The free magazine for The Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST UniLife 8th March 2004 Volume 1 Issue 2 Marketing Manchester Undergraduate Recruitment Campaign Launched 2 UniLife NewsDigest A summary of the key news in this issue Contents of UniLife: 3 Meeting the President 3 President and Vice-Chancellor-designate 4 News Professor Alan Gilbert has met with staff and outlined his vision for The University 6 Research of Manchester in a series of presentations. Professor Gilbert says that 8 Marketing Manchester the single institution should be `extraordinarily ambitious’ in its plans for the future. 10 People 11 Students 12 Profile UMIST’s famous old railway arches are to 7 be transformed into a £1m high-tech incubation unit for new businesses. 14 Project Unity – Transfer of Staff 18 What’s On 20 Seminars & Lectures A high-profile campaign to recruit 8 undergraduate students for entry to the new single university in 2005 has begun. 21 Vacancies, Noticeboard 22 Classified Ads 24 Just the Job Profile of Professor Rod Coombs Vice- 12 President for Innovation and Development at The University of Manchester Front cover photo by Howard Barlow 14 Project Unity: The principles for the transfer of staff to the new University that were agreed and first publicised in the Transfer of Staff document which provide the framework to ensure that everyone has a sense of belonging to the new institution, that there is a smooth transition and that issues can be dealt with as they arise and careers can be supported and sustained. UniLife 3 Meeting The President Staff from both the Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST have been meeting the President and Vice- Chancellor-designate of The University of Manchester, Professor Alan Gilbert, over the past couple of weeks. Since Professor Gilbert took up his post in mid-February, he has held four large-scale meetings with staff, at which he has outlined his vision for The University of Manchester. The meetings have also given staff the chance to ask Professor Gilbert questions about the coming together of the two universities. In his presentations, Professor Gilbert stressed that the single institution should be ‘extraordinarily ambitious’ in its plans for the future, and urged staff to ask themselves how the single university could be different to the two existing institutions. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to reinvent the university and people have a realistic opportunity to have an input into that,’ added Professor Gilbert at the meeting held for members of staff from the Faculty of Humanities. Professor Gilbert also said that he will be meeting with Heads of Schools and Departments over the coming months to ensure that views from staff were taken into account. If you missed the presentations, a webcast of one of them is available – just click on the weblink (see below). A special e-mail address has also been set up so that people can send in any questions which they may have about the creation of The University of Manchester - the e-mail address is project-unity- [email protected] www.mcc.ac.uk/mvss/streaming/livewebcast/ 4 UniLife News Prizing Your Views As part of their work in developing the Library Service of the new merged university, the John Rylands University Library of Manchester (JRULM), Careers Manchester Business School Library and UMIST Library and Information Service are joining forces to seek the views of staff and students of the Goes Global two universities. The activities of the joint VUM/UMIST Careers Service were recently broadcast around the world by CNN. The producer of their ‘Global Office’ programme used the web to research an item on psychometric testing and was directed to the Careers Service’s website, which is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. Interested in the role of psychometric tests in graduate recruitment they sent in a UK-based crew to film and interview students who were doing practice tests, run by the Careers Service. Careers Service Director, Jane Ratchford, said: "We are keen to be seen as journalist-friendly and to use the media to promote our work. As news broadcasters go, they don’t come much bigger than CNN, and their approach once again proves to us the value of making such a significant investment in web provision in order to maximise exposure and accessibility.’ As well as being able to say how you The confidential survey takes only ten think the libraries are performing, you minutes to complete online. Details have www.graduatecareersonline.co.uk will be able to say what you believe the already been be emailed to all staff and students of the Victoria University of minimum and the desired service levels Manchester and UMIST before the survey are. The new Library’s management begins on 8 March. Information is also team will use the results of the survey available on the libraries’ web sites. as a way of understanding which As a thank you, each person who services are of most importance to you, responds will also have the chance to and to tailor services to meet your needs win a prize. and expectations. http://rylibweb.man.ac.uk/ http://www.umist.ac.uk/departments/library/ UniLife 5 NWBA: a huge pool of opportunity for academics Departments at both universities Based in the Careers Service, North West placements for its students, NWBA looking for "real life" case studies Business Access (NWBA) encourages teamed up with the North West small businesses across the North West Aerospace Alliance to promote the and live projects in the business to recruit placement students and placements. A total of 14 companies came world for students, can get help graduates. Currently working with over forward offering a variety of projects, 550 developing businesses from a variety securing enough placements for all their from North West Business Access. of sectors, all are seeking ways of using students and making valuable contacts student talent to grow their business. within their industry across the region. NWBA can help with your immediate One of the NWBA team’s key skills is the requirements due to placement supply ability to translate the business need into shortfalls, or if you run programmes that an academic project, and vice versa. have a project or work–based element To find out more contact the NWBA and are looking for host businesses. team, on 275 4041 or e-mail Following a request from the Manchester [email protected]. NWBA is a School of Engineering’s to find part-funded ERDF project. www.businessaccess.ac.uk Looking Back Library Extension 1978 They say that you can judge a city’s Centre in the middle of the photograph. prosperity by the number of tower The Conference Centre was financed from cranes on its skyline. They are a regular a private benefaction. sight in Manchester today, but were much rarer when this photograph was The extra space created by the extension taken amidst the economic gloom of the was desperately needed by the Library to "Winter of Discontent" in 1978. house its collections, which were now acknowledged to be of national The building under construction is the £4 significance, following the merger million extension to the main John between the University Library and the Rylands Library here on the campus. The John Rylands Library in 1972. Her Majesty older Library buildings can be seen in the The Queen opened the extension background as can the recently building on its completion. completed Muriel Stott Conference 6 UniLife Research Winning Words UMIST researcher Marianne Johnson has won the prestigious FN Marshall PhD studentship in interdisciplinary health sciences with a submission based on her MPhil. Marianne, who has just completed her technologies include pictographic MPhil under Professor Harold Somers in symbols, digitized or synthetic speech and the Language and Linguistics machine translation. She will be based at Department, faced stiff competition. the Centre of Computational Linguistics at There were more than 27 applications UMIST and at the School of Nursing at the emphasizing the diversity and strength of Victoria University of Manchester. health sciences research in Greater Professor Somers said:"Above all I am Manchester. delighted for Marianne, who beat off She plans to use ‘language technologies’ fierce competition with an excellent to improve communication in clinical submission based on her MPhil, and, I consultations for adult asthma patients have been told, a superb performance at with limited or no English. Language the interview." One Stop Shop for MRI Scanning Scientists and clinicians at both The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, As a result of this investment, the Faculty Nursing and Pharmacy at VUM has made has set up a Translational Imaging Unit universities who are interested considerable investment in its human (TIU) ‘one stop shop’ to manage the in using magnetic resonance MRI research programme leading to the facilities. The TIU website is now live and expansion of the facilities, highlighting its will provide researchers with all the imaging techniques for their commitment to imaging science and the necessary information required to exciting opportunities this presents to undertake and MR research project. Any research, can now take Manchester researchers. There is a new feedback and suggestions about the web advantage of a ‘one stop shop’ 1.5 Tesla scanner in the Wellcome Trust site or for information about MR imaging Clinical Research Facility (WTCRF), one day projects, please contact the TIU Research approach, following significant per week of scanning time on the 1.5 Tesla Manager, Dr Lloyd Gregory investment in scanning facilities. at Hope Hospital and a 3 Tesla human on([email protected]) scanner, which will be installed at Hope this summer.