Green roof installed on campus

LSE has installed a green roof on top of the Plaza Café, following a successful Sustainable Projects Fund bid from three students.

LSE Chill

Don't miss our talented staff and students performing at the last LSE Chill for this academic year on Friday 25 May from 5.30pm in the Fourth Floor Café Bar.

Daniel Fisher

Daniel, research awards manager, is performing at tomorrow's LSE Chill and would like to have the brain of Darwin, Elgar, Hawking, Chomsky and Krugman, all rolled into one.

LSE has risen to third place in the latest Guardian University Guide.

The Guide shows a rise in six of the School's subject rankings, including Anthropology, which rose from fifth to first, History, from tenth to second, and Law, from fifth to second. It also shows a big rise in the School's average teaching score, which rose to an impressive 93.9 from 84.7.

The Guide sees LSE rise from fourth in last year’s rankings and from eighth the year before that. The University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford are ranked above LSE in first and second place, with the University of St Andrews and the University of Warwick listed as fourth and fifth.

The Guardian University Guide 2013 is available to view here.
 

Dr Giles Atkinson (pictured), reader in environmental policy, has been appointed as a member of the Natural Capital Committee.

Dr Atkinson is one of five members to be appointed to the committee, which aims to provide independent expert advice on the state of English natural capital. The committee is designed to ensure that the government has a better understanding of the value of natural capital, and will help it to prioritise actions to support and improve the UK’s natural assets.

Reporting to the Economic Affairs Committee and the Chancellor, the Natural Capital Committee has the opportunity to influence the economic policy of the UK for the good of the natural environment.

Dr Atkinson said: 'This independent committee is an exciting innovation, not only for UK environmental policy, but also as a contribution to the important process of putting natural capital at the heart of government decision-making more generally.'

Danny Quah (pictured), professor of economics and Kuwait Professor of Economics and International Development, has been awarded the 2011 best article prize by the Global Policy and the Global Public Policy Network.

The article, The Global Economy’s Shifting Centre of Gravity (volume two, issue one, January 2011), finds that in 1980 the global economy’s centre of gravity was mid-Atlantic, yet by 2008 that centre had drifted to a location east of Helsinki and Bucharest. Extrapolating growth in almost 700 locations worldwide, the article projects the world’s economic centre of gravity to be located between India and China by 2050.

From its January publication, the full text of the article had been downloaded close to 9,500 times in 2011 alone.

Professor Quah said: 'I'm honoured that this distinguished group of scholars and practitioners have found my research useful. The paper itself straddles spheres of practical ideas and intricate empirical research. I hope it's been able to represent the best of what the journal and network seek to achieve across these same spheres of thinking.'

LSE has installed a green roof on top of the Plaza Café, following a successful Sustainable Projects Fund (SPF) bid from three students.

Two years ago, Olivier Scialom, Sidharth Gopalan and Stanislav Bic entered their proposal to the SPF, which welcomes applications from students and staff for projects which are dedicated to advancing sustainability both at LSE and beyond campus. The project was approved, and with help from Phil Newsham, project manager from LSE’s Capital Development team, the green roof has been successfully installed.

Since the last edition of Staff News, another staff member has got in touch to tell us how she is getting involved in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games:

• Jane Appleton, Resources and Innovation Group Admin Office, has accepted a way-finder role for the Olympic canoe slalom events at the Lee Valley White Water Rafting Centre.

Forward planning for the Olympics

With the Olympics only nine weeks away and LSE being in a very central location, the logistics of the School will need to change for the Olympic and Paralympic periods.

If you need to order supplies or stationery, send mailouts, arrange couriers etc, please try to arrange all of this well before the Games start.

London will be very busy and many things will either run very slowly or stop altogether. Some departments have already set deadlines for deliveries and such like, so if you have the opportunity to also employ this tactic, then please do so.

The Post Room will be extending its opening hours to be more flexible so it would be appreciated if departments could be flexible with us. We will be sending out more reminders within the next few weeks but please take a moment to get the process started.

Are you drafting an impact case study for inclusion in REF2014, or thinking about writing one? The School is holding the second of its workshops for impact case study authors on Friday 1 June from 1-3.15pm in room OLD3.21, Old Building.

The event will:

• Provide an update on impact case studies - what we think is required
• Outline the ways in which the School can provide support to departments/writers
• Provide the opportunity for reflections on emerging case studies - ideas about what could work and a chance for case study writers to share their case studies and get feedback on them from others.

Heads of departments and departmental REF coordinators who are not also case study writers, may wish to come along for the first part of the meeting.

LSE - Sciences Po Faculty Mobility Scheme

LSE and Sciences Po have launched a scheme which gives academics the chance to spend up to three months teaching at the other institution, from the 2012-13 academic year.

The scheme aims to help meet teaching needs and to develop further the exchange of ideas and expertise.

To make the scheme as flexible as possible there are two options: for a one month visit and for longer visits of three months. Each option includes minimum requirements for teaching students and for advising PhD candidates.

Participants will continue to receive their normal salary and a travel grant from their home institution. They will also receive a subsistence allowance or salary from the host institution.

The LSESU Gym is offering LSE staff a special summer membership deal. Join up or renew your membership before the end of May for four months and receive two extra months free.

The LSESU Gym is a well equipped and fully staffed facility located on the first floor of the East Building. Take advantage of the quiet summer months in the gym and get in shape at the same time. An induction session is required before using the facility and personal training is also available at £15 per hour.

This week's picture features the very first skip fit lesson, run by LSE security officer Daniel Beckley. The lessons are free and open to all staff and students. More sessions will take place throughout the summer and during Michaelmas term. For more information, email Daniel at d.beckley@lse.ac.uk. For more images like this, visit the Photography Unit.

A new study involving LSE research reveals the level that ‘sexting’ has reached among teenagers, with schoolgirls facing increasing pressure to provide sexually explicit pictures of themselves.

The qualitative study based on a focus group and in-depth interviews with 35 young people shows that while they are increasingly savvy at protecting themselves from so called ‘stranger danger’ they are having to face a new problem of ‘peer to peer’ approaches where boys constantly demand sexual images.

While some girls are developing sophisticated techniques to deal with this pressure, others are left struggling to cope and feel unsure of what to do.

Upcoming LSE events include....

The Emerging Left in the 'Emerging' World
On: Monday 28 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and executive secretary of International Development Economics Associates.

Seasons in the Sun
On: Monday 28 May at 6.30pm in the New Theatre, East Building
Speaker: Dominic Sandbrook (pictured), author, reviewer and columnist.

Kiss of the Dragon? China’s Geoeconomic Strategy in a Changing Global Order
On: Tuesday 29 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speakers: Jonathan Fenby, former editor of the Observer and the South China Morning Post, Guy De Jonquieres, senior fellow at the European Centre for Political Economy, and Linda Yueh, director of the China Growth Centre and a fellow in economics at the University of Oxford.

On Immortality
On: Wednesday 30 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speakers: Dr Stephen Cave, philosopher and writer, and Professor John Gray, emeritus professor of European thought at LSE.

Come and watch our talented students and staff perform at the last LSE Chill for this academic year. The session is this Friday (25 May) from 5.30pm in the Fourth Floor Café Bar and the event is open all.

The line up for the evening is as follows:

6-6.30pm Michael Brenner
Michael Brenner is a postgraduate student in the Department of Philosophy and an American musician, who has performed over 200 shows throughout America with his former band The Mad Hatters. He will be playing music by The Grateful Dead, Paul Simon, original compositions, and maybe even some Bach on the guitar. Eva Huebner will accompany him with vocals on a few tunes.

6.45-7.15pm Veronique Mizgailo
On campus Veronique can be found in the Directorate. Veronique has a classical singing background, having sung with a number of choirs, most notably the London Philharmonic Choir and the English Chamber Choir, and has given numerous recitals. In search of a new challenge she is exploring jazz and less mainstream popular music and, accompanied by Andy Thornes who is a professional musician and songwriter, she will be performing a selection of standards and classic pop ballads. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/veroniquemizgailo.

7.30-8pm Daniel Fisher
Daniel has performed all over the Midwest and the West Coast in the US. His band Ros Coe Tanner is a London based band and has performed throughout the London scene. He will be performing an acoustic set of original songs inspired by Midwest music.

We’re still looking for acts to perform during the year. If you are interested in performing, email arts@lse.ac.uk with your name and details of your act. For more information, visit www.lse.ac.uk/arts.
 

On: Tuesday 29 May from 12.30-2pm in the Thai Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Dr Matthew Desmond (pictured), assistant professor of sociology at Harvard.

At this lunchtime lecture, Dr Desmond will explore the prevalence and ramifications of eviction in the lives of the urban poor in the US.

Eviction is commonplace in inner-city black neighbourhoods and women are evicted at significantly higher rates than men. A qualitative analysis of ethnographic data based on fieldwork among evicted tenants and their landlords reveals multiple mechanisms propelling this discrepancy.

Risk Communication in Health Information Needs and Communication Strategies for Public Health Incidents

On: Tuesday 29 May from 1-2.30pm in room KSW 3.01, 20 Kingsway
Speaker: Dr Petra Dickmann (pictured), research fellow at LSE.

Information and communication are critical to the successful management of public health incidents. But what are effective strategies to communicate with the public? And is the public really prone to panic when responding to health threats?

This talk presents two studies in order to answer these questions. One is a literature review about the healthcare seeking behaviour and information needs of patients. The second is an empirical investigation during the first days of the Influenza Pandemic 2009 ('Swine Flu') at an international airport aiming to understand the information needs of the public and effective communication strategies of public health authorities.

The research findings contribute to a shift in the organisational and communicative approach to responding to major public health incidents and are relevant for future risk communication and policy decision-making. More
 

Podcasts of public lectures and events

The Future of the Left: the case of the United States
Speaker: Professor Eli Zaretsky
Recorded: Monday 14 May, approx 90 minutes
Click here to listen

The Architecture of the Olympics
Speakers: Andy Altman, Professor Ricky Burdett, Jim Eyre, Zaha Hadid, and Michael Taylor
Recorded: Tuesday 15 May, approx 109 minutes
Click here to listen

Courses scheduled for next week include:

• Getting to Grips with Office 2010
• Keeping Up To Date: tools and tips for your research
• Managing your References using Bibliographic Tools
• Writing for Blogs
• Equality and Diversity for Non Managers
• Performance Development Review: making it happen and doing it well

Below are some of the vacancies currently being advertised to internal candidates only, as well as those being advertised externally.

• Assistant language co-ordinator (Mandarin), Language Centre
• Deputy payroll manager, HR Services
• Editor/researcher, Government
• Equality and diversity adviser (maternity cover), PCPD: legal and compliance team
• Events executive, Conference and Events
• LSE fellow in economics, Economics
• LSE fellow in international political economy, International Relations
• LSE fellow in international strategy and diplomacy, International Relations
• LSE fellow in public policy and administration, Government
• LSE fellow in statistics, Statistics
• LSE fellows in international history, International History
• LSE fellowships in management, Management
• LSE fellowships in management (EROB), Management
• MSc programme administrator, Management: EROB group
• Research assistant, Grantham Research Institute
• Senior lecturer in health policy, Social Policy
• Web developer, IT Services

Erik, who did the same challenge last year, said: 'I'm very much looking forward to doing it again. Mind is doing fantastic work in England and Wales to support people and carers who struggle with mental health problems.'

To sponsor Erik, visit his fundraising page.

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 31 May. Articles for this should be emailed to me by Tuesday 29 May. Staff News is emailed every Thursday during term time and fortnightly during the holidays.