Regional Studies Association Early Career Conference 2014 - Sheffield, UK

The Regional Studies Association encourages submissions of abstracts to our annual Early Career conference, to be held in Sheffield in October 2014. This exciting conference, sponsored by new open access journal Regional Studies, Regional Science, will provide early career researchers with the opportunity to network, collaborate and socialise with others working in regional studies and science. The objective of the conference is to bring together students and early career researchers to present and debate their work in a welcoming and stimulating environment, with a view to getting invaluable feedback and new ideas and learning more about how and where to publish their research results. One session will focus on how the publishing environment is changing and the new opportunities it creates. A number of distinguished Plenary Speakers will be in attendance, in addition to the Editors-in-Chief of Regional Studies, Regional Science.

For more information or to register, visit:  http://www.regionalstudies.org/conferences/conference/regional-studies-association-early-career-conference-2014

Ancient law reading group

 Ancient law reading group

'The laws have something to say about everything'

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 5.1 (1129b)

We are interested in looking at any ancient legal texts (loosely defined) still extant. A different legal text shall be considered in each meeting, with all approaches (e.g. philosophical, legal, socio-historical, philological, literary) welcome and encouraged. We are particularly interested in any points of comparison and contrast between the legal thought (and implications thereof) of different societies. In order to enable immediate engagement from participants (and to minimise preparation beforehand), the sessions would focus on the close reading of a short excerpt with the session leader orchestrating the discussion and introducing the participants to the linguistic and methodological issues of his/her own field.

We are interested in texts from societies and legal cultures such as:

Ancient Greece

Ancient Judaism

Ancient Near East

Biblical Law

Early Canon Law

Early Islam

Rome

Zoroastrianism

Celts, Gauls and other neighbouring cultures of Rome

This list is purely indicative, and is by no means exhaustive.

The reading group will not formally begin until semester 1 of the academic year 2014-15, but at this stage we hope to gauge interest and to design a programme based on the research specialisms of any interested parties. If you are interested, please contact marton.ribary@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk and samuel.jones-2@manchester.ac.uk.

University of Manchester Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase (UoM-PSRS)

University of Manchester Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase (UoM-PSRS)

http://www.mdc.manchester.ac.uk/events/uom-psrs/

 
                                                             Call for Posters
 

Manchester Doctoral College are proud to announce the launch of the inaugural University of Manchester Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase (UoM-PSRS), a unique poster-session that will exhibit the diversity of research conducted by postgraduate researchers across the entire University. The event will provide a great opportunity to network, whilst providing exciting new avenues for interdisciplinary collaboration.

 ·         For postgraduates, UoM-PSRS is a special chance to present your own research before peers and senior research staff, and gain constructive feedback on your presentation skills. The experience will be invaluable in building your academic profile, by both showcasing your research before a non-expert audience and by making key contacts.

 ·         For academic staff, UoM-PSRS is not only a chance to appreciate the vast multitude of research that takes place, but it also presents an opportunity to meet groups from different schools and faculties who may have common areas of interest.

Details

 

UoM-PSRS will be held on Tuesday 24th June 2014 at the Whitworth Hall (number 50 on the campus map), from 12.30pm to 3.00pm.

 A light buffet lunch will be provided.

 Approximately 100 posters will be on show around the hall, and presenters will be present to discuss ideas with.

 How to Participate

 All members of the University (students and staff) are invited to attend.

All postgraduates from the University of Manchester are invited to present a poster. The posters will be judged by senior academic staff from the University, and a cash prize of £150 will be awarded to the best poster from each faculty (EPS, Humanities, MHS, LS).

 For further advice on presenting a poster, please click here.

 The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 28th May 2014, and presenters will be given further details by  Thursday 5th June 2014.

 To submit an application for the poster showcase please click here

 

 

Mendeley Premium

 

Mendeley is a free reference management tool and academic social network that can help you organise your research, collaborate with others online and discover the latest publications in your field. As part of a collaborative project between The University of Manchester Library and Mendeley, the Library is providing access to the Mendeley Premium product to all University of Manchester researchers and students.

 Anyone signing up to use Mendeley during 2014, and any existing users who upgrade during this period, will have access to the enhanced features:

·         5GB of personal storage space (rather than the standard 2GB).

·         Creation of unlimited groups for social networking and collaboration (rather than the standard 1 group)
·         Group team plan of 25 members (rather than the standard 3 members)
·         Plus advanced features such as Mendeley Suggest

 The Library will be providing ongoing support and training so whether you are new to Mendeley or an existing user who wants to explore the enhanced features of the Premium version, you can sign up to our sessions or contact us for further support.

 The sessions will all take place in the Teaching Suite (Blue 4) of the Main Library at the following times:

 
·         Thursday 8 May, 10am – 12pm
·         Wednesday 14 May, 2-4pm
·         Wednesday 21 May, 2-4pm
·         Friday 30 May, 10am – 12pm

 Book your place: Library Mendeley Training Sessions  

For enquiries contact: Library Mendeley Support

Further information on Mendeley, and details of how to access Mendeley Premium, can be found the Library Website:

 ·         About Mendeley Premium

 
Anyone signing up, or upgrading, to Mendeley Premium will be invited to submit comments and feedback to support ongoing product enhancements.

January Forum: Shale Gas: A Golden Age or a Gilded Cage?

January Forum: Shale Gas: A Golden Age or a Gilded Cage?

27 January 2014

16:00 – 17:00

Room: 4.214, University Place

Speaker: John Broderick, Research Fellow in Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester

Following the previous NRN presentation on economic methods for accounting for time in health care policy, this forum will discuss what policy researchers can learn from the case of shale gas and the tools used to assess its impact, and vice versa.

The International Energy Agency has heralded the 21st Century as a “Golden Age of Gas” due to recent unconventional resource discoveries and new extraction technologies. As a lower carbon fossil fuel, gas is presented as a “transition” energy source although this perspective neglects the rate, scale and extent of decarbonisation required to give a good chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. This is illustrated through a cumulative emissions budget approach looking at energy policy to 2050.

Persistently low gas prices and weak EU ETS caps also have the potential to undermine the UK and EU transition to renewable energy sources and jeopardise climate mitigation targets. Using simple net present value calculations, we estimate that 7GW of gas CCS powerstation capacity, plus shale gas well infrastructure, would require the same investment as 12GW of offshore wind capacity or 21GW onshore. 

This event is open to all PGRs and Postdoctoral researchers to attend. There is no need to register. Just turn up and feel free to pass this onto anyone who may be interested in attending.

We look forward to seeing you at the event.

Kind regards,

The NRN coordinators

Going 'Beyond Measurement' at the SIAA Annual Conference in Paris - 9-10th December 2013

Going 'Beyond Measurement' at the SIAA Annual Conference in Paris - 9-10th December 2013

In December LCSV PhD candidate Rachael Morgan attended the annual Social Impact Analysts Association (SIAA) conference in Cergy-Pontoise, Paris. The theme of the conference was  'What, Why and How to' go Beyond Measurement? The conference was held at the ESSEC Business School and attended by a range of analysts, consultants and social organisations from across the international community. Rachael attended the conference in her dual capacity as a social investment researcher and a Social Value and Impact Consultant (SROI).

From the introductory session offering differing perspectives from Andreas Richart, Jess Daggers, John Gargani and Kate Ruff to the five workshops areas and the afternoon hotspots the cross-cutting theme of 'Beyond Measurement' was addressed.

Jeremy Nicholls, the SROI network, addressed the theme by suggesting that going Beyond Measurement involves a commitment to recognising that in a time of tight resources it is 'not enough to just measure if we are achieving our purpose', there is a need to ask 'are we doing as many good things as we can with our resources?'.

Rachael Morgan hosted a hotspot where she addressed this cross cutting theme by asking participants to give their views on developing a common outcomes framework across the international community. In particular views were sought on the emergence of the Social Progress Imperative's work on a Social Progress Index (http://www.socialprogressimperative.org).

Going Beyond measurement in this sense involves a normative commitment to establishing a set of international values against which progress towards specific outcomes can be made. Rachael is including a critical analysis of this approach in her current research and data collected at this event will be used to inform her fieldwork.

At two workshops given within the theme of The Communication of impact measurement Nic Bolto from the Difference Magazine, Australia and John Gargani, Gargani inc USA, both offered their perspectives on the matter. 

For Bolto going Beyond Measurement involves communicating the difference made by an organisations activity as for him 'unless the comms piece works, then nothing works.' For Gargani Going Beyond Measurement involves finding the balances between accuracy and clarity in communicating impact.

 Whilst we wait for conclusions to be published from SIAA on what, why and how to go Beyond Measurement perhaps an interesting question to ponder is whether going Beyond Measurement was the right question to ask? What questions do you have about impact measurement and social valuation? 

http://www.siaassociation.org/events/conference-2013/

Making the most of your PhD – The Researcher Development Form

 

Those of you who are in the first year of your PhD may have noticed a deadline approaching in Eprog for the Researcher Development Form. This is not a progress monitoring form, it is designed to help you to make the most of your time as a PhD student by identifying what skills and competencies you hope to develop and discussing with your supervisors what training and development activities you might undertake. The Researcher Development Framework (RDF), which is a national framework, endorsed by the Research Councils is useful as a guide. This is intended to be a reflective exercise to get you thinking about your research training needs.  Although completion of this form is not compulsory I would like to encourage you to complete it for two reasons. Most importantly it will provide an opportunity to reflect upon what you hope to get from your time as a PhD student and how you can make the most of it. Secondly, as researcher development manager, I will be studying the responses to the form carefully in order to inform the planning of next year’s researcher development programme, so it is an opportunity to articulate your views and get them heard.

Please note that if the form is not submitted the milestone will become ‘red’.  You should inform your supervisor if you do not wish to complete the form and your supervisors can then submit the form without completion and then authorise it.  Students will also need to authorise the form so that the milestone will become ‘green.’

Ian Fairweather (Researcher Development Manager)