The UK’s European university UNIVERSITY OF KENT/ ANNUAL REVIEW 2013 CONTENTS 1 Introduction by the Vice-Chancellor 2 News highlights 12 Making a difference 20 Faculty updates 26 Outstanding people 30 Books 32 Transforming our students’ future 34 Institutional strategic plan 36 Financial performance 38 Awards, appointments, promotions, deaths 40 Principal officers www.kent.ac.uk 1 INTRODUCTION For the entire English Higher Education sector, 2013 was dominated by three themes: how institutions would fare when recruiting the second cohort of undergraduates under the higher fees regime; how the provision of education will change to embrace new technology; and preparation for the next review of research excellence across the UK. These topics are highly relevant to our work infrastructure for our students and staff to able to sustain the recruitment of high-quality at Kent as they challenge us to consider what embrace technology. Our investment in students through promoting this approach to we offer as a university, how we deliver our facilities is a result of careful financial education. education and our research. We have management: the University is in good responded well, and I am pleased to tell you financial health and uses this to improve Throughout 2013, preparations were made that the University remains a successful everything we do. for a number of significant new initiatives institution. Our student recruitment is strong, which will bear fruit in future years. The among undergraduates and postgraduates, As a major employer, and cultural force, University negotiated a major new research from the UK and overseas. We are a dynamic the University is an integral part of the collaboration, with the universities of Essex institution making innovative use of communities in which it works, with our and East Anglia, to form the ‘Eastern ARC’ technology, and we have put together a strong sponsorship of the Brompton Academy (p3) which will undertake joint research submission of research and impact for the in Medway (p19) as a demonstration of projects and research training. Kent is also Research Excellence Framework. how we make a difference in the region. With one of a small number of prestigious regular short talks at Canterbury’s newly universities to be awarded a ‘Q-Step’ Centre The 2013 results from the National Student re-opened Beaney museum (p9) and an (p8) which aims to transform the teaching Survey showed that 90 per cent of our final- extensive programme of events, exhibitions of quantitative skills in the social sciences. year undergraduates were satisfied with their and open lectures, Kent has welcomed experience at Kent (see p7). Our consistently thousands of visitors to share in the The University will soon mark its 50th good satisfaction scores, as well as our educational and cultural experience of the anniversary and it does so able to celebrate excellent research and investment in facilities, University. We also launched a new initiative its proud history, to recognise its recent resulted – for the first time – in Kent securing a for public engagement in research (p10), achievements, and to look positively to an top 20 position in the Guardian’s league table something which will strengthen our already inspiring future. Whatever your association (p6). We do not rest on our laurels, however, strong commitment to achieving positive with the University, I hope this report brings and we worked throughout 2013 to refresh our impacts for our research. Kent’s commitment you pride and confidence in all that we do, programmes and our campuses. At Medway, to the arts – particularly music, theatre and as well as looking forward to continued for example, we have developed new creative fine art – resulted in shortlisting for a collaboration and progress as we reflect on and professional programmes to reflect the prestigious Times Higher Education Award what the next 50 years may hold. campus’ focus including new cross-school (p6) for excellence in this area. initiatives. A review of provision at Paris will result in year-round activity at the centre for Kent’s transformational impact comes from our the first time. teaching, community engagement, and from our research. Preparations for the Research We broke ground in summer 2013 on a major Excellence Framework progressed throughout extension to the Templeman Library (p8) at the year for submission in November and the Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow the heart of the Canterbury campus. As well University was able to invest in new academic Vice-Chancellor as new and refurbished buildings, we have posts in order to strengthen the breadth and invested in technology, including lecture- depth of research; our research partnerships, capture facilities, which enable students to which have been strengthened in the year, are learn in flexible ways. With the roll-out of essential for our ability to make a positive wireless internet across our campuses difference in the world. At Kent, teaching and and residences, we have provided the research are interwoven and we have been 2 UNIVERSITY OF KENT / ANNUAL REVIEW 2013 NEWS HIGHLIGHTS www.kent.ac.uk 3 NEWS HIGHLIGHTS/ INSPIRING RESEARCH Eastern ARC – Kent forms new project designed to analyse the global system research consortium of rendition, secret detention and torture initiated by the USA. The new database The universities of East Anglia, Essex and enables users to search for, and visualise, Kent have established a new research underlying data contained within the Rendition consortium. The Eastern Academic Research Project via an interactive map showing Consortium (ARC) will build on the universities’ rendition flights. Flight data underpinning existing research and partnership activities to the database is collated from more than 40 become a significant new force in research countries. and research training. Launched in May 2012, the Rendition Project As part of the agreement, the three is part of wider research to collate and universities will strengthen their current analyse huge amounts of data on the global collaboration in the natural and environmental rendition system. Funded by the Economic sciences and the arts and humanities, and and Social Research Council, it is led by Dr develop new cross-disciplinary research. Ruth Blakeley in Kent’s School of Politics and The consortium has already signalled its International Relations and Dr Sam Raphael commitment to the agreement by funding nine of Kingston University. They work closely with Eastern ARC Fellows and 18 Eastern ARC Reprieve, a UK-based legal action charity. PhD studentships over a five-year period. New Komodo orchid identified East Anglia, Essex and Kent are among the Life-size puppet explores man’s universities established in the UK in the 1960s, links with objects A new species of orchid has been identified and today make a major contribution to the on the South East Asian island of Komodo UK’s university sector. Together, the three An impressive life-size puppet was attached to despite being wrongly named for the past universities have over 50,000 students, 2,000 a Kent student for two weeks in an exceptional 300 years. academic staff and more than 20 academic art project to explore the literal relationship departments in the top ten for research, people have with objects. According to research by Dr David Roberts according to the Government’s most recent of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Research Assessment Exercise. They have ‘LIFE-SIZE ME’, by Peter John-Morton from Ecology, the orchid – named Vanda perplexa – a combined annual turnover of £540m. the School of Arts, consisted of a self-made had originally been confused with other similar puppet permanently attached to his body for species but has only now been officially Shedding light on lost lion 14 consecutive days in March. During this identified and described as an entirely new time, the puppet chose a name, explored populations species. The orchid, which has big round pink Canterbury and slept, showered and lived flowers, large stems and grows on trees, is New research by conservationists from the through Peter. The puppet took more than from a group that is particularly popular with Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology 150 hours to make over an intensive six-week growers. has revealed that not only could the now- period. Made predominantly from wood and extinct Barbary Lion have persisted until the bamboo, its body comprised more than 34 1960s in North Africa, but also that this unique components, connected by bolts to replicate EC recognition for researcher sub-species was left unnoticed for over a joints and allowing it to move in a similar way development decade towards the end of its existence. to a human. The face of the puppet was a The University’s commitment to recruit, latex, skin-like replica of Peter’s face. develop and retain high-calibre research Published in open access journal, PLoS ONE, staff has been recognised with the European the research found authentic records of lions Kent-led research results in police Commission’s HR Excellence in Research existing in North Africa as late as 1956; Award. considerably later than the well-quoted probe into rendition flights accounts of the 1920s and 1940s. Using Revelations from a major Kent-led project The award focuses on the University’s information from old hunting records, have prompted Police Scotland to investigate implementation of specific actions which photographs, museum specimens, published use of the country’s airports for rendition deliver commitments to research excellence, articles and recent interviews, the research by flights. set out by the European Charter for Dr Simon Black and Dr David Roberts also Researchers and Code of Conduct for revealed a lion’s behaviour does not change The Rendition Project produced a new Recruitment. The award will be increasingly as populations get smaller.