities’ supplement (25 July 2011)
Living in the Endless City
As the world’s urban population grows planners must avoid mistakes of the past in order to better serve those that dwell in these cities.
Article by Professor Ricky Burdett, professor of urban studies at LSE and director of LSE Cities.
 

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 11 August. Articles for this should be emailed to me by Tuesday 9 August. Staff News is emailed every Thursday during term time and fortnightly during the holidays.