Staff Newsletter 1st September 2023

Hi folks, not sure how September has come around so quickly, but I hope you're enjoying the last of your leave before semester starts!

Have a great weekend! 😎

Lucy Orange - Admin Manager (on behalf of Annabel, who is on leave today)

Opportunities from Make UK institutional membership: networking and awareness event

This is a university wide awareness event for the opportunities and benefits of engaging with Make UK for teaching, research and commercial.

12.15-13.55 Tuesday 5th September 2023
Alcuin AEW/104

Make UK is a business membership organisation that has brokered numerous links between the university and business for teaching, research and commercial. Examples include guest speakers, student projects, invites to industry events, research collaborator introductions and updates on business pressures and skills requirements. The members are manufacturing companies but have relevance across the university given the types of activities, products and services their companies engage in. Please come along to find out more.

The university has institutional membership of Make UK which offers a wealth of opportunities to engage with UK industry. Make UK champions and celebrates manufacturing companies and fosters networking for its company members as well as influencing policy.

12.15 Networking buffet lunch AEW/104
13.00 Presentations from Make UK AEW/104
13.35 Q&A
13.55 Close

Please complete this Google Form for attendance at the Make UK event.

BES Aquatic Group Annual Meeting

The BES Aquatic Group annual meeting will be held at the University of Lancaster on September 18th & 19th.

More information on the BES Aquatic group meeting can be found here.

Institute for Safe Autonomy Research Forum

The first Institute for Safe Autonomy Research Forum will take place on Thursday 21st September in ISA/135, 10am to 12pm, with tea, coffee & pastries provided.

The Administrative Fairness Lab is focused on using evidence to improve administrative processes - particularly in areas of frontline government decision-making, such as healthcare delivery and social security. Increasingly these processes have elements of automation within them. For example, AI chat bots are used to interact with service users, and AI augmented decision support systems are being integrated into decision making processes. Automated systems are therefore potentially contributing to decisions about an individual’s access to government services. This raises significant issues of safety and fairness concerning the use of (semi-)autonomous administrative processes, including the likelihood that different social groups are differentially exposed to administrative processes. There is growing concern that people in positions of social disadvantage might be more exposed to autonomous decision making processes than other groups.

The purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for people to hear more about the work of the Administrative Fairness Lab, discuss future possibilities for collaborations, and establish the Administrative Fairness Lab within the Society and Ethics Pillar of the Institute.

Please use this sign up form for the Institute for Safe Autonomy Research Forum to help with planning for catering.

The YGRS Induction for new PGRs

The YGRS Induction for new PGRs will take place on Wednesday 4 October 13:00-15:30 in the Spring Lane Building (Lecture Theatre SLB/118). 

This year, the format of the YGRS Induction has been refreshed with a greater focus on providing practical advice from current PGRs about getting started and making the most of opportunities at York, in addition to essential information about professional services who support the PGR lifecycle and experience.

All new PGRs are strongly encouraged to attend. Arrangements will be made to support those who cannot attend in person, but we would appreciate your support in encouraging those who can, as it will contribute to fostering a sense of community. 

The induction will be followed by refreshments and a chance to meet other researchers in the space outside the lecture theatre. New PGRs should sign up to the event via the eventbrite booking form on the YGRS webpages, so that we can judge the catering required.

There will be a second YGRS Induction for PGRs who have joined after September, provisionally scheduled on Wednesday 24 January (time and location to be confirmed).

35th Yorkshire Awards - Save the date!

The 35th Yorkshire Awards will be held in the magnificent ballroom of The Queens Hotel, Leeds, a new venue for Yorkshire’s most prestigious awards. One of the highlights of the year, this spectacular Gala Dinner and Awards, will honour those who have made Yorkshire proud and demonstrated their love for, and commitment to, Yorkshire. Join the award winners, famous faces, members of The Yorkshire Society and a host of special VIP guests at this fantastic event. Click here for tickets to the 35th Yorkshire Awards.

Event: 35th Yorkshire Awards
Date: Friday 1st March, 2024
Venue: The Queens Hotel, Leeds

You can still nominate someone for a Yorkshire Award - the deadline is 31st December 2023. 

Tuesday 5th September - International Day of Charity

This Tuesday is International Day of Charity - a perfect opportunity to give back. The University's Research and Enterprise team works closely with the City of York Council to provide support and service for charities. You can find out more about how you can get involved with volunteering.

• Jasper Kenter and Tobias Nyumba's study on diverse values of nature for sustainability calls for major change in how decision-makers value nature. 

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  Giovanna Massei was featured in print in the Observer and in the following for her work on wildlife fertility control:

  • The Guardian article on wildlife fertility control

  • The Daily Telegraph article on wildlife fertility control

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  Jon Hill led a paper, along with Graham Rush and Roland Gehrels on the Storegga tsunami impacts on NE Scotland 8000 years ago, combining sedimentary and numerical modelling data. 

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  Alistair Boxall was featured in a York Press article on Ukrainian students in York aim to rebuild as they head home.

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  Nic Carslaw was interviewed for York Vision SCENE on air pollution in homes. 

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  Helen Davies led a paper, 'A measurement and modelling investigation of the indoor air chemistry following cooking activities', along with Dave Shaw and Nic Carslaw, that was published in Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts.

• Truzaar Dordi published an article with Policy Options revealing that "Foreign-owned oil companies in Canada hold key to climate change". He asserts that markets alone will not achieve the managed wind-down of oil and gas production - and government intervention is critical to resolve the misaligned incentives between financial institutions and the global low-carbon transition.

• ESM undergraduate student Trace Lassey recently wrote a fantastic blog about his experience having recently completed a six week internship at the Community of Arran Seabed Trust.

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• Our visiting Ukranian students were featured on Channel 4 news: Ukrainian students learn skills for end of war cleanup.
  

Well done everyone on your fantastic achievements 👏

In search of Secondary Schools in York or surrounding area for PhD research

Sarah Foster is currently recruiting secondary schools in York that have eco or climate societies for her PhD research that incorporates participatory arts with sustainability education around River Ouse and Foss. If you have any contacts with schools or know any educators/teachers that may have these societies and would be interested in participating, please let Sarah know. There will be availability for schools both in the autumn and spring terms.

Are you interested in the pollution of coastal waters?

This short survey will help us to analyse human behaviour surrounding the use of sunscreen. We are looking in particular at coastal swimming to identify pollution of UV filters around Yorkshire's coasts. We have created two questionnaires, one for people who swim with family or friends, and one for those who swim alone. It would be great to get as many responses as possible, it will take less than 5 minutes to complete!

I swim alone
I swim with family and friends

The information will be used in the NERC freshwater biodiversity project: ECOMIX project- Assessing and managing the impacts of mixtures of chemicals on freshwater biodiversity in a changing world.

Worktribe Unavailable on 04 September

Worktribe will be unavailable from the evening of Sunday 3rd September and on Monday 4th September due to the Resourcelink upgrade.

Worktribe will be made available as soon as possible after the upgrade has been completed and that it has been checked that the integrations are working.

If you have any concerns regarding this downtime, please contact Research Support (environment-research@york.ac.uk)

Tackling Climate Change with the Social Sciences Workshop

The Faculty of Social Sciences, in collaboration with the York Environmental Sustainability Institute and the Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre are hosting a workshop ' Tackling Climate Change with the Social Sciences' on Monday 25th September 2-5pm in SLB004.

This workshop will bring together researchers working in social science fields from across the University of York to meet colleagues with complementary research interests, make new connections, and share their research interests and ideas, with a view to developing research project ideas driven by social science approaches, methods, and research questions.

Please register for the event via the Eventbrite page.

Upcoming Training / Opportunities with TYPE

The York Policy Engine is launching three new initiatives aimed at enhancing internal capability to participate in York's policy landscape. Below, you'll find a list of our offerings, along with the intended target audience for each initiative, application deadline and a one-page promotional document outlining the opportunity and application process (linked in the document).

1. Research Evidence Synthesis Training: For Early Career Researchers: Deadline 29th August (this call is already live)

2. The York Policy Associate Scheme: For PhD Student: Deadline 14th September

3. The York Policy Academy: For All Staff, All Career Stages interested in policy engagement as part of their work: Deadline 12th October

Every initiative targets a particular path and category of staff, and our goal is to make sure each opportunity reaches all the appropriate and potentially interested candidates. You can also view the opportunities on our website.

For any queries please contact katie.heffron@york.ac.uk.

NERC Independent Research Fellowships

NERC's Independent Research Fellowships (IRF) 2023 are now open for applications. The IRF scheme is aimed at early career researchers wishing to carry out independent research in any area of NERC's remit.

This Fellowship covers 5 years FTE, funded at 80% fEC. You may apply for funding for facilities costs and cruise costs, but NERC will not fund studentships.

If you know of a researcher who might be interested in submitting an application, please advise them to contact Research Support (environment-research@york.ac.uk) as soon as possible.

Applications for the IRF must be submitted on UKRI's new Funding Service (TFS), rather than Je-S and the deadline for applications is 8 November.

We also strongly advise that ECRs are supported by a mentor throughout the application process and the fellowship itself.

For more details of the process, see the section on 'How to apply' on the IRF call webpage.

Great! Please add it to the Research, Teaching, Outreach and Good News Spreadsheet. Please use the most relevant tab for the activity/news and ensure that the description details are written out in full as you would like it to be presented. If your item does not fit the spreadsheet, please email it to environment-pa@york.ac.uk by 10:00 next Friday.

Thank you for your help in making the newsletter a great way to catch up on all of the Department's latest news and activities 🙂