News in brief, 4 February 2020
Published: 3 February 2020
A round-up of news across the University
Dean for Australasia supports fundraising
Staff and students in the Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation and the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology are very active fundraisers and were supported in their most recent campaign to raise funds in support of those affected by the Australian Bushfires by the University Dean for Australasia, Prof Clare McManus. Fundraisers Alex Mackay, Carole Rose and Kim Moran-Jones are raffling a hamper of Australian products and held a pay-day tombola of unwanted Christmas gifts donated by staff members.
Dr Moran-Jones said: "As an Aussie living in Glasgow, it’s heart-breaking to see the devastation caused by the fires back home. But the generosity of UofG staff and students in fundraising to support those affected, both people and animals, is amazing to see. Thank you.”
Prof McManus said: “Everyone around the world has been shocked by the enormous scale of loss and destruction caused by the Australian bushfires. At least 33 people have been killed – including 4 firefighters – and Australian experts on biodiversity have estimated that the fires have caused the death of half a billion animals. Thousands of homes have been destroyed and more than 11 million hectares (110,000 sq. km) of bush, forest and parks across Australia have been left in ashes. Pollution has increased to hazardous levels as a result of these fires. On behalf of the University of Glasgow, I should like to sincerely thank the staff and students in the Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation and the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, and especially Alex, Carole & Kim, for all their fund-raising efforts to alleviate the devastation and suffering caused by the bushfires.”
Tickets for the Australian Hamper (£5.00) are still available by emailing Kim.Moran-Jones@glasgow.ac.uk with the draw closing on 14 February.
Self-defence workshop for staff
The Ferguson Bequest is pleased to introduce a one-hour workshop, delivered by Jill Saunders, to help participants in developing skills for personal safety and self-defence. Jill and her colleague will share with you how to improve your self-awareness and give you the skills to allow you to better protect and defend. Jill has previously been employed by the Royal Navy and Police Scotland.
This one-hour workshop is completely free and open to GU staff members only - you do not need to be a member of Sport to attend. Spaces are available on a first come first served basis and are available at Gilmorehill on Friday, 28 February at 1315 hours or Gasrcube on Friday, 6 March at 1300 hours. If you would like to attend, please register using one of the links below:
Gilmorehill: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/self-defence-workshop-gilmorehill-tickets-91972689791
Garscube: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/self-defence-workshop-garscube-tickets-91980880289
Mindful Yoga for Staff
Course: Mindful Yoga
Start Date: Wednesday 12, February
Time: 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Duration: 7 Weeks, Weekly Class, each Wednesday
About The Course:
This course will explore through practice the intersection of yoga and mindfulness to reduce stress. No previous yoga or mindfulness experience is necessary; yoga mats will be supplied. The course is free.
To Apply:
We would ask that staff seek permission from their line management to attend this course, prior to contacting: studentcounselling@glasgow.ac.uk
UofG Honorary Professor receives Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Jane Milosch, Honorary Professor in the School of Culture & Creative Arts, has been honoured with the decoration of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by its President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The official ceremony will take place in spring 2020. The citation recognises Professor Milosch's long-standing commitment to German-American co-operation in the field of provenance research.
In her former role as Director of the Smithsonian Provenance Research Initiative since 2009, and later as the Director of the Provenance Research Exchange Program (PREP) between the USA and Germany, Jane has led not only World War 2-era provenance research and policy development across the Smithsonian but has also advised on provenance and training programmes internationally.
In 2014 she was invited by the German Cultural Minister to be the US Representative on the International "Schwabing Art Trove" Task Force.
As Honorary Professor, Jane has been proactive in building the relationships between the Smithsonian and the University of Glasgow, not least in the areas of provenance research and the teaching of the history of collecting and provenance studies, now a well-established Masters Programme.
She is also co-editor, together with Professor Nick Pearce, of the recently published book "Collecting and Provenance: A Multidisciplinary Approach", which includes essays by 40 international authors.
Date for yout diary: Next Hacky Hour, 19 February, 2pm, 1A The Square.
Research can be daunting, but sometimes you just need some help getting some code running. Hacky Hour is a monthly drop-in session aimed at helping researchers (both student and staff) with computing questions that relate to their research. We foster an informal atmosphere, there is no sign-up process. You can come along to ask questions, or offer to help others with their research.
Topics we cover include programming and code questions (Python, R, or anything else), high performance computing (clusters or on GPUs), data access to online databases and social networks, scraping websites, image processing, and machine learning. Questions range from the relatively simple problems with inherited code, to rather complex questions about computational complexity, and discussions are encouraged.
Unfortunately, we are not able to help with general IT problems such as wireless access or printing, these types of questions should directed to your IT Helpdesk.
Hacky Hour will aim to run on the third Wednesday of every month at 2pm, at the cafe in 1A The Square, but check our Twitter feed for exact bookings. Anyone looking to extend their research network, or simply have a casual chat about computing, is welcome to join us.
To find out more tweet us @UofGHackyHour, or email william.pettersson@glasgow.ac.uk
First published: 3 February 2020